Friday, April 08, 2005

A Chronological Encapsulation of a Taiko Night Out (Saturday, March 12, 2005)

STARRING:
Chaz Curry, Richard Jong, Dan Lim, Dave Mattias, Natalia Yamashiro, Hiroshi, brother Steve, and the Taiko Center of Los Angeles

Students arrive at the Prof’s place fashionably late, “Asian time-style.”

The gang finally meets Natalia. She is of Japanese ancestry and grew up in Argentina! (The guys will eventually meet her boyfriend Hiroshi at Schurr High School.)

Chaz is lost. The guys worry about him because his cell phone dies as the Prof. tries to give him directions. Fortunately, he arrives with plenty of time to spare. Despite the dire condition of his car, the Prof. is forced to drive everyone to the high school for the taiko concert.

While maneuvering through the Schurr parking lot, the Prof. disappointingly perpetuates the “Asian driver” stereotype by driving against the flow of traffic.

The Taiko Center of Los Angeles concert goes well, but some of the guys don’t entirely “get” the collaborations with the dancers from Riverside Community College. However, they do like the energy and skills of the young female drummers in TCLA.

Feeding off the energy of the performance, Dan, Chaz & Dave go camera crazy and take all sorts of ridiculous photos with/of the musicians and their drums! (the Prof., Natalia, and Hiroshi were truly embarrassed by this display of exhibitionism.)

As the gang left Schurr, they looked for a place to eat in the surrounding area. Their first choice, ABC Café, was closed due to a “not enough space to enter the kitchen” violation, so they headed out to Noodle Planet instead.

At Noodle Planet, the dinner conversation ranged from William Hung to Asians living in South America. Out of nowhere, the Prof. made a remark about a defensive white student who once took his class and didn’t much appreciate his use of the term “white” when referring to people of European ancestry. Thereafter, whenever anyone had the inclination to use the term “white person / people” in conversation, they jokingly offered Chaz their apologies in advance.

Dinner ends at midnight. The gang head back to the Prof’s place to pick up their cars. Natalia, Hiroshi, and Chaz leave soon after.

While lounging in the Prof’s living room, Dave, Dan, and ‘the living legend’ have a long discussion about familial dysfunction, Star Wars trilogies, Sri Lanka, letters of rec, Dan’s yin to Dave’s yang, contemporary Japanese architecture, karaoke versions of Lionel Richie songs, and the pros & cons of Kobe (the ball player, not the city).

(Brother Steve walks in and retreats to his room.)

The night officially ended at 3:30 a.m. as Dave yelled at the TV screen when the aforementioned Kobe hit a 0.9 second game-winning shot against the Carolina Bobcats. Dan and the Prof are bewildered at Dave’s expressive display considering that the game is a 9 ½-hour-old rerun.

Trangdai-fest continues!

This story was printed from Daily Titan.Site URL: http://www.dailytitan.com.

Fulbright Fellow shares Vietnamese research CSUF alumna strives to bring out voices of ethnic communities

By Noura Al Anbar
April 07, 2005

Trangdai Tranguyen, a Cal State Fullerton graduate and Fulbright Fellow, re-united with students and faculty on Tuesday afternoon in the Pollak library, where she presented her research on the Diaspora of people with Vietnamese ancestry around the world, and more specifically in Sweden.

“With my experience as a Vietnamese-American, I try to bring out the voices and experiences of my ethnic community, however, at the same time I wanted to enlighten others about our communities and our experiences, so we can come together and build bridges of understanding and harmony.”

Tranguyen was recently awarded a five-year fellowship by Stanford University to complete her doctorate in social anthropology. This year, Tranguyen is spending a year at Stockholm University while concluding her research.

Tranguyen is a great, active student with outstanding accomplishments at a young age, said Arthur A. Hansen, a former professor of Tranguyen’s and director of the Center for Oral and Public History at CSUF.

“She was a very strong outreach person for us, and I think she finally found the field that’s best for her. She’s accomplished a lot since she’s been here: She logged thousands of volunteer hours in a lot of communities, most of it having to do with language and beyond.”

Tranguyen has a bachelor’s degree in child & adolescent studies and three others in English, liberal studies and Asian-American studies. As an oral historian and director of many projects such as the Vietnamese-American project, she said she hopes to uncover the history and interactions of people with Vietnamese ancestry with pan-European cultures.

“It’s very interesting to see the Vietnamese experience abroad, especially in Europe, because Europe is very different from America. In America, it is easier for one to feel a sense of belonging – even if we’re foreigners. In Europe, it’s more difficult,” said Imelda Lolowang, CSUF student and Fulbright fellow. “We need to develop our sense of consciousness and awareness about everything.”

Tranguyen’s research presented on Tuesday focused on her methodology in gathering information and explored the subjects and countries she traveled to – as well as her experiences abroad as a Vietnamese-American.

“The research Tranguyen is doing is interesting and very useful and valuable for the next generation,” said Brian Doan, a Vietnamese photographer. “It’s interesting to see the second-generation Vietnamese people who are born outside Vietnam who grew into a foreign and language and culture.”

Tranguyen said her motivation to do her research emerged after her experiences during
post-war Vietnam, and the loss of the Vietnamese history and records. In hope to collect her ancestors’ history, she continues to search for more answers and widen her research on the Diaspora of Vietnamese-ancestry people globally.

“There is a certain level of freedom that I have here in America that I didn’t have in Vietnam and I want to celebrate that, even though democracy is an ongoing process, civil liberty should not be taken for granted. Also now that I have experience with the American democracy, I want to share that with the rest of the world, and of course my ethnic fellows in Vietnam,” Tranguyen said.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Old News (Summer / Fall 2004)

Fall 2004

Trangdai Tranguyen (2000-04) has just published her third book, a collection of poetry entitled Songs For A Boat Father. It features guest commentary by several luminaries including APSA faculty advisors Craig Ihara and, ahem, Richard Jong. To purchase, please contact Poets in VietnAmerica at pivainfo@yahoo.com.


Summer 2004

Former APSA president Trangdai Tranguyen (2000-04) has been making the rounds recently in the honors / awards circuit. In addition to being presented with the CSUF Alumni Association's 2004 Outstanding Graduate Student Award, she was one of two CSUF students to receive a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship. During the 2004-05 school year, she will use her fellowship to study Vietnamese refugee communities in Sweden. [Since your Alumni Association award comes with a $1000 check, does this mean you will be treating APSA folks to a nice dinner?]


Retiring APSA president Carol Vu (2000-04) is nearing completion of her work in the McNair Scholars Program at CSUF. Under the supervision of Thomas Fujita-Rony, her research project, entitled "A Collective Power of Literary Voices: Vietnamese American Women Poets and Their Activism Through Poetry," will soon be published in an upcoming edition of the McNair Journal. In addition, Carol was recently awarded the Outstanding Asian American Studies Student award for 2003-2004. During the Spring 2005 semester, she will be studying in France where we expect her to blend right in with the locals. Following her return from Europe, she plans to pursue graduate studies, most likely in the field of Ethnic Studies.

Isabella Kanjanapangka (2000-02) will be pursuing graduate studies in journalism at the Newhouse School of Public Communications (Syracuse University) during the 2004-05 school year. She recently received a Newhouse Fellows semi-finalist award by the school, enabling her to attend the university tuition-free! Now if she could only show up at taiko concerts on time...

Graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2004, Amy Bui (2002) was recognized at the recent Honors Convocation as one of the President's Scholars. She will return to the United Kingdom (more specifically, the University of Oxford) this summer to continue her research on the Osmoregulation of the mwr site in pJHCMW1 from Klebsialla pneumonia. [huh?] Upon her return to the U.S., Amy plans to pursue graduate studies at a to-be-announced institution.