2 July 1885

Working in these plantation fields has been very exhausting. Days seem to be getting longer with each passing day. The sun moves like a snail across the sky and with longer daylight, we are given longer hours in the sugar plantations. No one seems to sleep at night, someone is always up and working. I got more sleep when I was in China. The white plantation ghosts are very rude and lazy. As we work hard in the rice paddies, the ghosts sit in the shade drinking beer and talking. They just waste their time doing nothing productive what so ever. They want us to use up all our youth working for them, while they try to preserve theirs for a bit longer. The only time when they talk to us is when we seem to be slowing down in our work or if we are doing something incorrect. How can these ghost own land and not even bother to take care of it. It makes me mad. Back home we were to remain responsible for our chores in the household, like making sure the floors were swept, water was pumped from the well, so that everything was orderly and clean. Each day back from working, I come out with my clothes drenched in sweat and stomach empty. Because of the minimal wages we are receiving, I cannot afford to buy ‘fancy’ food that the ghosts eat for myself. My basic meals everyday has been water, bread, and a soap concoction of what ever foods I can gather or afford to purchase at the grocery store. There's a lot of fish here in Hawaii- I've tried to fish a couple of times and when I'm lucky I've caught one or two for a meal. But I have to be careful; too much seafood is "Duk"(dirty) because they are scavengers who eat anything. Whatever they ate, you are ingesting it as well. My family would probably not recognize me if they saw me today. My face has darkened to the color of molasses from the sun's rays beating on my skin in the fields; my hands worn, beaten, and swollen from pushing the stakes across the rice fields. Despite my physical changes in America, I am still the same person who left China. My goal has and will always be to work hard out here in America so that I can secure a successful and secure future for children and their grandchildren. I do want them to lead the same life as I am living right now. I want them to be able to work towards bigger dreams and not have to worry about helping to support their families.