00:00:01.770 - 00:00:20.840

Oh god. Okay. So I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your childhood, things like that, first. Is that all right?

00:00:20.840 - 00:00:34.770

Okay. Yeah, sure. Sure. Okay. So…just a few questions about like your parents, like what were their occupations, like and did you have any sibling...

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do you have any siblings? Yeah, I have a younger sister and she also born in Vietnam. Cho Lon, Vietnam, which is adjacent to Saigon, the capital of Vietnam.

00:00:53.350 - 00:01:07.300

But not directly in the city itself? Or... It’s close to the capital... It’s... Cho Lon is a Chinese district, a business district. And then so they just...

00:01:09.380 - 00:01:19.660

And whenever they had a Chinese New Year, they—the Vietnamese people just go to the... to the... Cho Lon, like the downtown, the Chinatown, and they can get the New Year’s supplies.

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They also mix Vietnamese and Chinese people, they all together, but in Cho Lon, most of the Chinese people stay there. Their business, like the business center. So was the business like...

00:01:32.900 - 00:01:44.640

just between Chinese people, or was it just businesses run primarily by Chinese people, but Vietnamese people... Yeah, Vietnamese people, too.

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And most of them, the people from Indochina people they concentrate on the... the capital... near the capital... Cho Lon and... they do their...

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they run the business. Most of the banks, laundry house, and restaurants, Chinese restaurants, newspapers...

00:02:08.900 - 00:02:23.090

So was it like a little community? Yeah, community. Chinese community right there. And whenever, there’s a festival and lion dance and New Year, and then the Vietnamese people, they came to look

00:02:23.090 - 00:02:32.960

at the Chinese festivals. They almost... the... festivals and holidays, they are almost the same. Vietnamese and Chinese, they’re all...

00:02:33.870 - 00:02:45.270

almost the same. And I was... I was... born in Vietnam. In Cho Lon? In Cho Lon, Vietnam.

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And... My grandma... was from Mainland China. They moved to North Vietnam, from North Vietnam, to South Vietnam and she raised me up and my mom went to Laos...

00:03:01.650 - 00:03:13.670

Vientiane, Laos and worked as a... doing as a... housework for like businesspeople and take care of the kids and then brought the

00:03:13.670 - 00:03:21.120

kids to school or something. Housework over there. So wait, your mom was in Laos? In Laos, Vientiane.

00:03:21.300 - 00:03:31.720

It’s the capital, Vientiane, Laos. So, she wasn’t in Vietnam? Before in Vietnam, and then she moved to Laos. Oh, okay. Yeah, she moved to Laos.

00:03:31.720 - 00:03:47.380

She worked for job opportunities over there and—more work for the... the housework. A lot of the people, they’re shorthanded, and then they... She was recommended by a friend of hers and go to...

00:03:47.460 - 00:03:57.080

that’s why she get to... Laos. So, this was during your childhood. Yeah, my childhood. I was born, my... my dad was...

00:03:57.750 - 00:04:09.280

passed away, when I was still in my mom’s womb. I... I haven’t met my father, just look at the picture. I... It’s... father...

00:04:09.590 - 00:04:23.680

just like that, because... I was still in the... I was still in the womb, and I don’t know. And he passed away in Vietnam, in Cho Lon, Vietnam. And then, my mom moved

00:04:25.770 - 00:04:40.770

to Laos and they sent the money, because my grandma take care of me. Take care of me, and she sent the money back to Vietnam. Back to Vietnam. That must’ve been hard.

00:04:40.930 - 00:04:53.480

Raised my… brother, me, and my sister. Three. But your sister was born in Vietnam, too. Yeah, in Vietnam, too. Your younger sister? The younger sister...

00:04:53.530 - 00:05:03.790

she’s... So she came... she had come back? She came back. Finally, she—when I was settled down in United States, I sponsored

00:05:05.190 - 00:05:16.480

my grandma and my sister from Vietnam. I sponsored back to the States. To come to the United States, yeah. Back to the United States. Because they had the relationship...

00:05:17.300 - 00:05:27.440

I sponsored— So your grandmother came to the United States. My grandmother... United States... and she passed away also in the United States, too. Oh... Okay.

00:05:31.930 - 00:05:44.370

And... that time only she raised me and... I got no... my parents... far away, if I want to be... eh...

00:05:45.600 - 00:05:54.450

whatever you don’t ... if you don’t want to... didn’t want to study, it’s... up to you. My... my... grandmother would say all you got is stay in school.

00:05:54.940 - 00:06:05.110

You have to stay in school. So, I went to the Chinese school. There’s my child... my... my childhood, right there. My grandmom said to... Okay... So, this was back in Vietnam?

00:06:05.500 - 00:06:19.870

Yeah, back in Vietnam. I was born over there and because of the Vietnam War... I ... I haven't experienced that kind of war, because they need the... in the city... there was

00:06:19.870 - 00:06:35.070

seldom... really had the chance to go to the countryside. I remember when I was a little... around child, thirteen years old, I went to Mỹ Tho... it’s a province adjacent, around

00:06:35.160 - 00:06:49.110

fifteen miles or so to Saigon. It’s close. And then ’68, the all out attack. Oh. It’s the Tet Offensive.

00:06:49.160 - 00:06:57.170

They called it the Tet Offensive. On the city. Yes, on the city. During the Chinese New Year. Everybody went to...

00:06:59.200 - 00:07:11.050

went home and have a celebration and put the guns and all kinds of weapons, put, and have a New Year’s celebration and then attack, sudden attack. All the provinces. The big... Saigon,

00:07:13.030 - 00:07:23.580

Hue, something like that. Big provinces, all one time. That’s scary. Did you like... did you face like any kind of like combat situation?

00:07:24.570 - 00:07:38.460

Our—our first experience, I went to the Mỹ Tho Province. Oh, that was your first experience? The first night... they attacked with the rockets, the Soviets made rockets guns, came down the theater. New Year, I was...

00:07:38.760 - 00:07:52.450

a lot of people went to the theater. I helping my uncle. My uncle was running a Chinese theater in Mỹ Tho province and that time

00:07:52.450 - 00:08:06.240

around one o’clock, and then the rockets... like hit the, some the barracks, somewhere, from outside the country, hit the Mỹ Tho province get the barracks.

00:08:07.570 - 00:08:18.080

And then my uncle said where... get downstairs. Two story, the theater, up and down, and all light up... and down, so dark, no...

00:08:18.080 - 00:08:30.730

no... no light. Oh. Like, your heart... came out... I haven’t experienced the... you live in the city long, long time.

00:08:30.730 - 00:08:41.260

Suddenly, the B-52, the long, long rocket from Soviet, made, hit you... and then you just... oh, very scary. You’re thinking...

00:08:43.230 - 00:08:54.280

you might... when it hit you, you just... passed... you just say goodbye, that’s it. You don’t know, because, so dark, you don’t... You don’t know whether you’re dead or alive, or what’s happening!

00:08:54.280 - 00:08:59.990

Yeah, just shaking, you know. The... the... the rockets don’t hit the theater... you know, you’re just thinking about that.

00:09:01.560 - 00:09:09.950

Complete darkness, and then my... uncle... tomorrow you gotta go back to Saigon. More safe, big city. Don’t stay here and

00:09:09.950 - 00:09:20.060

tomorrow... Where is this? Block, they cut off between Saigon and Mỹ Tho province. So I get stuck. I spend almost... So you had to stay...

00:09:20.370 - 00:09:34.420

They cut off water. Oh. They got to ration water. They cut... they hit a lot of spaces. They hit the barracks. They hit the water main, the storage chain.

00:09:34.770 - 00:09:49.720

So there wasn’t any like fresh water or... And then the refugees came and my uncle opened the door and let the refugees inside the theater, cooking inside over there. For temporary, because the countryside they

00:09:49.720 - 00:09:59.600

have some... They had nowhere to go. They had nowhere to go, no stadium, no nothing. The theater opened—forget about the movie, just let everybody... came... And you want to be around other people...

00:10:00.550 - 00:10:10.320

Yeah, around other people. I can see... oh... they were cooking. I remember they were cooking on the side of the theater. Adjacent to the hallway or something, you can

00:10:10.540 - 00:10:17.420

see. A lot... How old were you then? I was… I think I was... around... fourteen... something.

00:10:18.070 - 00:10:37.060

Fourteen. That’s scary. And your brother, you have an older brother, right? Yeah, I have an older brother, too. Was he in any way like involved in the war?

00:10:37.580 - 00:10:49.360

Was any of your relatives like involved in the war? Not really... but, because, because he went to school, he had the defer-, deferment. Okay.

00:10:51.010 - 00:11:07.070

He had the deferment and only, only the... we only had the, she had—he had the deferment and then... I had not... I had not the age of the conscription, the age,

00:11:07.960 - 00:11:23.570

not yet. So that’s really lucky. That was... my childhood like that. That’s really scary. Oh. And that’s...

00:11:24.710 - 00:11:35.890

especially... look at the helicopter in... down in the capital, in Saigon. Shook around the world. What kind of world is that?

00:11:35.890 - 00:11:45.170

It’s right in the capital. Right on the street. The U.S. Embassy next. Oh... you know they have the make...

00:11:45.170 - 00:11:55.800

like the impression... oh, what kind of world. You have a helicopter right on the street, you know. They just landed right on the street?

00:11:56.300 - 00:12:07.160

They just landing... nowhere to land, landing right on the street. Oh it was because... What helicopter... Because they want to get the refugees out.

00:12:08.150 - 00:12:20.910

They all... Oh, okay. So they were evacuating at that point. Evacuating... So you did eventually make it back to Saigon? To home? Yeah, home, eventually. Yeah Yeah, and at that point they were evacuating people?

00:12:21.380 - 00:12:31.070

Like the United States? The embassy too. Oh they embassy, because... They had personnel over there. Adjacent, they have the office over there they got to

00:12:31.590 - 00:12:47.940

go together. One time, the Marine get all the people. So when they were evacuating people it was just primarily like... American people in Vietnam? Yeah and the people work with the United

00:12:48.840 - 00:12:56.760

States. Teachers... Vietnamese people they teach English, too. They have the... they have the personnel...

00:12:57.700 - 00:13:07.910

work the IBM, they work for the United States. They have an office over there, so they get their family out too. They have a first priority go to the embassy, for evacuation.

00:13:08.380 - 00:13:16.670

Okay so that was the... point of departure. Departure... any… that’s the first priority to... who worked with the United States

00:13:16.670 - 00:13:31.830

and then they get the first choice. They can go to the embassy, first. They get relatives... get married, personnel or something, and Vietnamese wife or something, they had the first priority to go to the U.S.

00:13:31.830 - 00:13:44.370

embassy, too. What were the options for other people then... do you know? The other people... they got to... by sea, or boat, or something. They may went to Cambodia.

00:13:46.300 - 00:14:00.610

But the quickest way is the helicopter, get out... get out of the city. So long as they get out of the city, they have the U.S. carrier. They can pick it up.

00:14:00.610 - 00:14:12.860

Bay out of... that’s the faster way to get out of the city. What was your family doing at this point? I imagine there must have been a lot of

00:14:12.860 - 00:14:27.110

panic... Was everybody just trying to leave? They tried to leave, but we stayed, because we don’t have any connections. They must have the captain, or colonel, or something. They must have connections. They go

00:14:27.110 - 00:14:40.070

first. Oh okay. But do you think this was because your family was Chinese, and wasn’t too involved with was happening in Vietnam? Were you like...

00:14:40.880 - 00:14:50.360

was the war situation just kind of separate from...? Everybody go to, the certain age... of a... conscription...

00:14:50.360 - 00:15:01.390

they got to go. They need our people. Maybe younger... seventeen years old... they go to upfront. Because of lack of

00:15:01.390 - 00:15:13.030

people. So... when they’re of the group they gotta go. That time, fifteen, seventeen... I was at... nighttime...

00:15:14.200 - 00:15:26.330

I was patrolling my... your district, your area. Like nighttime, one or two o’clock, you need to… sit in the...

00:15:26.330 - 00:15:37.440

like the... tower. You’re sitting over there. Look at the district. Any, any illegal actions

00:15:37.440 - 00:15:49.440

going on. And then you’re with the shotgun. United States gives the shotgun for you. Seventeen... maybe thirteen, fourteen, you use the shotgun and just look and then report.

00:15:50.250 - 00:16:00.540

You don’t need to go to the frontline. If you don’t want to go, then you pay some people money. They substitute for you. Oh, okay. But...

00:16:00.710 - 00:16:12.360

one... at nighttime, that time I was... go... I went as a... do my duty every single day. And you kept watch. I watched and did my duty and oh, one o’clock.

00:16:13.860 - 00:16:26.490

One to six. What day? Certain days and then you got to be there. But once the North Vietnamese army like invaded...

00:16:27.820 - 00:16:36.570

From North to South. Right. What did your family do? Like was it still safe to stay there? I got a chance.

00:16:36.570 - 00:16:50.340

I met with my mom in Vientiane, Laos. So you went to Laos. Yeah, Laos. Wait did you go with your brothers and your sisters then? And your uncle maybe? No, all by myself.

00:16:50.790 - 00:17:05.270

I went to Laos. My brother went to Cambodia. Went to Cambodia, a different... Cambodia... my aunt over there. Okay. But why did...

00:17:05.550 - 00:17:13.960

well where did your sister go? She stayed in Vietnam. She stayed in Vietnam. As soon as I settled down, I sponsor her from Vietnam.

00:17:14.400 - 00:17:26.880

And when they prefer to... I was the first one who came to the United States. But did your brother leave for Cambodia, like during the war? Yeah, she... I mean...

00:17:27.250 - 00:17:37.140

he... he left the... he left Cambodia and then went to Laos to meet my mom. I met him... to Laos. Met him in Laos, I met him.

00:17:38.090 - 00:17:55.220

Okay, how did get to there? I met him, and my mom get the... my mom had the connection. And then we go to...

00:17:56.700 - 00:18:11.290

we went to the family.... the boat. Yeah, the boat. Yeah, the boat, and then we went out there. You went to Laos, right?

00:18:11.290 - 00:18:23.180

Laos, yeah. By boat. And you met your mom there. Was she still working with the family in Laos, at that time? You said she worked with the...

00:18:23.180 - 00:18:33.970

Yeah, she worked with the house... as housekeeper or something. Well, what happened after you went to Laos? Did you stay there? With your brother? Yeah I stayed there...

00:18:34.370 - 00:18:48.230

yeah, with my brother. I stayed in Laos and then I came to the United States. I moved to the United States. Oh, okay. Immediately afterward, or...? I stayed two years in Laos.

00:18:48.280 - 00:18:57.560

Two years. And you went to the United States. Yeah, I’m the first one to come to the United States. Yeah and you were by yourself. Yeah, by myself. And then I...

00:19:00.160 - 00:19:12.420

I sponsored my mom and ... And you grandmother and sister right? No, not yet. My... my mom and my brother went to Thailand. The refugee camp.

00:19:13.250 - 00:19:24.740

I sponsored from the refugee camp. Okay, so your brother and your mother came to the United States. Yeah, because of me. They ask you, the embassy person asks you if you got any

00:19:25.290 - 00:19:37.280

personnel... any person, or something, and somewhere... Australia, Canada, or I have a brother down in the United States, and then I sponsored... Oh, okay. So...

00:19:37.280 - 00:19:49.260

From the refugee camp. They came here because you were able... because of your status like in the United States, they were able to come here.

00:19:49.260 - 00:20:03.250

Yeah, because I can... I can get the permanent residence. Red card. I mean green card. Because the Indochina, they’re

00:20:03.830 - 00:20:14.890

all foreign. But how were you able to the United States in the first place? I stayed two years in Laos. Yeah. Yeah.

00:20:15.480 - 00:20:25.180

But how were you able to come to the United... Like from Laos? Like how were you able to come to the United States?

00:20:25.370 - 00:20:34.850

Because I have the Chinese passport. Okay. I was born Chinese... I was born overseas. And... Chinese, Taiwan passport.

00:20:37.930 - 00:20:55.730

So what made you decide to go to the United States? Yeah I came to the United States, because my parents from Mainland China, Chinese. Even though, I was born in Vietnam, but I had the Chinese

00:20:57.830 - 00:21:10.540

passport. That’s why I came to the United States. Okay. As a student. Oh as a student. As a student...

00:21:10.540 - 00:21:22.340

came to the United States and, I think, there’s a... Toccoa, Georgia Oh, okay. The first place. The first place...

00:21:22.580 - 00:21:32.970

Yeah. ... you lived when you came here. When I came here. The first place. And after three years, I came to Texas. Since, right here. A long time.

00:21:33.610 - 00:21:42.520

You were only in Georgia for three years? For only for three years or so. But you were studying so... what part of your education is that?

00:21:43.480 - 00:22:01.400

I graduated Toccoa Falls High School. And I study one, one and half years in college and then I came to Texas. Oh okay. So, actually I wanted to know

00:22:02.040 - 00:22:10.260

why did you come to Georgia, and Togowa? Is that the name? Yeah, Toccoa. Yeah because it was a Christian school. They have a connection from

00:22:10.540 - 00:22:18.170

Georgia. The pastor. In Vietnam? Or Laos? In Laos. The Chinese Christian church. They had some connection.

00:22:19.430 - 00:22:29.890

It’s a Christian school. So the pastor, every couple of years, they visit Laos. Chinese church. And then he... the principal know...

00:22:30.790 - 00:22:39.390

I think the principal knew my pastor. Oh okay! So you were a part of the church Connection. Some... Yeah, part of... a member. How about you?

00:22:39.540 - 00:22:50.620

Georgia? There’s a Christian school. Yeah, it’s a good school. Something like that. They send any Christian member. You want to go to overseas for further study or something?

00:22:50.620 - 00:22:59.630

And because of that connection. Okay. So you applied to... I applied to Toccoa Falls High.

00:23:00.720 - 00:23:14.610

Over there, Georgia. How like... how did you adjust to life there, I guess? Did you think it was easier

00:23:14.650 - 00:23:22.760

because of the connections? Or like... What was your life in school like? First... because...

00:23:22.880 - 00:23:31.650

language... I... the language... I have the... I have the language problem, when I came to the United States.

00:23:34.130 - 00:23:48.240

Did you know English before you came? A little bit. Like the... number ten thousand means, in Vietnamese, means no good. Number one is good. Those, like the G.

00:23:48.240 - 00:24:00.860

I., they use a lot. If they say, no sweat. No sweat... Oh, just like the idiomatic expressions. The G. I. s say, ‘No sweat.’ I look at the dictionary and no sweat is persp—sweat. But it had a different meaning. Yeah.

00:24:01.840 - 00:24:19.960

So I learned something like that. So long as I get used to the life. The... daily life in the United States, I adjust real well...

00:24:20.400 - 00:24:36.820

no problem. Real fast. Okay. Language was, that was one of the... biggest issues. Yeah. Language was a great barriers to me and... It’s... I think it’s the most important thing, like you need to

00:24:39.240 - 00:24:49.070

communicate. But yeah. I was wondering, who were you living with at that point? Were you living by yourself? In the dormitory. I stayed in a dormitory.

00:24:49.070 - 00:25:01.400

And... So it was kind of like a... Summertime, I work with the cafeteria. Pots and pans. And serve the... after lunch. And dinner, breakfast.

00:25:01.550 - 00:25:17.820

And then I clean up the trays, the pots and pans, kind of... as a group. I have a quick question, when did I start? At eleven. Okay, at eleven?

00:25:17.820 - 00:25:30.680

Okay. So you worked in the cafeteria at the school. Yeah at the school. And then because they cut off... no embassy, they cut off the financial aid. Financial help back home...

00:25:31.720 - 00:25:48.640

they don’t so... I first get the permit. I can work. It’s the number one problem in the United States; you know so they give you the permit, you can work outside school or inside school or something. Okay. So wait, you had a prob...

00:25:49.040 - 00:25:55.810

like when you first came to America, you didn’t have a permit to work? No, no. No permit to work. Just work in the campus.

00:25:55.870 - 00:26:11.720

On campus only. On the campus at school. So long the fall of Saigon and then they give out the permit right away. Because they know they cut off the remittance from back home. They cut off. So you need the

00:26:11.720 - 00:26:22.660

permit to work outside of the school. Something like that. Okay. So you didn’t have that sort of like... I wouldn’t call it a privilege...

00:26:23.020 - 00:26:33.250

I don’t know. Never mind. Moving on. Resource. Resource. Yes. Because it’s ... refugee status. Yeah. So... They have the permit.

00:26:33.470 - 00:26:50.790

They let you work outside the school. So let’s... How long were you at the school? Georgia? Around two and a half years. Oh okay. And then you graduated, and then you attended college.

00:26:50.790 - 00:27:03.840

College. One and a half years or so. In Georgia? In Georgia. What did you study? They had the first year. The general. Just the Christian bible

00:27:03.840 - 00:27:12.940

study, some New Testament, Old Testaments. That’s generally. Courses. Were there any other refugees there?

00:27:12.940 - 00:27:23.510

Refugees from Cambodia. Yeah, there were two. Oh, there were refugees from Cambodia. They were sponsored. The pastor sponsored some refugees from Cambodia, some

00:27:23.510 - 00:27:33.580

from Vietnam, the whole family. Because he was a pastor in Vietnam. So the school sponsored the whole family. They’re first priority. The whole family.

00:27:34.580 - 00:27:51.490

It was the... international church in Vietnam, he’s the pastor. Okay. And I met the refugee family from Cambodia. So... did you ever

00:27:52.290 - 00:28:00.770

feel lonely? Yeah, at that time. I was kind of all by myself. In the dormitory, and then... I’m glad to have some...

00:28:01.900 - 00:28:10.250

to the... have someone in the area. They came from Cambodia, from Laos. You get somebody to talk to. So another thing...

00:28:10.250 - 00:28:20.610

I want to do... the language. Study real hard, the... I wanted to communicate with American people more. I want to study more.

00:28:21.350 - 00:28:35.510

So when you were in classes, did you meet some more American people? When you were in classes? Yeah, they had the tutoring. The retirees from the school. The retirees. Because

00:28:35.510 - 00:28:48.760

the... the refugees, most of them, they have the English problem. They have afterschool. They have one hour tutoring for those... the retirees. The teachers, they retired.

00:28:49.300 - 00:28:57.690

They live adjacent to the campus. They have a house over there. And then afterschool, they one hour and then went to the...

00:28:57.690 - 00:29:07.710

their home for... for the tutoring or something. And the Cambodian family. You were able to communicate with them? Spoke the same language?

00:29:07.760 - 00:29:16.760

Language. Language, yeah. Vietnamese, or... It’s okay. Chinese... They didn’t speak... Chinese.

00:29:17.650 - 00:29:33.050

But Vietnamese, I can... communicate with them. So you knew Vietnamese and Chinese. Yeah, Vietnamese and Chinese. Okay. And so, after you attended maybe a year of university, you decided

00:29:33.630 - 00:29:40.500

to move to Texas? Yeah, I decided to move to Texas. More have... opportunities. I can get jobs. I have

00:29:41.360 - 00:29:51.880

the family members. I mean the... the church members here in Houston. Oh, okay. So another church member connection. Connection. Another connection.

00:29:51.940 - 00:30:02.720

So that’s how you found out about Texas and some of the opportunities that they had here. Yeah, I have connections here. The church members from ... they attend... Laos, the

00:30:02.780 - 00:30:13.610

Christian church in Laos. And they move to Houston, Texas. And then they connect the... the connection and the Christian school in Georgia, Atlanta, Toccoa Falls

00:30:14.430 - 00:30:30.220

and then they recommend me to come here. More opportunities. I came down to Texas. It’s a... one of the church members in Laos. So, when you moved to Texas, you moved directly to

00:30:30.270 - 00:30:41.520

Houston? Yeah, directly to Houston. More city... big city... more job opportunities. I worked in the Galleria One.

00:30:43.430 - 00:30:59.350

Galleria One as a busboy and the waiter over there. Okay. So when you first moved to Houston, who were you living with? Or, did you

00:30:59.400 - 00:31:07.850

stay connected with the church? The church member connection over there. I stay in the apartment. The same apartment.

00:31:07.850 - 00:31:18.240

Oh okay so in the same apartment complex. Complex. I just... a space. The living room. And stayed the...

00:31:19.270 - 00:31:31.680

Yeah you can keep talking. I’m just gonna to try to... And over there... and so... short period of time, maybe six months and then I got

00:31:31.680 - 00:31:42.360

the... We can just talk over it. ... and then I get the apartment myself after that. First when I came to Texas, I stayed with them. With...

00:31:42.540 - 00:31:50.930

Okay. Because of the church connection, I stayed with them. And they were already kind of established here? They had a job? Yeah they... because they...

00:31:51.100 - 00:32:01.190

their son... working in the Galleria. As a bartender. Okay so... So they... they recommend me go to the Galleria, to work at the restaurant.

00:32:02.210 - 00:32:12.230

Okay. What kind of restaurant was this? Do you remember the name or... Galleria One or something like that. Galleria One. The top, the top, the top floor.

00:32:13.230 - 00:32:21.700

They’re over there. You can... people... when they eat they look at the scenery or something. The top floor. Galleria One.

00:32:22.530 - 00:32:38.360

It’s a... What was that like? Did you like your job? Yeah, I like my jobs. And then after that I went to the hot dog store, in the skating rink. Skating rink. Oh okay.

00:32:38.360 - 00:32:48.580

And this was in the Galleria, also. Galleria. The Galleria area. After that I just hurry up and ran down to the... Oh so you had two jobs at that time. Yeah, two jobs at that time. Oh okay.

00:32:48.580 - 00:33:01.240

Yeah as a sell... selling hot dogs. It’s New York hot dogs or something... New York hot dogs, and the skating rink, and people get tired and they want a cup of soda or hot

00:33:01.240 - 00:33:13.880

dog or some... New York hotdog or some... Texan hot dog. That’s very convenient having both jobs in the same... building. Actually I wanted to ask you before, but...

00:33:15.270 - 00:33:32.930

Did you... before you came to America, and before the attack, like on your hometown, did you imagine coming to America at all? Like... That time I never thought that I would

00:33:33.120 - 00:33:42.040

be overseas, I was... thought always stuck in the Vietnam or something, in Cho Lon, Vietnam. After the communists, and...

00:33:42.940 - 00:33:52.260

my house in Vietnam, and then the government got it. Got all of them. That’s really sad. You can never get that back, I guess.

00:33:52.260 - 00:34:02.200

No, no I don’t think so. Because they have the... Because what... Because they have the right to, the government has the right to... Right.... After... It was an experience...

00:34:02.350 - 00:34:19.400

for like, a lot of people had that experience, I think. After—in South Vietnam, after the war ended. So did you have any expectations

00:34:19.840 - 00:34:31.490

about America at all? Like what did you expect coming here? When I first came here, I thought. Oh, United States is a great opportunity when you

00:34:31.490 - 00:34:44.540

work hard you can do what... more chances you can do what you want, to be, what you want to be. That’s what you like, desire. You work hard, you have responsibility.

00:34:44.540 - 00:34:58.330

You know American, to me, look like the individual. They work real, real, hard. Individualism or something like that. And then you work hard, you have responsibility, you don’t waste

00:34:58.330 - 00:35:13.580

a lot of money, you can save, you can make it out. You can get some, take some risk and do some business, you have more chances. That time... So...

00:35:14.760 - 00:35:27.110

That time working with Mrs. Baird. And also, after... after work I went to the flea market, too. Only two hours of sleeping.

00:35:28.720 - 00:35:41.750

Because Mrs. Baird, I work third shift, from ten to six in the morning. After that then I went to the flea market. I... with... grandpa... too. Yeah, it was with grandpa.

00:35:42.190 - 00:35:54.390

Yeah with grandpa too. And this is my mom’s father. Yeah because he was here at the time... Just so we can

00:35:54.640 - 00:36:07.670

get back into chronological order... I don’t know if this interview is a little bit confusing, but, so you were working in the Galleria and at some point you got your own apartment.

00:36:08.910 - 00:36:24.070

First I stay, the connection with my... church members. I stay around three or four months and then I get myself an apartment. But that’s a relatively short amount of time to adjust, you know?

00:36:24.550 - 00:36:34.430

So, did you feel like adjusting to life in Houston was a little bit easier? It was very easy to find a job and things like that?

00:36:34.430 - 00:36:45.900

Because of the connections inside the Galleria, and then I think when I came to here and then I got the job right away. And you were able to get your own apartment after about three or four months. Yeah three or four months.

00:36:47.190 - 00:36:58.440

And that time working two jobs, no bus. Too late. I was walking home. You walked home? From the Main, Holcombe, over there—they stop over there.

00:36:58.630 - 00:37:09.900

They don’t get to my apartment. I need to walk... a mile or so. Because too late... Oh... but that’s still... The bus stop only to Holcombe, Main Street, Holcombe over there.

00:37:09.900 - 00:37:21.130

From Holcombe, to work to the... Spanish Trail. Oh, okay so you were actually around the medical center area. Okay so you lived

00:37:21.130 - 00:37:32.910

over there. Yeah, the apartments over there. So I need to walk. Very dangerous at night sometime. One night I was walking... Yeah, that’s true... Walking... somebody throw the bottle, but the...

00:37:33.050 - 00:37:42.560

So fast. While you were walking? Oh while you were walking back? I was walking back to the apartment—walking back to the apartment back at night, the bus stop.

00:37:42.560 - 00:37:55.150

Only... the last section over there and then I need to... I need to get off and walk to the apartment. And then the car somebody, they... They threw a bottle out... Didn’t like me or something, they threw a bottle with the

00:37:55.300 - 00:38:03.660

liquid. Boom! I see the color... on the floor. That means... inside is some painting... some bottle, they

00:38:03.660 - 00:38:09.440

That’s pretty scary. Very scary! Boom! Spread... all the bottle spread out. Look at it, the color over

00:38:09.440 - 00:38:19.340

there. That means that group of people drive real fast and then they... no people walking at night that late. Eleven or twelve o’clock. You, by yourself.

00:38:19.340 - 00:38:30.920

You walking by yourself and then maybe they don’t like you or something. Yeah you don’t know. I don’t know. By time I looked, it’s gone. It didn’t hit me. It missed me.

00:38:31.480 - 00:38:48.700

But so fast. Did you ever feel unsafe? Because you have to do it all the time, like, you didn’t have any other way of transportation. Only for the short while, and then I

00:38:49.440 - 00:38:57.440

get—then I got the job. The steakhouse close to my apartment. Oh okay. So you also worked... Yeah, walking distance. Yes steakhouse...

00:38:58.120 - 00:39:06.420

steakhouse close to the Astrodome. So I don’t need... So you don’t have to walk as far. Walk from the Galleria, oh... halfway over to the stop and then walk halfway

00:39:08.420 - 00:39:20.730

to our apartment. So it was a little bit safer. A little bit safer, walking distance. It was fifteen minutes or so. From the apartment to the steakhouse So, what other types of jobs

00:39:21.220 - 00:39:31.320

have you held like while you were in Houston? In Houston? Chinese restaurant waitress... and Galleria restaurant. And the...

00:39:32.290 - 00:39:44.660

the offshore drilling, the drill bit, the tubing, they all go inside, offshore drilling. Making the NC, the NC operator. They automatically control the machine.

00:39:45.040 - 00:39:58.630

You use computer to cut the tubing. That’s for offshore drilling inside. And then the gadget, the drilling bit gadget. So you were making parts.

00:39:58.630 - 00:40:06.380

Making parts, the tubing parts of the... And you operated like a machine. Yeah a machine. The computer machine... they use... cut the drill bit.

00:40:06.440 - 00:40:19.520

They have... Yeah. I was just wondering about how long did you hold these jobs? Until the Texas... the oil bust.

00:40:20.410 - 00:40:30.780

Oh, oh! I don’t know what year that was. Could you tell me about that? ... Um. Do you remember? If you don’t remember... I was laid off.

00:40:31.120 - 00:40:40.840

I forgot the... laid off... yeah... because... Because there was an oil bust. Oil bust, oh! Everything related to the oil...

00:40:41.280 - 00:40:51.390

equipment... the oil... products. Pink slip, pink slip. Oh, that’s awful. And how I know just... Yeah... And then I knew my time was up.

00:40:52.120 - 00:41:02.350

I mean did you expect anything like that to happen? It’s... I thought maybe I got a good job. I hadn’t... oh, it’s ... NC operator... it’s a good

00:41:02.620 - 00:41:14.610

paying job. Suddenly, the oil bust... And then all of a sudden... yeah. So... they pay me a pink slip... okay... and then I... I work for Mrs.

00:41:14.610 - 00:41:26.700

Baird the longest, for fifteen years. Mrs. Baird. More stable you know. Stable... That’s true. But then you think that in Houston anything having to do with oil would

00:41:26.750 - 00:41:35.720

be stable, but... Yeah, sudden... not stable, made good paying job and... you hardly can tell. And then I get Mrs. Baird because of my brother’s connection.

00:41:36.820 - 00:41:49.660

Oh okay. So he was in the United States at this point. Yeah, in the United States. So when you sponsored your grandmother and your sister, they came to Houston?

00:41:49.720 - 00:42:02.150

I sponsored my brother and my mom from the refugee camp first. They came to the United States first. Later on, I sponsored my sister and my grandmom from Vietnam.

00:42:03.620 - 00:42:11.600

And were they... I’m just wondering. Were they safe there? Were they fine? Were they taken care of? Yeah we...

00:42:12.640 - 00:42:20.830

my mom sent money back to Vietnam. Oh okay. Because you’re poor, they didn’t... they don’t want to... they get out... they do...

00:42:21.010 - 00:42:31.080

you know the poor people you just... you stay over there. You don’t make any noise. You don’t make... It's... you are okay. If not, you’re not... you’re not rich.

00:42:32.050 - 00:42:40.650

You’re not. They’re just common people, you know, just... they don’t bother you. Just ... So your brother and your mom came to Houston.

00:42:41.420 - 00:42:49.060

Yeah. Came to Houston. From... The refugee camp... In Thailand... In Thailand. I sponsor because you get one relative in United States.

00:42:49.580 - 00:42:59.050

They will ask you, for the interview. You get any family members in Australia, Canada? Oh, I got a younger brother..., United States.

00:43:00.250 - 00:43:08.000

Toccoa Falls, Georgia. Okay so... did they go to Georgia then? Did they come live with you was what I was

00:43:08.000 - 00:43:19.110

wondering. Yeah, I... spon... That time I was... in Houston. In Houston. In Houston. And then I sponsored them back in Houston. They all came to Houston. So from Laos, they went to a refugee camp in Thailand.

00:43:19.110 - 00:43:28.320

A refugee camp in Thailand, Ubon, Thailand. From Thailand, I sponsor. Okay. And how long were they over there? Two years, for interview.

00:43:28.320 - 00:43:43.080

Two years. Okay, so it took them that long for them to get clearance into America. Yeah, clearance, processing, you know, all kinds of paperwork and... so every month you got to look at the bulletin board, whether your name’s

00:43:44.670 - 00:43:52.290

... Oh, is it my interview time yet? You... oh, not yet? You get refugee came... my brother... taught

00:43:52.290 - 00:44:10.220

people English, you make some, a little bit of money. Oh, next, next one interview or something. Because you’re there for two years, you know, so... but like at that point, you had

00:44:10.740 - 00:44:22.210

your apartment, and they came to live with you? Yeah, I had the apartment. You already sort of settled in Houston. In Houston first. I have settled down in apartment and sponsored them.

00:44:22.560 - 00:44:34.430

The apartment first. Okay. And they came and lived with you. Did you feel... like... did you like having

00:44:34.500 - 00:44:43.020

your family around? Did you feel maybe less lonely? Yeah, when they come and... I have somebody...

00:44:44.330 - 00:44:55.490

and taking good care of and go to Chinatown together. And get some supplies and you know, somebody cooking for you and you work. I feel a little bit better than all by myself.

00:44:57.070 - 00:45:07.780

When first, I was by myself in Houston. So... and that time I get a car. And went to Chinatown, over there.

00:45:07.780 - 00:45:19.100

Not Southwest, in Main. Still in Downtown. Downtown, that time. They had a Chinese theater over there. Okay. Did you go to the Chinese theater with your

00:45:21.120 - 00:45:31.480

family? Long... Once in a while. Long time. And most them, they work. We’re working. And my mom working at a bakery and my brother working at Mrs.

00:45:31.480 - 00:45:43.960

Baird and... Oh, your brother was working in Ms. Baird’s. Ms. Baird’s. So, did you and your brother work there…at the same

00:45:45.050 - 00:45:53.220

time? Yeah, same time. Same department. Sanitation department. Okay, that’s nice. Sanitation department. In ten years, sanitation, and five years in shipping.

00:45:54.070 - 00:46:05.460

I working at night shipping department. At night and they distribute, and checking and the in... the order inventory and make sure it’s the... right, and go to the...

00:46:05.860 - 00:46:19.650

Kroger, Randall’s. Go to the big truck, inside the big truck. So just shipping, like around Houston, like to... Houston warehouse. Houston, sometimes Beaumont, sometimes the different

00:46:19.650 - 00:46:29.670

warehouse, the location different. But from different warehouse locations to like different distributors. Different warehouse locations. They distribute. They have, Walmart over there, they

00:46:29.670 - 00:46:36.970

have the Randall’s somewhere. Conroe, they have Condo... 18-wheelers distribute. Go to Condo warehouse.

00:46:38.070 - 00:46:47.400

You were kind of in charge of that. In charge of that. Shipping. I moved to shipping. And you had... you were working in Ms.

00:46:47.440 - 00:46:59.170

Baird’s for fifteen years? Yeah, before I quit... the help. I help my... help mommy. Say don’t... because I stop,

00:46:59.450 - 00:47:15.290

I can do the flea market and help mommy. Okay. Running the furniture store. And so I quit. Actually at what point did you get married?

00:47:15.990 - 00:47:31.600

Like... when did you get married? Get married... Through the... relatives. Mom’s relative, recommend me. Went to Guangzhou and get married.

00:47:31.600 - 00:47:42.360

And got married around... twenty... more than twenty... twenty two... twenty years or so...

00:47:42.360 - 00:47:56.220

that’s it , twenty years ago, I think. Twenty years ago? Okay, and this was before you had the Ms. Baird’s job, or... Twenty years ago.

00:47:56.680 - 00:48:07.060

That time I was working and... You were working at his restaurant, right? Restaurant, yeah. Chinese restaurant. Were there a lot of Chinese people there?

00:48:08.300 - 00:48:15.350

Working with you? Yeah, a lot. Because, dim sum. Ooh a lot of Chinese people working over there. I was doing the dishes.

00:48:16.220 - 00:48:28.340

Helping my mom. Oh okay, so she worked there, too. So a lot of family connections with jobs. Jobs. And because the dim sum a lot of the small, small, small, things need to be cleaned.

00:48:29.460 - 00:48:38.760

So good. Yeah. Dim sum, oh a lot of Chinese people—a lot of washing. Sometimes the heavy stuff I help my mom and get to the dishwashing machine.

00:48:41.010 - 00:48:56.650

Yeah, that’s nice. I mean, what was that experience like? Was it different from holding other jobs, you know that... didn’t... where you were possibly, like...

00:48:59.300 - 00:49:06.680

one of very few Asians... or things like that? Was it easier to communicate? I mean... what was that

00:49:06.680 - 00:49:20.470

job experience like, like in comparison to other jobs that you’ve had in the United States? One job is...

00:49:20.620 - 00:49:40.130

the company making—was making the valve, the pumping valve. And over there I had difficulty communicating with the... with the supervisor or something. And because it’s a more, more detailed parts the

00:49:40.390 - 00:49:51.250

valve inside, they have some, some special name for that. If you say something wrong and they make the whole thing... when you put together, you may...

00:49:51.280 - 00:50:02.510

mess up. So those terminology, you need to know. Those valves... Mmm. So that was a little difficult to adapt to... Yeah, that time I had a hard time with that company.

00:50:03.460 - 00:50:17.620

They all American. They all... black, no Asians... black and... Mexican, Native... Indian... They are an American

00:50:17.620 - 00:50:31.970

company. There’s, I had a hard time to work with... first time... because I need to learn real quick those, special words for that. A lot of small parts. Were there any other immigrants there?

00:50:31.970 - 00:50:43.900

Or... No... all by myself. Only one. They have a Native though... with the ponytail. It’s... Indian. Native Indian. But they speak English pretty good.

00:50:45.180 - 00:50:55.650

They were born here... with the Indian. Eh, the... ponytail... ponytail... is the Native Indian.

00:50:56.790 - 00:51:09.920

That’s native. Mexican, they’re born here... they speak English. Latino. They speak English quite well. Were you lonely? Yeah, I’m the only one there.

00:51:11.090 - 00:51:18.950

The only foreigner here. To them, they say I’m a foreigner. They look at my face and then... not born here in the United States.

00:51:19.460 - 00:51:38.330

They can tell. The accent, they can tell. So I mean did that influence, like, how you looked at job opportunities in any way? Did you ever try to like, find work in Chinatown,

00:51:40.210 - 00:51:53.520

or like in a place where you felt maybe more comfortable speaking? I’m not sure if those are the right questions to ask. So long as I...

00:51:53.520 - 00:52:08.970

I have a proficiency in English. I like to work with American company. And... they are... the people who work over there, it’s just at ease with...

00:52:08.970 - 00:52:19.160

they were very funny. They don’t... they don’t work... even though a long time, with the long face... they’re smiling and joking with you. I like to work with that kind of environment,

00:52:19.760 - 00:52:30.070

see. The Chinese people, maybe in Chinatown, friend of mine they told me with long face and... an hour... maybe ten, ten hours...

00:52:30.970 - 00:52:44.210

hard to pass. Kind of boring... some... still look at the... It’s not a very fun place... They take a joke. An American company you work, yeah, overtime, they... still joking. They make your time pass real fast.

00:52:49.230 - 00:53:02.690

Mmm. Okay. So, so long as you don’t understand, you ask right away. They are willing, American people willing to show you. They show you. They know you’re a foreigner. They will tell you what it mean.

00:53:05.280 - 00:53:19.300

Catch twenty-two, I get stuck over there, and then they explain why you say catch twenty-two. Yeah, rock in a hard place and yeah, I understand. You know those... expressions, daily expressions, you learn.

00:53:19.300 - 00:53:28.860

You ask right away, they’re willing to show you. Because you show respect, I learn your language. See they... and vice versa.

00:53:28.860 - 00:53:41.240

You learn my language. You get a hard time right now, learn language with respect. They’re willing. I want to be with people willing to show you what you mean. So long you point out, I don’t understand right on the point, this point, what you

00:53:41.240 - 00:53:53.000

mean. They show you. So you felt relatively comfortable while adjusting to like... Yeah. To me. More adjusting.

00:53:54.390 - 00:54:04.660

Better than... Mom... better than... you know, I adjust... I like to talk. It’s my character, I do.

00:54:05.850 - 00:54:19.710

Socialize with people. To talk. Well that’s good. I’m pretty sure that very helpful, in... you know... learning to adjust

00:54:19.710 - 00:54:31.420

to new things, also. So... that’s really good. Okay. So... back to Ms.

00:54:31.850 - 00:54:42.070

Baird’s. You eventually quit the job, after... well, while you working at Ms. Baird’s you were also

00:54:42.160 - 00:54:52.160

working at a flea market and this was just a weekend endeavor? Or were you like working there... Oh, five days a week, too. Oh really! Oh, okay!

00:54:52.160 - 00:55:04.500

Tuesday and Wednesday off. The rest... With grandpa and five days... Tuesday and Wednesday I went to the... I went to get the supplies from the wholesale

00:55:05.270 - 00:55:20.370

dealer in Harwin. Okay. To sell in the flea market? In flea market. To sell the toys, artificial flowers, kid’s bicycles, and those, most of them is like that, the toys.

00:55:21.100 - 00:55:30.080

Concentrated on toys. So it was just kind of like gifts... and things like that. Just like... Like gifts. Like gift shop...

00:55:30.080 - 00:55:40.720

and toys, something... And toys... Yeah toys. For kids, those toys. Run by battery and all kind of... so that time I was

00:55:40.720 - 00:55:52.000

scared, if some accident and I’m gone, that’s it. I was... driving... Right, and you only get two hours of sleep. Two hours of sleep, couldn’t keep awake... They open at ten... from ten to eight.

00:55:52.640 - 00:56:03.060

Uh huh. After that, I need to hurry up and get back to work Ms. Baird’s. Oh, after you... At nine, ten o’clock! Rights. That’s true. So you just dropped Grandpa off...

00:56:03.880 - 00:56:13.890

and then just drive to Ms. Baird’s. Ms. Baird’s. Okay. Well that’s... That time I was save money over there... that time, save money.

00:56:13.930 - 00:56:24.450

Because you got no chance to spend your money. Just save money. You save money just because you don’t have any time to spend it!

00:56:25.280 - 00:56:39.830

Got no time! Well, what can you do with two hours? You can’t even sleep so... yeah. So you... how did you get into the flea market?

00:56:39.830 - 00:56:46.400

Like why did you... like... I mean not that I think that it wasn’t a good idea... but... Mommy got some connection.

00:56:46.980 - 00:57:02.080

Some connection from the egg roll factory. Mommy was working at the egg—the Chinese egg roll, and one of her friends recommend, got a connection. Oh, my relative want to sell,

00:57:03.690 - 00:57:17.660

to sell the flea market stand. The booth, the stand, unit, you want to buy? And you want to sell and my relative want to be

00:57:18.050 - 00:57:30.230

wholesale. You know they want to quit the retail. And that time and mommy took a chance. Okay. And you got a location. Got a location over there.

00:57:31.260 - 00:57:39.660

And how much over there? And the whole total how much? Two hundred thousand, give me two hundred thousand. For the whole thing. The whole unit. And then you pay the rent...

00:57:39.660 - 00:57:46.720

Oh, just to rent the... okay. Right rent the space. The space and then the... and then the material inside.

00:57:47.610 - 00:57:56.630

For how much... twenty thousand? And something like that. And then you pay the rent, the bill, you pay the rent every, every month.

00:57:57.860 - 00:58:09.880

So mommy got a connection from a friend at the egg roll, Chinese egg roll. She was working over there. So got the flea market first.

00:58:11.560 - 00:58:24.150

And then took another chance and get the place here. Two acres here. Before rent and the Kroger next door. Over there small two unit, and stay over there. The bakery and the old Kroger.

00:58:24.390 - 00:58:35.510

Yeah. And she moved. She bought the land here, she built... Got the contract, build the two acres. But what influenced...

00:58:35.720 - 00:58:51.750

then what influenced your decision to transfer from like, the flea market to selling furniture? Because that... That time, there’s no, no more... so, so...

00:58:52.760 - 00:59:06.110

hardship is, from point one to point B, is long distance. Waste a lot of time. And she decide to sell all the flea market stuff and move to here.

00:59:06.760 - 00:59:14.390

More concentrated to the old house. Oh okay, so distance , was a factor. Instead of the flea market, so far away. Need to drive.

00:59:14.480 - 00:59:26.320

So dangerous sometimes. Waste gas and time. Get over there. And she moved here. From there, and more space

00:59:26.360 - 00:59:35.640

and customers want to sit down on the sofa, so feel it. So you need more space. So you take the risk. You take another chance again.

00:59:36.140 - 00:59:47.480

You hit the... maybe you hit the pot. Maybe you don’t. Nobody know. You just take your chances get two acres here. Finally they built the... 249 highway here.

00:59:48.510 - 00:59:59.240

Okay, so before 249 didn’t exist. No, not that big. Oh, not that big. Not Tomball, not you got, traffic... oh, right now! Rush hour.

00:59:59.930 - 01:00:10.980

Many people... try to go home real fast. Long line. They pass here. When they try to... What were some of the changes you observed like in this area

01:00:12.590 - 01:00:20.830

then? Developing... They... they’re building a lot of freeway and Tomball areas. Much will be... a lot of traffic around here.

01:00:20.940 - 01:00:35.450

Because Wal-Mart is adjacent right there. That helps. Sometimes people walking from the nearby apartment, they walk to Wal-Mart and they can drop in here. Oh here there’s a furniture store, they just drop by here.

01:00:36.500 - 01:00:47.700

It helps for business. And Papa John’s open pretty soon and, and make your visibility higher. Because Papa John’s here and you know, it’s a center.

01:00:48.110 - 01:00:57.470

Yeah everything’s developing... Developing and then the people want... Yeah, and then the people come... So in life, you gotta take chances, nobody knows.

01:00:59.020 - 01:01:13.070

Maybe you make it, maybe you don’t. You don’t take it, you don’t make your first action, you get stuck like that. You got to take your first action. Also, I was actually wondering about...

01:01:15.030 - 01:01:25.510

what were some of the challenges that you faced opening your... first opening... like a business? Sort of thing... I think it’s very

01:01:25.510 - 01:01:41.260

different from, you know, just renting a space and just selling toys and things like that. Like what all went into like... basically creating your own furniture store?

01:01:41.740 - 01:01:52.570

Yeah, first you need to, you need to save some money. Another thing you need to build up a relationship with the bank. The bank can help you a lot.

01:01:52.710 - 01:02:07.590

You have good relationship, you pay the bill on time, and they—they have the credit line, build up and they help you. Later on, you can develop. And another thing, you got to have cheap

01:02:07.590 - 01:02:23.680

property around here and then you get a—you have a keen vision and something like that, and you look around you. And maybe develop, really develop in the future, and... first,

01:02:23.680 - 01:02:36.120

you need to save first. Second you need to have a... if the relative don’t have a lot of money, you need to go a good relationship with the bank. Build a good relationship with the bank.

01:02:36.400 - 01:02:45.700

It’s the most important. It helps you. So, connections are very important. Connections are very important with the personnel inside the bank. They look at the history.

01:02:45.700 - 01:03:01.420

You pay the bills right on time. Most of them, pay... you have good responsibility. They won’t grab the money and run and say goodbye, or something. They have... so you, they recommend you.

01:03:03.220 - 01:03:18.630

The bank and they trust you. And you start from there. But you, yourself, got to save some money first. So, one of my other

01:03:18.850 - 01:03:36.960

questions was, in America was there any point in time—your time here, that you ever felt, you know, like you didn’t belong or felt discriminated against or anything like that?

01:03:37.010 - 01:03:53.090

Were there any sort of challenges like that? I, to me, I think myself, United States, I... I feel the American people, they’re friendly. I don’t... I don’t feel any discrimination.

01:03:54.580 - 01:04:04.850

To me, I don’t feel. Only the first—first time I get to the United States, and because the job, the language problem, so I feel discriminated. Only the language barrier.

01:04:05.290 - 01:04:20.390

So long as the terms, I get the terminology right, and that will be no problem. When I came to here, and work in an American company and all kind of weird words, so long, and mess

01:04:20.390 - 01:04:31.740

me up. So long as I master that, and then no problem. I don’t feel any discrimination. I get along with them, with smiling face and no problem.

01:04:35.540 - 01:04:55.940

That’s good. You talked about, well it just seemed to me that the connections you had here in the United States were very important

01:04:57.060 - 01:05:10.550

to finding jobs and things like that, and getting settled. Do you still feel like you’ve like maintained those sort of connections? Like—

01:05:11.660 - 01:05:22.650

Yeah, I still feel like... in contact with the church people. Once I met them in Chinatown, say hello to them. I try to keep that, the tiny connection over there.

01:05:23.100 - 01:05:33.670

Because it help, it help, no matter you go around this world you have some connection. Especially the church people they are willing to help. So long as they work the problem.

01:05:35.140 - 01:05:54.100

Right. You all believe in God. They help. So long as you let them know, what the problem is. The pastor will recommend the church members to help you. That’s good. And so I keep close contact

01:05:54.610 - 01:06:08.190

with them. I still, even though, they, some stay in different places in Houston, I keep close contact with them. Are you still involved in that sort of community? I know the Chinese, over there.

01:06:08.190 - 01:06:21.780

When I retire, I will join the, the Chinese church in Houston. North Main. Big church. The Chinese church. Or I can go to different churches.

01:06:22.080 - 01:06:32.550

Japanese church, I want to learn Japanese. Laos. Or Korean church. I can learn some language from there. That’s a lot of diversity. Yeah, diversity.

01:06:35.980 - 01:06:49.500

Okay. That’s really good. I guess, just to wrap up... Are there any other sort of memories you’d like to share? My final thought, I would rather

01:06:50.220 - 01:07:02.310

stay in the United States than around the world. Really? Yeah, because United States, the last bastion of the free world. When you say something, and the world listens.

01:07:03.290 - 01:07:11.460

United States say something... just like that. That’s what they say, the old saying. They say oh, when they cough, they get, they get influenza

01:07:11.460 - 01:07:23.360

in South Asia, something, you know, that’s what they say. I mean... the future, whatever, the United States turn out, I will stay here. No matter you change.

01:07:25.120 - 01:07:31.780

Hardship or something, I’ll stay here. Because you go around the world, you see the same. The United States the last place of freedom here.

01:07:33.010 - 01:07:44.650

No matter go to Australia, New Zealand, the same. Same thing. United States gone, I go nowhere. Everybody gone. This is the last place. So

01:07:45.160 - 01:07:56.650

to me, my feeling. So this really feels like home... God really bless America. God really bless America, so... I stay here. I don’t go nowhere. This is my feeling.

01:07:57.890 - 01:08:10.920

No matter how, hardship, how think, how much tax I pay. I still save money, I can pay the tax. I will stay here. I save money to pay tax.

01:08:13.150 - 01:08:22.590

Okay. Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere in the world. Nowhere in the world like the United States. So this is your really home for you. This is my... my personal feeling.

01:08:22.730 - 01:08:33.540

It’s my... Well, that’s great. Actually, now I was just wondering have you ever been back to Vietnam, or to try to... I might in the future when I retire.

01:08:34.200 - 01:08:49.600

I will visit Cho Lon, Vietnam and… not, not at the present moment. Maybe work two more years I retire and really retire and then I... I will go back—I will go back to Vietnam.

01:08:50.280 - 01:09:04.970

And go back to China, go back first. If my wellbeing, still can, because the sea level so high. You know certain people can go over there, certain people cannot. I didn’t know that, yeah.

01:09:05.080 - 01:09:16.750

I need to exercise here. Something. Maybe seven wonders in the... seven wonders in the world. I visit. It’s the future, two more years, ‘til

01:09:18.180 - 01:09:28.720

you graduate, okay. I can go. I can go. Okay. It was nice

01:09:28.720 - 01:09:38.320

talking to you. It was nice talking to you today. Thank you. See you...