Volleyball: Big part of Hmong culture

Tradition. Culture. Family. Love.

All of these words mean something to everyone. To many in the Hmong community, the words can relate to volleyball. For years, the sport has been a part of the Hmong culture, being played at large celebrations.

Now, as the sport has grown into the boys’ high school ranks, it is quickly becoming an option for young Hmong student-athletes.

“(Volleyball) is just something that since I was a kid I knew about, but I didn’t play until my uncle from Chicago got me into it,” said Thoua Vang, a senior right-side hitter for Appleton East. “He told me, ‘It’s a good sport, you should try it.’”

And tried it Vang has, as have others. The varsity rosters of Appleton East and Appleton West are both examples that show the high interest level Hmong student-athletes have in the game — East has five Hmong players on a roster of 11, while West features three Hmong players on its nine-man roster.

The two teams meet in the WIAA playoffs on Friday at 7 p.m. at Appleton East.

The story of how each player arrives at the sport varies. For Vang, it was his uncle, and eventually a love of the game, that piqued his interest.

“I used to dance before this,” said Vang. “Volleyball was interesting after I got into it. For me, I like sports that deal with teamwork. I like to work with a team, so that’s a key thing.”

For teammate Bee Yang, his road to discovering the sport was a bit different.

“I started playing in gym class in junior high, but basically, I played outside of school,” said Yang, a senior setter for the Patriots. “I play at the park sometimes, and all my friends got me involved. They motivated me to play my best.”

The parks have long been a destination for Hmong boys looking to find a game of volleyball. Often, large tournaments are held, including during the Hmong New Year, and other tournaments take place throughout the year.

One of the largest tournaments is held each year at the Hmong International Sports Festival in St. Paul, Minn., at McMurray Fields by Como Park. The event routinely draws 40,000 people from all over the United States and boasts a combination of sports such as volleyball, soccer, takro, football and top spinning.

Festivals such as this all promote two very important aspects of Hmong culture — family and community unity. And from a sports perspective, takro may be the best to link the Hmong community to their interest in volleyball.

Takro is a mix of volleyball and soccer. Players use their head and feet to pass a small, woven ball over a four-foot net. Along with top-spinning, it was one of the first sports Hmong played in Laos, learning the games from the Laotians, Thai and Chinese. It’s only natural that takro developed into current loves such as volleyball and soccer.

“There’s a lot of Hmong kids that play volleyball, but they don’t play for school,” said Vang. “They play for outside tournaments and for fun, especially when we have tournaments or our New Year’s. I don’t know why they don’t play for school.”

But as high school boys’ volleyball continues to grow, Yang believes, and is hoping, that more Hmong will find their way from the parks to the gym. He’d love to see others from the Hmong community discover the sport at the high school level.

“The way it has worked, more people play after they see others playing. Younger generations follow what they see,” he said. “I’d tell someone if they are interested to just try it. Just have the time and the patience to try it out.”

Ryan Wilson: 920-993-1000, ext. 230, or rwilson@postcrescent.com

Source: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081027/APC020506/810270529/1009/APC02

“Hmong at Heart” Children’s Museum exhibit

 

The Minnesota Children’s Museum is featuring a new exhibit titled “Hmong at Heart,” which will run through Jan. 19 at the museum in St. Paul.

The exhibit allows visitors to view the everyday lives of Hmong people in three environments: A village in Laos, a refugee camp in Thailand and a Hmong-American home.

Visitors can create bead patterns, view Hmong artifacts, learn everyday Hmong phrases, plot out 50 acres of farmland and take part in a creative writing poetry station.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and weekends, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays. Admission is $7.95 for the general public and free for members.

The museum is at Seventh and Wabasha streets in downtown St. Paul. For more information, call (651) 225-6000.

 

Helping Hmong women through scholarships

Younger generations of Hmong women are better able to contribute to the community with the ongoing award of an annual scholarship, local educators say.

Since 1995, about 30 female Hmong high school seniors and college students have received the award to help them pay for education-related costs. In turn, they are expected to contribute to the Wausau area in some way.

The fund was established by members of the Hmong Organization for the Promise of Enrichment, or HOPE. Group chairwoman May See Her recently received a 2008 Friends of Education Award for her work with the student group.

“We try to provide them with the best support so they can be successful,” Her, 27, said of the students.

The scholarship helped Manee Vongphakdy attend college and become a counselor at Wausau East High School. Her and Vongphakdy were students in the Early Identification Program, which assists disadvantaged students with their studies and career exploration.

Hmong women face a cultural expectation of helping out with domestic work at home and not going off to college, program coordinator Sharon Hunter said.

Hunter observed Her and Vongphakdy complete the program and continue their education through high school.

“She was one of those young women you knew would go a long way,” Hunter said of Her, who eventually earned two degrees and is a social worker for Marathon County Social Services.

It is important for Her and Vongphakdy to be visible to younger generations, said Nell Anderson, a Wausau School District director of education. She said there are 12 Hmong teachers who serve students in various roles throughout the district.

“If they can see themselves in those roles, oftentimes it enhances their abilities, as well as their desire to achieve,” Anderson said of female Hmong students.

Last year, 1,921 students, or about 22 percent of the district’s student population, were identified as Asian, according to enrollment data. The majority are Hmong.

The Hmong teachers have the lingual and cultural background to assist other staff members with the Asian students, Anderson said.

 Source: http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081007/WDH0101/810070430/1981/WDHopinion

Hmong New Years near

A wee bit more Wii’s

There will be a “significant increase from 2007’s levels” in North American supplies of the Wii between October and December, the company said in a statement Thursday. Supplies of the Nintendo DS handheld device will also be available “in greater abundance” the company said.

“While there’s no way to gauge total demand for our hardware systems, we’re trying to satisfy as many of those players as possible,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Last year during the holiday season, the device was very hard to find, with many stores quickly selling out shipments that they received each week.

Nintendo at one point offered a “rain check” program with game retailer GameStop to deliver the Wii in January to shoppers who could not get the game console during the holiday season due to inventory shortages.

The Wii had been in hot demand due largely to its unique motion-sensing controller and simpler games that have drawn customers outside the traditional base of young males.

Sales of the Wii and rival consoles (Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 by Sony) are expected to be strong this holiday.

Hmong Students honor Author

Hmong-American students, and University of Wisconsin-Platteville ( UWP ) faculty and staff have issued statements about the recent visit of Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt to Wisconsin where she was invited to speak about the history of the Hmong people of Laos as well as current issues, including the plight of refugees and those suffering human rights violations.

Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt is the author of the highly acclaimed book Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans and the Secret Wars for Laos ( Indiana University Press ).  Hamilton-Merritt’s book is a monumental and pioneering history of the Lao and Hmong people during the secret wars for Laos from 1942-1992. The 15th anniversary of its publication is being commemorated in the Laotian and Hmong community across the United States.  She recently was honored at Hmong New Year Ceremonies in Rhode Island.
http://www.tragicmountains.org

Last week, Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis and Dr. Hamilton-Merritt were presented with human rights awards by the Laotian and Hmong community in Rhode Island for their work on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand and Laos, including over 6,000 Hmong suffering in Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai detention centers.

On Monday, October 13, 2008, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville was privileged to have Dr. Jane  Hamilton-Merritt speak to our campus community on the subject of the Hmong, the Americans, and the secret wars for Laos, stated Mrs. Pusaporn Tabrizi, an academic coordinator for multicultural students and an advisor for Hmong Club at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

“Chancellor, Vice-chancellor, Special assistance to the chancellor, faculty, staff, and a large number of American students attended the event,” Mrs. Pusaporn Tabrizi said.

Mrs. Pusaporn Tabrizi continued:  “As a multicultural educator who has been working with Hmong students for eleven years, Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merrit was the best motivated speaker on behalf of Hmong people.  She has opened many faculty, staff, and students eyes in the history and current issues about Hmong people and our Hmong students.  The words that I have heard over and over from many audiences after her presentation were ˜I didn’t know that Hmong…’  I truly appreciated her presentation to educate people to learn more about Hmong and her tremendous efforts to build the gap between Hmong students and American students, faculty, and staff.”

The following statements are some codes from Hmong students and American faculty, staff, and students at the University of Wisconsin Platteville ( UWP ).

“The Hmong Club, the University of Wisconsin Platteville, and I were honored to have Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt come to speak about the history of the Hmong people during the Vietnam War as well as the current devastating crisis that the many Hmong are facing in Laos and Thailand,” said Porsia Vang, Hmong Club President at the University of Wisconsin, Platteville.

Porsia Vang stated further: “I respect Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt for her commitment and passion toward achieving an adequate environment for my people and bringing them into U.S. history.  She has truly impacted me to work harder toward informing the campus and community about the history of my people and what I can do to maintain my identity. I am forever grateful to have known an invaluable person as Dr. Jane.”

Bao Lee, a Hmong Club Member made the following observation: “I was super excited and honored to welcome Dr. Jane to the Platteville campus. Dr. Jane Hamilton Merritt’s lecture was not only educational, but heart-touching and mind-boggling.  As a Hmong student, I learned a lot at the lecture about the Hmong history and the Hmong culture. I am really thankful and appreciative that Dr. Jane took the time to share her experiences and knowledge with our campus. It means a great deal to hear how passionate she is about the Hmong people. Dr. Jane and her presentation will be remembered and greatly valued by many University of Wisconsin-Plattesville Hmong students as well as myself.”

Sura Yang, a Hmong Senior at the University of Wisconsin also added:
“Dr. Jane’s lecture was informative, revealing, and finally the truth about the Hmong. Having her come speak about our history and our feelings of being Americans today was deeply heartfelt and touching. Not only did she inform the audience of our history, she updated the audience on the current events of the Hmong people. The UW-Platteville Hmong students thank her for her tireless efforts to keep Hmong human rights issues at the forefront of world consciousness.”

“Amazing presentation! Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt well-represented the Hmong people with organized and interesting information,” said Jay Lee, Hmong Club Secretary.

Michael Rouvari, another student at UWP said: “Information was well presented. Recent information regarding the Hmong in Laos was surprising and shocking. Some photos were gruesome, but necessary in motivating the audience into action.”

“Dr. Jane was so very knowledgeable about the Hmong Culture, and her knowledge gave me a different perspective on some Hmong artwork I purchased 20 years ago. Thank you, Dr. Jane for educating UWP about the culture of a people that gave everything to help this country during a time of war,” stated Patricia Foster, Director Patricia A. Doyle Women’s Center.

“Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt was an inspiring and motivational speaker who gave me a much deeper understanding of the Secret War for Laos, in which the Hmong people fought with such bravery.  Dr. Hamilton-Merritt put on one of the best presentation that I have experienced on the UWP campus,” concluded Michael Wilson a UWP student.

-

Contact:

Anna Jones
( 202 )543-1444

Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite No.#212
Washington, DC  20006 USA

e-mail contacts:

info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

or

research@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

–
On the web at:

http://www.cppa-dc.org

Source:  http://media-newswire.com/release_1076347.html

Better nate than lever

I’m reminded of a joke that is making the rounds around the ‘Net.  Not spoiling the joke, you can read it for yourself HERE.

And like that torturous joke, today feels like a long and cool, crisp autumn day.  So why do I feel so overwhelmed and underpaid? (not withstanding that I don’t even get paid for this gig)  Is it the fact that summer went by way too quickly?  Or is it because I wake up when it’s dark out, go to work for 8.5 hrs, then come home when it’s dark again?  I now know how Count Dracula feels like.  My summer tan (which I paid $50 for a month’s worth) is beginning to fade.  Actually, I noticed it fading about a month ago when the tan line on my feet (from wearing sandals all summer) were gone.

And speaking of the nocturnal Count of Transylvania, it’s getting near that time again for Halloween.  The time of the year when children dress up in costumes and parade around the neighborhood, trick-or-treating for candy and other not-so-good treats that will guarantee the success of the dental care industry for decades to come.  Our office is supposedly partaking in the festivities and having an office costume party as well.  Last year, half of the office dressed up and the other half took pictures of us.  Maybe I should come in as a mirror this year?  That would be awesome!

Nevertheless, today marks the day that I actually start working on this site again.  It’s been a few months since I had the motivation to create a site that captures the excitement and creative energy of the talented and modern new Hmong generation.  Hmongism sums up all of this and more.  Unfortunately, inspiration and motivation rarely arrives at the same time.

Maybe I should take up my own advice and seek inspiration from the site once more.  I guess it’s better nate than lever!  (you should really read that joke that I linked above, it’ll all make sense and I won’t look like an idiot right now)

- Hmooj Vang
Editor @ Hmongism

Hmong textile art exhibited

Gran Torino: First Look

Perhaps the most successful and prolific actor to turn director, Clint Eastwood’s appearances on-screen have become increasingly sparse over the years as he has taken on projects that don’t have roles for him.

The last one was four years ago as the boxing manager in Million Dollar Baby, which earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor. He didn’t win, but the movie added best picture and best director to his Academy Award victories.

He’s back again in Gran Torino, opening Dec. 17, and he hasn’t looked this furious in a movie poster since 1976’s The Outlaw Josey Wales.

“Well, I’m older now. It’s easier to look angrier when you’re an old guy,” Eastwood, 78, says with a laugh.

Eastwood is still finishing the movie, but it already is regarded as a stealth Oscar contender given his recent track record of Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby and Letters From Iwo Jima. The first trailer for Gran Torino can be seen this weekend before Eastwood’s Changeling.

His Gran Torino character is Walt Kowalski, a racist Korean War veteran whose prized possession is a classic car that catches the eye of local gangs in his Detroit neighborhood. One of the troubled kids who covets the vehicle is from a family of Hmong immigrant neighbors, whom Kowalski has long resented.

The story comes down to two objects (three if you count the scowl): his 1972 Ford muscle car and his M-1 rifle.

“That’s the weapon he has had left over since being in the service,” Eastwood says. “And the same weapon I had when I was in the Army.”

Eastwood also served during the Korean War, and though he wasn’t in combat, he says: “I still know how to operate it. Field strip it …”

He chuckles.

Apart from that slight parallel, Eastwood has little in common with Kowalski. “He worked on the line in the Ford plant and retired and had this one car he bought himself. It’s sort of a symbol of his days with the Ford plant. The M-1 is sort of a symbol of his days in the military. … He’s clinging to the memory of the war. You’ll find out when you see it, some of (the memories) are not as pleasant as others. That helps make him even tougher to get along with.”

Newcomer Bee Vang, a 17-year-old Hmong American originally from the Minneapolis area, was cast as the neighbor boy who strikes up a mutually reluctant relationship with Walt.

“The young kid, as part of a gang initiation, tries to steal it, and the old guy gets him at the end of the M-1, which becomes kind of a big deal,” Eastwood says. “The kid has to do penance because of the pride of the Asian group. They make him do penance. He has to come over, and the old guy doesn’t want anything to do with him, doesn’t want him anywhere around.”

The fastest way to rid himself of the boy, Kowalski decides, is to cooperate.

“Walt helps him get a job and helps him toughen up a bit,” Eastwood says. “(Walt) doesn’t work construction. He’s retired. But he gets the boy in through a buddy, an old crony. They take him in and try to show him how to handle himself in life.”

“The old guy,” as Eastwood calls his character, ends up confronting prejudices that have isolated him.

“It’s got a lot of twists and turns in the story,” indicating some darker moments. “It also has some good laughs.”

Eastwood is producing, directing and even composing music for movies at an age when other filmmakers would be retired. Acting is the only area in which he has cut back.

“Yeah, it’ll probably be my last,” he says of Gran Torino. “I’ll be drummed out of it after this one.”

After more than 50 years and dozens of iconic characters, could he be serious?

That familiar dry voice on the phone turns into a chuckle. “Nah, I’m just kidding.”

But Eastwood acknowledges that the thought crosses his mind. “Every time you do one you think, ‘Aw, that’s enough of that.’ I always feel it’s very comfortable to be behind the camera.”

And then there’s working with the director. “Yeah, I don’t have to deal with him,” Eastwood says, laughing again. (The last time he didn’t direct himself was 15 years ago, in Wolfgang Petersen’s In the Line of Fire.)

Turning serious, he acknowledges the obvious about acting in Gran Torino. “It was fun. But I’m not destined to do too many more. I’ve been happy doing the ones I haven’t been in.”

Source:  By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY  http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-10-22-gran-torino-first-look_N.htm

World Series matchup

It’s been a year since the last World Series, give or take, so it’s reasonable to have forgotten a few things. Fox still promotes its new shows incessantly (even for Jack Bauer of ‘24′) getting flogged this hard probably qualifies as cruel and unusual. Hearing Tim McCarver dissect the latest baseball slang (they call that slider a ‘cement mixer’ ) is still as painful as listening to your dad explain rap music. But watching two very good baseball teams go at it in October remains a blast, all peripheral silliness aside. Game One of the World Series, a tense, well-played 3-2 Philadelphia Phillies win over the Tampa Bay Rays, demonstrated that.

The Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell is settling in for a fun Series.  Why rush, like all these other recent too-brief Octobers Why not have an old-fashioned Series that evolves and polishes its plot twists, Boswell writes.  After all, this pairing is special in its incongruity.  A lovely soft breeze, called disbelief, wafted across Tampa Bay as this battle began between the franchise of 10,000 losses and the team so damned it had to change its name to get the Devil out. Some Series begin amid anticipation or palpitations. This one was bathed in incredulity.

While the favored Rays will be playing from behind when the series resumes Thursday night, St. Petersburg Times columnist John Romano encourages the team’s fans not to panic.  It is true the Rays have something to fear today, Romano allows.  They have not only fallen behind in the Series, but they have also ceded their homefield advantage for the time being. But, you have seen this before. Just 12 days earlier, as a matter of fact. The Rays were so devastated by their offensive shortcomings against the Red Sox in that first ALCS game that they went on to outscore Boston 31-13 while winning the next three games. In other words, Tampa Bay has been through this already. If we have learned nothing else about these Rays as summer has turned into fall, it is that this team does not scare easily.

It probably says something about Philadelphia’s fans that, in the Allentown Morning Call, Keith Groller is, like Romano with Rays fans, trying to soothe Phillies loyalists after their team won.  Maybe if this was the regular season, the fans would fret this morning over the fact that Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell were a combined 0-for-12 with seven Ks, Groller writes.  Maybe Bud from Bensalem or Matt from Manayunk would be calling WIP this morning, griping about leaving 11 on base or the fact that the Phils were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. But the bottom line is they won and they won because they have perhaps baseball’s best clutch pitcher in Cole Hamels and a steady 1-2 punch in Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge ready for the late innings.

After the Phillies young ace served up his fourth brilliant effort of the 2008 postseason, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Bob Ford seconds Groller’s assessment of Hamels as baseball’s best clutch pitcher.  Hamels, Ford writes, pitched as if this were just another regular-season game, easing through his fluid motion to keep Tampa Bay off-balance with his mixture of fastballs and change-ups. He didn’t have his best material, but made the best use of what he had. If it seemed routine, go out to start the World Series, go seven, give up just two runs, amid the clatter of the cowbells and the general strangeness of life in an indoor stadium that has its own aquarium, you have to understand that it wasn’t, even for Hamels [But] on a night when the other team was always lurking, Hamels rose to the moment like a ray to squid.

While the Rays have a few days before they’ll be confronted with Hamels again, the Tampa Tribune’s Joe Henderson thinks the team needs a win in Game Two.  It simply will not do to lose both games here at the Trop before heading out to Philly this weekend, Henderson states.  So there will be a distinct air of urgency to the whole affair tonight. But the Rays have the edge in the pitching matchup.  James Shields over Philly’s Brett Myers and you couldn’t say that Wednesday.

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