Shu Blong Her lived in the Xieng Khouang Province in Laos. He was a student and was also involved in the post secret-war rebellion. He left in 1978. Shu Blong is employed at the Wausau Area Hmong Mutual Association as a school liaison worker.

What was your homeland like while you were living there? The government, economy, and living conditions?  

My homeland… when I was still, I think it was a very good country, a neutral country. Although, economically it is not the way people in the country think. Otherwise my country is a very beautiful country.

How old were you when you left your homeland?

When I left my homeland, I was 14 years old.

Why did you and your family leave your homeland?

I left my homeland because the Vietnam War ended, officers or soldiers returned to America. Because my parents, my brothers, and sisters, and other people of Hmong background had been fighting the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese people or the communist regime’s government didn’t like us, so they prosecuted many people, especially the Hmong who fought with the American camp. And then we had to seek refuge somewhere else.

Was it difficult for you and your family to move the U.S., and why?

It was very difficult, although it depended on where and how you got to go to America like for my family, and myself we escaped to Thailand through the jungle. I guess it made my trip to freedom or to Thailand very difficult. We had to quickly cross thick grasses, and jungles, and forests, climb mountains, and valleys. I myself swam across the Mekong River with two pieces of bamboo trees, bamboo underneath my arms to help me float and so that made things very, very difficult. In addition to that, my parents didn’t have a chance to escape because we were starving in the jungle, and they had to go back to surrender to the communist regime just for survival. So considering the escape thing, it is very difficult.

Did you come directly to the United States?

I came to Thailand, and stayed in a refugee camp first.

After that, did you come strait to Wisconsin?

Yes.  I stayed in the refugee camp for a year.  Then I came to America through my cousin’s sponsorship.  And when I came to America, I came to Wisconsin directly.

What were some of the difficult parts of the journey to the U.S.?

Yes, the journey to the U.S.  For me was not that difficult.  In terms of just the transportation and so on, it was not difficult.  But the difficult part for myself was that I came to America without English.  I couldn’t speak English at all.  That made communication around the world extremely difficult.  The flight attendants virtually put a sign on my chest, telling another flight attendant where these boys are heading, right to Wisconsin to Wausau.  So I carried the sign so I wouldn’t…

What were your first impressions of the U.S. or Central Wisconsin’s airport when you first reached there?

I thought Wausau was great because I came during summer when everything is blossoming.  The trees are green and the weather is just like Laos.  It’s even cooler than in Thailand, which was very hot, so I came to Wausau and it felt great.  The country, the nature, and the way the people see you then are very fulfilling.

Did you and your family experience any discrimination upon your arrival?

When I came to America, for myself, I didn’t have the concept of discrimination or prejudice. We didn’t have the terminology. And so whatever people did to us. Good or bad, we couldn’t tell anyway, because we couldn’t speak English. And the facial gestures, whether it was negative or positive, I couldn’t identify them. But afterwards, I began to learn the terminology of people hating other people, especially of a different race. And although I didn’t face it that much, and the person who respects strangers, and so when somebody of the strangers gesture me a thing, I turn the other way, so I don’t notice much of the discrimination.  I think because I turn the other way instead.

Did you know a lot of people before moving to Central Wisconsin?  

You mean people in the U.S?

Yes.  

I didn’t know many people at all, only my cousin, my first cousin who was my Sponsor. And then when he brought me here, I realized that we had a few other cousins who lived in Wausau, so I was welcome living here with part of my so called extended family.

How did you learn how to ride the bus and go grocery shopping?

To go grocery shopping, because I came here when I was still a teenager, I depended a lot on my cousin because I lived with them, so whenever they went to the store I went with them. But about transportation for places that I wanted to go to, especially school, my teacher showed me how to go ride and wait for the bus and how to get transferred to the place you wanted to go, so I learned from my American friends, especially my teacher.

What were some of the greatest challenges when you first came to central Wisconsin?

The greatest challenge for myself as an individual is that I came here without my parents, so I had to have a lot of self-discipline. And I think that was the most challenging thing for me.

In what ways did you and your family change after arriving in central Wisconsin? 

Now, as we go into a new country, we see people do things differently, whether it is transportation, traveling, just basic communication, like using the telephone, knowing who to call when you are in trouble, like knowing the social system, the police. And knowing where resources are when you are in a needy situation.  So those are some of the things that myself, as a person, without then faced.

How are the members in your ethnic group different in central Wisconsin than they would have been in your homeland?

Not that much of a difference, the only difference in addition to the ethnic background and my homeland is that my homeland, we just had Laotian, and the Hmong people, and a few other ethnic groups, but we are still being called Laotian because we are from Laos. Now over here, we have other people like Vietnamese, Cambodians. We have the Thai people, and so I think those three groups make an addition to the ethnic difference comparing to when I was still in Laos.  

What customs do you still maintain from your culture, such as foods, habits, kinds of clothes you wear, language, and phrases?

We are the still consuming the same types of food. How we cook, and the rest, like you mentioned, I have to adjust to what is out there with a little bit that is in my  home country.

Are most of your friends from the same ethnic group?

My friends are varied. I have Hmong friends, Laotian friends, and I have many American friends, and they call them Caucasians.

How do other people view your ethnic group?

I guess in the Wausau area, I think we are fortunate enough that many people are very accepting of us or respective of us. There are from time to time business people who say negative things about the Hmong people, but I have seen positive people more than negative people…treat the Hmong people as an ethnic group.

What language do you speak at home with your family and friends?

At home I speak Hmong with my friends mostly, and I speak Hmong with my wife. I do speak half Hmong with my children, and half English with my children. So that is different.

What are parts of your culture you would like to be preserved for the future?

Part of my culture I would like to preserve for the future is that clothing we have. Even though we only wear them on very special occasions, we would like to continue to wear things and the practice that we have such as respect the elders, respect the parents and respect even strangers- I think that part, I would really want my children to learn and to cherish that part of my culture.

What do you think Central Wisconsin will be like 20 years from now in regard to your ethnic group?

20 years from now, I envision that there will be more people in the area. More people can mean that perhaps they will be moving from other states to Wausau or central Wisconsin. And more people think that the people living here will have their own new family and they’ll have young children, and they will increase the Hmong ethnic population in the Wausau area and around central Wisconsin.

What do you think it means to be an American?

I think, for myself it means a lot to me… freedom, it means to be proud of yourself… and that is the way I see America is to be liberated from the things that will try to hold you down or look you down and I think that is how I see being an American.

If you had a choice right now would you go back to your homeland?

If I had a choice I would go back to my homeland, but otherwise I would maintain my homeland as my vacation home instead [laughter]. Because my children are growing up here and the people I know are here. Their lifestyle that I’m getting used to and learning too is over here.

Do you think it’s better for children to grow up in your homeland than in the United States?

Right now I think it’s half and half. In my country… I see that my children would be safer in terms of society norm [police siren can be heard in the background of tape] gangs and other things that try to break the family down so I think in Laos it would be safer to preserve the family, but over here it is also good because we have opportunities for education, for pursuing our success in the future and that has balance so in a way it’s balancing out half and half… over there for one reason and over here for another reason, but they both are good.

Do you think that it’s important for the Hmong children of today to remember their background?

Yes, I think it’s extremely important for Hmong children to know their roots, know where they come from and to be able to answer to anybody, who are you… and then to be able to answer- I am a Hmong, and then be able to answer again, what is Hmong?… and that my children will be able to tell them exactly what Hmong is. I really want my children to do that.

Could you tell me what you think Hmong is?

The Hmong is someone who has a culture. They have a unique history of their background- they have a language. They have a religion that they practice. Someone who has his or her unique educational system so far as survival goes. For example, Hmong people teach legends to their children orally and I hope that can be passed on. I think the Hmong are people that have a culture, have a unique history for a thousand years, have their own language, their own religion, their own custom and culture, and I think these are some of the main things that become what people are… like the Hmong.

While you were in the refugee camp, what did you do to stay alive?

In the refugee camp we didn’t have anything so far as our possessions goes because we have left everything that we had in Laos. So you came to a country where you worked day by day and depended on other people like you, who stayed in the camp and you worked for the United Nation to distribute food, clothing … you can’t go outside the camp to work. This is my experience in Thailand and especially in the camp.

Were you the only one in your family that came over, or did you come with other people?

When I came to Thailand, I came with a group of other young people. And young people I say that because we were a group of young men who were still fighting in the war in the jungle as the Americans were gone. We had about nine young men with a group leader, a gentleman, and we escaped to Thailand.

Did you get any education while in the refugee camp?

In the refugee camp I didn’t get any education academically, but I tied to speak English in the camp.

Why did you have to go to the refugee camp before you came to the US?

I think that is how the United Nations worked on helping the refugee. The camp is to hold refugees for whatever reason. Maybe for safety or maybe just for a place that is temporary to keep refugees together for further direction. I think that’s where everyone who came to America goes, to the camp.

  One of the very special foods that Hmong consume, or special kind of cooking the Hmong people have for long, I never know but it “taub tsuag?” Where we have a very young pumpkin and pumpkin shoot or another kind we call “bitter” vegetable “zaub iab” those we are still eating over here and those are very, very good and healthy food I think.

On certain holidays is there a certain dish that you cook?

Yes. The Hmong people usually cook certain dishes especially they can cook a ham, or pork, and beef, and chicken with vegetables and so on but over here special occasions has changed Hmong the way Hmong consume food because we added the turkey. And other American dish that (?) and now my wife is baking cake that we do have addition to our dishes.

Is there a holiday that all Hmong celebrate?

Yes. Also we don’t, we don’t have a word like “Holiday” for it but we do have a day a very special event that I think is the only special event for the Hmong people and that is the New Year. But we don’t celebrate for just one day or two days- we celebrate for a whole month. And not everybody celebrates at the same time or same day – they celebrate on a different day and communities can celebrate at the same day but it happens all over and each day throughout the month of December an event will happen and so I will say  “holiday” but maybe I will say “holimonth” (laughing) something like that.

What’s a typical thing that happens at a Hmong New Year?

A typical thing that happens at a Hmong New Year is the ball tossing game that happens between boys and girls. Another thing is another game call “ballo”… a top spins... playing with men and those are two types of games that young people play and ball tossing is played by the young people who are single. Now the “tuaj lub” or hitting on those top spins is played by the men. It can be young boys… young men, adult, or the elderly.

Thank you.