Oral History Interview with Oahn Tran

BARBARA DRUMMOND: Oahn Tran, who's at the 11th Street Adult Learning Center. English is a second language, right? And she is from Vietnam, and your hometown of Phan Long, right? So, um, and we talked about the release as well, so. And this is for the oral history project of immigrants who have moved to Bowling Green. Um, tell me a little bit about your hometown, your home region.

OAHN TRAN: Okay, um, my hometown is just a small town, you know, but it's very fun because this is the place growing up, you know. So, yeah, there's nothing to talk about my hometown...

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: It's just, like, something to memorize that 'cause, like, I living over there for long time until the day I came over here.

DRUMMOND: Was it rural or a city?

TRAN: It just, like, (inaudible) ...small town.

DRUMMOND: So in what time did you come here? What year did you come here?

TRAN: I came here on June 12, 1996. Yeah, so.

DRUMMOND: And you still have family in Vietnam?

TRAN: Yeah. I have two brothers and two sisters over there in Vietnam.

DRUMMOND: So why did you move to the United States?

TRAN: There's a lot of reasons. Like we want to have a better life, we need freedom over here. Because, like, Vietnam, there's still...they don't have freedom there because of the Communists.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: And this is why my parents come over here with us, but especially that's my Dad. He's the one working for the, uh, you know, the state army.

DRUMMOND: Okay. TRAN: Yeah. At the time the USA was in the Vietnam War, and now they allow for us to come over here. That is why.

DRUMMOND: Yeah. So that was how...how did they arrange to come?

TRAN: Arrange to come? DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: They got into the program, which is the one who everybody who was working for the United States Army before they allowed for everybody to come over here. And every family, I mean Vietnamese family here, they come with the same thing like us, like me, too. They, you know, they working for, I don't know, they tell me that. That's why we came over here 'cause we don't have no right to come over here.

DRUMMOND: Um, did...so, why did some of the members stay, family members stay and some come?

TRAN: They stay over there?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Oh, just because some of them they didn't go to work at the time of the 3:00war. So they couldn't allow to come over here. It depends on before you working in the army, you know? Now they want everybody got a better life. It means they want to give you some of the, like, 'cause you, pretty much everyone in the Vietnam War. So they had, over there, used to be in prison for about three years, I mean, three and a half years, four years, some of them, like, five. Even though they cannot get out of prison, you know? Yeah, so, uh, just the Communists is no good over there. I don't have any opportunities over there to start in the...it's always hate the people who working for US Army, which is, like, South Vietnam.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: We probably off it now.

DRUMMOND: Did, um, did your family members actually have to stay in prison for some time?

TRAN: Of course. My dad is in prison for, um, 48 months again.

DRUMMOND: And then he managed to come here?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: So it was good. Did, um...

TRAN: It had to be over three and a half years to get the rights to come over here.

DRUMMOND: Oh.

TRAN: Yeah. DRUMMOND: Did, um, did he know how to speak English? Did your family know anybody?

TRAN: Well, we, my brother and my sister, they, you know, they didn't used to speak at all. So that's why they know some of it, not a lot. And my parents is, you know, they old. You know, so how can they speak? We use our language at home, our Vietnamese language. So they don't know how to speak at all.

DRUMMOND: So it was a very difficult transition?

TRAN: Yeah, very difficult.

DRUMMOND: You came straight-away to Bowling Green?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Is that the first place?

TRAN: Yeah. Uh huh.

DRUMMOND: Did someone meet you here, or...?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. We came over here, we got a refugee office, and then the first 5:00time we came over here they cover anything. Like, help you find job and, uh, you know until you have a job and then you got the house. It's been, like, if you don't have a job they give you food stamp, and they help you until you get a job.

DRUMMOND: Oh, good.

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: And how old were you then?

TRAN: How...

DRUMMOND: How old were you?

TRAN: How old I am?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Oh, I'm going to be 20 this year on September.

DRUMMOND: So in 1994, then, you were, 16, right? When you first got here? 16?

TRAN: Uh huh. 17, I guess.

DRUMMOND: 17?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Um, did they set you up in, like, a home, or an apartment?

TRAN: It's apartment.

DRUMMOND: It's an apartment?

TRAN: Oh! Before I came over, before I was at 11th Street?

DRUMMOND: Yeah. And how is it different from where you had lived before?

TRAN: There are lots of different 'cause, like, we got new life over here, you know? Everything is so comfortable. It's easy to, uh, to get a job, something like that. And you change your life. And there we have to work hard to get food, to get money, but here, everything is better. It's easier. It's easier. It's better.

DRUMMOND: Did you miss your family in your home country...

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: ...when you first got here?

TRAN: I hope to go back over there to visit them someday. We used to, uh, normally I'd go back to my country next year.

DRUMMOND: Uh, okay, so were there other Vietnamese people living here at the time?

TRAN: Uh, there's about 40 or 50 families. Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Were any of them from your hometown?

TRAN: Yeah. They had about 5 families.

DRUMMOND: Did they try to, um, did they try to bring people from the same area 7:00to the same town in the United States?

TRAN: You mean, like...

DRUMMOND: Like, the refugee settlement center?

TRAN: Oh, that is, uh, you mean, like, refugees bring over here?

Drummond: Mmhmm.

TRAN: No, the government said that said that if in the state, like in Kentucky they got the refugee center they allow you come over here and the government will set you up over here. But some of them, like, go to another state like California, you know, around to the 50 states, meaning everywhere.

DRUMMOND: So, but it was good when you got here. Did you know some of the people before?

TRAN: Uh, no, but some of the Vietnamese that came before me, and then they come to visit us. Like, because we came from the same country, speak the same language, or they came to share the help with us. Because we came over here we 8:00don't know everybody, but it's fun because they came to talk to us, and then the helpers, like, take us go to shopping, to markets and things like that because we didn't have a car to go. Yeah. They come take us, go to, something like a shopping market. Or go to somewhere to play, you know?

DRUMMOND: Yeah, yeah. Where did they take you to go shopping?

TRAN: Uh, the first time I went to Greenwood Mall. And, uh, also they take us go to Nashville...

DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: ...to eat, you know, because we have Vietnamese restaurant over there.

DRUMMOND: Oh, good.

TRAN: So that's why.

DRUMMOND: What did you think of, uh, the mall?

TRAN: The mall?

DRUMMOND. Yeah.

TRAN: Oh! It's, uh, the first time I came and got the air conditioner make me cold. And, uh, I can't, because in Vietnam in my house we do not have air 9:00conditioner. We don't have anything. So it's strange, you know? It's "Oh, why it's cold?" all the time because the air conditioner flow out, and I say, "Oh, yeah." This is the first time, you know? And it's very fun. It's, you know, everything will change. I don't know anything, but because, like, the first time I came I didn't know, but the more you living here the more you know. DRUMMOND: The more you get used to it.

TRAN: Uh huh. Yeah. The more you used to it.

DRUMMOND: Um, what do you miss the most, do you think?

TRAN: I miss the most? Well, especially I miss my hometown. Because, like, that is the place I grow up, you know, and because my grandfathers, grandmothers over there. Also, got my niece, my nephew over there. My brother and sister are still 10:00over there. So I miss my hometown the most.

DRUMMOND: Yeah. Do you write?

TRAN: Letter?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Oh, yes. Sometimes. I'm lazy.

DRUMMOND: Me, too.

TRAN: Sometime I am, I make a call for them. Talk to them by phone, by the phone, you know.

DRUMMOND: Um, so how did you learn to speak English when you came here?

TRAN: Um, in Vietnam, uh, I go to school, a high school, you know. And then they have, like, one week three hours in this class. And then I used to learn a little bit, not much. But, yeah. And, uh, when I came over here the American talk to me. I don't know anything. It's like they talk too fast. The first time I go to school and learn more and more every day, so I used to speak a little 11:00bit better, you know? And not much in Vietnam. You study English you had to pay.

DRUMMOND: Oh.

TRAN: Pay somebody. You had to pay for the teacher. Like, if you did not have money, you could not study. The education is very important in Vietnam, but if you don't have money, you don't go to school at all. Some of my friend they attended some school with me. They graduate already, but, uh, you know, they don't have money, so they had to quit school to help their family, to go into the farm, to, you know, whatever they do to get food. That's hard to live in there.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: But if you got money, you can get anything, you know? DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: Uh huh.

DRUMMOND: Did, um, did you go right away to the school system here?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. I came over here, and the people who are translator, Vietnamese 12:00working in the refugee center, she's, uh, her name is Kim, you know?

DRUMMOND: At the refugee center?

TRAN: Yeah, at the refugee center. She, uh, take us to Bowling Green High School.

DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: And, uh, you know, enroll everything, and we start over there. I've been in high school two years. Only two years.

DRUMMOND: Well, how, uh, what was it like? Your first days?

TRAN: Oh, my god. First day I go cry a lot. All because, like, you know, I don't know why they make fun of me. I mean, they're not friendly at all...

DRUMMOND: Really?

TRAN: ...when they see the new people. You know, I cry one day, and after that I go home and said, "I don't want to go to school! I quit!" But mom and dad said, "No, you have to go to school to learn English." And then I take that advice from mom and dad, and I keep going to school. But it is very hard to make friends with people in high school. It used to, I don't know. I don't know what it takes at all.

DRUMMOND: Were there other Vietnamese students?

TRAN: Oh, yes. We have some of them.

DRUMMOND: So did that help, or...?

TRAN: Uh huh. It's helped. It's helped a lot because, like, if you don't know the way to go to your classroom, like, we'll lead you. We'll take you there.

DRUMMOND: Were there a lot of students from other countries in Bowling Green High School?

TRAN: Uh, I know some of them came from Laos. Some of them come from Mexico. And, uh, I don't think Japanese? Yeah, some of...only a few. Only a few of them. Japanese, Cambodia, Laos, yeah. Cambodia. Laos. Mexico. Bosnia.

DRUMMOND: Croatian.

TRAN: Croatian, yeah. And, uh, Russia. Yeah. That's all.

DRUMMOND: Is there, like, a group in the high school? Like an international group...

TRAN: Oh, yeah.

DRUMMOND: ...they put together?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. They have, they have international group in high school also. And, uh, they also have ESL, you know, ESL class there. So you could take ESL class, you meet a lot of people come from different country. Yeah. But if you don't take it, you don't know.

DRUMMOND: Right. Yeah.

TRAN: And, uh, the first time I take two hours in ESL class. And it's very fun.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Because, like, you don't know how to speak English. Just, you know, two people sit together and you talk, and, you know, you make gestures, you know. And then you use some sign language, you know, uh, like, if you want to take that you say, "Oh, give me..." and then you point at it. Yeah, you know. It's fun.

DRUMMOND: Did they put, um, so in...so the new students, I just want to make sure I get it right. So the new students that go to the high school, they go first to the ESL class there in the high school?

TRAN: Yeah, if you want to.

DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: But usually they take ESL class to, uh, to know the class and make friend first before they go out.

DRUMMOND: Okay. Okay.

TRAN: If they want to, you know.

DRUMMOND: Yeah. TRAN: ESL class is very helpful, you know. They teaching you English, and if you have some homework you don't understand really, I mean don't really understand, then you can bring that to ESL teacher and she try to help you.

DRUMMOND: Yeah. And how about, like, the way, um, like, customs. Like the way people treat each other or the kinds of things that they do...

TRAN: The customs? Oh. Is the same thing?

DRUMMOND: It's the same thing?

TRAN: It's just different language, but we used to be very friendly.

DRUMMOND: Okay, so.

TRAN: It's very good friend in there. I make a lot of good friend.

DRUMMOND: Good, good.

TRAN: Because they used to speak to you, they don't think that you come from different country, you come from...you speak a different language, what we use 16:00to verify people. Yeah, very good.

DRUMMOND: Um, how about food?

TRAN: Food?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Oh, well, uh. I can eat it.

DRUMMOND: Did you, um, well you mentioned going to the Vietnamese restaurant in Nashville. Do you, is there a place that you go here in town in Bowling Green?

TRAN: India. And then we used to go to Laos store. Sometimes we go to Chinese restaurant. And sometimes we used to eat American food. And when exactly, like, you can eat out.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: It's not hard to eat American food. It's like hamburgers and things.

DRUMMOND: But you said you didn't like the Italian, right? Is that right?

TRAN: Oh, Mexican food. I don't like it at all. I can't smell it. I don't know why. DRUMMOND: Um, does your mother cook, then, at home?

TRAN: Yeah, my mother used to. And my sister, sometimes I help.

DRUMMOND: Uh huh. So you, and so you learned. Do you cook Vietnamese food? We talked about the spring rolls, I think, the last time I was here, which was so good. So what is your favorite kind of food?

TRAN: You talking about American food or what?

DRUMMOND: Oh, both.

TRAN: Both? We usually, like, cook something with Chinese food at home. So, uh, I love, like, chicken, some spaghetti, pizza.

DRUMMOND: You like pizza?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: And, um, do you think it's easier...I mean, well I know it's more difficult to get the ingredients to make the Vietnamese food here. Or is it?

TRAN: Well, we get some at Walmart.

DRUMMOND: At Walmart?

TRAN: Yeah. They got Asian food over there. And also we had take some at the Laos store.

DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: Do you know where it is?

DRUMMOND: Is this Jake's?

TRAN: Yeah, maybe. No, it's the one by the by-pass.

DRUMMOND: Right, okay. Um, you called it the Laos store?

TRAN: Yeah. Laos store. Because, like, Laos people.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: But they sell a lot of Asian food like soybean, soy sauce, everything in there. Noodles, some kind of vegetable, you know. Every kind. DRUMMOND: Um, well was there anything here that seemed particularly special to you, or very strange, when you first got here? Something in Bowling Green that just stuck out?

TRAN: It sounded like the first time is, uh, about my language. It's a different language, so, uh, you do not know where to conversation. I mean, to talk to another people. And it's hard to do something if, like, you want to buy a car, 19:00you need some people to help you to talk about it. If you want to go to coffee store, you have to know people, translator, you know. It's hard, but everything is different. Because wherever you go you have, it takes a lot of people to go with you.

DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: Because if you, uh, because...in other words, you don't know, uh, you don't understand what they're talking about. So wherever you go you need some people to help you. You take a lot of people go with you, you know, to translate, in some case, like, "We go to house store," we need some people to go with us. We go to the used...to buy a car, so some people go with us. We're in the house or something...

DRUMMOND: Is there someone in the community that everyone knows is just easy to 20:00get, to go with them, or who speaks better English?

TRAN: Oh, they, um, usually the people who working for the office, refugee office...

DRUMMOND: Oh, okay.

TRAN: ...they will help you.

DRUMMOND: So they're the ones that...

TRAN: Uh huh. They do work because, like, you know, they job is helping people. Because, like, they get paid, you know what I mean?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: So that's why, if you need help, just tell them that you want to go over there, and they will help you.

DRUMMOND: Um, okay. Well, describe your first home.

TRAN: Huh?

DRUMMOND: Describe your first home here.

TRAN: My first home? DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Oh. There's a lot of things that is, like, I have four people the first time I came. I lived four people, but, just one bedroom, and the house small, you know? Uh, everything is, uh, we need something like furniture, you know? We 21:00don't have TV, we don't have everything because, like, they just give you some food. They have food for you to eat that's all. They don't have anything for you. We had to order it.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Did, um, where did you get the furniture?

TRAN: Furniture?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Oh, we living here and, uh, some people, like, Vietnamese, they came first, and they got some tables and things that they were using and they give for us to use. Even though that it's old, but it's okay because we didn't have it, so we had to use it.

DRUMMOND: Right, right.

TRAN: Yeah. And, you know, a lot of things. They give to us, and we take it.

DRUMMOND: Right. Um, how about driving a car?

TRAN: Oh, driving a car?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Oh, they, like, we came and they took us go to, uh, buy food. At the supermarket, at Walmart. And, uh, that's all. Every weekend they come take us to 22:00buy food, come back. And, um, they had, like, older people come take my parents. But some of the younger people come take us go to play.

DRUMMOND: Oh, good.

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Where did you go to play? Where would they go?

TRAN: Go to the park or something. Go to, uh, play, like go to skating. Skating?

DRUMMOND: Yeah, at the, um...

TRAN: Is it "skating" or is it...?

DRUMMOND: It's "skating."

TRAN: Yeah, skating.

DRUMMOND: Skating. Roller-skating, right?

TRAN: Yeah. Roller-skating. And, uh, we play some, like, bowling.

DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: Oh, yeah.

DRUMMOND: Did you like that?

TRAN: I don't know. And we used some, like, tennis at, like, four or five 23:00o'clock. But it...just in summer. Play tennis and go around on a picnic, swimming.

DRUMMOND: So who organized that? The refugee center organized you to go out and play, too, or was it mainly just the community?

TRAN: Just the community.

DRUMMOND: Just the community?

TRAN: Because, like, uh, they come first. They have, uh, car and everything. You know, like, I'm saying? And then they just come take us, go. It doesn't matter about who is organizing.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Just go.

DRUMMOND: Yeah. And so you made friends that way?

TRAN: Yeah. DRUMMOND: It was easy to make friends?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Let me see. We did the business ones. Okay, well I have some more questions also about other stuff. TRAN: Sure.

DRUMMOND: And I don't know if you don't want to talk about it. Uh, Erin had said that she thought you might interested in talking about, um, Buddhist.

TRAN: Buddhist?

DRUMMOND: Being Buddhist.

TRAN: Oh, I am Buddhist.

DRUMMOND: And Buddhism, and dealing with that in Bowling Green.

TRAN: But in here they don't, like, uh, some of them, like, Christian, some are Buddhism, Buddha, you know? Some are different religions, religion, you know? But my family is Buddhist.

DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: And I have, like, some kind of...

DRUMMOND: Let me see. Oh, neat!

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: It's jade, right?

TRAN: Yeah, I don't know how to call. How you say?

DRUMMOND: Jade.

TRAN: Jade?

DRUMMOND: Jade.

TRAN: You know it?

DRUMMOND: Yeah. It's beautiful.

TRAN: In the big state they got, like, a temple for you to go to, uh, some big, uh, big day, like, celebrating something. And then they go to, you know, whatever you do. Come over there to, uh, memorize, to do this, uh, what is like?

DRUMMOND: To pray?

TRAN: To pray. Yeah, to pray.

DRUMMOND: To pray.

TRAN: That's what I'm saying.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: To pray.

DRUMMOND: Did you...so is there in Nashville a temple?

TRAN: In Nashville? Yeah. They have the small one, but...

DRUMMOND: The small one?

TRAN: Yeah, but they have big one in another, like, California, Texas, you know, in the big state.

DRUMMOND: Right. So what do people do here?

TRAN: Oh, they just pray at home.

DRUMMOND: At home?

TRAN: Yeah. You got, uh, altar to, uh, pray for the higher place. And then you pray there. That's all.

DRUMMOND: What...what are some of the celebrations?

TRAN: Celebrations of the Vietnamese?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: Oh, uh, we have, uh, some kind of Tet...New Year.

DRUMMOND: New Year.

TRAN: Uh huh. You know that?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: And, uh, we have something, like, we go to party. Birthday party, wedding party, some kind, and we celebrate it. And usually, if we can, we go to another family to play, to talk, to eat, something. It's very friendly. Yeah. DRUMMOND: 26:00So on the weekends you get together and...

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: ...have a special, traditional...

TRAN: Yeah. And, uh, usually we go to, uh, another house to play. It's kind of like a sing-along, you know?

DRUMMOND: Karaoke?

TRAN: Yeah, karaoke.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: And then, uh, we sing, and, you know, microphone. That's all. It's very fun.

DRUMMOND: Is that religious-oriented or just for friends?

TRAN: Just friends.

DRUMMOND: So you would not pray? So most people, do people ever get together, uh, the Buddhists that are here. Do they ever get together for, like, a special prayer?

TRAN: No.

DRUMMOND: It's all very private.

TRAN: Just at home. They pray at the home. They don't have a temple, so that's why they don't join together, you know? If they had, it would come, uh, in 27:00the...you know, sometimes at the special day they come to pray? But even with that they usually pray at home. It doesn't matter because they show, you should your love.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: At home, is it done as a family or individual?

TRAN: Um, family.

DRUMMOND: Family as a unit? Like, the whole family together?

TRAN: No.

DRUMMOND: No, just individually?

TRAN: Yeah, individually.

DRUMMOND: And you said, I'm not sure, did you say that you ever go to the temple in Nashville or not?

TRAN: I'm not sure about that. I heard some people tell me that they got a small one there.

DRUMMOND: But you haven't been?

TRAN: I haven't been. Oh, yeah. They have one in Louisville. Louisville?

DRUMMOND: In Louisville?

TRAN: In Louisville.

DRUMMOND: In Louisville, okay.

TRAN: In Louisville.

DRUMMOND: And do some people here...

TRAN: But I've never been there also, but some of them been there tell me that. The temple.

DRUMMOND: And do they go on a special day or for celebration?

TRAN: Well, if they, um, they have the chance to went over there, they just stop 28:00by. You know, it's not on those special days, you know.

DRUMMOND: Just any day.

TRAN: Yeah. If they have, uh, if they have some business or whatever, they go over. If they want to take a look, just stop by. Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Did you think...or was it hard here in Bowling Green because most of Bowling Green is Christian, and you are Buddhist.

TRAN: Oh, well, I go to church also.

DRUMMOND: Oh, yeah?

TRAN: Because in there they teaching Bible. They teaching Proverbs. And it's very helpful for you.

DRUMMOND: Is it?

TRAN: Yeah. And, uh, also you can reading English.

DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: And, uh, and the church is very friendly.

DRUMMOND: Oh, good.

TRAN: The people very friendly. And then sometime they take us go to picnic, you know?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: And it doesn't matter I'm a Buddhist, but I choose to go to their church on Sunday. We had group in the church, a Vietnamese group.

DRUMMOND: Oh, yeah?

TRAN: They come over there to learn English, study Bible, and, uh, you know reading, improve your skills. Because they have some of the American who is correcting your language. So that's why we used to came to the church every Sunday.

DRUMMOND: I think I have, let's see. Which church is it?

TRAN: Oh, uh, the First Baptist Church.

DRUMMOND: First Baptist.

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Oh, okay. The big one.

TRAN: Right there.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: The big one right there.

DRUMMOND: Okay. First Baptist. And they, um, did you start going there right away when you first moved here, or was that...? TRAN: No, no. Some people introduced for me. You know, uh, Yeong Nguyen? Yeong Nguyen?

DRUMMOND: No, I don't know.

TRAN: I think they have the list.

DRUMMOND: Okay, let's see.

TRAN: He's...he's the one who, uh, teach me alphabet.

DRUMMOND: Oh, him.

TRAN: Yeong Nguyen.

DRUMMOND: Okay. He's the one that teaches over there. Okay.

TRAN: Yeah. He's the father of, uh, twins.

DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: He's the one teaching over there.

DRUMMOND: It's the same. Okay. Did, um, and is he Buddhist? Or is he Christian?

TRAN: He's Christian.

DRUMMOND: Christian?

TRAN: But this doesn't matter. Buddhists or Christian. If you want to go to the church, he will pick you up on Sunday, and you will go. Because in there you learn Bible. You learn good things, you know?

DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: Because every, like, Buddhist or Christian they teaching you the good things.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: Not the bad things. So it's very helpful to go to the church. I love to learn, uh, Proverbs.

DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: You know, it's very helpful. DRUMMOND: With, like, which ones?

TRAN: Like, that tell some of the poems. The phrases or something. Like, I studied, like, uh, in there in the book they say that, uh, I remember one 31:00sentence, like, "It is, uh, stupid if a person, you know, who hates being corrected." You understand that sentence?

DRUMMOND: Right, okay.

TRAN: Yeah, you know. And I love to learn some kind of sentence that say Proverbs. "Proverbs," is that right?

DRUMMOND: Yeah. "Proverbs."

TRAN: Yeah, Proverbs.

DRUMMOND: Like, "An eye for an eye," is that the same one?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Or "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."

TRAN: Yeah. It's very good.

DRUMMOND: It's very...that's actually very, uh...

TRAN: I don't know how to say it, but...

DRUMMOND: That's Buddhist, isn't it? It even began that way.

TRAN: Yeah. It's the same thing. They teaching you the same thing. Even though that they different religions, you know? And, like, Christian and Buddhist, but 32:00they both teaching you the good things.

DRUMMOND: Right. And you have no...is there ever any conflict? Do you ever think that anything is different or a conflict?

TRAN: Uh, no.

DRUMMOND: You don't.

TRAN: No. Just learning.

DRUMMOND: Yeah, just learning. Um, well, describe, like, Tet, okay?

TRAN: Tet?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: It's, like, a special day for everyone join together. In Vietnam, you know, when I was living there, but whatever you do in the Tet, you take anything away, you enjoy the Tet. And then after about 10 days, like, the end of the, like, twenty-ones, you know? The day of the first, uh, like, uh, 31 on December. 33:00The last day of the month is the first day of the year.

DRUMMOND: Right. Okay.

TRAN: So we celebrate it. And we play about 10 or 15 days.

DRUMMOND: Okay, so for 15 days you celebrate.

TRAN: Yeah, uh huh.

DRUMMOND: Do you do that even here...

TRAN: But in here, in here, which is everybody has to work, so we used, uh, Saturday to, uh, play.

DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: But we usually, uh, celebrate in Lampkin Park.

DRUMMOND: So...

TRAN: In Lampkin Park, is that right?

DRUMMOND: Um...

TRAN: Lampkin Park, in there. The big...

DRUMMOND: Um...

TRAN: Lampkin Park. Is that Lampkin?

DRUMMOND: Lampkin? I'll tell you what. I need to turn the tape over, so what I'll do is have you write it down so I get it right. Okay? And I'll turn the tape over.

(33:40)

TRAN: It contains about 300 people. 400 people. DRUMMOND: Lampkin Park. Is there, um...

TRAN: On, uh...

DRUMMOND: I'm gonna have to look it up.

TRAN: Morgantown...Morgantown Road.

DRUMMOND: Okay. On Old Morgantown Road?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: And is that...so people get married there, too?

TRAN: Uh huh.

DRUMMOND: Like, that's for weddings and stuff.

TRAN: Yeah. They just, uh, invite Vietnamese people, whatever, their friends, you know, and come to enjoy with them. And, uh, up to 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock.

DRUMMOND: So on, so there's a big celebration. Who organizes the celebration for Tet in Lampkin?

TRAN: For Tet?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: The one who, um, the president of the Vietnamese people. Just like, uh, one year is Yeong Nguyen. Yeong Nguyen, the other one. And then he, uh, come to every house. Need to gather 50 dollars, 30 dollars. It's up to you. DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: But if in your family you have two people who do work, you have to give at 35:00least 30 dollars.

DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: For the people who lead, the leader, you know. Just like the leader to, uh, bring the police for anything you need. And then, but when you go over there you have to bring food, and then also they bring the live band from Louisville.

DRUMMOND: Louisville?

TRAN: Yeah. Come over here and play for us. DRUMMOND: Oh, great.

TRAN: And dancing, and eating, and that's all.

DRUMMOND: Okay. And the, um, it's a Vietnamese band? Vietnamese come...

TRAN: They used to have American music.

DRUMMOND: Oh, so they do both?

TRAN: Yeah. They do both.

DRUMMOND: They do both. Do, um, and this has been going on for how long here in Bowling Green?

TRAN: Oh, every year.

DRUMMOND: Every year?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Every year?

TRAN: Every year they celebrate Tet. Every year. Every year on a Saturday. I 36:00mean, um, the years to take the day, like, we can. They didn't celebrate on Friday because some of them go to work.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: So they need to be on Saturday. DRUMMOND: Every year.

TRAN: Uh uh. It's every year, I mean.

DRUMMOND: It sounds fun.

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Food. Is there a special food that you bring?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. Whatever you do. You make some kind of food at home and bring it over there.

DRUMMOND: And is the food... TRAN: And, uh, we have some American come to join with us, and they love, what they say? Ex role? Rolex?

DRUMMOND: Rolex?

TRAN: Yeah, Rolex. The roll?

DRUMMOND: The egg rolls!

TRAN: Yeah! Egg rolls!

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: Egg roll. And they say they love it.

DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: Yeah. It's very, you know, every year we make it a lot, but we still don't for enough people.

DRUMMOND: Uh huh.

TRAN: Because, like, they said they love it.

DRUMMOND: Right. There's a, um, special cake. Is there a special cake?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. We have that. Cake. We make about sweet rice, bean, some sugar 37:00on, and some bacon in there. And it is very sweet. And they say, uh, in Tet you never, you cannot, uh, you don't have it. You have to, you know. You must have it. You have to make that cake. DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: Because it's, like, our custom or something.

DRUMMOND: What's it called? The cake?

TRAN: Oh, the cake is Banh Tet. Okay. I will write it down for you. Like, the cake is "Banh." I don't know how to pronounce...that's my own language. Oh, yeah. Just like Banh Tet. The cake for the Tet, you know? But it is cylinder, like this...

DRUMMOND: Okay.

TRAN: But it...it's "b-a-n-h" and "t-e-t."

DRUMMOND: Okay. And everyone has to eat that? Just a little bit? TRAN: I don't know. I love it.

DRUMMOND: You don't love it?

TRAN: Because it is too sweet, and, you know. Have you eat sweet rice before?

DRUMMOND: You know, I think I've had this before.

TRAN: Oh. Because, like, they got some coconut. Coco.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

TRAN: So it's, uh, make you feel. I don't use it a lot. Just a little.

DRUMMOND: Yeah, yeah. Oh, in this? It does? It's new.

TRAN: Come to our Tet, and you will know.

DRUMMOND: Oh, I'd love to come. It sounds really neat.

TRAN: Yeah. We use to make around, like, January. January. The first day of January is our Tet.

DRUMMOND: Okay. Um, let me see. There's some other stuff, too. What about, like, a wedding?

TRAN: Wedding?

DRUMMOND: Yeah. TRAN: Same thing. They go to invite people to go to Lampkin Park, and they play the live band in Louisville because they didn't have it.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: Yeah. It is, uh, just go over there, eating, dancing, singing. And that's all. Just like Tet.

DRUMMOND: Just like Tet. Is...

TRAN: But it's especially, they have cake wedding.

DRUMMOND: Um, do they...is it more traditional Vietnamese wedding or do they incorporate some of the American wedding traditions?

TRAN: No. It's exactly the same way we celebrate in Vietnam. We used to, uh, keep our religion, you know, original, you know? So it is exactly the same.

DRUMMOND: So it's the same thing?

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: So about about for, like, American holidays? Like, uh...

TRAN: American holidays?

DRUMMOND: ...Thanksgiving.

TRAN: Oh, well.

DRUMMOND: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

TRAN: Just some friends. At home we cook something to eat, but if you got some American friend you go to them.

DRUMMOND: Oh, okay.

TRAN: It's just the same thing. We go to play at Thanksgiving also. Like Halloween. Whatever. Like, July 4th. On special days we also go to play. Just like American. We join with them.

DRUMMOND: And, um, so do you bring Vietnamese food to those festivals, or do you mainly eat the...

TRAN: No. I don't know. Usually we don't bring anything. DRUMMOND: Okay. Just go.

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Well, um, okay. I think the last time we had talked a little bit about you becoming a citizen, right? You were going to do the citizenship?

TRAN: Oh, yeah, but, uh, I had to waiting three more years. Because you, at least you living in America in five years from the day you came over here. And now I just been here only two years, so I have to waiting three more years to get citizenship.

DRUMMOND: How about you going to college at Western Kentucky?

TRAN: Yeah. I want to...

DRUMMOND: What are you going to study?

TRAN: Uh, I can't make a decision yet, but, uh, probably, uh, I would enroll for business. But I don't really interested in business. I want to be, like, ESL teacher or something like that.

DRUMMOND: Yeah?

DRUMMOND: Yeah?

TRAN: But, uh, because the first time I enroll, and then my adviser I don't really tell her what is my major, you know? And I only tell her in business, so 42:00I don't think I cannot change it.

DRUMMOND: Yeah, you can.

TRAN: I can?

DRUMMOND: Yeah, you can change.

TRAN: Okay. I can try.

DRUMMOND: I changed three or four time before...

TRAN: Really?

DRUMMOND: Yeah. Um, what would you say would be, like, the most helpful thing for people when they're coming to Bowling Green? What would you change? Or what kinds of things would you change to make it easier for people? TRAN: If you understand English, this is the important thing to living here. Because if you don't know, you cannot, you know, you cannot join with the community, the place where you live, you know? And, then, you don't understand anything. How can you go to work with them, you know? But if you learn more English, you understand more, and you'll have a better job, you know? Even that if you don't have education well, if you speak in this way they have give you some of the easy.

DRUMMOND: Some people have told me that it gets frustrating because you come, say you've got a college degree in another country, and then you come to Bowling Green...

TRAN: Oh! Oh, some of them have a college degree, but now it's just high school.

DRUMMOND: Just high school?

TRAN: Yeah. That's why I came over here to study more than high school, so after that I go to college. DRUMMOND: Well do you, um, do you have any special stories about your move here? Any? Or just living here?

TRAN: Just living here. But it's very exciting, flying.

DRUMMOND: To fly?

TRAN: Yeah about the fly. I stop in South Korea, you know, fly to, uh, San Francisco, and then I meet my uncle over there. It's very, it's very strange 44:00because they speak, like, I don't understand anything. I just go off here! In Korea they speak Korean, and then, you know, I don't know what it's like. And it's very hard to, uh, talk to them, you know? We used, they give us food and then we just eat food. And they give us some kind of, just bring, because you don't know how to tell it. Because if you want to bring water, but you don't know how to say "water." It just, uh, give you Coke, that's all. Because sometimes I need some water, but I don't know how to say it.

DRUMMOND: Right.

TRAN: Uh huh. And, uh, it's very fun.

DRUMMOND: People bring Coke.

TRAN: They bring you, and, uh, you just take it. You don't have any questions.

DRUMMOND: So somebody met you in California before you came to Bowling Green?

TRAN: Yes. Yeah.

DRUMMOND: And you'd never ridden a plane before? Was that your first time in a plane?

TRAN: Excuse me?

DRUMMOND: Was that your first time in an airplane?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. We don't have, uh, in Vietnam, we don't have, uh, I told you that. If you don't have money how can you fly? So this is the first time I had ridden.

DRUMMOND: Um, in the future, you know, you never know who'll be listening to the tape, you know. Um, what would you want, say if your grandchildren are listening to this tape. What would you want to tell them? What would you want to share with them about your life that they would know? That you would want them to know?

TRAN: Oh, yeah. You know, I know that in the time of my dad's life it's very hard to leave. And now my life is a little bit better, but if, uh, if, like, they heard my voice now in the future, you know, I just want to say to them that the more you learn the more you know. And if you learn more education you will get better life than anybody else. But if you don't study hard, you know, it's 46:00hard to...you know, everywhere you go you have to be, got an education well. You know what I mean? I mean, like, uh, you have to try to get what you can do, you know? You don't have to be, like, uh, if you don't try the best you can, you don't have anything you want. But the special thing is to try work in something you want to. That's what I do now. I love to what I love to do.

DRUMMOND: Right. Working here at the center.

TRAN: Yeah. It is very fun. To know people come from another country, you know, to know they are comfortable. It is very fun to...I love to work in office here. I want o be English teacher, but, uh, it's hard because I'm not American. So 47:00sometime I get confused about it. But never mind. I just try, I try.

DRUMMOND: Well, eventually, you're gonna be...

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: Um, do you have any advice? I mean, I'm sure you give advice to people all the time when they come here...

TRAN: Yeah.

DRUMMOND: ...about what to do. What kind of advice would you have for people who moved to Bowling Green? TRAN: Uh, just try to working hard to get a better life. Because nothing come from, you know, the sky won't fall down from me. Because you want to get something, you want to get it by yourself. That's all.

DRUMMOND: Anything else that you would like to add to the tape that maybe I haven't talked about?

TRAN: I don't think so. That's all I will say.

DRUMMOND: Well, thank you very much. We'll conclude the interview.

TRAN: Thank you.