Fall

Flowers

The Authentic Thanksgiving

The more we get together
Together, together
the more we get together
the happier we'll be
Cause your friends are my friends
and my friends are your friends
the more we get together
the happier we'll be

Thanksgiving is the moment we leave behind labors at the office, lock unfinished assignments and projects in the drawers, and run away from pressures and stresses to return to our family to get together. We burn anger, jealousy, and negative emotions in the fireplaces to have more room for peace, joy, and delight. “The more we get together, the happier we’ll be. Our family is your family and your family is our family.” We welcome new babies into the world; we greet new siblings-in-law to expand and add more members to the family. In the United States, Thanksgiving becomes a multicultural holiday for everybody, reflecting diverse cultures with plenty of foods and traditional activities. The other cultures not only have turkey at the feast, but they also add their authentic foods, such as Mexican tortillas and tamales, African stewed beans, beef, and pork, Italian pasta, European pastrami, Indian Curry, Japanese Sushi, Korean barbeque, and Vietnamese spring rolls.  

Dan introduced me to his extended family members on Thanksgiving at Dan’s Cousin Danielle’s house. Dan’s Aunties, Uncles, Cousins, and Second Cousins curiously looked at me, a Vietnamese woman, who was as tiny and fragile as a Chinese porcelain doll in a glass cupboard. They welcomed me with charming smiles, warm-hearted acts, and gently talked as if I might be broken easily. They were happy for Dan to meet a good match and congratulated our love. Ashun, Danielle’s daughter, liked to learn how to pronounce my name and its meaning. Aunt Mickey asked me about my family, the Vietnamese holidays and culture, and wished to taste the Vietnamese dishes. Cousin Claire felt sorry about the Vietnam War and our great loss. Jackie, Danielle’s sister-in-law, admired my writing skill and was interested in my poetry and stories.  Taylor, Danielle’s daughter, invited me to the terrace to view the tired, crimson sun as it lingeringly said “goodnight” and disappeared into the borderless marine bed stretching to the horizon.

While Rob, Danielle’s husband, took the turkey out of the oven and put it on a round, silver tray, Danielle and her daughters set up the table. Flower vases were in the middle of the big, oval table. They put the white, linen, folding pocket napkins around the silver utensils on the plates decorated with turkeys. Clay turkey designs carried name tags to mark the guests’ seats. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, salad, and cranberry sauce were displayed on the long, narrow table covered with a burgundy tablecloth. Dan showed me our name tags on the table. I held my plate and followed Dan to put food on it. After the family members sat down, Rob said thank you to the guests for joining the Thanksgiving dinner. Rob welcomed me to the big family and hoped I was feeling comfortable. He introduced the family members to me. I smiled at each individual and nodded my head to reply to their greetings.

 Rob’s Mother, Ms. Frances, prayed and thanked God to give us work, bread, successful lives, and health. She prayed for homeless people and those with not enough to eat. We held glasses up and toasted, “Cheers!” We started eating. I ate a small piece of turkey: it was juicy and tasty. I finished the turkey, ham, and salad on my plate. I came to the food table, took a big piece of turkey, and finished it. Dan looked at me; he said, “Honey, I never saw you eat so much like today.”

I murmured into his ear, “The turkey is so good. This is the first time I like turkey.”

Dan talked loudly, “Chef Rob, Anhthao likes your turkey.”

Rob laughed, “Thank you, Anhthao.”

Taylor gave me a piece of cheesecake. She said, “Anhthao, eat my dessert.”

I looked at her and said, “Wow!”

Dan told Taylor, “Anhthao does not cook often, so she admires you.” 

A friend of mine told me if I wanted to be a successful writer in the United States, I should immerse myself in American culture. Thank you to Dan’s family for accepting me as a member of the family. The more we get together, the happier we will be. Your family is my family. My family is your family.

 November 10, 2014

Halloween

Fishing

Disagreement

Oct. 20 Additional Readers' letters

From Mercury News readers

POSTED:   10/20/2008 11:42:34 AM PDT

http://www.mercurynews.com/letters/ci_10768445?source=rss

Disagreement

NOTE: The following letters are unedited and reflect only the views of the author

I disagree with Michael M. Rosenblatt's opinion about Madison Nguyen's recall is anti-communist (Page 16A, Oct.16) It is not the right time to show anti-communist while we have so many things to concern.  If the recall would succeed and bring the anti-communist fame for the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose, so what for?  It will contribute another deficit budget burden on San Jose working taxpayers. Thus, I cannot breathe without eating and drinking like great hero Lý Tống, or I am in the qualified category to receive welfare. The Nguyen's recall act is the prediction of the President Richard Nixon's great quote, "Others may hate you, but they don't win unless you hate them back, and then you destroy yourself."

Anhthao Bui, San Jose

Don't blame teachers for parents' failures

Jan. 31 Readers' letters: 

From Mercury News readers

POSTED:   01/30/2014 03:19:49 PM PST

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_25029915/jan-31-readers-letters-price-postage-minimum-wage

Don't blame teachers for parents' failures

I feel sorry for Daniella Martinez, who could not read at the third-grade level ("Teacher rights getting needed court scrutiny," Page 18A, Jan. 26). However, I am disappointed that she blamed her illiteracy on her teacher. If her parents were concerned about her achievement, they would have noticed her failure in the first grade and contacted her teacher to learn about their child's failure and how to help her. The Alum Rock School District has Student Success Teams to help student achievement. The district's policy requires teachers to attend parent-teacher conferences at least three times per school year. Many parents have ignored notices about these conferences. Without the parents' help, the school cannot perform its duties.

Anhthao Bui

San Jose

Editorials should not dictate votes

Nov. 5 Readers' letters

From Mercury News readers

POSTED:   11/04/2008 03:53:21 PM PST

http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_10897511

 Editorials should not dictate votes

I think the media's mission is providing readers accurate and fair information with neutral points of views or different opinions, such as pro and con. However, I was disappointed when the San Jose Mercury News and some Bay Area newspapers recommended politicians, measures and bonds for voters as if they led readers to follow their political philosophies. I think it is not fair for those who do not receive recommendations.

Anhthao Bui

San Jose

Cultural Mosaics

Cultural Mosaics

          American culture values individualism. An Individual is a center of the universal circle with spinning communities to the self, such as family, extended family, neighbors, friends, learning environment, religious organizations, and workplaces. The widespread and diverse loops tangle with one another to build a solid, silky cocoon to conceive and develop a human identity, to shield the individual, and decide the person’s fate. The relationship between a person and a community is the reciprocal status: individuals form a community; a community nurtures individuals as a self-center.

          Family is the closest community that a human naturally attaches to at first. Researchers say that a fetus feels and interacts with the mother and the people surrounding her. The mother’s emotions and temperament transmit to the unborn baby. Music and poetry are staples of Vietnamese culture.  The rhyming verses calmed me down, so I did not hit my mother’s belly from within. The lullabies called me to leave my mother’s womb to crawl the Earth in order to participate in our family’s bookish worships and to practice the Vietnamese social rites. The melodies cradled and carried me to Lala Land. The bookshelves nurtured my creativity, fed my hungry caterpillar mind, and sowed the seeds of charisma. The charisma gradually sprouted, grew, and harvested a ripened literary fruit.

          The hurricane of liberty whirled me and the aesthetic fruit to the United States and dropped us on the dry Rocky Mountains in California. The artistry fruit hit the rock and cracked it down into many pieces. Day by day, I watered my writing passion with rainy tears, fertilized it with hardships. The American society patiently cultivated the promised tree with education and kindness. I absorbed the Western culture and the American prominent values: independence and individualism. I solely split the Vietnamese cultural tree, but deep down in my uttermost veiling the Vietnamese value: an orientation toward family.

          Individuals and communities build the concrete bond that relies on each other. Individuals engage with communities to develop physical needs, to strengthen social skills, to regulate emotional competency, and to stimulate potential. Communities need individuals to exist and to structure social laws, morality, and cultural trends.

--San Jose: Friday, October 31, 2014