interviewer : Jessica Chew

Project : University of Houston

Vietnam War immigrant Suzanne Chew briefly describes her passage from Vietnam to the United States, the traditions she has kept from her homeland, and America’s influence on her and her family. She starts off with her journey from Vietnam to Paris and then to the United States. Her first home in America was in California, and she describes the big Asian community in Los Angeles.Continuing, Suzanne talks about her decisions to move from California to Texas and describes the Vietnamese – Chinese cultures in Houston. For example, Milam is a good place to find nearly authentic Vietnamese foods. The interview also covers how American customs have influenced her Vietnamese – Chinese traditions. She explains that since Houston has a larger variety of food, like burgers and pizza, Chinese food is not eaten as often. She also discusses smaller cemetery ceremonies and visits and compares American wedding traditions to Chinese ones. Furthermore, Lunar New Year is more condensed in Houston than in Vietnam or China. She does say that the Chinese – Vietnamese community in Houston is expanding. In the later part of the interview, Suzanne describes her recent trip to Vietnam. She states that Vietnam has also become Americanized in the cities but not as much in the countryside.