Sunday, August 12, 2007

Cambodian Cultural Heritage

I was delighted to see the Cambodian Cultural Heritage celebration in Seattle yesterday. This event gives others the opportunity to get to know our country and culture. The program included a variety of shows: from Cambodian Classical Dance to the documentary about the Khmer Rouge genocide which killed 2 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.

It was a good event overall. We had an enthusiastic audience and all the performers did a good job.

Cambodian Classical Dance
Cambodian Dance

Cambodian Dance

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice Tom!

Here, to see such great event is very rare. I must travel at least to Washington DC to see one. Everything else o.k?

Bang Kanjana

Tom said...

Hi Bang,

Nice to hear from you. I've been adjusting well here so far and I like it here. Work is busy but going well also. How about you and your family?

You must be excited as Bang Penh and her family are going to visit you pretty soon.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Tom! I'm so glad that everything goes well for you. It's very important that you're happy where you're at.

Yes, I'm so looking forward to finally meet up w/ my cousin and her family in just a few days. Can you believe it?

I'm also expecting my parents. They will travel w/ Pehn's family and show them the way from New Jersey to where we live. It'll fun and joyful occasion!

How about you Tom? Will you be able to take a few days off?, catch an airplane? and just heading East Coast? You know where we are. I don't think, it would hurt to spend time w/ people that care for you. Would it?

Kanjana

Tom said...

Hi Bang,

How's everybody doing? I bet you're enjoying the reunion. Please say HI to everybody for me. Please tell Bang Penh that Lucky is well taken cared off :)

No it wouldn't hurt to visit you and the family someday in East Coast.

Anonymous said...

Hello Tom!

Everybody is doing well. We had a great time!

Penh, Bang Tala and their kids were here at our house along with my parents on Sunday ( 08.19.07 )afternoon. We had dinner that evening and we talked and talked some more and laughed some more until about 2:30a.m

I kind of knew my foods weren't all that great to Pehn, Bang Tala and my Parents' tongues, but they probably didn't have a choise. J/K!:)or may be it was true, but I did my best and it was all true, nothing, but the true.

Cambodian's salad ( gnum shrimp w/ yellow paper, been sprouts, cucumber, and a little bit of sliding tomatos mixing with Khmer's herbs) came to the recue. They seem to enjoy it most.

It was raining the first two days when they were here. We were all kind of slept late the next day and the next day and missed half of the stuff that we should have been otherwise able to do and enjoy, but oh well.... We did enjoy the good night sleep. I did at least and the most important was that we were still able to crack some more jokes and the whole time!:)

Bang Tala was accusing me of dumping him and his family at Washington D.C on Tuesday, but Tom, I must ask that you'll be on my side. I must head home after a yummy dinner at the Chinese's restaurant at downtown D.C. I would say, we left about 9:30p.m.
My house needs big attention before I'm returning back to work. My poor husband missed cutting grass before they arrived, because it was raining four straight days in the row and then he was catching a cold. He took Alka saltzers and drove them all the way to the capital of America, spent the whole cloudy day walking bout five miles long around most D.C's attraction areas. Enough of our drama right? and thank you.

I love them to death and called them five times the next day. He'll get over it and sure will forgive us.

Bye for now Tom! I'll let them know about Lucky and we will take another time with them, even if it rains worser than that.

" Nak Mean Bunn, wherver they go it rains!"

Kanjana

Tom said...

Hi Bang,

Glad to hear you had such a great time. Wow 25 years for not seeing each other. I can't imagine...I had fun looking at pictures Bang Penh showed me.

Anonymous said...

Well, Tom...I'm glad that you took the time to look at those fun photos. Hope that you have time to go thru my writing too.

Here we are:
Our first seperation came in 1973 when my grandmother died and I had to move in with my Parents. Let's see from Wat Kor to Wat Sangker, wasn't far. We saw each other almost all the time.

Then came KR's regime in 1975, our first long seperation for over a year. I went to visit Vatthana's family during the harvest season of 1976 from Beung Preing ( the town not really far away from Phoum Prey Kposh ) to Phoum Wat Sam Pov. That was also the last time, I saw my uncle or Vatthana's dad.

One small memory came to my mind, on our way back home, my mother, my older cousin and I went thru a town that our cousin told us, was Dr. Chhunly's resident and office.
We were amazed to know that your Dad was o.k. That was it. Any more trip after that would be extremly difficult. I won't see them again until early of 1979.

We traveled to Chamkar Samroung and was hoping to go back to our home across from " Soun Koma " or Bunrany's Park today?. Chamkar Sam roung was so close to us before April of 1975, but I never really had an opportunity to go there before. Know only thru song wrote by my other uncle in Phnom Pehn. It was sooooooooo.. cute and sang by Neang Huy Meas back in the 60's. It might still be around today.

Anyway, I went to visit Vatthana's family and my grandmother almost every other day whom resided at Battambang Hospital and until the end of April.

My Parents had made a decision to leave Cambodia. We didn't know, if we were going to live or die, but we were living.

Thru wind of Khmer Rouge's Regime, we got swept away from Battambang " our beloved mother land ", thru Khmer- Thailand's border, thru Lumpini's camp in Bangkok, thru Island of Barain in Soudi Arabia, thru France and all the way to Chicago and here of course. All were involunteerly, but they were our blessing journey. Finally, we can say, Good bye to The most crazy and true devil Khmer Rouge!

In 1984, we reunited in United States for the first time in 5 years and seperated again not too long after that. This time is for a very very long time, but we talked and knew that we were all doing well. Vattahna's family & us kept things going by photo, phone calls and electronic mail. You know...That's life in America. It's very easy to forget and simply didn't think it was necessary enough to travel. Oops! that wasn't good. " Time waits for no one", Tom. Got to make an effort....and it'll from me the next time around..Bye Tom! thanks for reading and have a great day!

Kanjana