On Monday night we were honored to have two more Hmong speakers in class: Mr. Long Yang and Ms. Choua Thao. Both of them were adults when they immigrated over to the United States from Laos, and so their experience was a bit different than that of last week's speaker.
Mr. Yang was a quiet gentleman; one had to listen closely to be able to perfectly understand him. Apparently, he was a Hmong gurilla soldier for General Vang Pao. He then escaped the country to Thailand, from which he and his family lived in detainment camps until they eventually made their way to the US where he worked in the computer programming feild.
Mrs. Thao, on the other hand, boy was she a force of nature! Her name means "tornado", and it suits her perfectly. Back in Laos she was a nurse in charge of a hospital in the jungle. She was married with three children at the time, and still found time to take care of many patients at the hospital. Judging from her stories, if she wanted something she found a way to get it. She talked and pushed her way to America, through an associate's degree in social work, and into a job where they had almost turned her away. She has a personality that is barely contained by her tiny frame. No matter what stories she decided to enthrall us with, she always emphasized the importance of getting an education and pursuing one's dream. Ms. Thao wanted us to fight for our dreams, because if we didn't fight for our dreams we wouldn't get them.
In a way, Ms. Thao reminds me of my grandma. Beulah. Although Grandma wasn't a nurse deep in the jungle in a war torn country, she has had to make quick thinking decisions on her feet and making sure that her family was safe over all else. She has always encouraged me to keep continuing with my education and to keep pursuing my dreams. (I think if she could single handedly pay for my college education if she was able to.) And like Ms. Thao, my grandma can be pretty single minded when it comes to getting what she wants. I guess it must be something about that generation. :)
I think from this experience I learned just exactly had been going on during that time period; it has always been a bit fuzzy for me. I was also very interested in their perspectives on American things like the fourth of July and such. I hope that sometime we'll get to hear more from them - especially Ms. Thao. She was really fun to listen to.
Mr. Yang was a quiet gentleman; one had to listen closely to be able to perfectly understand him. Apparently, he was a Hmong gurilla soldier for General Vang Pao. He then escaped the country to Thailand, from which he and his family lived in detainment camps until they eventually made their way to the US where he worked in the computer programming feild.
Mrs. Thao, on the other hand, boy was she a force of nature! Her name means "tornado", and it suits her perfectly. Back in Laos she was a nurse in charge of a hospital in the jungle. She was married with three children at the time, and still found time to take care of many patients at the hospital. Judging from her stories, if she wanted something she found a way to get it. She talked and pushed her way to America, through an associate's degree in social work, and into a job where they had almost turned her away. She has a personality that is barely contained by her tiny frame. No matter what stories she decided to enthrall us with, she always emphasized the importance of getting an education and pursuing one's dream. Ms. Thao wanted us to fight for our dreams, because if we didn't fight for our dreams we wouldn't get them.
In a way, Ms. Thao reminds me of my grandma. Beulah. Although Grandma wasn't a nurse deep in the jungle in a war torn country, she has had to make quick thinking decisions on her feet and making sure that her family was safe over all else. She has always encouraged me to keep continuing with my education and to keep pursuing my dreams. (I think if she could single handedly pay for my college education if she was able to.) And like Ms. Thao, my grandma can be pretty single minded when it comes to getting what she wants. I guess it must be something about that generation. :)
I think from this experience I learned just exactly had been going on during that time period; it has always been a bit fuzzy for me. I was also very interested in their perspectives on American things like the fourth of July and such. I hope that sometime we'll get to hear more from them - especially Ms. Thao. She was really fun to listen to.
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