Elizabeth Tabak Research Paper

Elizabeth Tabak is a fellow Phi Theta Kappa member and friend. Tabak migrated during the period of 1970s. As a military brat and spouse Tabak has migrated a few times. However it is the migration from Japan to the United States that was her biggest move yet. This move was due to her father’s failing health and to be with her step-mother’s family. She experienced this move as a teenager. As very young child she moved to Japan, where she lived most of her life. She lived in Naha-Shi, Okinawa. This is a small island. She grew up on Japanese television and reading manga. She recalled most Japanese kids read manga. In Japan, she grew up in a wealthy household and her family had maids. She had private tutors, studied the ballet, and learned piano. Her brother also had private tutors and learned piano. English and Japanese was spoken in the home. They were a high cultured family. However, her father’s health was failing and her step-mother did not want to be left in a country where she could not speak the language. Before leaving Japan, Tabak’s father considered going to Australia, close to Japan, yet had good health coverage. Her step-mother wanted to be around her family so they moved to the …show more content…
Her step-mother had to work, something she had not experienced in Japan. With little job experience or skills her step-mother went to work as a temporary secretary agent. Tabak has never truly adopted to life in the United States. She deems the United States does not have the supportive community like the one she lived in in japan. Schools were based on being cooperative not competitive, as she expressed in the interview. As a Japanese American she did not have a hard time with language barriers, except for some small pronunciation of words, especially when she is upset or excited, and often twists her “l” and “r”. Although her Japanese family describes her as American, she misses Japan and would love to return