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StoryCorps: Juliet Jegasothy

Series: StoryCorps
From: StoryCorps
Length: 00:01:38

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Juliet Jegasothy [Jeg - ah - so - thee], who is originally from Sri Lanka, tells her friend Sheena Jacob about adjusting to life in the United States. Read the full description.
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StoryCorps: Juliet Jegasothy
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Jegasothy_small When Juliet Jegasothy [Jeg - ah - so - thee] came to the United States from Sri Lanka, she had already heard many stories about what life was like in America. "We came to America in 1969, we were just newly married, and we came to Brooklyn, New York." Jegasothy recently told her friend Sheena Jacob. "I was so terrified to even open the door, because I had heard all these horror stories about crooks, and gangsters, and guns, in New York." Jegasothy soon encountered an American tradition that she was not prepared for.

StoryCorps: Juliet Jegasothy | 00:01:38

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Piece Description

When Juliet Jegasothy [Jeg - ah - so - thee] came to the United States from Sri Lanka, she had already heard many stories about what life was like in America. "We came to America in 1969, we were just newly married, and we came to Brooklyn, New York." Jegasothy recently told her friend Sheena Jacob. "I was so terrified to even open the door, because I had heard all these horror stories about crooks, and gangsters, and guns, in New York." Jegasothy soon encountered an American tradition that she was not prepared for.

Broadcast History

NPR's Morning Edition 10/27/2006

Transcript

JJ: We came to America in 1969, we were just newly married and we came to Brooklyn, New York and I was so terrified to even open the door because I had heard all these horror stories about crooks and gangsters and guns in New York. So there was this one evening that Brian was working in the night and I was alone with the baby and the doorbell started ringing and then I go and look through the peephole and it was like a really scary person standing outside so I didn't open the door, I told my baby to be quiet and then again the doorbell rings and again I look through the peephole and I'm like really scared and the third time it rang there were more than one person and they were all looking really scary and screaming at me through the door. So, I called Brian on the phone and I said there is something happening there are some crooks or somebody trying to frighten me at the door. He sa...
Read the full transcript

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Each Friday you hear pieces of oral history as captured by StoryCorps. Today, a story about coming to America. Juliet Jegasothy [Jeg - ah - so - thee] immigrated to the United States from Sri Lanka. She tells her friend, Sheena Jacob, about one American tradition she was not quite prepared for.

[Tape]

OUTRO:

Juliet Jegasothy with her friend Sheena Jacobs at StoryCorps booth in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. StoryCorps interviews are archived at the Library of Congress. To find out how to record your story, go to npr.org.

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http://www.storycorps.net/listen

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