holidays

MEMORABLE MUSIC, TẾT EDITION: MIGRATION AND NOSTALGIA IN PHẠM ĐÌNH CHƯƠNG’S “SPRINGTIME IN EXILE” (“XUÂN THA HƯƠNG”)

Happy New Year! Chúc mừng năm mới! One of the holiday songs I remember my family listening to at Tết when I was a teenager was Phạm Đình Chương’s “Springtime in Exile” (“Xuân tha hương,” 1956). Tết, or the lunar new year, is the most important holiday of the year for most ethnic Vietnamese, regardless […]

MEMORABLE MUSIC, TẾT EDITION: MIGRATION AND NOSTALGIA IN PHẠM ĐÌNH CHƯƠNG’S “SPRINGTIME IN EXILE” (“XUÂN THA HƯƠNG”) Read More »

WHAT DOES CHRISTMAS MEAN TO A VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST REFUGEE?

“Vietnamese people love Christmas!” That’s what I usually say when someone asks me whether I celebrate the holiday, and I try to explain why I am both a lifelong Buddhist and a Christmas enthusiast. But the real answer is a little more complicated. I was a baby when my family came to the US as

WHAT DOES CHRISTMAS MEAN TO A VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST REFUGEE? Read More »