Intergeneration Retreat

Roasting smores, telling stories and laughing at Hmong jokes. I had no idea there were so many hmong jokes.

Playing Banana grams. Every spare moment we had we played banana grams. So much fun!
Playing games before heading out to the lake for some canoe time.
Eating food and enjoying the company.
All the ladies: Choua, Kaohly, Taylor, Pang Bee, Ying, Michelle, Ayden, Linda, Kashia, Der and See.

Taylor, Adyen and I just returned from an intergeneration retreat for Hmong women. We spent the weekend with truly beautiful Hmong women. I learned so much about my young sisters and I am looking forward to continuing my relationships with them.

What inspired me the most was seeing my own young daughter explore her identity. Taylor lives a very “American” life as I suspect many young Hmong children do today. She has made comments to me in the past that she feels different being the only person of color in her class. We have had discussions about this topic but for fear of forcing my own thoughts, ideas and feelings on her, I have tried to guide her through these questions without imposing what I have discovered for myself in my own journey.

When my husband asked her what she learned this past weekend, she said, “I have a really good life. The generations of Hmong women who came before me had so many obstacles to overcome. My life is better because of their struggles.” I felt so proud. She did not say much this weekend. I suspect because she was unable to relate to the experiences of the generations who came before her. I do know that she listened very intently.

Taylor is only starting on her journey of self discovery of what it means to be a female in a patriarchal society, to be Hmong, to be American, and to be everything in between. I am looking forward to her journey and keeping my fingers crossed that her journey does not take as long or is as difficult as my own.

Thank you to all the retreat participants and for sharing your stories. You have made a great difference in my life and my girls.

P.S. Linda and See, Ayden misses you terribly. She can’t wait to see you again!

Project Fair

Each spring the 4th, 5th and 6th graders at Taylor's school do a major research project and present their projects at a fair. Taylor's teacher provides them with a theme then it's up to each student to come up with an idea, complete the research, write the paper and present it. This year each of the 6th graders had to conduct an experiment. Taylor chose the topic cola wars and if one is better than the other.
I was so impressed by the work she put into her project. She not only did research on both Coke and Pepsi but she also conducted a blind taste test. Her project was a great success. During the project fair she continued her taste test study. Taylor drew a large crowd of people eager to try her experiment. She had people lined up in front of her station until we had to leave. Great job Taylor!
By the way, it was interesting to see how sure people were that Coke was better and that they knew their choice was coke. FYI, Pepsi won the taste test. In her initial trial Pepsi won by a slight margin. Once she added the second trial, Pepsi won in a land slide.