An Lam |
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Life in America Can you describe for us a little bit of what Vietnamese culture here is like in Orange County? Vietnamese culture over here, we have a lot of, we celebrate a lot of [pause]. So Vietnamese culture over here, they try to do whatever they have in Vietnam. One of them, like Tet festival. Like in Vietnam they have a lot of accidents when we do the bonfire. So in Vietnam we don’t but like ten years ago we have it and now they banned it. But over here in America we still have it. So the tradition we’re still keeping. Are there any other Vietnamese holidays that you know you guys celebrate or there’s a big celebration in Orange County for? On the same day, on the thirty – after the war end, over here they do the memorial, things like that. But in Vietnam they celebrate it. Have you traveled to other cities within the United States and noticed a strong Vietnamese culture in other cities? I traveled to Louisiana, Dallas and I think only in Orange County, California the people here is more firm. Have you ever talked to people in those cities about your past or about Vietnam? If I try to talk something then they kind of misunderstand because the people, the way thinking different so I rarely talk about it. Is for you, having a strong Vietnamese culture something that is important to where you live or is it something that why you like living in Orange County is because of the Vietnamese culture here? Because actually my parents, they want to live with Vietnamese people. Like they want to get together with their group, that way when you come to a different country they want to be close to someone that they knows their culture so it is easier for them to adapt. What signs of Vietnamese culture are there in Orange County here where you live in terms of supermarkets or things like that? They’re all on the American side. Do you guys visit Vietnamese supermarkets here? Yeah, every weekend. We love the food so we go. And to restaurants around – ? Restaurants, yes. And how do they compare to over in Vietnam? Over here the food, when we eat, we feel more safely. In Vietnam they – we cannot tell what they put in there. In Vietnam the food – there are some people who just walk around with their food [gestures lugging food on shoulder] and the way they – if you don’t know what they’re doing, you have the food and you think it’s very tasty but you know what they do after you. Like for me, I go and eat the bowl of noodles and after I finish [gestures wiping bowl with a washcloth] and then get a new one for all the people but in Vietnam it’s normal but here you do the cleaning. Is there anything in Vietnam that you wish was in the United States that you don’t have? About friends: over here most people – they are so needy so if you want to get together to do something it’s very hard; you have to make an appointment like next week or so. In Vietnam we just call them on the phone. Is there anything in the United States that you think would be good in Vietnam? A lot of things. What are some of those things? First is the education. Over here you have a lot of – more opportunities to be successful if you want to be successful when you go to college and you know whatever you choose and you try your best you get a chance to get it. In Vietnam you have to know somebody to get in. Even if you have no education but you know somebody, they put you in. Are there any other things besides education? The traffic. In Vietnam, people – they kind of know where they want to go and they go wherever they want. Over here we have to follow the rules. And in Vietnam, sometimes when you have problems with the police you can pay the police to get out of the problem and you don’t have to pay for insurance, nothing. You buy a motorcycle, you buy a car and -that’s it. Over here when you get a car you have to pay for insurance so when anything happens then the company takes over.
Object Description
Profile of | An Lam |
Title | Difficulties of Talking about the War |
Profile bio | An Lam was born on February 12th, 1985, and grew up in Da Nang City, in central Viet Nam, where a lot of war activity took place during the American War in Vietnam. Since he was born ten years after the end of the war, he does not have direct experiences from the War; however, having lived in Viet Nam for 20 years, he exhibits the unique perspective of how the war has been remembered by the Vietnamese, in the years afterward. He accredits everything he knows about the war to be from his schooling and his family’s memories. During the war, most of his family fought on the American side, creating a conflict for An Lam in school, where the Northern Vietnamese soldiers were portrayed as heroes. Shortly after the war, his aunt fled to the US, and sponsored An's family for immigration to the United States. In 2004, at age 19, An and his parents arrived first in Dallas, Texas to live with his aunt. Two months later, his father decided to move the family to Orange County, California, where they still reside today. An now works as a machinist at Robinson Pharma. His hobbies include swimming, Tai Chi and Aikido. |
Profiler bio | David Lowenstein is a senior majoring in International Relations and Global Business, and is originally from Andover, Massachusetts.; Marty Juco is a senior majoring in Business with a concentration in management operations. He is from Antioch, California and entered USC as a transfer from Diablo Valley Community College.; Jennifer Stiefel is currently a senior majoring in Psychology. She is originally from Esslingen, Germany, but has lived in Orange County, California for ten years.; Tsz Chan is a senior from Temple City, California, majoring in Economics. |
Subject |
2nd Generation An Lam Culture Da Nang Education Ethnic Community Heroes History Immigration Leaving Vietnam Life in the US Memory Misrecognition Misrepresentation Moving to America Orange County Post-Vietnam War Sanitary Conditions Secondhand Memories Silence Tet Festival Texas Tradition Traffic Uncle Ho Vietnam Vietnam War Vietnamese Vietnamese Market Wanting to forget |
Profiled by | Lowenstein, David; Juco, Marty; Stiefel, Jennifer; Cha, Tsz |
Profile date | 2014-04-09 |
Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Da Nang; Dallas |
Geographic subject (county) | Orange; Dallas |
Geographic subject (state) | California; Texas |
Geographic subject (country) | Vietnam; USA |
Coverage date | 1985; 2004 |
Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/an-lam/ |
Type |
images video |
Format | 1 image; 3 video files (00:16:40); 3 transcripts |
Language | English |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
Filename | lamanhoang |
Description
Profile of | An Lam |
Title | Life in America |
Format | 1 transcript, 2p. |
Filename | lamanhoang-vid3_tr3.pdf |
Full text | Life in America Can you describe for us a little bit of what Vietnamese culture here is like in Orange County? Vietnamese culture over here, we have a lot of, we celebrate a lot of [pause]. So Vietnamese culture over here, they try to do whatever they have in Vietnam. One of them, like Tet festival. Like in Vietnam they have a lot of accidents when we do the bonfire. So in Vietnam we don’t but like ten years ago we have it and now they banned it. But over here in America we still have it. So the tradition we’re still keeping. Are there any other Vietnamese holidays that you know you guys celebrate or there’s a big celebration in Orange County for? On the same day, on the thirty – after the war end, over here they do the memorial, things like that. But in Vietnam they celebrate it. Have you traveled to other cities within the United States and noticed a strong Vietnamese culture in other cities? I traveled to Louisiana, Dallas and I think only in Orange County, California the people here is more firm. Have you ever talked to people in those cities about your past or about Vietnam? If I try to talk something then they kind of misunderstand because the people, the way thinking different so I rarely talk about it. Is for you, having a strong Vietnamese culture something that is important to where you live or is it something that why you like living in Orange County is because of the Vietnamese culture here? Because actually my parents, they want to live with Vietnamese people. Like they want to get together with their group, that way when you come to a different country they want to be close to someone that they knows their culture so it is easier for them to adapt. What signs of Vietnamese culture are there in Orange County here where you live in terms of supermarkets or things like that? They’re all on the American side. Do you guys visit Vietnamese supermarkets here? Yeah, every weekend. We love the food so we go. And to restaurants around – ? Restaurants, yes. And how do they compare to over in Vietnam? Over here the food, when we eat, we feel more safely. In Vietnam they – we cannot tell what they put in there. In Vietnam the food – there are some people who just walk around with their food [gestures lugging food on shoulder] and the way they – if you don’t know what they’re doing, you have the food and you think it’s very tasty but you know what they do after you. Like for me, I go and eat the bowl of noodles and after I finish [gestures wiping bowl with a washcloth] and then get a new one for all the people but in Vietnam it’s normal but here you do the cleaning. Is there anything in Vietnam that you wish was in the United States that you don’t have? About friends: over here most people – they are so needy so if you want to get together to do something it’s very hard; you have to make an appointment like next week or so. In Vietnam we just call them on the phone. Is there anything in the United States that you think would be good in Vietnam? A lot of things. What are some of those things? First is the education. Over here you have a lot of – more opportunities to be successful if you want to be successful when you go to college and you know whatever you choose and you try your best you get a chance to get it. In Vietnam you have to know somebody to get in. Even if you have no education but you know somebody, they put you in. Are there any other things besides education? The traffic. In Vietnam, people – they kind of know where they want to go and they go wherever they want. Over here we have to follow the rules. And in Vietnam, sometimes when you have problems with the police you can pay the police to get out of the problem and you don’t have to pay for insurance, nothing. You buy a motorcycle, you buy a car and -that’s it. Over here when you get a car you have to pay for insurance so when anything happens then the company takes over. |
Archival file | Volume3/lamanhoang-vid3_tr3.pdf |