As she prepared a few traditional Chinese dishes, Shine Rominger shared a brief history of her journey from Taiwan to the United States when she was just a child.
Rominger, a native of Taichung, Taiwan, after her family sought refuge from China after World War II, shared her heritage with students Friday at the Asian Culture Center. While there, she cooked stir fried shrimp and snow peas, stir fried beef in oyster sauce and jawtzi, the boiled version of pot stickers, while discussing the adversity she and her parents overcame when they moved to the U.S.
“Living in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Indianapolis in the 1960s, we were probably the only Chinese family around,” Rominger said, “I mean, it felt like we were the only Chinese family in Indianapolis.”
Rominger’s mother is from Hangzhou and her father is from the small village of Zheng Di, an area close to Beijing. After World War II, there was a conflict between China’s Nationalist Army and the Communist Party’s Chairman Mao Zedong. Her parents were each presented with opportunities to leave their home country.
Rominger’s father was a refuge, while her mother worked for the Nationalist Army. Although Rominger said these were rare and fortunate opportunities, they did not come without sacrifice.
“My mother got an opportunity to get on a plane and just suddenly leave, leave her family, leave everything,” Rominger said, “With the clothes on her back, she rode on a plane and went to Taiwan.”
When her parents arrived in Taiwan, they met, were married and had three children. Although her parents left China for Taiwan, she said it was not their dream country.
“They were always searching for an opportunity to come to the United States because they felt that would be the best opportunity for the family,” Rominger said.
After 12 years, Rominger said her father received a student visa so he could get an education in the U.S. Because her father’s goal was to bring the whole family to the U.S., he worked quickly, receiving his master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Cincinnati in six months and secured a job shortly after, she said.
Rominger’s mom and two brothers were able to join her father in Indianapolis, where he designed bridges. Even though her parents had achieved their goal of bringing the family to the U.S., they had not yet overcome all of their challenges, she said.
Rominger’s father worked in the community every day, so he was able to adapt to the American culture and learn English. However, her mother, a stay-at-home mom, was not able to adapt as easily because she could not speak English well.
“She decided she was going to make the home her China and then outside was going to be America,” Rominger said, “When we got home we took off our shoes, we ate Chinese food and we spoke Chinese.”
Although Rominger grew up in the U.S., thanks to her mother, Rominger brought her Asian heritage with her when she started a family of her own. Because her husband is from southern Indiana, their household combines both of their cultures.
Rominger’s daughter, Tabitha Rominger, a student assistant at the Asain Culture Center, said growing up exposed to multiple cultures could be difficult.
“I went to a predominantly white school,” Tabitha Rominger said. “So, I was always set apart from them in that I brought different things to eat for lunch and I had different mannerisms and habits because of my mother’s upbringing spilling into mine.”
Although, Tabitha said what differentiated her from her peers were small things, such as eating with chopsticks and not wearing shoes in the house, those small differences gave her a unique perspective on cultures.
“I’m very thankful for my heritage,” Tabitha said. “It’s an important part of my life, and if I have kids, I will definitely pass it on.”
