Vietnamese Americans have transformed the social, cultural, economic, and political life of Orange County, California. Previously, there were Vietnamese international students, international or war brides, or military personnel living in the United States, but the majority arrived as refugees and immigrants after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Although they are lumped together as "refugees," Vietnamese Americans are diverse in terms of their class, ethnic, regional, religious, linguistic, and ideological backgrounds. Their migration path varied, and they often struggled with resettling in a new homeland and rebuilding their lives. They are dispersed throughout the country, but many are concentrated in central Orange County, where three cities--Westminster, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana--have "Welcome to Little Saigon" signs. They constitute the largest population of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam and have created flourishing residential neighborhoods and bustling commercial centers and contribute to the political and cultural life of the region. This book captures snapshots of Vietnamese life in Orange County over the span of 40 years and shows a dynamic, vibrant community that is revitalizing the region.

Vietnamese Americans have transformed the social, cultural, economic, and political life of Orange County, California. Previously, there were Vietnamese international students, international or war brides, or military personnel living in the United States, but the majority arrived as refugees and immigrants after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Although they are lumped together as "refugees," Vietnamese Americans are diverse in terms of their class, ethnic, regional, religious, linguistic, and ideological backgrounds. Their migration path varied, and they often struggled with resettling in a new homeland and rebuilding their lives. They are dispersed throughout the country, but many are concentrated in central Orange County, where three cities--Westminster, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana--have "Welcome to Little Saigon" signs. They constitute the largest population of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam and have created flourishing residential neighborhoods and bustling commercial centers and contribute to the political and cultural life of the region. This book captures snapshots of Vietnamese life in Orange County over the span of 40 years and shows a dynamic, vibrant community that is revitalizing the region.

Karin Aguilar-San Juan examines the contradictions of Vietnamese American community and identity in two emblematic yet different locales: Little Saigon in suburban Orange County, California (widely described as the capital of Vietnamese America) and the urban "Vietnamese town" of Fields Corner in Boston, Massachusetts. Their distinctive qualities challenge assumptions about identity and space, growth amid globalization, and processes of Americanization. With a comparative and race-cognizant approach, Aguilar-San Juan shows how places like Little Saigon and Fields Corner are sites for the simultaneous preservation and redefinition of Vietnamese identity. Intervening in debates about race, ethnicity, multiculturalism, and suburbanization as a form of assimilation, this work elaborates on the significance of place as an integral element of community building and its role in defining Vietnamese American-ness. Staying Vietnamese, according to Aguilar-San Juan, is not about replicating life in Viet Nam. Rather, it involves moving toward a state of equilibrium that, though always in flux, allows refugees, immigrants, and their U.S.-born offspring to recalibrate their sense of self in order to become Vietnamese anew in places far from their presumed geographic home.

"At first encounter, Orange County can resemble the incoherent sprawl that geographer James Howard Kunstler named The Geography of Nowhere: a car-dependent, seemingly bland space designed most of all for efficient capitalist consumption. But it is somewhere, too, and learning its stories helps it become more than its boosters' slogans. Writers Lisa Alvarez and Andrew Tonkovich, residents of Orange County's remote Modjeska Canyon, describe this whole county as "a much-constructed and -contrived locale, a pestered and paved landscape built and borne upon stories of human development... of destruction as well as, happily, of enduring wild places." In a similar vein, essayist D. J. Waldie, chronicler of the bordering suburb of Lakewood, asserts that "becoming Californian ... means locating yourself" in "habitats of memory" that connect ordinary, local areas with broader themes. Moving beyond sentimentality, nostalgia, and so many sales pitches that omit far too much, Waldie echoes Michel de Certeau's call to "awaken the stories that sleep in the streets." That is the goal of this book. Inspired by Laura Pulido, Laura Barraclough, and Wendy Cheng's A People's Guide to Los Angeles (University of California Press, 2012), as well as the People's Guides to Boston and San Francisco that have followed it, we offer this guidebook for locals, tourists, students, and everyone who wants to understand where they really are. This book is organized with regional chapters, sorted roughly north to south by community. Within each city, sites are listed alphabetically. After the group of entries for each city, we recommend nearby restaurants as well as other sites of interest for visitors. Readers may explore this book geographically or use the thematic tours in the appendix to consider environmental politics, Cold War legacies, the politics of housing, LGBTQ spaces, or Orange County's carceral state. The appendix also contains suggestions for teachers using this book, engaging students in cognitive mapping, close reading, popular-culture analysis, and creating additional entries of people's history. While many local histories tend to focus on a few white settlers, this book places attention on the people, especially the subaltern ones who are hierarchically under others, including workers, people of color, youth, and LGBTQ individuals. No single book can represent an entire county, so we have chosen to concentrate on the lesser-known power struggles that have happened here and influenced the landscape that we all share. We could not include everyone, of course. We are mindful that other groups are currently creating more people's history on this landscape that we hope our readers will continue to explore. In Orange County, excavating the diverse past can be frowned upon or actively repressed by those invested in selling Orange County in the style of its booster Anglo settlers from 150 years ago. This book tells the diverse political history beyond the bucolic imagery of orange-crate labels. We hope it will inspire readers to further explore Orange County and reflect on even more sites that could be included in the ordinary, extraordinary landscape here"--

rieu explores the ethnic identity formation of second-generation Chinese-Vietnamese. Many Chinese-Vietnamese Americans grew up questioning which ethnicity they belonged to. By disentangling the experiences of Chinese-Vietnamese Americans from the Vietnamese Americans, Trieu reveals the distinctions that exist because of socioeconomic indicators and the adaptation process. An examination of the factors affecting ethnic identity formation reveals the importance of context in the social construction of racial and ethnic identity. Findings show that while these second-generation members are in the preliminary stages of assimilation, cultural and structural contexts still influence their paths. Trieu argues that delving within ethnic categories yields internal differences in modes of adaptation and provides a significant nuance to the studies on the second-generation.

A great story can lead a reader on a cultural and linguistic journey--especially if it's in two languages! Vietnamese Stories for Language Learners introduces 40 traditional Vietnamese folktales with bilingual Vietnamese and English versions presented on facing pages. Each story is followed by cultural notes, vocabulary lists, and a set of discussion questions and exercises for further comprehension. Online audio recordings by native speakers help readers improve their pronunciation and inflection, while a Vietnamese-English glossary provides an easy way to reference unfamiliar terms. Illustrations by award-winning Vietnamese illustrators Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong help to bring these traditional tales to life. This book is a great supplementary reader for self-study learners or in Vietnamese language courses, but will be enjoyed by anyone who wishes to learn about Vietnamese folktales and culture. Learn Vietnamese the fun way--through the country's rich literary history! Audio recordings can be accessed at tuttlepublishing.com/downloadable-content.

The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings The ultimate guides to the food scene in their respective states or regions, these books provide the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, and celebrate local culinary offerings. Engagingly written by local authorities, they are a one-stop for residents and visitors alike to find producers and purveyors of tasty local specialties, as well as a rich array of other, indispensable food-related information including: • Favorite restaurants and landmark eateries • Farmers markets and farm stands • Specialty food shops, markets and products • Food festivals and culinary events • Places to pick your own produce • Recipes from top local chefs • The best cafes, taverns, wineries, and brewpubs