Oral History Interview with Mailin Vong

MARIANNE ARRINGTON: Okay. This is Marianne Arrington. Today is June 30th, 1999. I am in Barnes and Noble with Mailin Vong, and we're going to be talking a little bit about how Mailin immigrated to the United States. Um, you say you're from Cambodia. What year did you immigrate?

MAILIN VONG: Well, um, when I came to the United States, in Bowling Green, in '79 in August '79.

ARRINGTON: So 20 years?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Um, is that, did you leave Cambodia in '79 or did you...

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: ...stay somewhere?

VONG: Yeah, we all leave. We leave Cambodia in '79 in June. We arrived to Thailand '79 in August, and then we left Thailand August to the United States...

ARRINGTON: So you weren't there very long?

VONG: ...for two months. And when we arrived here in the United States, we became just like the refugees.

ARRINGTON: Refugees?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Uh, was it a refugee camp where you stayed in Thailand?

VONG: Yeah. We stayed in Thailand refugee camp for two months, like I said. And then we come to the United States.

ARRINGTON: Um, how old were you? Or what is your birthday?

VONG: My birthday is, uh, March 5, '58.

ARRINGTON: And so, let's see. You were...

VONG: About 22, 21.

ARRINGTON: Um, were you married?

VONG: Yes. We married before we leave Cambodia. Um, actually I got pregnant. Eight month pregnant, well, almost eight month pregnant, and then he born in 2:00Thailand for two months. He born in June. And we come to the United States...

ARRINGTON: Your first baby was born in a refugee camp?

VONG: Yeah. Well, he borned June the 13th, '79. And we left the camp to other camp, which is come closer to American Embassy for two month. And then we leave Thailand and came to United States.

ARRINGTON: So how did you get out of Cambodia? What was the political situation there?

VONG: Well, in '79 it is, uh, before '79 the Khmer took over, they controlled it like the Communists took over. It's not a free country. It's...they control every movement you do. They keep an eye on you. And then '79 with this,uh, 3:00Vietnam took over.

ARRINGTON: Who did?

VONG: Vietnam.

ARRINGTON: Vietnam took over.

VONG: Yeah. And then we got a chance to move out of there. Well, they didn't give a choice because we just sneak out.

ARRINGTON: So when you say that they were watching your every move, can you give me an example?

VONG: Well, example, like, if you do something, you had make sure you do the right thing. If, uh, like just sick or something, they will exam you, make sure you sick and stay home. Be out working, like, 30 days, a month, no day rest. Sometime people just want to rest, stay home or something. But they come to check, and find out, and make sure you are sick. You just cannot take a day off sick.

ARRINGTON: Um, what were...where were your parents at that time?

VONG: Well, my parents are also in Cambodia at that time. We all live together.

ARRINGTON: So did they leave Cambodia?

VONG: No, actually, they not left Cambodia until '85.

ARRINGTON: And so in '79...

VONG: We are.

ARRINGTON: ...you and your husband.

VONG: Me and my husband we just, uh, pregnant seven months. Over seven months pregnant. We decide to cross the border.

ARRINGTON: Without your parents.

VONG: Yeah. What it is, we asked my parents what they think if we gonna go across the border, come to Thailand. That's the only way that we can have a chance to go somewhere else. We don't want to get stuck up there, which is right now, in '79, is while Vietnam takes over. And the Khmer Rouge, they kind of scare Vietnam 'cause they got more equipment, like, you know, guns and all that stuff. And my parents think it's bad idea to come across the border while pregnant, so we thinking that's only chance we do. If we wait another month or another year, probably, that country not gonna be...

ARRINGTON: Right.

VONG: ..yeah. It gonna be worse and worse. So they cannot stop us, so we decide to leave.

ARRINGTON: So it...I assume you left in secret.

VONG: Yes, we did. We cannot tell nobody, even the neighbor.

ARRINGTON: The...?

VONG: Neighbor or anybody.

ARRINGTON: Oh, oh. Even the neighbors. You didn't tell anybody?

VONG: No. No we can't. If we do, they stop us. They don't want us to run away from country. Of course, we when leave, we just close the door just act like we like people that leave. And we tell them, when we come from one state to another state, they ask, "Where you going?" and "How long are you gonna stay up there? Are you coming back? Is your house and your stuff still there?" Because you have 6:00to give all information to them, and, um, I believe they gonna go up there and check if, you know, we told them we go to visit my parents, my husband's father's parents, where they live in another state. That they live close across the border to Thailand. So I told them we probably stay about, maybe, two or three weeks, and we come back. But we didn't carry any much of...

ARRINGTON: You didn't take your things with you.

VONG: No. Just a bag of clothes. My husband want bag, me want bag, like, backpack, that's it. And, uh, we come down here and they said, "Well, that's okay." Look like I'm not packing anything much. So the house still there. All my stuff still there. We just closed the door, which is my mom live, like, about 15 or 20 miles from my house. But, uh...

ARRINGTON: Does your mom and dad know that you were going to leave?

VONG: Yeah, yeah. She come and take all the stuff that they need, but, uh...

ARRINGTON: Oh, so...

VONG: ...something big they don't want to take, so they know that I'm going to run away.

ARRINGTON: Leave.

VONG: Yeah. And they know they can't go and stop. They know people that leave country and they come across the border to Thailand, so they can stop.

ARRINGTON: So your mother went into your home after you had gone...

VONG: Well...before.

ARRINGTON: ...and took some of your...

VONG: Before we leave, you know, like...

ARRINGTON: ...oh. And she came and took some of your...

VONG: ...some of our stuff here. We try and discuss each other before we leave about what we...and she think that is not a good idea, but she cannot stop us. She said she probably leave later on, too, but she just cannot find a chance to come until '85. She think things getting bad and worse, so she decide to leave, too. But, um, yeah. All my parents and relatives they kind of help me to move 8:00everything out, too. Later on they bring a little bit of stuff to my mother-in-law. And we stay about, oh, a week with my mother-in-law, and we decide to come to Thailand.

ARRINGTON: And so did you say that your husband's parents...

VONG: Parents.

ARRINGTON: ...they came, too?

VONG: Yeah, they come the same time that we did.

ARRINGTON: So is there a river between Cambodia...

VONG: Well...

ARRINGTON: and Thailand?

VONG: ...they don't have any river. They just have jungle. So we go through the jungle. We walk, like, two days and two nights in jungle.

ARRINGTON: Walking the whole time?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Pregnant.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Walking.

VONG: We walking, like, I believe about 35 or 40 people that's all leaving.

ARRINGTON: Oh, so there was a lot of people who left at the same time?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Did you have a guide?

VONG: Well, yeah. We paid him money. What it is was, you had to pay him some 9:00money or jewelry to have somebody guide you through the jungle. How to get to Thailand.

ARRINGTON: So had you made, uh, you had been saving for this? Was it very expensive?

VONG: Well, yeah. They almost give everything for them to make us, you know, to show you either way how to get to Thailand, but we don't care as long as we can get away from it.

ARRINGTON: About how much, give me an idea of how much you paid.

VONG: Well, at that time we paid most of them, what we talked about was not much in United States money, but in our country it is a lot of money. And, uh, thinking probably a couple thousand dollars each to get out of there.

ARRINGTON: And would you say that that was, um, really a lot compared to what you had?

VONG: Oh, yeah.

ARRINGTON: And so you gave this man your money, and he guided you through the forest, through the jungle...

VONG: Jungle.

ARRINGTON: ...for...

VONG: Through the...to Thailand. We cannot just go up there because what it is, 10:00I think they put a lot of, uh, what they call them? Bomb? Besides some of us, we kind of not trust because the Khmer Rouge they kind of control every part of the jungle in Thailand between Thailand border and Cambodian border. So we just go ahead and let them. Well, what it is sometime they kind of go through jungle by yourself, gonna be lost, you know? Get lost in the jungle.

ARRINGTON: Yes. Right.

VONG: It's kind of scary stuff if we go the wrong way. The Khmer Rouge might get it, so...

ARRINGTON: Right. And so, and you said there were bombs planted in the jungle?

VONG: Bombs and mines. But we lucky we never did step on mine or bomb, you know, around there. It just heard that, and then some of them get killed, too. But we...

ARRINGTON: But nobody from your group?

VONG: No. We about 35, 40 people, and only the group that I got, the one...I'm pregnant, the rest of them is single. Most of them are single.

ARRINGTON: You are a very brave woman. And strong, too, to walk that far.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Pregnant. Um, did you have plenty of supplies with you?

VONG: Well, go on, we did pack, like, you know, most of them water, some dry food like can and something and put it in a bag. We got enough.

ARRINGTON: Did the guide tell you how long you were going to be in the jungle?

VONG: Well, they tell us, like, maybe 24 hour or three day three night, but of 12:00course it take two day two night.

ARRINGTON: Um, did you, tell me more about the jungle. I mean, what kind of animals did you have any experience with...

VONG: Oh, we don't see any. No, no animal or anything. It just quiet. You hear only the bird, that's it. That's just at nighttime it just so quiet. You don't see anything.

ARRINGTON: Did you rest at all?

VONG: Yeah. We walk, like, oh, maybe 10 mile or something like that and see everybody, like, if they tired they sit down. The whole group wait for each other.

ARRINGTON: Everybody stuck together. Um, when you got to Thailand was it at the 13:00end of the jungle?

VONG: Yeah. When we get to Thailand border, we got, uh, I try to. It's just, like, a small farm. Go across the border, and they got a car, and motorcycle bike, and all that stuff, so we got on that.

ARRINGTON: And so you reached the end of the jungle? You could see the end of the jungle? You came out from the jungle.

VONG: Yeah, we got a trike, like, people walk. Just one trike there, and on the other side we cannot step in, and they go, like, two three mile before you see the road, like, car and motorcycle and car people that got vehicle.

ARRINGTON: So was there a border patrol in Thailand, or...

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: ...how did you...

VONG: Yeah, yeah. They got patrol there, too.

ARRINGTON: And so were you picked up by somebody in Thailand, or did you just know...

VONG: No.

ARRINGTON: ...how to get to the refugee camp?

VONG: Okay. When we cross the border to Thailand, yeah, they got some people that patrol our people. They take over, they take over. They know right then 14:00that we are

escape from Cambodia, and they put us into the camp, which they call, like, uh, international or Red Cross International, and they come pick us up with a bus and put us in the camp.

ARRINGTON: Were you scared?

VONG: Yeah. We pretty much scared, but at that time it seemed like you just give up everything. Look at each other and then they said, "Well, don't scare. We come here to help you," so finally we get through it.

ARRINGTON: So they took you to this camp. What was the camp like?

VONG: Well, now the camp was just like a shelter. It don't have any room. It just lie down and everybody get a place to rest.

ARRINGTON: Like in tents?

VONG: Well, no. It just more like, uh, a building. Like a shelter. You know, people need shelter and go up there. It more probably, like, uh, a little small, big house. A big house, but it's just, like, to the ground and you can find someplace to stay, and the wide block rooms and if you need some of that.

ARRINGTON: Beds?

VONG: No. No bed. It's just, uh, they build up to the ground about, uh, a couple foot from the ground. And it's just a floor.

VONG: No. No bed. It's just, uh, they build up to the ground about, uh, a couple foot from the ground. And it's just a floor.

ARRINGTON: And so you were with a whole bunch of other people? Strangers?

VONG: Yeah. When we come out there about 35 or 40 people, and then we come to the camp it just got a lot of people. We don't know them, well, some of them we 16:00know that they used to live up there before. They still there. They, some of them they moved. They came to Thailand, like, well, '75, '76. Before us, four five years they get stuck up there. It's just, well, one thing...

ARRINGTON: What do you mean by "stuck?"

VONG: Well, they cannot move to other country like we did. Like, maybe with immigration, reapply to immigration, come to the United States or to Canada. To other country.

ARRINGTON: And so they didn't apply?

VONG: I have no idea. That's one thing I don't know if they apply, or they don't want to come, or they apply and never get to come, or I don't know what, what the problem is.

ARRINGTON: And so how many people do you think were there?

VONG: Oh, thousands and thousands of people.

ARRINGTON: Thousands of people?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: It was a huge refugee camp.

VONG: Oh, yeah.

ARRINGTON: And you had your baby?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Tell me about that.

VONG: Well, the night that I have the baby it's, uh, I have the baby in hospital.

ARRINGTON: Oh, they had a hospital set up there?

VONG: Oh, yeah. They got a small, like, uh, small town. They got hospital there. We had the baby in the hospital. We just doing fine and, um, the next day they move us to another camp, and which that camp is a little closer to immigration or what they call "embassy." So we come that close and then do it.

ARRINGTON: Excuse me. How far away was the new camp?

VONG: Oh, it was far. We sit in a bus, like, almost one day long before they take us close to the immigration or embassy.

ARRINGTON: Embassy. Okay, and this was the day after your baby was born?

VONG: Just one night. He born, like, 10 o'clock...

ARRINGTON: At night?

VONG: ...at night, yeah.

ARRINGTON: And the next morning you hopped on a bus...

VONG: Yeah, on a bus. Come to another camp. And then we stay at that camp for two months.

ARRINGTON: So had you planned that bust trip? I mean, did you know that...did you know ahead of time that you were gonna being going?

VONG: No. Uh uh. We don't. When the day come, what it is they, they come and pick up your name. Before we get into the camp we had to write our name, what my name, and husband, and wife, and family, and put together then. And they call my husband, and then we get to come out from there. Like I said, we did not apply 19:00at that time, but we just put our name and they pick it up, and then we come. And we had no idea where we going. They did not tell either. They did not tell that "All you are going United States" or "You are gonna go to other country." We just wait until the time come where they gonna put us at. But when we come, we not see any jungle, only thing we see is big city. So that mean, you know, it gonna be better than...

ARRINGTON: I guess I don't quite understand...you, uh, you got on a plane, and they...

VONG: Okay.

ARRINGTON: ...didn't tell you where you...

VONG: Oh, you talking about...

ARRINGTON: Let's back up a little bit. When you took the bus ride the day after your baby was born, you took a bus ride to a different refugee camp.

VONG: Right.

ARRINGTON: And you stayed there for two months.

VONG: Two months.

ARRINGTON: And during that time you applied?

VONG: Well, that time we did apply when they move us from one camp to another 20:00camp, they...we did not apply to go anywhere or they did not tell us that they gonna take us to another camp. No.

ARRINGTON: They just picked you up and...

VONG: They just pick it up and...

ARRINGTON: ...took you...

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: ...with your newborn baby.

VONG: Right. To another camp. And then they ask us where we want to go after two months, and we said...

ARRINGTON: Well, excuse me. The new camp that you went to, that was also in Thailand?

VONG: Yeah. But that kinda close to American embassy, and, uh...

ARRINGTON: Okay.

VONG: ...all the immigration. They take over that.

ARRINGTON: It was closer to a bigger city? Yeah. And so when you say that you saw that it was a big city, what do you mean?

VONG: Well, that mean, like, we not gonna go back into the jungle, you know?

ARRINGTON: Yeah.

VONG: When we see that, "Oh! That not the way we come from..."

ARRINGTON: Right.

VONG: We thought that they gonna take us back there, so some of them they did. They take back. But I don't know if they deny them, or they want...or they know...I know they don't want to go back, but they did take them back. The Thai 21:00people, the Thai government, they deny people. Some people have to stay, some people had to go back.

ARRINGTON: Back to Cambodia?

VONG: They drop it off on the border, so that they go back. So...

ARRINGTON: What do you suppose happened to those people?

VONG: Well, they sometime they go back, and if they go back they cannot go back where they came from. They had to go another plan because they go back...they try go back, like, right now I live fleeing away and I go back to fleeing away the people that there know that I'm trying to run away. Now I come back, they gonna put them in jail or do something.

ARRINGTON: And so this whole day on the bus you didn't know where you were going?

VONG: No. But, uh, we keep watching where we going, but we go in the big city 22:00like I told you. I said, "Well, this is going to be safe," you know, it's not going to go back in the jungle we come from.

ARRINGTON: Right.

VONG: And then when we get on airplane, well, we apply and they ask us where we want to go. They give us a lot of choice, like, Japan, Thailand...not Thailand, Japan, Canada, Australia.

ARRINGTON: Oh, Australia was also a choice?

VONG: French. Other country, too, but they chose to come to the United States.

ARRINGTON: Oh, so you got to decide?

VONG: Yeah. We decide where we want to go.

ARRINGTON: Why did you choose the United States?

VONG: Well, what I heard was...see, his uncle...

ARRINGTON: Your husband's uncle?

VONG: Yeah. My husband's uncle he's, uh, he used to be...he's teaching in French. Let me go back a long way. He...when the Communists take over, took over in '75, at that time he know that....he already know because his parents used to 23:00be live in China when Communists took over real bad. And then he run to French. So he flew to France, and get stuck there, and know that Cambodia and Khmer Rouge were all Communists took over, and he not gonna come back. He left '75 to stay up there, and then he start there and now he's teaching. And then...

ARRINGTON: In France?

VONG: Yeah. In France. And when we arrived to Thailand, we wrote a letter to him, and call him, and ask him, "Now we apply?" Or the immigration ask us where we want to go. And he said, "Well, the more freedom is maybe come to the United States." He don't like France either.

ARRINGTON: Oh, really?

VONG: So we apply to come to the United States.

ARRINGTON: And you got accepted.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: What determines whether or not you get accepted? Do you have any idea?

VONG: Well, I don't know. They ask us, that's all they ask now. How many people in your family, and, um, do you want to come to the United States? We say, "Yeah." And they take. Uh, before they accept us, they have to do x-ray, and that's all the background, family, how many people live there, or how long they been come to the United...I mean, in Thailand. How you get there, just like you ask me. That's it.

ARRINGTON: And so did you have documentation for them? Did you have a birth certificate?

VONG: Well, we don't have none. They know this because Communists took over we don't have any picture, we cannot carry any...

ARRINGTON: Okay, say that again.

VONG: ...the picture, the photo. They cannot have either. The Communists, they not allow you to carry any picture or photo, so they know, the immigration know 25:00that people from Cambodia...

ARRINGTON: They don't have any...

VONG: ...they don't have any identification or prove our birth certificate.

ARRINGTON: So, in other words, the Communists took...

Vong: Everything.

ARRINGTON: ...your birth certificate?

VONG: Yeah. I mean, everything beyond pictures, family picture, they don't want to have either. They take them all. So I got some picture I hide from them, hid it, so I got some, like...

ARRINGTON: Uh, how did they take them?

VONG: Well...

ARRINGTON: How did they take your pictures and your birth certificate? Did they come to your house?

VONG: Okay, well they took, they took over the clothes, they got three pair. You got three pair. You got one less, you got one less. You cannot have anything more than that on your body. What it is, like, you got more blanket, or more pot 26:00and pan, you have to give it back to them, or they come down there and find out you get in trouble.

ARRINGTON: And so you...

VONG: Whatever you got more, yeah. You got more you have to turn it in for them. And then they have just, uh, they look around, but some people they don't have, they give away to somebody else. So that mean everybody the same, have the same stuff. You cannot have more than anybody.

ARRINGTON: And so they also asked you to turn in your birth certificate?

VONG: Yeah. They keep it. I know that why would they want it because they don't you to come across the other country. They will not accept without identification. Yeah. So even passport, everything, they take them all. Nobody can have it. It doesn't matter. You go to work, your door...you don't have to need to lock any door. They can have any time to come to check out what you have. See, the big house, what we have big house, they tear up to small house. 27:00They build small house, they build small. Everybody got a small, all the same, same house. Yeah.

ARRINGTON: So you had to give up your photographs, too?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: But you were able to set some aside somewhere.

VONG: Yeah. We had to hide somewhere that they cannot find.

ARRINGTON: So do you still have those?

VONG: Yeah, I got those.

ARRINGTON: They're precious?

VONG: Yeah. I got, like, one or two of them. And I got some more in Cambodia, too. My grandfather got some. Got when I was a baby. He still have it and said, "If you want it, you have to come get your own." He wouldn't mail it to me! So I said, "Yeah. I plan to go this year." Yeah.

ARRINGTON: And so, um, you left, and you got on the plane, and you came to the 28:00United States with your husband. You said your parents, and Maw, are in Canada? Is that...

VONG: No, no my parents. All his family here in the United States. All my parent in Canada.

ARRINGTON: Oh, that's right. Your parents left in '85, and they went to Canada. And so the people that left with you from Cambodia, did they all come to the United States?

VONG: We have no idea. When they moved to another camp, it was so many people that I seen thousand, thousand people. They just find a place to stay, and we lost them there. We don't know where they go. Only thing that stick around is his parents, my husband's parents, and his family. They all stick around.

ARRINGTON: And so, but, did you have other relatives that got put someplace else, and you don't know where they are now?

VONG: Oh, no. All my relative, I know where it is. They didn't come with me at that time. Only me and my husband's family. That's it. But, uh...

ARRINGTON: So just four of you? Well...

VONG: Well...

ARRINGTON: ...and your newborn baby?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: So your husband, you, your baby, and your husband's parents?

VONG: Uh, no. He got his sister, brother, it's a lot.

ARRINGTON: A lot of people.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: And did...where did you fly into when you arrived?

VONG: Uh, when we stop, the first stop in Hong Kong. We just...we didn't go out from the airplane. And then the second stop in California. We stop, I think, two days. They let us, uh, they got a big, uh, refugee system or something like that up there, set up there. And most people there they been there for '75 or '80. They been there long. That's what I thought! They speak good English, too. Uh, but up there I said, "How long you been here?" They said, "Oh, '75, '76, '78." So they been there for a long time, and they set up a refugee assistance up there.

And we go up there and they ask us, "Who want to stay up there?" And we said, 30:00"Well, we got a sponsor, which is Marty Deputy." They got to pay for sponsor on it, and I said, "Well, she sponsor us." And of course what I heard in Kentucky just seemed like a small city, and, uh, I asked all the information people if they stay in California. They said there's a small city, and they do farm and all the stuff you want to go up there. That's your choice. We just, we choose Kentucky.

ARRINGTON: You chose? So from California you got to choose what state you wanted to go to?

VONG: Yeah. So when we came, we don't know any English. When we come, we had to pack the, uh, dictionary. So we went to school about, oh, about two year. A year and a half, two years at the most.

ARRINGTON: Where?

VONG: Uh...

ARRINGTON: What school?

VONG: We went to a refugee...they got a program up there. And then, uh, we went 31:00to Rock House at Western?

ARRINGTON: Oh, sure. The Rock House at Western. Okay.

VONG: Uh huh. We went up there. I went up there, well, it used to be going there. And then when I got a job I go at night.

ARRINGTON: And so it was for...it was to learn English? You went to school to learn English?

VONG: Yeah. Learn English.

ARRINGTON: You and your husband went together?

VONG: Yeah. He went about six months, and then he got a job. And then he got a job at Scotty, and he go to take vocational school for about two years, to take his education for...

ARRINGTON: Hmm. So tell me...you mentioned somebody, your sponsor?

VONG: Uh huh.

ARRINGTON: Marty?

VONG: Marty Deputy.

ARRINGTON: Deputy. Marty?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Deputy? Is that it?

VONG: She's the one in, uh, refugee assistance on...across the street from us. She's downtown somewhere now. I haven't seen her for a while.

ARRINGTON: But she...how did she know about you?

VONG: Well, that's a good question. I believe, what I understand is, they allow, like, a hundred people, refugee, to come to the United States. And every state had to pick out how many families, like, Kentucky could pick up three families. And California, five families. Something like that. New York, one family. And, uh, she pick us to come over here, but she didn't give us choice that we would want to stay in other state is fine. When airplane stop in California, that's the biggest system, refugee assistance, up there. They ask us if we want to stay, it's fine. You still want to come to Kentucky? It's fine.

ARRINGTON: So who knows? Maybe, um, maybe New York could only accept 10 families 33:00a year...

VONG: Yeah, something like that.

ARRINGTON: ...and so, if there was a family that wanted to go, they had to wait their turn? Maybe's that's...

VONG: I believe...

ARRINGTON: ...maybe that's why they were there for so long in California waiting.

VONG: I don't know. I don't know either. But I just guess.

ARRINGTON: So Marty Deputy? She...she...

VONG: She been sponsor a lot. It's not just Cambodians. It's, like, Laotians, Vietnamese, and now she kind of sponsor a lot of family on the T.V.

ARRINGTON: Miracles of Love?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Crisis? And so she sponsors you. What do you mean by "sponsor?" What does she do?

VONG: Well, when we arrive here, we just, uh...that's my son.

ARRINGTON: Hello! Hi!

VONG: (inaudible)

SON: Can I just look?

VONG: Okay.

SON: Can I keep going?

VONG: Okay. I come get you. Oh, what a sponsor mean is, uh, when you arrive here 34:00most people don't speak any English. She try to help you to find the place to stay, uh, where you gonna go, like, you go to doctor, or to school, something like that.

ARRINGTON: So she helps you get around for a while?

VONG: For a while. Yeah.

ARRINGTON: And slowly you learn English.

VONG: Learn English, then get a job.

ARRINGTON: Got a job.

VONG: And then you're on your own.

ARRINGTON: So did she, uh, pay for your housing?

VONG: No, actually, we all own, we bought with the government money. And then when we get a job we pay off each month.

ARRINGTON: Oh! And so she basically just...

VONG: Just help you to...

ARRINGTON: ...helped you do all of that.

VONG: Right. Because, uh...

ARRINGTON: She doesn't really pay for a lot?

VONG: No. When we, uh, get a job we paid a monthly...

ARRINGTON: Uh huh. Your mortgage payment. So you're in contact with her still?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Sometimes.

VONG: Yeah. We stop by, see her sometimes, like, New Year's Eve, and Christmas, and stuff. We get together.

ARRINGTON: Did you like her?

VONG: Yeah. Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Um, so, you have three children altogether?

VONG: Uh huh. The older one born in Thailand.

ARRINGTON: Yes.

VONG: The second one born here, and call this one...

(35:39)

ARRINGTON: Uh, when, after you first got here to Bowling Green, did you like it?

VONG: Well...

ARRINGTON: Was it hard? I bet it was really hard at first.

VONG: Yeah. The first time seemed like we don't anything about English. That's 36:00the hard part. And, um, just like "dog" and "cat."

ARRINGTON: Right?

VONG: We don't understand each other. But I say when we are going I carry my dictionary with me for a couple months.

ARRINGTON: Yeah.

VONG: But, uh, after maybe about a year later we get used to it. So, but, my English is a little better at a time.

ARRINGTON: Yeah. Well, I noticed your son. I heard him say a little bit, and he has beautiful English just because he's been in the schools.

VONG: Yeah. He not speak any Khmer...Cambodian language.

ARRINGTON: Oh, really? So at home you speak English?

VONG: Well, we actually speak both languages.

ARRINGTON: You do?

VONG: Yeah, but, uh, the kids we speak to them they understand, but they cannot talk back. They speak English back, so.

ARRINGTON: Do you and your husband still speak Cambodian together?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: So that was the hardest part? The language?

VONG: Yeah. So now I get used to it. It's just normal to me. I used to be 37:00homesick a lot.

ARRINGTON: Yeah, I bet. For your parents, too.

VONG: Yeah. Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Now did anything bad happen to your parents because you left?

VONG: No. Not that I know of, but just a lot of questions they ask my dad. "Are they gonna come back?" or "Is this how they kill some time?" The three months later or a year later and not coming back they gonna take over.

ARRINGTON: They're gonna take over?

VONG: My house.

ARRINGTON: Your house.

VONG: Yeah. Because, uh, they want, uh, they ask all kind of questions. And my mom said, "Well, I believe they decided to stay up there with, uh, his family. 38:00Her husband's family." And because they wait, that give some time. Like I said, I don't know how long. Three months, or a year, or something like that. They take over. They not gonna give it to my mom because since she already have a house and have her stuff.

ARRINGTON: She has one desk, and she has...right. Um, so your husband, you said your husband got a job, and then you got a job. Where did you work?

VONG: Oh, I worked for Fruit of the Loom.

ARRINGTON: Yeah.

VONG: For 17 years.

ARRINGTON: Is that right?

VONG: Yes.

ARRINGTON: Oh, wow.

VONG: Yeah. I just get off about three years.

ARRINGTON: Great.

VONG: Like I said, I go to school at night then work at Fruit at the daytime and put the kid in daycare.

ARRINGTON: Uh huh. Yeah. And so you were able to earn enough to pay your bills and start a business.

VONG: Yeah. Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Do you feel...do you feel like you've been happy here in Bowling Green? I mean, do you think about...

VONG: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I do.

ARRINGTON: Are you glad you came? I mean...

VONG: Well, yeah. I do. I'm glad I came over here, and talking about big city and most time they got bad people, a lot of bad people. Of course, here in Bowling Green we got here now seem like a lot of people than compared to 20 years ago.

ARRINGTON: Yeah.

VONG: Like, you see the same person when you walk in and out the store and stuff, but now you walk in and out you see a different people all the time. Different car, so, it is change a lot.

ARRINGTON: Do you...are...do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had stayed?

VONG: Yeah. Yeah, we did talk about that almost every two, three week we talk one time, or maybe a month, or sometime, if my mom call from Canada, or my aunt call from Washington, D.C., talk about, "Oh, you gonna go to Cambodia so-and-so." That's what bring us up our memory that what we were gonna be if we 40:00stayed still in Cambodia, you know? But, uh, beside that we are just happy, hoping.

ARRINGTON: That's a big thing to change your whole, whole life, you know?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Your whole nationality and language.

VONG: I become a citizen in, let's see, '86.

ARRINGTON: Great.

VONG: I had to, well, I don't have to become a citizen, but I wanted to. So now I'm gonna live here for the rest of my life.

ARRINGTON: So your kids have a whole different life than you had.

VONG: Yeah. Well, they...they never go through what I been go through.

ARRINGTON: Right.

VONG: And, uh, we always telling them, "Do this wrong. Do this right" because all the kids over here is different from the kids what we lived before. Or maybe this society is different, but we tried to teach them, and remind them, what I've been through. They said, "Well, I would like to see your country." When I'm ready to go, I let you know. So they kind of scared we talk some like that, but now it's more security and, you know, more...we feel comfortable because, uh, it's more freedom than used to be. A lot of people go in and out, too, from Cambodia to the United States or to France, they can do that. It not used to be like that, but that's why I want to go back and see what happened.

ARRINGTON: And so did you say you're going back next month?

VONG: No. Probably September or October.

ARRINGTON: In the fall.

VONG: Yeah. So that way, right now it's hot up there. If you wait until the fall, it'll be better up there.

ARRINGTON: And it's your first time back in 20 years.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Is your husband going with you?

VONG: Well, he don't think he want to go because we got the kids in school, so he probably stay, you know. He won't get stuck there again. That's my luck. I told him, I said, "If I get stuck again, don't worry about it." It's just my luck. I probably get stuck another 10, 20 more years. It's no way I can do anything, you know. And he said, "As long as you don't pass year 2000. Daddy coming back in the year 2000, and you be coming back."

ARRINGTON: Right.

VONG: I said, "Well, I try."

ARRINGTON: "I'll try!"

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: But it's...there's free, um, travel, right?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: So it shouldn't be a problem at all?

VONG: No, it shouldn't be because my mother went up there last year to live in 43:00Canada. She went up there, and she said, "It's okay, but it's kind of poor country." A lot of...you know, it's different because, uh, used to be not like that. But when the Communists took over, and everything thrown in, and they make small stuff for everybody, the same stuff, so it's still the same way, but not completely before '75. It's different.

ARRINGTON: So it's a really poor area?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: So do you feel like your kids have a lot more opportunities here than they would have had there?

VONG: Oh, yeah. Sure.

ARRINGTON: A lot more.

VONG: Sure.

ARRINGTON: Probably a lot, lot more 'cause...

VONG: Oh, yeah.

ARRINGTON: ...I'm thinking about education.

VONG: Education, well...

ARRINGTON: And jobs.

VONG: Education now, they kind of, over there is they learn more language than they used to. They learn French, English.

ARRINGTON: Your children...

VONG: No...

ARRINGTON: ...or are you talking about in Cambodia?

VONG: ...I'm talking about in Cambodia. Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Okay.

VONG: They...they got more...they kind of building up, but it's not really fast. It kinda come up slow.

ARRINGTON: Their education is improving.

VONG: Yeah. Improving.

ARRINGTON: But do you feel like...tell me about, tell me about your hopes for your children.

VONG: Here?

ARRINGTON: Yes.

VONG: Well, I hope they grow up and, you know, they education is what they want to be. They can get it, and I help them to support.

ARRINGTON: Um, let me ask you about one other area, and that is religion. Were you practicing any religion while you lived in Cambodia?

VONG: No. Not that time. It's just...I was young. Um, I not pay attention much about that. You know, it's just, in '75 I'm, like, 18, 17, and we got...about 45:00that time we got a lot of, like, high school and you just worry about school stuff. You don't worry about religion or anything.

ARRINGTON: Were your parents religious?

VONG: Yeah. They (inaudible).

ARRINGTON: Excuse me?

VONG: They Buddha.

ARRINGTON: Buddhists. Uh, I was going to ask you...how long were married...when...how old were you when you got married?

VONG: I got married about 18 or 19.

ARRINGTON: And so you had been married for about three years with your husband when you left?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: And was he religious at all?

VONG: No...

ARRINGTON: Not really?

VONG: ...he just like me. Not really.

ARRINGTON: Not really concerned about it, right?

VONG: No.

ARRINGTON: And so when you came to the United States, what...are you religious now?

VONG: Well, I am not really take one. I can't choose which one I go, but I go both ways. Um, back to church or Buddha, which they got one Buddha in, uh, 46:00Tennessee. We go down there once in a while. We just...I'm not saying that's we over here choose just one and live one. No. I take both.

ARRINGTON: Okay. Okay.

VONG: I don't know if that's a good idea or not, but to me, I try to keep that way so the kids, uh, don't forget our religion.

ARRINGTON: Right. And so your children are exposed to Buddhism, and they're also exposed to some...

VONG: Well...

ARRINGTON: ...Christianity.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: A little bit.

VONG: Little bit, most.

ARRINGTON: Here and there.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: That's good. That's really good. So your oldest child is 20. And then this one I saw, he looked like he was about 10?

VONG: Nine.

ARRINGTON: Nine?

VONG: Yeah. The other one 18.

ARRINGTON: 18 is your daughter. And she's the dancer, right?

VONG: Yep.

ARRINGTON: It's a nice family.

VONG: Thank you.

ARRINGTON: Nice family.

VONG: And she gonna go to college to UK.

ARRINGTON: Is she?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: What about your son? Your oldest son.

VONG: Well, he take a computer class here in Bowling Green.

ARRINGTON: Yeah? At Western?

VONG: Yeah. But, uh, he said he don't like it. So I don't know whatever he's going to be. So, the kids, I cannot push them out. We could take one and then they like it and finish it up.

ARRINGTON: Yeah.

VONG: But, uh, like I said. It's they choice.

ARRINGTON: It's hard to decide.

VONG: That's right.

ARRINGTON: It's very hard. So you...you have a new business, is that right?

VONG: Well, uh, we building apartment and housing. I'm a general contractor, and I sell it, and build it, and rent it.

ARRINGTON: Oh, you rent...you do rent it. Is it in one area like a big complex, or is it all over town?

VONG: No, all over town.

ARRINGTON: So you buy different places and...

VONG: Build it. I buy a lot and build it.

ARRINGTON: Oh, you buy empty lots and build?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: And then you rent.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: How long have you been doing that?

VONG: About three years.

ARRINGTON: And is it a business with your husband?

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: Is it going pretty well?

VONG: Doing pretty good.

ARRINGTON: Good. It's really hard to get a new business going.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: It's a lot of work.

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: And it takes some time before it starts to get profitable.

VONG: Oh, yeah.They told me because, uh, this past couple of year the interest cheaper and everybody want to build stuff and want to buy stuff.

ARRINGTON: Well, great. Great! Sounds good.

VONG: Yeah. I don't know how long it'll last. If the interest going back up it'll be slow down for the build, but right now we're pretty good.

ARRINGTON: That's really good. Well, and you're very busy.

VONG: Yeah. Well, I try not to be sit around much, but, uh, I believe two or 49:00three more week should be done my project up there.

ARRINGTON: With building...

VONG: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: ...a building project?

VONG: When it done, I'm gonna be take it easy. Like I said, plan to go to Cambodia.

ARRINGTON: And relax.

VONG: Yeah. Relax for a month and see what...how it goes.

ARRINGTON: Great. So is your husband still working?

VONG: Yeah, he still work for SKY.

ARRINGTON: For SKY. That's great. Anything else you'd like to add before we close up?

VONG: Uh, no.

ARRINGTON: Okay!