Vietnamese Youths Get a Taste of Home

To celebrate Tet, the Vietnamese New Year’s holiday, a group of immigrants gathered at a Canoga Park storefront Tuesday morning to trade joyous greetings, perform the centuries-old dragon dance and reminisce excitedly in Vietnamese about Tet holidays of the past.

This was not, however, a group of old-timers.

None of their Tet memories included the famous battle of 1968 or any other holiday celebrated during wartime. Indeed, almost no one gathered for the celebration at the Vietnamese Community Assn. of the San Fernando Valley had even been born by the time the Vietnam War ended in 1975.

These were teenagers, all of whom had come to the United States within the last 10 years. All spoke fluent English as well as Vietnamese, and all attended public middle or high schools.

But none wanted to entirely assimilate.

“It is up to us to keep the culture alive,” Viet Tran, 15, said as he put on an outfit for his role in the dragon dance, to welcome in the Year of the Cat. A student at El Camino High School, he came to the United States with his family when he was 5 years old.

“The Vietnamese kids who were born here don’t have the same feelings,” said Tran, who played the part of the ong dia, a humorous character who clowns around with the dragons and spectators during performances. “They don’t know how special the holiday was in Vietnam.

“Everyone would get ready for weeks, fixing up the house, making things, setting off firecrackers. It was exciting.”

He was about to put on his mask, which like the dragon costumes had been imported from Vietnam. The mask was made of papier-mache, and on its unpainted inside one could see that it had been made, in part, out of someone’s old arithmetic homework.

Tran, although only 15, grew nostalgic.

“I am glad I am here. I want to stay in this country,” he said. “But sometimes I miss my own country so much.”

Tran and the others belong to Vovinam Viet Vo-Dao, a martial arts club that meets at the association’s headquarters, where classes are also taught in English and citizenship.

Hung Tran, 27, who arrived in the Valley with his family in 1992, is an instructor there. Over the last year he taught the teenagers the dragon dance moves.

Excitement grew Tuesday as the time of the first ong dia performance grew near.

“Maybe we will make a lot of money,” Cam Chi, 14, said with a giggle.

Traditionally, people good-naturedly offer the dragon gifts of cash, sometimes tied to a long pole so that the player inside the head has to be lifted by the rear dancer so that the creature can appear to snatch the money in its jaws.

For members of the group, who planned to divide the donations at the end of the day, the money was not the only benefit of the holiday.

“We got the day off from school because it’s our New Year’s,” said Chi, who came to the United States with her family in 1994.

School is not always a good experience. Chi and others said they have been called racist names by some students. “It hurts the feelings,” she said.

Finally it was time to put all the costumes and instruments into two pickup trucks and head for the first performance site--a parking lot outside a real estate office where the incoming president of the community association and his wife work.

Led by Hung Tran’s graceful moves, the dragons slyly teased onlookers, running up to them and then retreating as the percussion established the rhythm. These dragons, more playful pussycat than menacing monster, especially loved to nudge up against children to the delight of the crowd. And in the end, they received more than $200 in donations.

The next performance was at a private home and then came the dragons’ appearance at Rose Nails, a nail parlor in Woodland Hills where many patrons had brought their children in anticipation of the event.

Especially enthralled were Stephanie and Ryan Minas, ages 5 and 3, of Calabasas, both of whom were dressed in traditional Vietnamese outfits.

“Their father is Jewish,” said Crystal Minas, 33, who was born in Vietnam. “The children are Jewish, too, but we like for them to know about my culture. To know where I came from.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Year of the Cat ... and the Rabbit

A different animal represents each Chinese lunar year, with different characteristics said to influence the year’s events. In general, the Chinese and Vietnamese follow the same lunar calendar, which has a 12-year cycle, but when the Chinese celebrate the year of the ox, the Vietnamese celebrate the year of the water buffalo. The Chinese sheep/ram corresponds to the Vietnamese goat. Tuesday ushered in the Year of the Cat(Vietnamese) and the Rabbit (Chinese).

The Rabbit/Cat Years

1903

1915

1927

1939

1951

1963

1975

1987

1999

2011

2023

2035

Source: AP; Times research