Seven-year-old Helen Lan Anh Shorack is quickly becoming an origami expert. But unlike most American children her age, Helen can name her origami creations in Vietnamese as well as English.
Helen was adopted two years ago from Vinh Phuc, a small rural village in north Vietnam. Her adoptive mother, Candace Shorack, said while Helen has adapted to her new environment, Eugene is very different from what she is used to.
“Eugene is a very white place,” she said. “It’s good for her to be around people who are grown up and who share her ethnicity.”
The University Vietnamese Student Association is helping children like Helen retain their cultural roots.
VSA held its annual Tet celebration in the International Lounge Thursday. The event provided a chance for Vietnamese children who were adopted by American parents and Vietnamese-American children to play traditional games and learn about their culture.
Tet is the Lunar New Year, celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese cultures.
“The Vietnamese community is very small in Eugene and (the kids’) parents want them to interact with their culture,” VSA member Phuc Nguyen said.
About 10 kids participated in the celebration, which marks the coming of spring. Traditionally, oranges are eaten for happiness, and “bad words” are not spoken, because if they are, the speakers will have a bad year. Children learned other New Year traditions, such as not using sharp objects because they will “cut” good luck, and using firecrackers to scare away evil spirits. They were also given red envelopes with “lucky money.”
The children folded origami and played puzzle and dice games, where they placed candy on different squares with six animals from the Chinese calendar — dog, rooster, dragon, rabbit, tiger and snake — and rolled a dice that had the six animals on the faces. If the animal on the dice and the squares matched up, they would win the candy.
VSA organizes this event and others similar to it every year. Member Ricky Ho said the group is always trying to spread awareness of the culture to anyone who will listen.
VSA member Wendy Tom added that it is important for children to know their heritage.
“It’s for the kids — for them to get to know … who they are,” she said.
Brian McCartin, a VSA member who is not of Asian decent, said the group is a great asset to the University.
McCartin said he is teaching himself Vietnamese because the University does not offer the language. He added that once he can speak the language sufficiently, he wants to attend classes at the University of Vietnam in Hanoi.