February 2009 Archives

                It was so awesome for the three Hmong students to come and share their stories with us.   I especially appreciated their presentation because it was fascinating for me to compare their stories to the stories of my Hmong friends back in Appleton.  It was exciting to hear what they remembered from their lives before coming to America and how their culture has affected the way that they and their families live in American culture.  I found it interesting that the two girls complained about how they were so sheltered by their families and hated having to stay home, and yet they want to raise their children in that culture so that they experience that same life.  On the other hand, the only male in the group, who in the Hmong culture would have more "power," was the one who claimed he would be most open to a change in the culture.  He was definitely the most charismatic of the group, and it seemed like he had to keep defending himself because he was outnumbered by the girls.

                We've now heard from several different generations in the Hmong culture, from the old to the young and the generations in between.  It's been so cool to hear all of the different perspectives and stories straight from the mouths of the people who experienced them.  The Latehomcomer and the Hmong pieces in the immigrant art convocation have helped to solidify all of the things we've learned so far.

                Hearing from the Hmong students made me homesick.  I began to miss my close Hmong friends in Appleton, who used to tell me some of their stories and would complain about how hard it is to be Hmong in the American culture.  All of the things we've talked about this semester have helped me understand what they go through a little better.  The next time I go home, I am going to have a different perspective of who they are because now I really know where they came from and how their culture has shaped them.

                I almost skipped the art convocation today to work on my New Testament paper that was due this afternoon.  But I told myself it would be a rewarding experience, and when I got to the Buetow, I was glad that I had worked hard to finish my paper early.  All of the art was so beautiful and so emotional.  It was cool to walk around and try to interpret each piece, but I loved when the artists explained to us what they meant for the artwork to convey.  I thought that it was really cool when Hend al-Mansour told us about her photographs.  To hear her talk of the blending of cultures in such a positive way was somewhat refreshing.

                I loved the painting called "Mekong Tears."  It made me think immediately of Kalia Yang and the story she told in The Latehomecomer about her family crossing the Mekong River.  The painting portrayed the sort of fear and anxiety that Kalia wrote about.  The painting helped me solidify the images in my mind and fit those ideas with the narrative.  Another piece that really stood out to me as it relates to our Hmong unit was "Passport to Freedom."  It was a photograph edited with some graphic design that depicted a Hmong man in the different stages of his life and the immigration process.  This piece caught and held my attention because of the eyes of the subject as a young man.  They were sad and strong, and they seemed to stare straight at you.  It made me think again about how someone like Professor Lee Pao Xiong felt when he was trying to balance two different cultures in their young adulthood.

                I think that this art exhibition opened my eyes to something new, but I haven't quite figured out what it is yet.  I mean, it was cool to see art from different immigrant cultures, but I think what I'm feeling is deeper than that.  I'll try and untangle this mess of new information over the next few days, and then maybe I'll have something more intelligent to say about it.  Maybe it's just that I'm "knowing" through aesthetics and just not recognizing it.  In any case, it's something more complicated than I'm used to dealing with, so please bear with me while I muddle through.

                I thought it was really wonderful of Mr. Long Yang and Ms. Choua Thao to come and talk to us about their immigration experiences.  They were both very articulate, and they seemed happy to share as much information with us as possible.  Mr. Yang gave us a good history lesson about the CIA war.  I was fascinated by his stories about the French paratroopers and his insight regarding the end of the war.  When he said that he was told that he could only bring his wife and children to America, I couldn't (and still can't) even imagine how terrible he must have felt.  Ms. Thao gave us a very vivid perspective of what life in America was like for her when she first came here.  I loved that she explained the meaning behind her name; I think that it is awesome that the Hmong people take so much pride in what their names mean.  I also liked that she stressed the ideas about having dreams and fighting for what you want.

                I thought that this was a good time to have these guest speakers.  Like Dr. Schuler said at the beginning of class, this was the generation that we had yet to hear from.  We had heard from the younger immigrants who had struggles growing up and making their parents proud in a new country, but it was nice to hear from the generation that already had families that they were responsible for.  It was probably even more difficult to watch their children grow up in a strange place and shed some aspects of the Hmong culture.

                Over the course of this Hmong-centered interdisciplinary study, I've come to be very thankful for the fact that I have never had to immerse myself in a completely different culture.  Sure, I've switched states or cities a few times, but I've never had to live outside the United States because my home was no longer safe for me.  I know that I am strong (like Choua!) and I would adapt, but I'm glad that right now I don't have to deal with that.  This unit has also really opened my eyes to some of the cultural difficulties that I might face if I ever end up doing mission work overseas, and that is a really good new perspective to have.

                I was so excited when Dr. Schuler sent us the email informing us that we would be meeting in the Center for Hmong studies on Monday night.  I'd never been in that particular building on campus, and I'd heard that it was filled with lots of cool stuff.   In addition, I knew that Professor Lee Pao Xiong would have many insightful things to say if he was anything like Kao Kalia Yang.  He didn't let me down.  I was captivated through his entire presentation.  I loved that he had so many personal experiences to share, and he was very excited to show us his birthplace in the village in Laos where the secret CIA base was located.  He was a passionate speaker, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him.  What is it about the Hmong people that makes them so easy to listen to?

                I think that so far, all of our materials on the Hmong people have complemented each other very nicely.  The Latehomecomer and our discussion with Yang gave us a poetic look at a tragic and difficult history.  Dr. Hillmer provided the political context of that history, and Professor Xiong helped to fill in all the gaps in between.  Gran Torino gave us a very vivid visual representation of the struggles that the Hmong people faced in the United States as well as the struggles of the racist Americans to learn to accept the newcomers.  I'm so thrilled that I am finally learning all of these things about the culture that surrounded me while I was growing up.  It's all starting to come together for me, and I think that the next time I go home to Appleton, I'll have a better understanding and appreciation of the Hmong families in my community.  I will probably even see some of my friends in a different life; I'll have more respect for them and for the culture that their parents have worked so hard to protect in this new country.

                I didn't realize that Gran Torino was about the Hmong culture until about two days before I went to see it.  I thought it was about Mexican immigrants...

                The movie itself was really good, and it was VERY emotionally moving.  We were in a small theatre, and it was kind of cool to be so close to all the other members of the audience and get a feel for their reactions to the events in the movie.  In my opinion, Clint Eastwood gave a great performance.  At first, I didn't know whether or not to be offended by all of his racist comments.  But everyone in the theatre was laughing, and then I had to figure out if THAT offended me.  But eventually, I managed to just relax and appreciate the situation.  I understood that there are people who really have the views that Walt expressed about other cultures.  And there are also people who, like Walt, are finally able to see past the differences between groups and recognize that people are just PEOPLE.  Learning from the audience's reactions was almost as valuable as learning from the movie itself.  It helped me relax and enjoy the humor and irony of the movie as well as be fully focused on the intense moments.

                Obviously, this movie fit in very well with everything Yang said to us in class and everything we read in her book.  I'm sure that the teens in the movie experienced many of the same cultural struggles in the United States that Yang described.  Just as Yang had a tough time with balancing between what her friends wanted from her and what her parents needed from her, Thou especially seemed to have a difficult time figuring out where he fit in the Hmong community.  And Yang and Thou each had a grandmother that really didn't want to be in America and was sad to see the culture fading in the people's younger generations.

                I knew that this movie would touch me (well, after I found out it was about the Hmong, that is).  The only diversity that exists in my hometown back in Wisconsin is the Hmong community.  My best friend in middle school and my brother's first girlfriend were both Hmong-Americans.  It was weird for me to see the Hmong community from the perspective of someone who didn't grow up surrounded by that particular people.  When he sacrificed himself at the end of the movie, it gave me hope.  I felt a new faith in my generation and in the generations to come.  If a cranky old man can reach out to make peace with a people he doesn't fully understand, then young, moldable minds should be able to learn to accept anyone and everyone, if only the other people in our country will take the time to teach them.