送交者: 丹丹 于 December 05, 2002 20:54:09:
SETTING
When my father and I got to the station, we had to go past a strict
security guard. When we got in, The first thing that I saw was the secretary
desk. And then I saw two burgundy couches on the side of the waiting room. The
air was very fresh and everything was very clean in the waiting room. In the
middle was a big plant with ribbons on it, it was placed on a thick piece of
marble. I noticed that there were two televisions, each turned on to channel
11. On top of one of the televisions was a mantle with many different awards
given to the WB. On walls were pictures of different people that work at the
WB, ex. The newscast, Dawson’s Creek, Friends, etc. And on the opposite side
of those pictures was a huge WB frog.
INTERVIEW
【Diane Wu】: Why did your parents decide to, um, come to the US from China?
【Kaity Tong】: Uh, well there were a couple of reasons one, um, my dad was
with the national Chinese army so he was on the wrong side of the war and he
had to leave China. I was born in Tsingtao, just the northern part of China.
So we had to, uh, flee the Communists and also my great uncle was, um, one of
Jiang JieShi’s, um, aids and so they were all leaving for Taiwan so we left
also. And first of which my great uncle was the ambassador to the United States
from China and first of the ambassador to Japan from Nassas China. So we sort
of followed him first to Japan and then to the United States.
【D】: And, um, was growing up in the US difficult for you?
【K】: Um, no, yes and no. (SIC) Um, we were immigrants so when I was
growing up when I first came to the States I spoke no English at all. I spoke
only Chinese, but then I was only four years old so it was much easier. When
you are very, very young to adapt. (SIC) But in the beginning I do remember
going to kindergarten and speaking no English at all and feeling very shy and
not knowing how to communicate but that I got over that quickly because I was
so young. Um, the only other difficulties were that my parents were extremely
strict, again very typical of immigrant families and um, at times when I was
growing up, my brother and I felt that we were very, uh, we thought that my
parents were too strict compared to my friends’ parents. (SIC) So it was that
kind of difficulty (laughs). But you get used to it and you learn later that
you know your parents are doing what they think is the best. And, uh, those
were the kinds of difficulties as a child, I noticed, but they were not
anything uninsurmountable, they were fine. (SIC)
【D】: And, um, was it difficult for you to succeed because of your ethnic
background?
【K】: Um, again that’s a yes or no kind of, uh, answer. Um, succeed first
of all, to me, is on different levels. I think in many ways as an immigrant, we
felt that, uh, we succeeded just by going to college, I went to a good college,
I did well in school, I went to a good college but then from there I didn’t
know what I wanted to do, but then I went to graduate school, I went to a great
graduate school. (SIC) So in that sense I felt my parents felt that I was
succeeding because, as you know, to the Chinese education is. (SIC) You know
it’s the most important thing. And so my parents always felt that I did very
well that way. Uh, then in terms of career, my parents actually didn’t think
that it was so important that I do what I’m doing now. They like it now but at
the time my mother said oh no, no, no, no, no, don’t get a job like that, it’s
so insecure, why don’t you get a government job? (SIC) So you see that to them
that would be success enough for me; getting a secure government job, and make
sure that, you know, and then get married to someone who’s going to have a
really good job (laughs) because that was the way my parents thought, you know,
I am girl therefore I need a guy to take care of me. Well I thought differently
and so in the beginning I have to say that my parents were sure I was not going
to be successful because I was going in some wild way. They thought what is she
doing? She’s going to be a reporter she’s not going to make any money. Uh, but
I did what I felt like doing and it turned out to be successful. But I was
taking a big chance and I glad I toke that chance. What was my ethnic
background in terms of all that? Well, uh, I think it both hurt and helped me
in the beginning. When I first got into the television business there were
very, very few Chinese people, Asians at all, in the business so, um, it was
hard to break in. (SIC) But once you broke in, they liked having you be the
token Asian of that station. And of course now it is very different they’re
many, many, but when I started in the early 70’s it was a little different and
so I was lucky I felt to break in and once I broke in I didn’t necessarily
like being the only one for a long time. (SIC)
【D】: And, um, since you are usually the interviewer, is it unusual for you
to be, like, the interviewee this time?
【K】: Yes, (laughs) much harder. Much harder to answer the questions,
easier to ask them.
【D】: And, um, were there any, like, news reports that you didn’t want to
do?
【K】: Often. Uh, one of the things I really am glad I don’t have to do
anymore as a reporter is going to the scene of a tragedy, especially one that
involves children, and having to stick a microphone in a grieving parent’s or
relatives face and say well how do you feel. That was part of being a reporter
but that was a part that I hated the most and I’m very glad I no longer have
to do that because I don’t go out and do those kind of stories anymore.
【D】: And, um, were there any, like, boring ones?
(Interruption from her makeup artist)
【K】: I’m sorry, what was the question?
【D】: Um, like, were there any really boring, um, news reports?
【K】: Always (laughs). In fact one of the things people, well, um, are
surprised to hear after you’ve been in this business for a certain number of
years is that it has it’s glamour side and it has it’s exciting side,
definitely, but what people don’t know is that on a day-to-day basis it can be
just a boring as any other job because the kinds of stories we do. (SIC)
Sometimes Jim and I would turn to each other and go, you know this newscast is
just like the one last week only with different names. The same, you know, car
crashes, the same fires, the same kind of news sometimes over and over again.
In that sense it could become kind of routine. Um, but I think compared to most
9 to 5 jobs, we have no complaints. It is certainly one of the more interesting
jobs around.
【D】: And, um, you received, um, many awards are there any awards that you,
like, really close and special?
【K】: Uh, all the awards I ever gotten from the Asian Committee, of which I’
ve gotten many and I’m grateful for those. Um, I’m grateful for any award
(laughs). I feel as though I got into this business completely by accident.
This was not something, I was going to be a professor of, uh, Chinese and
Japanese Literature. (SIC) I went to a Stanford graduate school and, um,
getting my doctor degree in Chinese and Japanese Literature and that was where
I was headed. So this is an accident and it was a happy accident because I
happen to like what I do very much. Um, so I take any reward or any award or
anything that I get in doing this career as, uh, as a gift as an extra, you
know, because I, this is just something that happened to me and, uh, it turned
out really well. (SIC)
【D】: And, um, when your first became, like, a news anchor were you afraid
or shy?
【K】: No, (laughs) and I probably should have been. I was too stupid to
know, you know that I probably should have been nervous. I just though that it
was so much fun and it was, again, something that I had not prepared for. So it
wasn’t like something that I was dying to do and I’ve got to do it right. It
was just like someone said okay, come on you do this and I went I don’t think
so, but I’ll try. And it was my attitude which was like this doesn’t mean
anything, I’m going to become a professor of literature, this is not something
I’m going to be doing I’m just doing this for fun, that made it very easy for
me, actually, and I actually had a very good time. And I discovered that I was
quite comfortable on camera.
【D】: And, um, I saw the pictures in the waiting room and, um, I saw that
you were the only woman in that newscast program. Is it, like, difficult for
you to, like, work in a male-dominated area?
【K】: No. (laughs) I feel just as strong as the men, in fact I think I am a
lot stronger than sometimes than the guys are. (SIC) I mean, we certainly all
get along great, it’s all very equal. Uh, I’m the only female anchor, but if
you look at our reporting staff we have many, many, uh, women. (SIC) Including
Asian women, and women of color and, uh, it’s a very good mix of people. I
don’t think of myself, really, as the only woman there. It’s a pretty, uh,
standard mix. If you look at any station, it’s usually a woman anchor, male
anchor; usually it’s that combination. And then usually the, uh, weatherman
and the sports guides, sports people are basically almost a male still. (SIC)
Uh, weather people, sometimes like Janis Huff on NBC, but sometimes it’s male.
(SIC) So that’s a pretty normal mix and, uh, I’ve been in the business for a
long time and we get along great with everybody I ever worked with, and I
don’t feel that one way or the other, any bad way at all, it feels very
comfortable.
【D】: Um, well, did you ever decide to be anything other than, like, a news
anchor?
【K】: Yeah, just as I said I was studying to become a professor.
【D】: And, um, do you have any advice on how to succeed in life?
【K】: Um, find out what it is that you love to do, even if you weren’t
going to be paid to do it, and try to make a career out of that in some way. In
other words, if you love to write or if you love to do what you’re doing right
now. (SIC) In other words, the best way to succeed is to think about something
that gives you great pleasure to do and then figure out a way to make money
doing it. (laughs) Um, or some variation of that, you know. So who knew that I
would like to talk to people and be in front of the camera. I had no idea, but
when I got the taste of it I thought okay, even though this is not what I
intended to do, this is, uh, working out okay. And it turned out to be the best
thing that I ever did.
SETTING
I found out a lot about Kaity Tong through this interview. Kaity Tong seems
like a very happy person but she can also be very serious. She loves children
and has had many interviews from children before. I also noticed how important
her family is in the US, China and Japan. I wonder if she would be as
successful as she is now if she was preparing to work as a news reporter.
This was a really good assignment be cause I was able to meet someone
famous and it took a lot of organization skills to get everything ready.
November, 1999