While doing research for a reader a few months ago, I was unable to find strong information dealing with the current effects of Agent Orange on Vietnamese children. Most of what I read seemed to say that as generations pass, the dioxin levels will decrease and children being born now will be at a lower risk of suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. However, this recent article I came across focuses... more

Vietnamese water puppets are coming to Washington DC! On Wednesday June 20, 2007, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center near the White House will be home to an impressive collection of water puppet, including over 700 from the collection of puppeteer Chu Luong.

“I hope the American visitors will understand the story that we (the participants in the exhibition) want to tell through such installations. It’s... more

Thank you to Virginia over at the Russia Adoption Blog for writing about New Jersey’s proposed adoption leave bill. It’s interesting because I heard about this bill on the radio today and didn’t give it a second thought. That was because the radio announcer failed to mention that it specifically mentions that the leave will apply to newly adopted children. The announcer only said that New Jersey was sending a... more

Thanh Nien News is reporting that a Vietnamese-American official is proposing a shopping center in San Jose, California that would be called Vietnam Town and would cater to the over 80,000 people of Vietnamese descent that live in the area. This Vietnamese business district would house over two hundred Vietnamese-run businesses and would celebrate the northern, central and southern regions of Viet Nam. Viet Nam Town would also be home to Wal Mart and a large supermarket.

While supporters of Viet Nam Town are excited about offering Vietnamese business owners the opportunity to own their own stores and increasing... more

A special alert was put out by the Rainbowkids website about how the Virginia Tech shootings are affecting Asian adoptees. Parents are reporting that their children are racially identifying with the Korean shooter Cho Seung-Hui and they were reaching out for help and advice on how to handle this situation. Rainbowkids’ reaction to this is a well thought out and helpful article that offers suggestions on how to help our kids through this.

I have felt incredible sorrow for the... more

Fees are increasing at USCIS, and there is very little time left to voice our objection. The following is an outline on how the increase affects adoption and what we can do, as a group, to stop the increase. Please feel free to forward this message to any agency, listserv, group or individual who can help to eliminate the fee increases affecting adoption. We only have a week left to act on this.

Fee Increase Proposal On February 1, 2007, USCIS published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the Federal Register that would substantially raise filing fees for most types of cases. If the proposed rule is adopted, filing fees would increase by an average of 66% over current fees. The... more

I don't personally know about Ho Chi Minh City, but I do know that in Hanoi, every time we saw a bus it felt like a huge invasion that just didn't seem to fit on the small, insanely busy streets that are full of motorbikes, bicycles and people walking around. The buses seemed monstrous in Hanoi and frankly, I could have done without seeing them and navigating around them. I know that Ho Chi Minh City has a different vibe than Hanoi, so this bus tour may just be a great way to see all the sites. But the article states that they have plans to expand... more

I just wanted to pass this information on...I know Angelina's adoption has been making a lot of news and here is her agency's statement. I'm still not comfortable with the fact that her case was moved along faster than other families, but I think that it is probably (hopefully) a good sign that her agency is speaking out in her and their own defense. Here is the article where the director of the International Adoption Department says that she was sped through the... more

Interesting views on the differences between Northerners and Southerners. Having only been to Bac Giang and Hanoi, I can't voice a preference. Those of you who have been to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City...what do you think?

Cultural divide splits Vietnam By Ben Stocking

The Associated Press

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Northerners are rude, they talk funny, they're lousy drivers and have bad taste.

When a Vietnamese blogger unleashed this tirade from down south recently, people 700 miles away... more

I guess when I think of the National Football League, the image of a Vietnamese American man doesn't pop into my head. My brother in law is an ivy league college football coach and my husband's a huge Giants fan, but that's about as far as my football/NFL knowledge goes! My curiosity made me click on this article, so I thought I'd share :)

Vietnamese American Returns to Dallas Cowboys

Nguoi Viet, Posted: Mar 08, 2007

DALLAS - Dat Nguyen, the first Vietnamese American to play in the NFL, will be walking the sidelines... more