{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/h707w68z5w/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Que Hang Pham interviewed by Jasmine Frank, 2021 March 15"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/157/original/libraryheader.jpg?1617628943","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Finding Aid"]},"value":{"en":["https://aspace.lib.jmu.edu/repositories/4/archival_objects/25920"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Frank, Jasmine (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-03-15 (Creation)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (Primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Records an interview with Que Hang Pham, whose family resettled in the United States following the fall of Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City) to the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong in April 1975. Hang Pham, who was eight years old, recounts the dangerous evacuation journey by sea from Vietnam to Hong Kong, time spent in refugee camps in Hong Kong and Arkansas, and eventual resettlement in Richmond, Virginia. Topics discussed include second language acquisition, elementary education, parents’ graduate education and teaching careers, scholarships awarded at Virginia Commonwealth University, the value of education, upbringing, cultural adaptation, and traditional Vietnamese foodways and lifeways. Describes travels, fluency in Vietnamese, English, and Spanish, a degree in Business Information Systems, and work for IBM and the Department of Transportation. Includes references to the impact of cultural heritage on identity and self-formation. (Scope and Content Note)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["audio/mpeg"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["SdArch 45 (Collection Call Number)","SdArch45-WAV-0003.mp3 (Digital Object ID)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["Vietnam -- Emigration and immigration (geographic)","Group identity (topical)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["JMU Libraries Distinctive Collections"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Records an interview with Que Hang Pham, whose family resettled in the United States following the fall of Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City) to the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong in April 1975. Hang Pham, who was eight years old, recounts the dangerous evacuation journey by sea from Vietnam to Hong Kong, time spent in refugee camps in Hong Kong and Arkansas, and eventual resettlement in Richmond, Virginia. Topics discussed include second language acquisition, elementary education, parents’ graduate education and teaching careers, scholarships awarded at Virginia Commonwealth University, the value of education, upbringing, cultural adaptation, and traditional Vietnamese foodways and lifeways. Describes travels, fluency in Vietnamese, English, and Spanish, a degree in Business Information Systems, and work for IBM and the Department of Transportation. Includes references to the impact of cultural heritage on identity and self-formation."]},"provider":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["James Madison University Libraries"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["James Madison University Libraries"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/157/original/libraryheader.jpg?1617628943","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collections/default_thumbs/000/003/230/small/tom-coe-A7KD1kdXD-o-unsplash_Banner-2.jpg?1746109579","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - open-uri20250324-1094443-zubvm3.mpga"]},"duration":2889.324,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collections/default_thumbs/000/003/230/small/tom-coe-A7KD1kdXD-o-unsplash_Banner-2.jpg?1746109579","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-jmu.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/268/466/original/open-uri20250324-1094443-zubvm3.mpga?1742824807","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":2889.324,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":[" Que Hang Pham interviewed by Jasmine Frank, 2021 March 15  [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Okay, welcome to Harrisonburg 360 Today is March 15 2021. This is Jasmine Frank interviewing our guest Que Hang Pham for our oral history project in Dr. Fagan's class. To begin, we just wanted to ask you what your life was like in Vietnam before you ended up coming to America.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2.79,23.04"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham:  Yes, thank you for having me. My life in Vietnam was amazing. Because I grew up with a six well, altogether six children in my family, I was number three, the third one of six. And it's always having brothers and sisters around to play with, there's just a lot of wonderful friends around me and my parents and Vietnam, the culture there is you have extended family living so my grandmother lived with us. And it was wonderful. We had palm trees everywhere, just beautiful tropical environment to grow up in and it was safe environment. And it was just very pretty in terms of from what I remember the visual surroundings. So it was a wonderful, it was a wonderful country to grow up in.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=23.0,70.88"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank:  Okay. So, why did you and your family have to leave Vietnam?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=72.06,76.829"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Well we left Vietnam because of political reasons, the communism was a massive communist takeover. And on April 30th 1975, when my dad was listening to the radio and heard that they that the communists, it was a war between North and South. And the North was the communist regime, and the South was the Republic of South Vietnam. And so when news broke over the over the media, that they were marching with our tanks, my dad knew that to stay with me in a lot of trouble for him. And also for our loved ones, or families, whoever served for the military, or people with intellectual background, educational background, because on the communist agenda, it only works if people can't think for themselves. So a lot of the ways that they enforce their communist agenda with the government takeover, big brother, as some of you probably know, your history 1984, George Orwell's, the takeover, massive takeover, like that was a big threat to the people who wanted freedom who wanted to, you know, just have the capability to make our own decisions, when a communist takeover is like that a lot of times they confiscate your property, the men get rounded up to go to rethink camp. And we know a lot of people that happen to them. And some of them don't even make it out. They do a lot of rethinking in there. And the conditions of living is very harsh. A lot of torture is some of the testimonies I've heard. And so that would have been not good for my dad. And we wouldn't have had the house get to keep the house that we were in, which was a beautiful home. And so in a split second, my dad knew that you either stay behind, and he knew what was around the corner for him and his brother, who also served in the Vietnam Vietnamese military. And so when we heard they were marching in with their tanks, then it was over the war was done. And we, my dad, round us up with my mom, and we took off, we've just found a way to get out as fast as we could. And just just pray that we will be able to go somewhere that safe. So without getting into the details of that journey, but that was the reason was the political reasons, which was your question, why do we left?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=78.31,230.56"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Right. So who ended up coming over to the United States with you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=231.15,234.48"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: So it was my parents and my immediate, immediate family members, my mom and dad and my two brothers, and my three sisters and an uncle with just my, my dad's brother. We just took off together as fast as we could to get the heck out of there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=235.11,261.509"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Okay, and how was that journey? Um, you know, leaving Vietnam and before you reach the states, how was that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=261.03,268.23"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Wow, that was not what we envisioned because we never took a 101, Evacuation 101. I know you're in college. So you have a lot of courses and course numbers and all that. So there was never any enrollment of our entire family prepared us for evacuation, you know, 101 or something because we never thought that we were going to lose the country and lose the war. That just never was in the back of our mind. ever heard. None of us ever envisioned that my parents and a lot of our family, friends they just never envisioned that but that was reality. So, by 19, by April 30 1975, they've already, the communists, already rocketed the airport. So you cannot leave by air. If you left like five days before you still have an airport and are one way to take off the plane. But by April 30, everything was bombed as much as it could be to cut off communications, and so and transportation, so that was -  that was the reason why we couldn't go by air. And hey, let me just catch a flight out of Vietnam. And that didn't happen. So and a lot of times, you will wonder, some people did cross like they walked and cross the borders to neighboring countries like Laos or Cambodia. But for us, the only other way to go would be by sea. So you can't go by air, land, you go by sea. So my parents round us up, and got us down to the harbor, where we saw a lot of confusion, a lot of chaos, people running massively anything that can move, people were jumping on it, including kids, just hanging out on the harbor, you know, teenage kids, you know, and then seeing people, you know, just running around, and they just decided to jump on a ship or something and load it up, because there was no tickets at that time to board any ship that was leaving Vietnam. So you had a lot of situations where family members were very, it was very chaotic. So they were separated from their families at that time. So, so that journey was not a very pleasant journey, because we didn't think to pack food or water. So we just thought to get the heck out of there as all we could think about except my mom six months prior to all this, she did, prepared us, to say,  \"In case we ever leave our country, we're gonna have a bag and you guys can fill in what you can in one bag, that's all you can take with you.\" So that journey was a very stressful, arudous journey, trying to just leave the country before the communists come and capture us before they round up the men and get them to the rethink camp and start kicking you out of your home. Some of the places people with beautiful homes, you know, they couldn't keep their homes. People, the communist comrades and the generals and some of the upper echelon of the military ranks, they would get a home and it's because they kicked somebody else out out of their home. So for us, we knew that we couldn't even stay in our home, but we knew we didn't know where we were going to go. So we were able to hire somebody who have a little motorboat and the process of back that time to leave was you don't stay in a motorboat because it's too small. You get hired somebody to take you out to like a bigger ship. And we saw there was a ship. It was called Joe Armstrong. And we were like, well, that's the one we're gonna leave on. So we paid somebody money, so they could take us to the bigger ship. But unfortunately, oh, there was another gentleman, just thinking about it, talk it through this right now. And recalling a lot of memories now. But there was a friend of my uncle's who also wanted to join our group, and try to leave together as a group. And he was actually a multimillionaire in Vietnam and he grabbed his suitcase of money, and when we saw the prior to hiring, like a small motorboat to take us through this large ship, we he saw somebody with a nice yacht. And he was gonna, so we all got on to that little, like little really nice yacht. And, he thought he can buy off that yacht with his millions and millions of dollars of cash that he has the Vietnamese currency that he had in his suitcase. So, he opened it up to kind of make a deal to say, \"Hey, I'm going to give you this money if I can have your yacht and that will be just like a private group, you know, our family or something and the captain, whoever else a crew in there,\" but as soon as, as soon as he did that, this this person, this gentleman did that, people start pulling knives and guns and they went after the money and my dad said, \"No way, Jose, am I gonna stay with this crazy group of people, if we're going out to sea, they got knives, they got guns, they're gonna just, you know, take our money, take our jewelry,\" whatever. So, we quickly got out of there got off of this yacht as fast as we could. But my mom was counting headcounts. And she was we have six kids, and that's the only way she can keep up with the large family. And she was like, \"Huh, that's only five,\" and she alerted my dad and he was like, \"What, what happened to the little one?\" So he jumped back into the yard, he backtrack himself, and where we were going on, you know, where we were running around that yacht, and he found my little brother, who was three at that time. And he you know, we were just rushing so we would almost lost him if we hadn't taught him at that time, To my dad and my mom and dad taught us that if you ever get lost, just stay exactly where you are. We will find you. So we got him, my dad grabbed him and jumped off of that yacht. And then we pay somebody in the motorboat to take us on this larger ship, that people were piling on there too. But we said, well, that's a little bit bigger, it might not be as crazy as this one. So we load it on there and for three nights, actually, two nights and three days; no food, no water, we were just floating out and see and just praying that the - well actually, it took a while for us to get out to the international waterways, just because the car the the ship had a lot of engine problems. So they started, you know, they just wasn't starting, I'm supposed to start at 9am. But thank God, it didn't, because we didn't get on there until like around 11. And then they didn't move until like around 12. And by the time they got into Where it's coming out into where the the harbor was flowing out to the international waterways, the communist comrades, they were instructed to stand on the side of the harbor to shoot anything that was moving. So luckily, our ship didn't start on time, because we would have missed that ship to get out because we would have been late, they were supposed to go at 9 and we were there about 11. And they didn't get out until 12. So luckily that the ship did have engine problem. But another good luck, of the blessings, was if we had gone out any earlier, the communists was sitting on the side of the harbor waiting for their orders was to shoot anything that was moving. So they were rocketing anything, the ships that were coming out, little boats, whatever they saw, and it did kill some people from other and another ship that came right before ours came out. But by noon, they were told that they can be released from their posts. And they could go and celebrate because they won the war. So they abandoned the post; luckily for us at one time we reach to this point and that waterway, they, yeah, they were abandoned the post that we missed, you know, them rocketing us and shooting at us because they would have sunk the ship that was not intended for 4000 people and that's what ended up happening. So, we were floating out in the water with no food, no water and it was hard. How it was it wasn't a cruise that's just somebody forgot to pack food for that cruise ship because definitely was not a cruise. Yeah, we were on the water, but surely not your typical cruise. So we just make do and on the third day, and this ship was getting just overloaded with people, people, you know, no food, no water, we're out in the sun. And so people were getting dehydrated. So the captain had SOS a lot of the he was just sending out SOS. You know, we've got a ship 4000 people The boat is not doing too well. It's looking like it might sink. And luckily, a Danish cargo ship intercepted our SOS and took him three hours to find the coordinates to get to us. And they rescued us. And they allowed us to you know, just unload and go on their their ship. And they of course the doctors ministered to the the sick people right away. And there was a lady was about to give birth, because they weren't doing a transfer. So there was an actually new baby out of this whole trip. And we could transfer it onto this bigger ship, which was the Danish cargo ship. And the captain there, you know, he was very kind. And he instructed, you know, to give plenty of food and water to the people and the medical needs the administer to people right away, got his staff, medical staff to do that. And he called into Hong Kong because he was bound for, he was a cargo ship captain and they were bound for Hong Kong was their destination. And so he wired the Hong Kong government, which at that time was a still an annex of UK Britain. So luckily the Queen of England at that time was visiting Japan. And because Hong Kong is her annex, part of the UK. She heard about that that came to her attention. So she actually flew from Japan to Hong Kong and took a helicopter ride out to our ship where we were at with the cargo ship and survey the people and I remember being eight years old, somehow I wander up on deck. And I remember looking up and I see this helicopter hovering over us and she's I see this lady with a hat waving to us. And I was like I had no idea who she was. But now I know that was the Queen of England. So, that was really interesting. But she gave permission and commissioned the Hong Kong government to convert a lot of military camp to refugee camps where all these people that were coming so the British people under her authority she gave them authorization to finance the whole refugee camps. So, we slept on the floor for three nights, actually on the boat for 2 nights and then three days, the third day we were rescued. But when we got to Hong Kong Harbor my sister, my younger sister, I think she was about - she must have been five at the time - she was rushed to the hospital because she was very dehydrated and we would have lost her if they didn't have ambulances ready to take people to the hospital. And so, my mom and my sister were separated from us and my dad and the rest of the family and uncle we all stuck together and we were sent to a refugee camp where we slept on the floor but we were grateful to have the floor with a bamboo mat and we had like three or four families cramped together in a refugee, in a small military hut, but we had at least a safe place and we were out of a danger zone because when you're floating in the water your ship could sink and a shark could get you. Later on, a month or so later on, from Thailand they started getting pirating ships out there because they knew that people were escaping Vietnam and would have money. So, luckily we escaped all of that and the shooting from the communists to leave Vietnam. So we stayed in Hong Kong, in a camp in Hong Kong for three months. And luckily they had food and water for us, three times a day which was a blessing even though it was the same kind of food, and we kind of got sick of it after a while but we were grateful to have food. And then, after three months there, they had a lot of international agencies around the world actually came in to interview the Vietnamese refugees so that they could get entry into their country and it was a very strict vetting system, you know they wanted to make sure that you were somebody coming in that would contribute to their country. Only time you could come into America at that time at 1975 to gain entrance was if we knew somebody in America already and we didn't at that time. So, my mom actually happened to pick up a Red Cross newspaper and she saw my cousin, a picture of my cousin, their family left like a week before ours left Vietnam. So through Red Cross, we were able to track them down and found out that they already escaped safely, but also  that picture showed that he, they were in Guam, its another refugee for the Vietnamese people. And he was also, his family, went to California. They went through all the process of immigration and were able to gain entry into California because of my uncle. So, my uncle married my aunt who is my dad's sister, just to kind of give a little connection there, and he had a lot of connections, and he was high up in the military so he was able to know people in the United States so they got entrance into the U.S. and we were able to track them down through the Red Cross and that was somebody we knew in America at least, that didn't mean we had to move where they were but it just showed that we knew somebody. So, because of that we got an interview with the American diplomat people that came in to interview us, made sure we were properly vetted, our shots, everything. They really thoroughly checked us out. And then, we got accepted into the United States just to go to Arkansas and there was another process there before we got settled in America we were in another refugee camp for three months in Arkansas, it was like a military camp in Arkansas and at that time there was a lot of churches and different organizations came to help the Vietnamese people resettle so they, we went through another interview process in various groups that wanted to sponsor my family to the United States. So, different places and we just decided, my dad decided Richmond, Virginia so that we could have an opportunity because he knew, there was a church that wanted to sponsor us in Richmond, ________Methodist church in Richmond, Virginia so we went through all that process of getting the match up, and they were willing to help us get settled, so that was the journey leaving Vietnam, it was sudden, it was crazy, it was hectic but luckily we didn't lose any kids, luckily we all stayed together, luckily my sister came back from the hospital after we docked in Hong Kong and she was dehydrated, luckily she came back from the hosptial fine. And yeah, we got entrance to the United States through all the process of vetting us through the immigration process, which was actually a good process because that really helped us to appreciate when we came to America, the process that we went through to get here and that they were going to be also very cautious that there's no you know, crazy people trying to get to the United States. And so that vetting process was a good one and it did earn us the right to come to America legally.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=268.84,1218.64"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: That's great. Um, you mentioned that you were eight years old when you came here. Do you feel like you were at an advantage or a disadvantage coming here at that age?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=1220.26,1229.23"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Well, advantage for the fact that it's very kids are very resilient, because we can pick up the language really quickly. And, and this is what happened to me, I was able to pick it up. And it's interesting, my brother, who was 12, when we left, he had three years of English in Vietnam. And English as a second language, my mom made sure she drove him to like a really good school University of Saigon had like a very good school, for English for young people, teenagers and high schoolers. So she addition to his schoolwork, she made sure he was driven there, so he can get his English formation as a second language. So he ended up being our translator, to the Methodist Church that sponsored our family here because we had to communicate to them our needs, and they were very good people very kind to get us settle, very helpful. And they ministered to my parents, even though we didn't speak the language. There was a lot of hugs, a lot of smiles, a lot of you know, just a lot of encouragement, with a pat on the back to my dad, and a lot of looking up the Vietnamese English dictionary, and you know, to translate what we want to say, but my brother stepped up to translate a lot between the communication between the church people that were our sponsors, and then my family, my mom and dad, and I've, but even to this day, if you talk to my brother, he has a stronger accent than I do. So I think when I come here, when we came here, and I was eight, I don't think I picked up an accent, I think I was able to acclimate, pick up the language and just kind of learn very quickly a new language. So I think the advantage was the language skills, I think and able to adapt, adjust, make new friends and just move on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=1229.3,1335.23"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Okay, um, could you tell us about your experience going through the education system in America and growing up in general?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=1336.54,1343.08"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Oh, well, in America, I thought when we came here, I see I was in third grade in Vietnam. And they just because of my age, they put me back, they kept me in third grade. And, I remember, you know, the math they were doing was so easy. It was so simple. Because of Vietnam, the education system is very challenging. They get you going like very discipline at a young age, to just a higher level of science and math. And so I remember that their math, I was like, \"This is so easy.\" I was doing higher level math, and they were still doing addition, subtraction, and whatever. I remember just like kind of getting into a little bit better. So they gave me an assistant or like a tutor and she was very good to help me with my English but she saw that I had a high level math, she really, you know, kind of stepped up to help me like be with the math level I was at. So that was kind of the adjustment, that transition. And what was the question again? I'm sorry, I just want to try and stay on track. What were your question again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=1343.6,1407.2"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Well, I just asked if you could talk about your experience going through the education system here. And just in general, growing up as a kid in America?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=1407.23,1413.83"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Oh, just in general, no, but so the education in one way I was very ahead in terms of my math skills. But another way I wasn't very good when in writing, and English and reading because I'm just learning a new language. But what's interesting was, I remember the third grade this kid was like, trying to ask me something and she was very nice. And because they introduced me as somebody new who come from another country. And then I remember her talking to me really slow, \"Do you have a piece of paper?\" You know? I just remember people doing that to you. And then after a while, when you pick up the language, you're like, \"you don't need to talk to me so loud, I'm not deaf.\" You know, I understand you perfectly. I just, you know, I just need you to speak slowly but not loud or something. So it's kind of like that adjustment. Like people want it to connect with you but yeah, you don't pick up everything they have to say. So it's kind of like a communication issue until I really got the hang of the language and start excelling in my education. I remember getting A's from I guess elementary on to middle school, high school just you know, just there was a discipline process in Vietnam, you just don't slack off your, your, your studies, it's very highly valued. So the education was also valued in my home too because my both of my parents have Master's. My dad even went farther with his education and get a law degree. So they were both educators in Vietnam because of Vietnam education is highly valued. So the teachers were paid extremely well. And in terms of the, you know, social ladder, you know, they're like the upper echelon of the social ladder because to be a teacher, you have to be very well educated and very competitive to get into the teaching programs. And both of my parents just excelled in the education field, get their masters. And my dad got his law degree. He was number one in his law class, at University Saigon. Matter of fact, my mom even said, you ever go back to Saigon in less than the communists destroyed the plaques, which I'm sure they did. But if you go back to that university, there was a wall plaques with names like the top honor, you know, number one, your class and my dad's name was on there. And so I always took that on as education is very important. And so we've always all my brothers and sisters, we've always excel in the educational field, like Honor Society, I got two scholarships going to college, I end up getting two scholarship that pay for everything in my college. And I even got the Board of Visitors award in my junior year at Virginia Commonwealth University, they honor me with a board a visitor's award. And it was interesting, because when my mom told me that my dad got this, you know, he was honored with being number one in class, his class and his law class, when he graduated, and his name was on the plaque. And I thought, I would love to have my name on a plaque somewhere, somehow, and end up was what I got nominated for the Board of Visitors award by my Dean of Undergraduates, he nominated me for that, and I competed for it and I won. And that came with the honor of having your name, your plaque, you know, like up with a student hall or something like that, you know, what visitors were recipient and I forgot what year was in. But anyway, so that was kind of interesting, but to talk about the the culture, and I guess growing up, it was always valuing education, always valuing, I always excelled in and I applied myself, I worked hard. And we had a lot of accolades for the hard work. But also just recognize that my parents grew up with single family homes. And so they pulled themselves out of, you know, property in a way because my mom was raised by her mom, and she just had a stand at the street corner to sell food or something like that, just to provide for her daughter, she was a single mom. So my mom pulled herself out of that lifestyle, or, you know, being where you just have to stand on the streets and sell food every day. Because of her degrees. Because she excelled, she end up getting great teaching jobs at a very prestigious schools in Vietnam. You don't just go to a public school, then you have to compete to get to the quality public school. So my mom end up being a science teacher at a very quality all girls school, because back then they separate the guys and the girls when get to the high school level. They have like very top schools that you have to compete in place into the public school, education was free, but they had to compete for it to get into the school. And my mom ended up being a science professor for one of one of those girl schools in Vietnam is very famous. If anybody asked like, what did your parents do in Vietnam, I have to do just reference where they taught and my dad was a principal. So they would go \"Oh, wow.\" They would know that these are very good schools to get in and to be teaching there and have like, being a principal was very valued, it was very highly value, and you get paid extremely well. But that was also one of the reasons we left Vietnam because him being in the education field, that would mean he's an educator, he's an intellect. And they didn't like that. That's the communist agenda. So he would not have made it out of probably the rethink cap just because he's too much in intellect. So to get back with the idea of growing up in America, my whole family value education so much because of who my parents are, that we all went to college. I mean, didn't know a word of English we came here we all put ourselves through college, either scholarships. My brother was ROTC, he paid for school through that; my sister's got grand scholarships. I had two scholarships, but we all managed to get a college degree to continue to prosper in our, I guess, our path with our career paths in various industries. So does that help, Jasmine?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=1414.11,1773.84"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Yes, yeah, that's a that's an amazing story. Um, so besides, you know, learning the language when you first came here, are there any other notable challenges you faced in adjusting to America?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=1774.48,1784.23"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Notable challenges? Oh, yeah, there's a lot of cultural challenges of course. My Well, first of all, diet as well. My parents were so frustrated. They couldn't find certain kinds of foods. When we first left to Richmond. They couldn't find the kind of food that we grew up with the ethnic food like the fish sauce and the nuoc mam and just the different kinds of foods that we ate grown up, of course, cause American cuisines is different, you're not going to find certain things that we consider typical on Vietnam grocery store was not in the US grocery store. So that was kind of a challenge, not for me personally, because I was not the cook in the family, it was for my mom. But eventually, I think enough Vietnamese people settled when we were growing up in Richmond, that they, I think there were some entrepreneurs to open up a grocery Asian food store. So that was a little bit better for us. And then the some of the other challenges was, oh, my parents were very strict with upbringing very culturally, very strict. You know, you got to tell them where you're going. And when you come back, and they just, they had to know where their kids were, because I witness going up in high school, going through the public school system. A lot of times, a lot of the parents don't even know where their kids what the kids are doing. And in high school, I thought, well, let me try cheerleading because some of my friends were trying out for cheerleading. And a lot of them were going off to doing things that they're not supposed to be doing after the games. But my parents made sure that you know, they came right after the game pick me up and took me home. When they were all like passing out flyers, hey, there's this keg party here. And there you want to go and I was like, No, I, my parents are picking me up. So growing up culturally, my parents were really hard to keep us very conservative, because that's the way we grew up. They didn't let us date. They just we just knew that we have to do schoolwork, we knew the discipline of that. And my mom took on a second job, just to have food on the table. Because after I think the first year, my parents were anxious to get back on their feet, and not always have the church provide us groceries, like once a week, they would drop groceries for us. And even now, I appreciate what my parents did, because they just had so much pride in the fact that they can work hard, and they don't have to take handouts from people because we qualify for food stamps and all that because we didn't didn't have anything. But the church took care of us. And that sustained us. And then when we were able to get on our feet, my parents, you know, they learn the language. And they were able to find jobs to church founders jobs. And the people who sponsor us, I remember going back and talking to them as an adult and thanking them for all their hard work and getting my family settle. They that one of the ladies told me Mrs. Sketchley, I still remember her and she had told me that one of the proudest moment I think for your mom and dad was when I came and brought groceries one time. And she looked at me and she said, Mrs. Sketchley, you don't have to bring us groceries anymore. We have jobs. And we can, we can make it and we can stand on but we you know, they thank them. And, and I remember as a kid, getting newspaper routes, all three of the older kids had newspaper routes, we all deliver newspapers, and we knew what we need to do after school was go home delivered newspapers. And every two weeks, I can't remember exactly how much we made. But I remember whatever we made, we gave it to my mom, and there was enough for grocery money for all of us. And then she would say here, you can take $5 back, like I would make $50 every two weeks or something and I would give it to her. She goes you can have $5 to spend whatever you want. And we were like, wow, $5 was a lot! And on Saturday, I remember my dad loading us up in his station wagon, because we're three paper routes. So he would drive us around, we would just, you know, get the newspapers out and get delivered a lot faster than all three of us trying to deliver paper routes in different places. So that's the thing he does. And so some of those were the challenges, you know, not having enough money. And my mom had to work full time in the morning. And then she came back home and ate something really quick. And she took on a job as a waitress at Valley Steakhouse that was maybe 15-20 minutes from my house. And my dad was trying to work as a chef, at Bob's Big Boy just to make some extra money. And then he he had a stop that because he had to take on- He had to- he wanted to get his degree. He knew that his education in Vietnam and his law degree wasn't going to hold up here because Vietnamese law is different here. So he also had to- why he wanted to go back to school and get his undergraduate. So he was going to school in Richmond at a school down there. And trying to the night he went to night school, worked in the morning full time, get home and attend classes a night school like three days a week just to get his undergraduate so he can get a better paying position. So he end up studying computer science. Eventually he worked as a programmer, and eventually we moved from Richmond to DC because there was more opportunities in the DC area. he end up working for the IRS actually in DC coding for them during the computer programming coats and did well you know in terms of getting himself on his own fee. So some of the challenges were, you know, the cultural challenges- the not ever, ever enough money that just my parents had to really work hard, we all had to work hard, my brother would be bussing tables, after school to make enough money, and He would give my mom the check for to help out with the family income. So we all pitch in. And that's how, I guess, immigrants who came here with nothing, you know, we make it to survive without putting ourselves on government food stamp or something. Because we all just worked, we got out and worked. I mean, legally worked as we all here legally. But um, yeah, we made sure that we could get some kind of income, even at 12 years old 13, I would babysit and you know, I would give my mom some money or something. And I was allowed to keep some of it for myself. But yeah, everything that we did was very family oriented so that we can function as a family unit when we came here with nothing. So those with financial challenges, educational challenges and cultural challenges; education was the fact that we didn't know the language. But once we mastered that, even like on my brother and sister, they did really well in school, they were National Honor Society. They just earn you know, great accolades. My brother graduated the top 12 in his class in high school, and move on to Virginia Tech. My other brother also went through tech and transfer to JMU- George Mason, actually. My other two sisters went to the University of Virginia, they did really well there. And then my myself and my other sister went to Virginia Commonwealth University. So does that help - does that cover the question?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=1784.96,2193.89"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Yes, yes, thank you. Um, so you know, now as an adult, what aspects of American culture would you say have impacted you the most?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2194.16,2201.45"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Well, the opportunities for sure, certainly, the opportunities for sure, I was always good in foreign languages. And I'm, so I just I learned Spanish, I took it in sixth grade, and I stuck with it. I also took advantage the opportunities in college to go abroad and study so I went to Spain to study one summer to university- University of Salamanca in Espana, and that was fantastic. I took a summer I would work during the school days, even though I had scholarships and stuff, but I would take I always took like interns, and whenever I was working, while I was in school, save money. And then in the summer, I just traveled. So I remember, first of all, I remember 19, going to Mexico, and I had no Spanish always able to help translate from my church group that was doing a missionary project in Mexico. And so I took opportunities like that it wasn't through school, but it was an opportunity to travel to meet new people and also use my foreign language skills. And so with English, Vietnamese and Spanish, that opened many doors for me when I did get my degree in Virginia Commonwealth University as Business Information Systems. And my first job out of college was working for department of transportation in DC as a systems analyst. But in college, I took advantage of a lot of their programs, I did Co Op, I looked through the co op program where they placed students to work for companies, I end up working for IBM for about two years when I was getting my degree. And then in the summer, I would save money and be traveling. So it was great. It was great, the opportunities was just so wide open, and my parents worked hard for us to have the opportunity so I sees other opportunities could get. And I went to college, with my parents paying a dime for any of the things I did, I was always working able to pay my way pay my own braces. So there's a lot of opportunities, I definitely would say the advantage in America that I took full, full advantage of because that's what my parents worked hard to bring this over here for, and I didn't want their efforts to be in vain. Does that help with that question?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2202.77,2329.31"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: It does. Thank you. Um, also, what are some differences? You see, um, you know, now with your own family, and you know, how your children are raised compared to you know, the community you grew up with? When you first came to America? Is it any different would you say?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2329.64,2343.05"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: It's very different because we didn't have the internet and I did not have a phone growing up. So it was just a landline phone. And my dad was very strict on phone time and who's the call and, you know, no boys calling the house that kind of thing. And it was just the way he was and we just respected that and let's see some of the I guess the influence I guess, I guess, growing up when I was it was very simple. kids went outside we ride bikes we went and we have I have so many siblings that we were always like in the backyard and we weren't in school, doing chores. You know, working newspaper routes or jobs or whatever. We would have the badminton set up and we would play badminton in the backyard and then could pkay kickball to there was like I remember one kid lived next door to us in Richmond. He was a single child. He was always lonely. He's always looking at our yard and see if he can come over. But I remember just like we would go outside. We didn't play video games. We didn't do anything like that we just, you know, play with each other or have friends come over. So I would say the influence of the internet, I think there's some good for that for technology wise, since I ended up majoring in Information Systems and learn technology. My first job was technology related. But I would say that it, the difference now is the fact that there's just too much things to keep people like staying in too much watching TV and things like I, we were only allowed to watch a little bit of like Gilligan's Island after school for an hour or so. And then we have to turn off the TV and do chores. So it was a very much the culture back then was because my parents were working all the time where they would never around, or they had to do things, all the siblings we knew to step up, like kept the house clean, we knew the chores, we just kind of knew what we were supposed to do to help my parents out because they were working so hard to try to provide for us to make it better for us and made a lot of their own personal sacrifices for us, you know, my mom would be working late. And then she comes home when she dumped a bunch of money on the bed. And you know, from her tips from being a waitress in the evening, and then she had to get to bed and get up and be- work at DMV, I think she was a clerk at DMV, you know, it didn't pay that much. Or she needed to subsidize that with her sideline work as a waitress at a restaurant near our home. And my dad will be working on the weekends as a chef at Big Boy to make a little bit extra money. And then at night school, he worked in a full time day come home, and went to night school three times a week to try to get his degree. So anyway, just- I guess, does that answer your question?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2343.81,2499.45"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Is that he does. Yeah. Thank you. Um, so also, do you feel as though you still utilize things from your Vietnamese culture, with your family today? Or do you take anything still from Vietnamese culture and apply it to just your life in general still?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2499.72,2513.94"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Well, yeah, I still speak Vietnamese if I run into like- I go and get nails done and things like that at some of these places. And pretty much all of them are run by Vietnamese people that speak the language. And every time I go in there, I speak my own native language, and I get treated royalty, because it seems like you can recognize, you know, your own people, and you just get better treatment when you start speaking in your own language. So I get a lot of that, you know, from being Vietnamese, and my own culture, well, I still eat a lot of Vietnamese food like the other the other day the kids wanted- well Of course, I introduced my kids to Vietnamese cuisines. So they know pho Vietnamese noodles, and they know egg rolls and spring rolls. But sometimes, you know, we don't always to get out and buy those and have unlimited quantity to eat, because they're not cheap. So we end up cooking like 100 egg rolls the other day, and the kids loved it. My girls just love chomping down- the egg roll was unlimited. They didn't have to, like, you know, push it off, you know, I can only have one or two, like unlimited and we end up having so much we gave it away to friends and loved it. So some of the cultural stuff the cuisines, yes, I still eat Vietnamese, I still speak Vietnamese. And I have Vietnamese friends. Now And then we catch up with each other, we try to brush up on our Vietnamese because I've forgotten a lot of my words, because I'm not using it all the time. The house that we're in now, it was a Vietnamese friend of mine that drove like almost an hour and a half out here. She's a real estate agent. And she put in the contract on the house helped us you know- I found the house. And then she just put the contract here. And instead of some real estate agent, they take 2.5% or 3% for the commission, she only took point 5% and then wrote in the contract that the rest would go back to our closing of the house. So that's because she's Vietnamese, I'm bidding me she's not related to me, it's just we're friends and we pull for each other. So So those kinds of things are wonderful to still have my culture you know, live out my culture, you know, in terms of food and the people I need if I speak Vietnamese, and they they're restaurant owners or something I always get good treatments. And friends, my Vietnamese friends pull for me whenever I need something, I know what to call even if we live like an hour and a half, two hours away. We managed to meet up or something to Yeah, to the fact that we're Vietnamese to help each other. So does that help?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2513.63,2668.82"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: It does. Thank you. And then my final question for you is given the opportunity Would you like to visit Vietnam again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2669.09,2675.45"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Yeah, it given the opportunities we have that kind of money to fly over there and right now I wouldn't because you would have to wear a mask all the time for almost a two day flight and I don't think that will work for me and for the some of the girls because it's just you can't get any air even on the grounds to be up in like, you know, air like that you barely get enough air so that would not be a comfortable thing to have to fly for two days to get to Vietnam. But if conditions are normal, and it's a normal travel, no restrictions, I would love to go back, I would like to go visit the house I grew up in and the neighborhood I was in and introduce the kids, anybody could travel west and See, where I grew up in and know their their culture, because it's like, when you have a tree that has firm roots, and it gets deep into the soil, when the tree has good roots, it's a very confident tree that just rises, you know, to the sky. Whereas, you know, you got a tree that doesn't have very strong roots, what happens the wind blows, and they're blown over very easily, you know, with the wind comes because the roots is not deep. So I think, to know, cultural background, your heritage, I think it kind of validates a person's like heritage is who they are, their their being and their developmental skills, and just different things to know that oh, I came from, like this country, and therefore I like this kind of food. And that's why I do what I do. You know, so it's kind of like my friends who travel a good friend of mine travel to Ireland, and about two years ago with her dad and for her to go back to where her great great grandfather, the village they grew up in and the church they went to and how their heritage and praying at night, it helped her a lot to know her heritage, and how she wanted to raise her kids to know their faith and you know, their religious background because she had such strong roots in her heritage, one a heritage of no the Irish culture of, of, you know, faith formation and foundation and family. So I definitely would love to go to Vietnam just to introduce my husband and my children to their cultural heritage and appreciate where their mom came from. So they have a great appreciation the blessings they have now that I may not have had growing up or the people there when communists took over. But it's still the structural stuff is still there, you know, the the environment, you know, the food and the good weather, and beautiful palm trees, I'm very partial to places of palm trees that I go out of Florida or California, or even South Carolina when I see palm trees. I'm just very just nostalgic, because I grew up with beautiful, you know, palm trees and tropical plants, banana plants. You know, those kind of things give me a lot of comfort, because I do remember growing up in Vietnam, where we have those kind of scenic surroundings with tropical plants everywhere. So I think Vietnam will be a great place to go when everything is more normalized, and that we can enjoy the food and the culture and the people and the scenic view. Some of the places are gorgeous, some of the fantastic- the beaches and some of the places I remember growing up visiting was just breathtaking sceneries. So yeah, I'd love to go back.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2676.62,2870.12"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: That's great. Um, I think that concludes our interview. Thank you so much for your time Que Hang, we really appreciate it. And thank you for sharing your story with us.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2870.57,2879.18"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Que Hang Pham: Absolutely. Anytime. I appreciate it. I hope you all get A's in your report.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2879.44,2882.68"},{"id":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466/transcript/77637/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jasmine Frank: Thank you. All right. I'm going to go ahead and stop the recording now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://jmu.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3230/collection_resources/145473/file/268466#t=2883.07,2888.17"}]}]}]}