#hmong clothing store

[toanoi11]

The Charm of Hmong Tote Bags

Hmong tote bags are more than just functional accessories; they are vibrant expressions of culture, craftsmanship, and tradition. Originating from the Hmong people, an ethnic group from Southeast Asia, these bags are renowned for their intricate designs and vivid colors. They serve as a window into the rich heritage and artistry of the Hmong community.

A Rich Cultural Heritage

The Hmong people have a long history of craftsmanship, and their textile work is particularly notable. Traditionally, Hmong women have been the primary artisans, creating bags that are both practical and beautiful. Each tote bag is often hand-stitched, reflecting the skill and creativity of the maker. The designs are not just aesthetically pleasing; they also hold cultural significance. Symbols and motifs are often infused with meaning, representing various aspects of Hmong life, beliefs, and history.

Unique Designs and Patterns

One of the most captivating features of Hmong Tote Bag is their unique designs. These bags frequently incorporate vibrant colors and intricate patterns, including geometric shapes and floral motifs. The use of bold colors, such as bright pinks, blues, and greens, reflects the natural beauty of the Hmong homeland. Patterns are typically a blend of traditional and contemporary styles, making each tote bag a one-of-a-kind piece. The artistry involved in creating these bags is truly commendable, as each stitch tells a story.

Eco-Friendly and Practical

Hmong tote bags are not only stylish but also environmentally friendly. Many are made from natural materials, such as cotton and hemp, which are sustainable and biodegradable. Using a tote bag instead of single-use plastic bags contributes to reducing waste, promoting a more sustainable lifestyle. The spacious design of Hmong tote bags makes them perfect for various uses, whether you’re heading to the grocery store, going to the beach, or attending a picnic. They are lightweight yet sturdy, making them an ideal choice for daily errands.

Supporting Artisans and Communities

Purchasing a Hmong tote bag goes beyond acquiring a unique accessory; it supports the artisans and their communities. Many Hmong artisans rely on the income generated from selling their handmade bags to sustain their families and preserve their cultural heritage. By choosing to buy these bags, consumers help ensure that traditional skills and crafts are passed down through generations. Supporting local artisans also promotes fair trade practices and helps improve living standards within Hmong communities.

A Versatile Fashion Statement

Japanese Cloth Bag are incredibly versatile and can complement various outfits. Their striking colors and designs make them perfect for casual outings, while they can also add a unique touch to more formal attire. The ability to pair these bags with different styles makes them a staple in any wardrobe. Whether you’re dressing up for a special occasion or keeping it casual, a Hmong tote bag can enhance your look.

[sa7abnews]

Shop owner reveals heart-wrenching experience after BLM riots 'destroyed' his store on Gov Walz's watch

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/13/shop-owner-reveals-heart-wrenching-experience-after-blm-riots-destroyed-his-store-on-gov-walzs-watch/

Shop owner reveals heart-wrenching experience after BLM riots 'destroyed' his store on Gov Walz's watch

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Minnesota business owner who watched helplessly as his St. Paul establishment was destroyed during the 2020 George Floyd riots spoke to Fox News Digital about how the state, led by Gov. Tim Walz, failed to protect business owners like him.”When the rioters first came here they went and destroyed the strip mall on the left-hand side here, I was in my shop,” Long Her, owner of New Fashion Tailoring and Alteration in St. Paul, Minnesota, told Fox News Digital. “I witnessed everything and videotaped. My friend and I stayed in our shop until nightfall, and I was going to go to sleep and watch over my shop, but my friends said, ‘it’s too dangerous, let’s go home’ so we ended up going home that night.”Her, a Hmong immigrant, recalled that he was “afraid” for his livelihood when he went home that night but hoped that the destruction would be contained to the other side of the street.When Her came back the next morning to check on the store that he had owned for decades, he discovered his worst fears had come true, and the location was ransacked.MINNESOTA RIOTS CONTINUED AFTER WALZ TOOK ‘RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE’ THERE WOULDN’T BE CHAOS”The next day when I came here to find that my shop was destroyed, as a man, I couldn’t do anything but cry,” Her told Fox News Digital through translator May Lor Xiong, a Republican running for Congress in Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District.Her said rioters broke down his reinforced door and stole all the inventory in his store, which represented a dollar amount of $200,000. “They took down the front door with the metal bars, they had some pliers they used to destroy the metal bars. And they came in there and took everything, took all the clothing, all the merchandise and my store,” Her said.Her told Fox News Digital he tried to contact the police multiple times and received no response. When asked about Gov. Tim Walz’s role in the response taking several days to call in the National Guard, Her said that if Walz is to become vice president, he hopes he has learned from his mistakes in responding to the riot.MINNESOTA BUSINESS OWNER TEARS INTO WALZ FOR COVID, BLM RIOT LEADERSHIP: A ‘TOTAL AND COMPLETE FAILURE'”If he gets to become the vice president, he needs to learn how to love the people here and especially Minnesota because of the destruction that happened during his watch,” Her said. “He could be a good person, but he also needs to understand the people, the sufferings that they’re going through.”Several people who spoke to Fox News Digital said that the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul still have not fully recovered from the devastating riots that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, and Her said it took about two years for his business to financially recover.”It took me about a year and a half to two years to recover. During that time, a lot of people were scared to go out, and so I lost a lot of customers,” Her said. “People are not coming out to shop, and so I lost a lot of money and customers from that.”He went on to say that safety was “not a big concern” for business owners in the twin cities before 2020, but after the pandemic, “there’s a lot more people that would shoplift or steal stuff from the store.” “There’s a lot of homeless people sleeping in this area. It’s making it very unsafe for business owners and even shoppers, and so we need to have more police force to help us in this area, to protect the businesses and the people here.”Minneapolis is widely considered the epicenter of the defund the police movement, and CBS News reported earlier this year that the city’s police department is understaffed by 200 officers and the police force has shrunk by 40% over the last four years.”I don’t care what party they’re from,” Her said. “It should be nonpartisan when it comes to the police force and putting more police on the street to help citizens.”Fox News Digital asked Her if he fears that a situation like the 2020 riots could happen again.”I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Her said. “I hope it won’t with the lawlessness right here. The freedom that we have here, we love that. But also, a lot of things might happen, dangerous things that might happen to us and we have already witnessed devastation in 2020.””We want to make sure that we’re prepared, that whoever is in office needs to make sure when something like that happens, they send the National Guard to protect the people, the citizens and the businesses. So that way we do not have to go through such destruction.”

[jasminebutintaiwansojiemin]

August 2nd, 2024 星期五 - Science Museum, Ballin’ at Din Tai Fung, High-End Shopping, Hakka Village + Museum

Today we started around 9:30am, so I woke up around 8:30am to hit up 7/11 for some snack it’s. I bought Korean strawberry milk, strawberry pocky, and some honey cake.

Our first stop for class was a science museum. It was one of the widest museums I’ve ever been in. During our time to explore, I hit pretty much every floor and section. My favorite section was the health section, as it was Alice in Wonderland themed. It was definitely one of the cutest museum displays I’ve ever seen. I took a lot of pictures there for that reason. The entire museum contained a lot of interactive games, some free and some requiring tickets that you could purchase separately. At one point I was gonna do a game similar to dance dance revolution, but when I found out it cost extra, I was like nope. After exploring for a bit, I went to the cafe on the second floor. It was a pretty cafe but the prices were ASTRONOMICAL so it was a no for me. Then I headed down to the gift shop to kill some time. I ended up buying a sushi cat print for my boyfriend, a whale shark pouch, and sumikko gurashi stickers.

After the museum we headed to Din Tai Fung for lunch. As usual, it was in a high-end shopping mall. We had to wait a bit before getting sat, so I went to the bathroom and bought a pumpkin tart from a nearby dessert stand. I knew the other students would be ordering chocolate xiaolongbao as dessert but I hate chocolate so I got the tart instead.

After a bit we got sat for lunch. We pre-order the most expensive set so we made sure to try to eat everything. Some of the dishes we got were regular xiaolongbao, stir fried spinach, shrimp shumai, fish dumplings, and cucumber salad. The food was really good as always. After lunch, we had some free time to walk around. I walked through a few stores and ended up buying a shirt from Zara (which is rare because I usually hate Zara’s clothing) and a special pandora charm that is only available to buy in Taiwan. Then I walked around for a bit more and then met back on the first floor to get on the bus.

Our next stop was a Hakka village in Meinong. We visited a handicraft shop where I bought a talisman type hanging decoration. Then we went to a nearby Hakka museum, where we got learn about Hakka culture and immigration to Taiwan. After the museum we drove back to Kaohsiung, where I did NOT go to a baseball game, and planned to lock in on homework/other tasks for the rest of the night.

UPDATE: I ended up going to a nearby Latin American restaurant for dinner. I got a lamb soup that was sooooooo good and reminded me of home :( I also had some empanadas that were the most Chinese tasting empanadas I’ve ever had—and that’s saying a lot because I’ve eaten many empanadas in my life.

Academic Reflection

Today we visited a Hakka village and a Hakka museum. Before today, I had heard the term Hakka before in reference to ethnic groups in Southeast Asia (that an Hmong), but I didn’t know they were also present in Taiwan. Our tour guide explained that the Hakka ethnic groups were the last large group of Chinese Mainlanders to make the voyage to Taiwan. They hailed from the northeastern part of China, moving to the mountainous inner lands of Taiwan. Our reading for today however, claims that the Hakka originated in Southern China. I distinctly remember thinking that it was interesting that the Hakka people came from northern China all the way down to Taiwan, especially since the Minnan people largely came from the Southeastern Chinese provinces—especially Fujian.

I didn’t know which to believe, so I googled it LOL. Wikipedia claims that the Hakka are a southern Han Chinese subgroup. However, the article does say that the Hakka groups in Southern China arrived later than many other Cantonese speaking Han ethnic groups, and that their genetics are generally somewhat more closely related to northern Han peoples.

[ainews]

Ceramics have long held a special place in the cultural traditions of the Hmong people. This ancient form of art has been used for centuries to create functional and decorative items that reflect the unique beliefs, customs, and way of life of the Hmong. Among these creations, the most intriguing and perhaps unexpected, are the ceramic dressers designed for use by the fantastic creatures known as fauns.

Hmong culture is deeply intertwined with nature and the belief in supernatural beings, including the mystical fauns. According to Hmong mythology, these creatures are guardians of the forest and are known for their playful and mischievous nature. Their human-like appearance, with the lower body of a goat, makes them a fascinating subject of Hmong art and craft.

One of the primary uses of ceramics in Hmong culture is for creating household items, such as pots, plates, and bowls. However, as the Hmong people began to embrace their creativity and explore new forms of expression, their traditional ceramic techniques evolved to include more intricate and elaborate designs. This led to the creation of unique and functional pieces such as dressers.

Dressers were traditionally used to store and display clothing and other essential items. These pieces were highly valued in Hmong culture, often being passed down through generations. As fauns are known for their love of nature and their affinity for dressing in vibrant and elaborate attire, it is no surprise that the Hmong saw a connection between their ceramic dressers and the fauns.

The intricate patterns and colors used in the creation of these dressers were also reflective of the Hmong's close relationship with nature. Many pieces feature designs of flowers, leaves, and animals, which are all deeply symbolic in Hmong culture. These intricate designs not only add to the overall aesthetic of the furniture but also hold significant meaning and cultural significance.

Furthermore, the durable and sturdy nature of ceramics makes them the perfect material for creating functional items, such as dressers. This was particularly important in traditional Hmong homes, where furniture needed to withstand the harsh conditions of the mountains and forests where they lived.

In recent years, as Hmong culture continues to evolve and adapt, these ceramic dressers have gained popularity beyond their traditional use in Hmong homes. They are now coveted items for collectors and have even been featured in modern interior design. This renewed interest in Hmong ceramic art has not only brought attention to the beauty and craftsmanship of these items but also serves as a way to preserve and honor the cultural traditions of the Hmong people.

In conclusion, the intricate and unique designs of Hmong ceramic dressers, combined with their practical use and cultural significance, make them not only a fascinating aspect of Hmong culture but also a perfect fit for the fantastical and enchanting world of fauns. As the Hmong saying goes, "Koj yog ib tug hmoob, koj puas muab tus no yog puas muab lub npe," meaning "You are Hmong, the name you give is the name you keep." The Hmong people have given their culture a beautiful and enduring gift in the form of ceramics, and their rich traditions continue to live on through their art.

[fairynisse]

I wanted to write an opinion piece on the movie "Gran Torino", but nothing can top Y. Vue's review of the movie.

Hmong people were an unknown Asian indigenous ethnic minority group before this movie came out and our history is still very much unknown to others. I hate this but Clint Eastwood's fame did help Hmong people be recognized in the U.S. when this movie came out in 2008. I would rather people recognize Hmong people from Sunisa Lee becoming the first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist(perhaps the only Hmong Olympian) in all-around gymnastics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics instead.

I feel the same way about the movie that Vue does. They write, "There are a lot of things wrong with it from a cultural standpoint." The production team did have a cultural advisor, but they "only spoke to her once and then ignored her for the rest of the film." Um, yeah, totally racist. Not to mention, the script was written by white men(Memoirs of a Geisha was also written by a white man). Like why hire a Hmong cultural advisor only to ignore her?

Vue goes on to criticize how Hmong people are first introduced in the film. They show Hmong people hacking off a chicken's head with a butcher's knife to show how crude, barbaric, & uncivilized we are. It's super typically racist in the white narrative to portray Asians as uncivilized. The old white man played by Clint Eastwood in the movie is racist & judgmental and this is how he sees us. He was the director after all. It's inaccurate, btw. I don't remember this scene, but yeah, Hmong people prepare chicken in a much cleaner way and probably do a better job at prepping and cleaning chicken to cook than the chicken you buy at the grocery store.

I also agree with Vue's take on the gratitude scene. I do remember this scene. Clint Eastwood's character is a racist & is very white savior-ish, and calls us "gooks". The origin of the slur is from the Korean War. Koreans would refer to American soldiers as "migook"which means "American", and Americans, being dumb and racist, thought they were calling themselves "gook". So Clint Eastwood saves someone Hmong and then the whole neighborhood brings him huge servings of delicious food. Hmong people have high poverty rates and the setting of the movie is in a low income neighborhood. Vue notes, why would poor people who can barely feed themselves gift one person so much food that will go to waste. We aren't wasteful like that. We don't have the luxury or the stupidity to gift someone mountains of food that will just go to waste.

"Most likely real scenario: You get invited to dinner, our elder says a few words of deep gratitude, we all eat together. Yes, take home the leftovers. End of story."

The next scene they discuss is Clint Eastwood patting a kid's head. It's not taboo. This is 100% Clint Eastwood & the other white writers' fault. This is what happens when you don't fucking listen to to the Hmong cultural advisor that you hired. You're as racist as your character. I've seen plenty of Hmong elders patting children's heads as a form of affection.

Something Vue notes that I never noticed because I wasn't raised in a large Hmong community nor met any Laotian people, is that they incorporated a lot of Laos culture into this. Laotian and Hmong are completely two different ethnicities. I blame the white writers for this again. They managed to cast Hmong people, surely getting Hmong traditional clothes wouldn't be as difficult. Sometimes Hmong do adopt things from other cultures, but we still have our own culture. Again, they had a cultural advisor but chose to ignore them.

Vue went hard with this paragraph. I need someone to tip her article. It shows very much how normalized & acceptable racism is towards non-black POC.

"I found it funny that Walt never used the “N-word” but used just about every other racist name-calling for everyone else, including Latino/Hispanics and other White people. I guess Hollywood has an unspoken rule about just how racist they can be to not have the Black community bring out their pitchforks. Total Asian slurs used in this movie? 25 (minus all the thinly veiled racist undertone nicknames like Miss Yum Yum. If we count those too, it’s closer to 30 or so). That’s an average of one Asian racial slur or one mocking of Asians by Walt every 4 minutes. Take away the credits, and that’s closer to one slur every 3 minutes."

Amazing. Well, somebody had to say it. It won't change a thing though.

[hmongconnect]

Buy Hmong Traditional Dress Online

Asian cultures are unique in their beautiful ways. Speaking of craft, language, tribes, color you will find a lot of unique diversity in the Asian creed. Including the above-mentioned points, you will also find differences and diversity in clothing amongst Asians in different countries. One of the most interesting clothing patterns that you will observe amongst the Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian clothing patterns. 

If you visit any Chinatown or clothing stores, you will find fine silk fabric with multiple graphics and designs on the clothes, all of them handmade. Traditionally, in most clothes, you will find these colors, patterns unique, and some use a set of bright colors that are quite eye-catching in nature. One such culture is the Hmong culture. Use of the different combination of color, in different portions with shoes are the trademarks of Hmong Chinese Outfits, 

Originated from the Chinese Culture worn by Hmong people, these outfits are worn by the Hmong People. They have a very different type of pattern of clothes. They are strongly recognized by the intricate embroidery, which is done with the halo of thread and needles. This embroidery work is done by the Hmong people. They get the names, words, phrases also imprinted on the clothes. These embroidered pieces are intricate needlework with threads in the fabric. Although it takes a lot of effort and pain in sewing the pattern in the fabric, the overall color makes it look right. 

Hmong clothes are made with a lot of emotion, and it speaks out the story behind them. People who design the clothes speak out a story behind making them. These designs determine the story they explain through these designs on the clothes. It speaks from which clan it belongs, the background of the story, and the richness in the culture.  

Promoting  HMONG Chinese outfits for men and women will help the tradition reach other parts of the world. And as much as these people work hard, we need to bring these cultures into mainstream clothing and fashion. HMONG clothes are manufactured for all gender i.e. for men, and women. Using the design and pattern you can find shirts, skirts, and other clothing. 

We have a range of Hmong Chinese outfits for women in laced and custom-designed embroidery. Not just that, you can also get the Hmong traditional accessories jewelry and other props that you can use to style up your look. 

At our (company name) store, you will find the best Hmong clothing options. The clothes are rich and fine in terms of quality concerning the fabric. We provide authentic and original Hmong clothes. From shawl to headwear, top to bottom wear, you will find an entire collection for your Asian wardrobe collection from our store.  

If you have to attend your Asian friend's wedding or have your own with an Asian theme, hence worry no more. Because, at our store, we will offer you the best traditional Asian and Chinese Hmong outfits for your wedding. Most of the Hmong Online clothing online stores compromise in the quality. We have recorded in providing the best Traditional Hmong wedding dresses for the brides and bridesmaids. And with full security and safety, we avail online transactions for the dresses, with fast delivery at your doorstep. We strive harder to let it reach up to you before the estimated date of delivery. 

At our online store, we offer traditional Hmong pants, jackets, shawls, and winter wear. These clothes are especially handmade, shipped from the valley of Vietnam and China. We have stayed the latest Hmong Chinese Outfit for sale at relatively lower prices. These discounted prices are up from the post-winter sales and are best suited for the spring collection. Hurry now and fill your cart. Get your Hmong clothes collection from our Hmong Connect store. 

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[sabonhomeblog]

[jinpanman]

mai out here living her main character life 😌 we love to see it 😌

i am living vicariously through you and it’s bringing me so much joy to see your little updates every now and then

Ommgggg thanks;w; the mc life is so stressful tho omfg i am not built for this

should i tell you some cute things about vegan boy?<3

He let me take control of the music in the car 😍

He says "stooop" in this super cute whiny voice when i tease him about something

He walked around all new years eve day with me with a bloody ankle and never complained once (i didn't even know until the day after!😭 i felt so bad)

We shared all the food and all the drinks. Don't mind me as i go a lil delulu over all the indirect kisses hahaha (I FORGOT TO ADD BUT HIS BOTTOM LIP CAUGHT AGAINST MY FINGER WHEN HE WENT IN TO EAT THE BURGER I WAS HOLDING UP FOR HIM JSHDJSJDKS I ALMOST DIED)

He loves chocolate and hates seafood (didn't like it even before he became vegan) -- i chose the right man lol

HE LIKES TO DRIVE. Oh god. You have no idea how happy i am about this lol when i tell you liking to drive & not liking seafood are two of the top criteria for the man i end to marrying..... i got my eyes on him!!!🤣

He's super considerate of my fruit allergy 🥺 (which isn't even a big deal for me i just suffer through it bc people like fruit. HE SAID "I CAN LIVE WITHOUT FRUIT" UNPROMPTED (i'm sorry bby but i can't give up meat for u)

He thinks koi fish are cute (I do not)

He sucks at taking pictures lol

He joked about us & some friends going to hawaii for 2 weeks. I told him everyone's gonna leave him after week 1 and he said "You're staying with me!" (and then amended himself by adding on [friend here lol] 🤣)

He also sucks at singing but it's really cute when he sings lol

He sang me 2 seconds of this one hmong love song that translates to "pretty girl you're the one i like the most" AAAHHHHH

He's really easy to talk to. Like it's just so easy

He bought me this penguin pen case he saw me eyeing in a stationary shop 🥺🥺🥺

He let me shop in that store for however long i wanted to 🥺 and didn't mind waiting in line with me

He texts me about things we talked about. Like this hotel i told him i would not be able to afford bc it looked expensive. He actually looked it up a few days later and told me i was right (😍 love a man who knows when a woman is right)

He offered to take me to a shop across the street just for the bathroom bc the one in the restaurant we were eating in was really gross

He stole his cousin's clothes (bc his house was too far away) to come eat lunch with my family

Literally everyone i know loves him

He does this thing where he sniffs a lot

He's tall

He always offers to take me home after a hangout even though 1) my cousin's always around to take me home and 2)he lives on the complete opposite side of town where i was staying

Vegan pizza

He made sure to get me boba during our nye trip (i forgot all about it lol but he didn't 🥺)

He is so innocently optimistic about things that I'm so drained from. It's kind of refreshing

He gels his hair and it looks so good

He has a nice happy trail

He fed me a lot 🥺

He sat next to me at church 🥺🥺 apparently when i moved from my spot to talk with family and he didn't see me he sat somewhere else but when i moved back to my original spot so did he

(Story time: before service, some old lady behind us "whisper" asked a friend if we just got married lloooolllll and our friends being her usual self, she was all "oh nooo they just started talking! They're not married yet."💀💀 there is no way he didn't hear that either omfg and yes we both pretended we didn't hear that lol)

He also fed my family 🥺 like wtf 🥺 heart eyes 🥺

He's really cute

HE LIKES KPOP

HE DOESN'T JUDGE ME FOR KPOP bc he is also in this blackhole with me!!!!

Tbh I'm not used to having a guy "chase after" me. Bc I'm usually the one who initiates things. So him going for all these things (INCLUDING THE BTS CLUBBING EVENT OMG) to be with me makes me not know what to do with myself lololol

Ok. I should stop now lol this got really long oops

[twoflipstwotwists]

The alarm on Sunisa Lee’s cellphone rang on Monday. She had set it many months ago as a joyful reminder of her departure to St. Louis for the Olympic gymnastics trials, which had been scheduled to start on June 25, when she would be a favorite to make the United States team for Tokyo 2020.

But with the trials and the Olympics postponed until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the alarm couldn’t have been more deflating. Already, the past three months have been some of the most trying in Lee’s young life.

Lee, 17, had been ecstatic that her gym, Midwest Gymnastics, was set to open on June 1 after being closed for nearly three months. But a week before she was to return, the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis ignited passionate protests in the area. Though the largest of them happened about 20 minutes away from Lee’s home in St. Paul, Minn., her neighborhood grocery store and Target were looted, and she and her family decided to stay indoors.

Around the same time, one of Lee’s aunts and the aunt’s husband, died within 13 days of each other. Then, only two weeks after returning to training full-time, Lee twisted her left ankle on a fall from the uneven bars, relegating her to nearly the same monotonous routine she had under quarantine — mostly strength and conditioning training — until her ankle heals.

Even with all the tumult, Lee likely will reset the alarm on her phone for next year. When it rings to signal the Olympic trials she wants to be ready in both body and spirit.

This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

The days right before I went back to the gym were supposed to be happy ones, but the protests in Minneapolis were really crazy for everyone here. I didn’t go to the protests, but I understand where the anger is coming from and why people are trying to push for change. There weren’t any protests in our neighborhood, but one day we did have people throwing things in our yard. It was hard for me to even think about going back to the gym while all of these things were going on.

I heard that a lot of Hmong-owned businesses were looted and that was hard to handle. One of the officers there for George Floyd’s death was Hmong. So that was extra upsetting because it kind of made me feel like you’re a bad person because you’re Hmong. As a proud Hmong-American, I’m trying to spread positivity about Hmong people and tell people what it’s like to be Hmong, and I felt like this was a big blow to our reputation.

When my aunt died of the coronavirus, it was very, very hard on me and my family. I knew the coronavirus was a real thing, but it really hit home when my aunt died, and it was really hard to watch my mom go through that with her sister. My aunt was in her 60s, and she was one of my favorite aunts because she was so loving and caring and was always supportive of me. She wanted the best for me, and I appreciated that. My mom would always take me to her and my uncle when I was injured. They would give me herbs and give me massages, or wrap my injured ankle to have the swelling go down. My uncle was a shaman, a Hmong healer.

I didn’t go to my aunt’s funeral because not many people were allowed there because of the coronavirus and my mom thought it would be too emotional for me and my siblings. But my whole family did say goodbye to my aunt after she was taken off the ventilator in the hospital. We were all on Zoom and my mom was talking to her in Hmong, asking my aunt to watch over us and make sure we are OK in life. It was definitely hard to see that.

Usually, Hmong funerals last several days and our whole family comes together for it. It’s a Hmong tradition to fold thousands of little paper boats with silver or gold paper that represent money the person could take into the afterlife, but we couldn’t do that because of the coronavirus. There was no time and my relatives were scared of traveling. So I folded as many little boats as I could. I took the day off from the gym so I could fold and fold. The tradition is that the boats are burned once the person is buried. I watched my aunt’s funeral on a livestream. Two weeks later, when my uncle died, it was a shock to my whole family. He had recovered from the virus, but he had a heart attack. There are still a lot of tears.

When my gym finally reopened, I was so excited, but it wasn’t like everything went back to normal. It was really fun to see my friends again, but we can’t hug each other and have to say six feet away from each other. We have to train in smaller groups and don’t get to see our friends as much. We have to wear a mask going into the gym and then when we go to the bathroom or take a break. We wash our hands and use sanitizer before and after every event.

The other difference was that the training was so hard! My gosh, after the first day I was so sore that I could barely walk the next day and for a week after that. Training on the equipment is very different than working out in your own at home. I definitely didn’t think it would be as painful as it has been.

The toughest part was going back on the uneven bars. I feel like most of my events came back to me pretty fast, except the bars. For me, I know that people always expect me to be perfect, so when I’m not perfect, it’s really frustrating. I’m really hard on myself and want things to work out right away. It’s difficult to find the balance if your swing is off. With the other events, I can adjust to things, but if my air awareness is off on bars, everything gets really messed up. I was really upset when I hurt my ankle on bars because now I can’t do them for another few weeks. It’s basically the same injury I had last year going into national championships.

It’s impossible not to wonder what I’d be doing now if the Olympics weren’t canceled. I know I’d be at trials right now, so close to my goal of making it to the Olympics. But I talk to my gymnastics friends and it makes me feel better because we’re all in the same boat, looking at another 12 months of training. I’ve talked to Simone Biles a lot, and it’s really nice to get to know her in this way because she was my idol and I used to see her as this intimidating gold medalist, but now she’s a friend. I tell her about how I was finally able to get my nails done and how I went shopping at the Mall of America and bought some summer clothes at PacSun and some shoes at Nike. She told me that she has another dog and is getting another house.

I feel like the energy in the world this year has been so negative. I try to remind myself that I’ll come back from my ankle injury better than ever. I’m looking forward to going to national team camp soon, but that might not be until September. I just want this year to be over. I’m so ready for 2021.

[spudandemdotravels-blog]

Vietnam - Episode 1 - Hanoi, SaPa

Hullo!

After deciding that Thailand was our favourite country of the trip so far, we were both sad to be leaving and excited for the next leg of our journey. Thailand has really been amazing, and although we had to forego Nepal we feel lucky to have been able to explore the north and south of the country. Spud in particular found himself eating humble pie early on after his preconceptions of Thailand being super touristy and too ‘western’ were swiftly quashed. Em approached with a more open mind, but was also pleasantly surprised at just how welcoming the people were, how good the food was, and how beautiful the country was in general.

After our last breakfast with Drew and Carol we jumped in our taxi that was to take us to what was a very confusing Phuket City International Airport. Thankfully our driver was a patient man and after circling the airport trying to decide which terminal we needed we checked in and boarded our flight to Bangkok. All went smoothly up until the point that our luggage didn’t arrive for 45 minutes after we reached baggage collection. Seemingly the porters had decided to leave all rucksacks until last, which resulted in us having to sprint through the airport to check into our next flight on time. Emily did a double take when the hostess at checkout said the gate closed at 3pm and the watch said 5 past! With 5 minutes since the gate closed, we pushed our luck as we were REALLY HANGRY and picked up a milkshake and some sandwiches before boarding. Nevertheless we boarded by the skin of our teeth (Em blamed Spud for this after he boldly ordered a toasted sandwich which we had to wait for) and were finally on the way to Hanoi!

We arrived in Hanoi old quarter at around 7:30pm, and we could tell straight away that we were going to enjoy ourselves here. The old quarter is a hive of activity that has a friendly atmosphere where tourists and locals mingle together. We were fairly tired from the days travelling, so after checking into our Lantern Dorm hostel we nipped out for a DIY BBQ beef dinner and a beer before calling it a night.

The next day was put aside for walking the city. We chose to cover the old quarter and some of its markets, as well as the Imperial Citadel which was kind of a heritage site cross war museum as it was used as a strong hold during conflicts. We covered about 13km of the city, which was plenty given that you seriously have to have your wits about you to preserve your life when crossing a road because of all the traffic heading in basically all possible directions (including the pavements...who says you should wait at a red light anyways!?). We finished our day with a meal at the New Day restaurant which was recommended to Em by her friend Rachel (top tip!). We ended up in a room with no windows and only cushions on the floor with a low table, which added to what was a really nice experience.

On our final day in the city we targeted the French quarter and had considered a couple of the museums, but unfortunately early on our card was swallowed by an ATM. We had a mini panic and then pulled ourselves together and arranged collection upon our return from Sapa in a few days time. It wasn’t an ideal solution but the bank was closed given that this was on a Saturday, and we had to come back to Hanoi anyway before moving on to Halong Bay. We were feeling a bit down by this point, but had spotted a good deal for a camera lens that we had been considering for a while. So, to cheer ourselves up we treated ourselves to an early Christmas present and then spent the rest of the day walking the French Quarter before a water puppet show in the evening. The water puppet show was fun but pretty bizarre - different rural scenes are portrayed with puppets who are basically in a small swimming pool.

After the show we spent an hour taking in the huge sense of community in the walking areas near Hoan Kiem lake. It was a Saturday night and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, happy watching groups skipping rope, performing circus skills, dancing and drawing. We couldn’t imagine people in the UK doing stuff like this on the weekend, and although weather is a factor it made us think about how much alcohol is a big part of social gatherings back at home. Here, there were no signs of trouble, drink or drugs to be seen. We found the whole thing slightly alien, but left liking Hanoi that little bit more.

We woke at 5:30 the next morning to catch our bus to Sapa. The coach journey was uneventful and we reached our destination by lunch time. What a contrast to Hanoi! The place felt just like a European ski resort with its alpine chalet type buildings, numerous cosy looking restaurants and stunning mountainous backdrop. It of course had an Asian twist to it though! We were met immediately by a group of 5 native Red Hmong tribe women who were charming but wanted us to buy either clothing or their services for a trek and proceeded to follow us for the next half an hour. So, we dodged into a nearby restaurant for Pho (noodle soup) and a coffee before hiring a scooter so that we could find our Homestay in the neighbouring Cat Cat village. Once we had checked in to our cosy little private room, the temperature had dropped to around 5*C so we wrapped ourselves up in hats, gloves and down jackets and went into town to find some dinner. We ended up eating in an Italian restaurant after the place we had scoped out was closing early for some reason, but the food was great and we had a table next to the wood burner, much to Emily’s delight!

(Below: Our home stay in CatCat Village)

The following day we put our little 110cc scoot through its paces and ventured into the Cat Cat valley to Su Pan, which although is only about 15km away took us the best part of the morning to get to. We stuck to the national roads, but the surface was similar to Laos (mainly non-existent) and was pretty tough going (in particular for Em’s ass sat on the back!). At one point we had to scramble our way past a lorry that had got itself stuck in the middle of a very muddy ford. On the other side Spud was commandeered to ride a French lady’s scoot back across the ford, and after the good deed he was awarded with putting his left foot in ankle deep mud....Once we had got used to the sketchy roads again we enjoyed the day. The scenery was fantastic and we had lunch in a little alpine style restaurant looking out over the mountains. That evening we booked ourselves on a two day trek with a company called Sapa O Chau before returning to a little restaurant Emily had spotted earlier called Good Morning View restaurant, where we had the most amazing meal of local slow cooked home-smoked pork, and sizzling duck accompanied by a local beer for Spud and some delicious plum and apple rice wine for Emily.

Our first day of trekking took us to the villages of Suoi Ho, Matra and Ta Phin which are home to the Hmong and Red Dao minority tribes. We covered around 10km and the trails were great. Not too challenging but off the beaten track enough to satisfy our needs. Similar to the previous day the scenery was amazing, but it was slightly unfortunate for us to miss out on seeing the rice crops before they were harvested in September.

Our Homestay was in a rural part of Ta Phin, and was very authentic. We were greeted by Mr and Mrs May and offered green tea, then it was onto bath time! The Red Dao (local tribe) specialise in herbal medicine - and in particular herbal baths. Having spotted the large wooden tub in the corner of the room, the group were a little trepidatious about who would a) go first and b) go last...it was very clear whether the water was going to be changed in between each person. However, in pairs, Spud and I were ushered into the wash room where two tubs of steaming herbal bath awaited us, so we stripped off and climbed in! Wow, it felt amazing to get into a bath (albeit in a crouched position), letting the steam swirl around us, after 15 minutes, time was up and we made room for the next couple - to their relief the water WAS changed between each person! We were surprised at how un-homely the house was; it had a very utilitarian feel to it and the evening was spent around the basic fire made up on the floor which doubled up as a cooking pit. Traditionally the Red Dao do not use chimney systems in their houses as the smoke helps to dry out rice stores that are kept on the first floor of the property. You can imagine how much we all smelled of food and wood smoke the next day!

(Below: bathtubs ready for healing herbal hot water)

The second day was far easier than the first however we still felt as though we were heading to Sapa ‘the back way’. After a breakfast of more banana pancakes than you could possibly eat and some coffee we watched a bridal procession walk up through the village before heading home from the wedding the night before. We covered approximately 10km with a relaxed lunch stop 3/4 of the way through. We were picked up below Sapa at around 2pm with plenty of time for us all to get back and move onto our next stops. We booked a 4pm bus back to Hanoi which would land us at around 10pm and we decided to stay in the Lantern Dorm again since it had been good the first time and because it was familiar to us. The journey was smooth bar a bum clenching moment where our driver skilfully dodging a bus heading the other direction which veered into our lane. Our driver believed that the other driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. It was at this point that we vowed not to use night buses in Vietnam again!

In some ways our lost card was a blessing in disguise, as it meant we could spend more time in Hanoi. We were able to get our card back early on so had time to visit the Women’s museum, get hair cuts in a tiny barbers on the edge of the Old Quarter, visit a couple of cafe’s to catch up on life admin, and to see the famous street train. We have no idea how people live with a train passing so close to their homes, let alone without barely any warning of the train arriving. We were under a meter from the carriages as it passed by us, and to the locals this was all very normal! Our day was finished with a meal at La Vong restaurant which has allegedly been serving the same recipe for grilled catfish with dill and rice noodles for over 100 years (although we avoided the purple-brown fermented shrimp dipping sauce). It was great to be finishing our time in Hanoi with traditional north Vietnamese cuisine.

Next stop Halong Bay, and then onto Phong Nha national park.

Spud & Em x

[chengyengyangds22]

Week 5 - History of Design

First, I will be talking about the De Stijl design. This movement had designing principles like simply using squares and rectangles, which are right-angled shapes in this movement. This reminds me Microsoft, which I use every day. Their app shop logo design seems like a pretty good example of the use of squares, a simple and minimal designing.  The book example on page 170, image 5.2c and 5.6 on page 181 are the two that I am referring back to the most.

I also wanted to talk more about their apps store layout design too, or many other online stores that may use similar design as the De Stijl movement. The spacing in between products or apps that can clearly just be as basic as these types of designs. You can see the lining or space sections that are there for reasons to not be so bunched up together. It is simple and clear.

The next example I want to talk about is part of my culture and history of Hmong people. This cloth design tells a story. Though this design is not a great example for Russian’s lubok and religious icon designs (p. 189), like the use of texts or the simplicity use of colors.  there are some similarities. One being the uses of space for the designs. The cloth could be as big as this one or even bigger where it would go on and on. Which this conveyed a strong message and perspectives of Hmong culture.

I feel like this type of designs like the poster in page 280 and 281, are designs that are mostly use in promoting something. The design style is known as the Art Deco styles, which came back after World War II. There is a simple phrase or words that are designed to convey their message or purpose across. Just like their “America’s answer!” The example I gave from a newspaper below, “A1 From Day 1,” produces a similar agenda to sort of promote or advertise. The example below does show skills in designing their letters and using different style fonts.

Eskilson, Stephen J. Graphic Design A New History. 2nd Edition. Lawrence King Publishing, 2012.

[maggie-wang83]

D-18

Today I went thrifting with my friend, we went to four different stores, Rag stock, Rewind, clothing kingdom, and Buffalo Exchange. I love thrifting since the clothes are inexpensive and some clothes are still in great quality!  I got two crewnecks from clothing kingdom for $65 (original price for one piece could go up too $60-80), got a jacket for $9 at Buffalo exchange, and a scrunchie for $3 at Rewind. After shopping we went to the Hmong market to eat some good food! and shop around. We got pork, egg, and paired it with sticky rice all cost $10. [12:30 PM CST]

[newstfionline]

Road trip through Middle America reveals resilience, pragmatism, and diversity

Doug Struck, CS Monitor, November 26, 2017

STORM LAKE, IOWA--La Juanita is packed. Under a mural of a farmer in a sombrero, three Asian teenage girls sit in a booth giggling with their white friend. At the next table, an ethnic pea pod of workers ogle overflowing quesadillas, arguing about sports. Spanish, English, and Hmong words slide within sentences and leap between tables.

And this is Iowa.

The presidential election a year ago produced a somber map of the United States, colored red and blue. The blue states were mostly clustered on the East and West Coasts, with a broad brush of red between. President Trump’s volcanic presidency has cemented the image of an urban elite and rural heartland frothing at each other over politics, culture, and heritage.

Mr. Trump’s election was delivered by these “flyover states,” cast as places of angry whites, frustrated at being left out of the economic recovery, besieged demographically, ignored politically, and stuck in shrinking small towns with vanishing jobs.

These problems exist. But they are not etched in inevitability. There are exceptions--exceptional people trying to buck the trends, and exceptional places that are succeeding. More than a few small towns are figuring out ways to stop their economic slide and to grow. More and more, white Middle America is being repeopled with newcomers of color, bringing a workforce to agricultural jobs, a vibrancy to decaying towns, and a mix of welcome--and suspicion--from older residents.

To meander on a 6,712-mile drive across the US on routes mostly painted red is to rediscover a heartland that is often not what the rest of America thinks it is. It is not monolithic. There are places refusing to be an emptying and failing “other” America. They are places of inspiration, optimism, and hope.

Exhibit A might be Storm Lake, Iowa, where half the population is Hispanic, black, or Asian and where schools are stuffed with children speaking 30 languages.

The town of 10,000 (locals say 14,000) is in northwest Iowa--solidly within Trump country. It is the picture of an idyllic Midwest: Dappled trees break the heat in summer and the town hugs a sparkling lake. Avenues are lined by homes with wide porches, and kids wander in blissful confidence about town. Cars stop midstreet as drivers chat with senior citizens in sneakers out on their evening walks.

Midwest towns like Storm Lake are seen as an endangered species. Rural areas cover 72 percent of the nation’s land but host only 14 percent of the population. “Nonmetropolitan” populations began to stagnate in the 1940s and have gradually declined since. Smaller, more rural populations have fallen more precipitously: 1,350 rural counties have lost residents in the past six years, while only 626 showed any gain, according to the research arm of the US Department of Agriculture.

But Storm Lake is different. Across from the town water tower is a Buddhist temple for more than 500 Laotian refugees who came here in the late 1980s. Rust’s Western Shed, the quintessential small-town clothing store, no longer just rents tuxedos for prom night and weddings, but displays quinceañera dresses. The high school valedictorian speech a couple years ago was given by a young woman who had first come from Mexico to Storm Lake speaking no English.

“Just because somebody doesn’t speak English, it doesn’t mean they aren’t bright,” says Carl Turner, superintendent of schools. Eighty percent of his 2,500 students are ethnic minorities, and the first language of 60 percent is not English.

For years, Storm Lake’s workers--almost all white men of European stock--slaughtered pork at the meat plant on the edge of town. It was hard work, but paid $30,000 a year, a solid middle-class income then. In 1981, the plant closed, citing competition, putting 500 people out of work. When it was reopened a year later by Iowa Beef Processors, wages had been slashed to $6 an hour, productivity demands were higher, and fewer than 30 former workers had been rehired, according to Mark Grey, a sociologist at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Instead, the assembly lines were filled with immigrants who came for the jobs and did not complain about the pay.

The first group were Laotians, brought by a single respected patron from an earlier church-sponsored group of resettled Vietnam War refugees, according to Professor Grey. They were followed by waves of Hispanics, Mennonites from Mexico, Micronesians, Burmese, Africans, and others.

The resentments that followed the job upheavals have softened, and Storm Lake officials have stepped up to try to help the newcomers. The influx is now mostly accepted as the pain of necessary change, those officials say.

“It’s a pretty amazing place, for this to be in northwestern Iowa,” Dr. Turner, the school superintendent, says at his office in the center of town. “I tell new teachers they will never work harder and never learn more than they will here.”

The schools weave English as a second language courses throughout each day’s classes and have rigged up a system for high-schoolers to earn a year’s worth of college credits before they officially graduate, in part to help students who lack the legal documents to apply for colleges, loans, or financial aid.

Emilia Marroquin came to Storm Lake 16 years ago. She was born in El Salvador, spent 10 years in Los Angeles, and moved with her husband because they heard there were good jobs in the packing plant, and, she says, “we were looking for a safer place for our kids.”

“It was a shock. I came in November in the middle of a blizzard,” she recalls, now laughing at the memory. “Nobody spoke Spanish, and I didn’t speak English. We were living in a motel and I didn’t know anybody.” She lasted only a couple days on the exhausting, chilled meatpacking line. She quit--her husband stayed at the plant--and she plunged into English classes. She is now finishing a four-year college degree.

She chats while sitting in a tiny school chair at the town’s new Head Start program building, where she works as a community liaison. She just finished enrolling the child of a Sudanese arrival. “They need a person they can trust,” she says of people like the tall, lanky man who had come to her office, clutching a sheaf of official documents for his daughter.

“Those who stay feel they have job security, their kids’ school is safe, and it’s a safe community,” she says. “It’s a place where they can do things that they never thought of before, like owning a house, having a car, having a job that will give them good wages.”

If the newcomers bring problems, they would wash up at the foot of Mark Prosser, Storm Lake’s burly chief of police. But “in 28 years, I can probably count the hate crimes we’ve had on one hand,” he says.

The force makes an ambitious outreach effort to the communities, with mixed success. Their potluck dinner flopped: “We learned that in other cultures you don’t invite someone to a meal and then ask them to bring the food.”

And they don’t round up the town’s citizens to check their papers. Mr. Prosser shrugs at the question of how many are here illegally--he’s heard from one-third to one-half. But “we’re not in the immigration business,” he says. “I honestly have not even had that conversation for two or three years. It’s not an issue.”

Prosser, too, is bullish on the town’s diversity. “Sure, there are problems. But let’s be clear: The pros so outweigh the cons--it’s not comparable. Storm Lake is so young, so colorful, so vibrant compared to other Iowa communities. What kind of problems do you want to have--the problems of dying or growing?”

Other rural towns are seeing a similar influx. Hispanics, blacks, and other races made up 82 percent of what growth there was in rural areas between 2000 and 2010, according to an analysis by Daniel Lichter, a sociologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

But the dagger in the heart of many small towns is the loss of industry. The Department of Agriculture says rural areas lost nearly a quarter of their manufacturing jobs during the 2000s.

There are towns trying to overcome that. Peru, Ind., was born almost two centuries ago, first as a trading post with the Miami Indians and then as a way stop on the Wabash and Erie Canal. It became a railroad hub when the canal was filled in, and thrived as the county seat with an Air Force base and several auto parts manufacturing plants. But the base and the plants were mostly closed by the 1990s, the town’s population shrank to 11,000, and longtime businesses gave way to shops selling electronic cigarettes and fireworks--a familiar death spiral for rural towns.

Gabriel Greer is the mayor. He is only 35 years old and owns a small construction business. He’s also a Democrat. “Donald Trump won hands-down here. I won hands-down here. Hard to square,” he acknowledges, sitting in his office in City Hall.

One reason is townsfolk are buying into his refusal to let Peru wither away. He and a small cohort of mostly young businesspeople are trying to save the town. The trick, he believes, is not the traditional one of courting the odd industrial plant to bring new jobs.

“‘Jobs first’ is not how it works anymore. What we are fighting now is a battle for people,” he says. “People now decide where they want to live, and start looking for a job from there. The jobs will follow.”

Mr. Greer notes there are five medium-sized or larger cities within about an hour’s drive offering employment. “Then the question is, where do you want to live?” Small towns, with cheaper and bigger homes, low crime, kid-friendly streets, and a strong sense of community may persuade many people to put up with a longer commute, he says.

Or eliminate it altogether. “There’s a lot of people working jobs online, and they can live wherever they want,” says Steve Dobbs. He moved with his wife, a lawyer, back to her hometown of Peru six years ago. They set up offices in the old Montgomery Ward store, and Mr. Dobbs started renovating the boarded-up storefronts to put lipstick on an aging downtown.

He sees signs it is working. The plywood is coming down, windows are being repaired, and a few new businesses have opened. In fact, the US Census Bureau says the rate of new start-ups in rural areas nationwide is nearly double that in metropolitan areas.

“We are definitely coming back,” says Sandra Tossou. She left a fast-paced culinary career in five-star restaurants to return to Peru, where she reopened an old bakery and now has a dozen workers. Facing down a towering cake with an icing bag, she says it was the right choice. “We’re part of the revival. It’s the young entrepreneurs who have to have the drive to make a comeback.”

The country looks different from the heartland. Middle America is a seductively vast tableau where people are shaped by natural elements--soil, water, wind, and space. The people in the heartland are more defined by the boundlessness of those characteristics than laws. Rules from Washington often seem an insolent din from afar, naive to the dictates of the land. Parents here raise their kids with an ethos of endurance, not complaint. They labor to overcome problems, not to circumvent them. They see religion, not government, as the only force equal to the power of the land and the weather and the miseries those sometimes bring. They honor consistency, not discord.

To the people of the heartland, the coastal denizens who fly over don’t know what’s below and don’t understand it. They pull down the window shades in their airplane to watch a movie.

But the very vastness of Middle America is drawing new industries. In Nebraska, corn is king. The countryside is a mosaic of huge circles of cornfields--grown around the radius of giant pivoting sprinklers--set within the squares of traditional property lines.

Yet from O’Neill, Neb. (pop. 3,700), you can take roads due east for 10 sections (as square miles are measured on farmland) and then due north for nine sections to find the state’s newest bumper crop--wind turbines.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy planted 200 turbines here at the Grande Prairie Wind Farm, an army of mechanical giants that loom over the landscape like the Martian invaders in H.G. Wells’s “War of the Worlds.” Shawn O’Connor is the senior manager who oversees the wind farm for Vestas, the Danish turbine manufacturer. He is a US Army-trained engineer whose background is in coal. He has run coal plants and helped build them. He says he realized they were industrial dinosaurs.

“I had a lot of career left. I wanted something that would grow,” he says. He calls the turbines “masterful creatures.”

He is right about the growth. Mr. O’Connor’s 200 wind machines will soon seem modest compared with the 1,000 turbines being erected in the massive Wind XI project in next-door Iowa, part of that state’s plans to abandon fossil fuels entirely.

O’Connor walks into his office with a job seeker who is wearing a hard hat and safety harness. Before a person is hired, the candidate must pass a climb test: Scale a ladder 300 feet to the top of the tower and traverse the “nacelle,” the pod at the hub of three 177-foot blades.

“It’s not for everyone,” O’Connor says. When the wind blows, the turbine sways a bit, which can be unnerving at 30 stories high. O’Connor likes to hire local farmhands for his crew of 20 technicians. They respect safety, understand big machinery, and “show up for work every day,” he says. His technicians start at $17 to $22 an hour, not bad in a rural area where jobs off the farm are hard to get and usually pay meager wages.

Not far away, Jared Sanderson and Tim Peter are working at a grain silo set amid cornfields studded by the turbines. In every direction, giant white towers support blades that cut the air. Neither farmer minds the turbines.

“I’d rather have that than the leak from an oil pipe,” says Mr. Sanderson, referring to the ongoing controversy in the state over the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Do the machines mar the aesthetics? “There’s nothing to look at here anyway,” says Mr. Peter, grinning. The men say farmers get about $10,000 a year to put a wind turbine on their land, and the blades are high enough that they can till the soil under them. The cows seem to approve, too: On hot days, they will line up single-file in the slender shade of a turbine tower.

Other new industries are cropping up in Middle America, not all welcome. Pueblo, Colo., made steel for the country’s westward expansion and was known as “the Pittsburgh of the West” until the price collapse of the 1980s. Its bruised economy is now reviving in part because of marijuana. Twenty-nine states have legalized pot use in some form; Colorado was the first to approve recreational use. Pueblo has one of the largest outdoor fields of marijuana--21,000 plants and expanding--in the country.

Pueblo’s citizens continue to argue about the crop--Isn’t it a gateway drug? dangerous to your health?--but the city reaped $3.5 million in taxes and fees from the pot businesses last year. A year ago, Beverly Duran, director of the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation, selected 30 high school graduates to each receive a $1,000 college scholarship. This year she gave all 210 students who applied for scholarships $2,000 a year for college, thanks to pot taxes. At the school awards ceremony, “the excitement and the look on the faces of the students was incredible,” she says. “It was the look of hope.”

Other towns in Middle America are hoping a change in Washington will bring new vigor to their main streets and monthly incomes. Across the state from Pueblo, in northwest Colorado, lies Craig (pop. 9,500). This is red country--Trump won the county by 82 percent. Ranchers graze cattle on dry, cinnamon-brown land dotted with sagebrush. Historical photos show gunslingers and huge cattle drives. The local museum keeps Native American displays on one side and cowboy displays on the other.

The scene at Craig’s annual Moffat County Fair seems relaxed. Worn boots and cowboy hats are standard uniform. Men and women deftly navigate around the grounds on horseback, willing their animals with gentle nudges and tugs. People wave hello.

Still, “it was a little scary before the election,” says Katrina Springer, president of the fair board, who grew up on a sheep ranch. Passions run deep here: At the center of town is a store dedicated to survivalists. “Prepare for the worst,” the sign in the window says. “Hope for the best.” Yard signs proclaim “Coal Keeps the Lights On,” in defense of the thick seams of the Yampa coal field underlying Craig.

It is impolite to ask ranchers here how many head of cattle they have--it’s like asking how much money they have in their bank account. Nor does one inquire too pointedly about the size of their ranches. Many ranchers graze their cows and horses on federal land, and their relation to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is a touchy subject. By that calculation, they saw President Barack Obama as against them and see Trump as for them.

Standing by the auction lot fence at the fair, Shandy Deakins, who grew up in Moffat County, says the Trump election has eased anxieties in the area. “I feel that we have a voice now,” she says.

“Absolutely,” agrees Shane Ridnour, who works with show cattle. “We feel way more secure. In the last eight years, they were really going after coal. People back East don’t understand the benefits of coal and ranching. The BLM was trying to take away land that ranchers had used for years.”

“That’s the thing about this president,” says Mr. Ridnour. “He wants us to succeed.”

A few, quietly, are not so sure. By the craft exhibits, Susan Domer takes a moment from extolling the virtues of knitting--“your kids and husband think you’re busy working, but it’s relaxing”--to contemplate her town.

“Craig needs another industry,” she says. “When I was 18, I put Craig in my rearview mirror. I was going to take the world by storm.” Now more than five decades later, she is back, not out of defeat, but by choice. “It’s home. People here have common sense. They’re raised that way.” But she sees the challenges of living in rural America. “I have one granddaughter who sees what I see,” she reflects. “But she can’t afford to live here because there’s no job that will pay her [enough].”

Still, Craig is just 42 miles away from Steamboat Springs, a thriving tourist hub. The tools of change are there for rural America--a national infrastructure of good highways, a growing system of internet and virtual work, a variety of new professions that can thrive outside cities. The question for many small towns is whether they can overcome the image of isolation that the residents themselves embrace but outsiders are wary of.

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Midnight flight to Hanoi and trekking in Sapa

When I was booking our exit route from China for our visas several month ago I booked a 3.30am flight from Guangzhou to Hanoi.  I knew it would be a bit tiring but thought we’d cope, and the flights were super cheap!!  So on 23rd October we arrived to Kunming airport at 7pm for the first short flight to Guangzhou to wait for our 3.30am flight.  In Guangzhou, we weren’t able to check-in until about 12.30am so we didn’t have many dinner choices in the departure side of airport but after some hunting Lani and I found a MacDonald’s which was open and kids got fast food which made them happy.  We found some seats we could lie down on and we all managed to get a bit of rest.  It was a struggle to wake kids up at 1am to get to check-in but we got there without too many complaints (I think they were still half asleep and had no energy to fight). We checked in and by the time we got through security it was time to board the plane for the short flight to Hanoi. We arrived and were picked up by our hotels driver for the 40min trip to the city and after leaving our bags at the hotel we went for a walk to find some breakfast.  I love it in Vietnam how transport by car is so cheap that we can get a pickup rather than having to navigate our way by public transport as we’d done in most other places.  It is always good to see your name on a sign in the arrival hall and know that you just need to sit in a car to get to your accommodation and not have to think about how!

We ventured out into the streets of Hanoi at 5.30am and found a local coffee shop and had café su da and xoi (sticky rice).  After that we walked around and unfortunately wandered down a street filled with shops selling BBQ dogs.  The kids were fascinated and horrified by the piles of BBQ dogs stacked on the table.  We had Pho at a nearby restaurant which wasn’t very nice, probably because of the nearby dogmeat.  We all felt really tired from our long night of travel and luckily we were able to check-in to the hotel early were we all had a shower and a rest.  The hotel we stayed at (Hanoian Central Hotel and Spa) had a delicious buffet breakfast each morning with western and Vietnamese foods which we really enjoyed.  

In Hanoi we enjoyed wandering the streets of the old quarter finding different foods to eat which we had been looking forward to.  We wandered around Hoan Kiem Lake and checked out the shops including the night market where they sold lots of counterfeit shoes and clothes.  We did some shopping and sent a box of things down to the family house near Saigon which we will pickup before we head home which made our bags a bit lighter and gave us some space (we later discovered the box was sent to the house but not delivered and so was sent back to Hanoi and then after Hung called was sent back to Saigon and arrived looking very battered but intact).  I went to see the famous puppet show at Thang Long Puppet Theatre with Lani which tells a traditional story of farmers and animals set in the rice fields with live music and singers.  It was just as I had remembered after going several times before with each of the boys, and Lani enjoyed it.  One afternoon, Hung, Leon, Lani and I went out for a foot massage which they thought was funny, especially Leon, but they enjoyed it.  We also found a really obscure magic shop one day where we bought some card tricks and props for Leon and Lani.  It was owned by a young vietnamese guy who was obviously really into magic and enjoyed showing us what he had for sale.  

We left Hanoi on 27th October on the overnight train bound for Lao Cai and we booked the deluxe sleeper which was fairly basic but had clean sheets, water and some snacks provided.  The train was slow and bumpy but relaxing and we all had a reasonable sleep. We arrived at 5.30am and got a shuttle bus to our hotel in Sapa (Sapa Elite Hotel) which was surrounded by construction and was really noisy. The day we arrived it rained most of the day so we had a very relaxed day in the hotel.  Our hotel had a view out over the main square and valley to the mountains so it was lovely to sit by the window and watch the rain.  We did wander around the town and found it to be full of construction and a fairly ugly town with rundown buildings and dirty restaurants, roads full of holes and non-existent sidewalks.  There were many groups of local Hmong women and children hassling us to try to sell handicrafts or be tour guides.  Lani was surprised to find the children trying to sell things or be tour guides to make money and not at school.  Lani thinks she would rather be out making money and not having to go to school.

The following day we had arranged for a local Hmong woman, Ger, to meet us at our hotel and she was to be our guide for the next few days. So together we set out from Sapa at about 10am for our trek through the mountains.  She asked us if we wanted to go the hard way and avoid the government fee as we entered the nearby village or the easy way where we would have to pay a charge (never did find out how much it was).  After a bit of negotiations with the kids, Hung and I decided to take the hard way with some complaints from the kids.  Ger thought the kids could manage but didn’t really tell us the difference between he options.  The first couple of hours was fairly steep in sections along a rough track which was overgrown in some parts.  We definitely wouldn’t be able to find it without a guide.  Our mountain looked across the valley towards Fancipan which is the highest mountain in Vietnam at 3100m.  

Ger talked to us about Hmong people and their life, how they get married and have children very young, men usually stay home to look after the animals and farm while the women go out to work – selling handicrafts or guiding people on treks.  Children now go to a local school but fend for themselves a bit with children as young as 4 and 5 walking alone or in groups along the edge of the road to get to school.  She explained about land ownership and rice farming and how each family is fairly self-sufficient and is able to grow enough rice for themselves for the year as well as vegetables and keep chickens and cows for meat and trading.  I was surprised to learn that Ger and almost everyone in her village has never travelled any further than Sapa.  She has never been to Hanoi or seen a train in real life.  She never attended school so can’t read or write but can speak her Hmong language and fairly good English she has learnt from tourists.  She can’t speak Vietnamese which I found surprising.

I was interested to see some local medicine in practice with a women who was feeling unwell sitting by the side of the road having her necked pinched (and spat on) by an old woman so she ended up with a series of bruises in lines all around her neck,  We saw many people, children included with circular bruises to their foreheads where a buffalo horn had been heated and placed here to relieve headache.  I was glad my altitude headaches had resolved!

We saw old women carrying heavy loads of wood up hill to their home, with Ger telling me they were at least 50 while they looked at least 100.  Women here definitely look older than their years due to the years spent out in the sun with no protection.  Hmong women don’t tend to smoke, but they do drink rice wine (happy water) in the evening with the men.

Over the morning we made our way up the mountain then along the range before stopping for a break and lunch at a local restaurant which was at about 1900m elevation.  During the day Lani got a bit tired and told me that her ‘energy was getting really low, no actually I’m all out of energy now’ and she wondered if we were just walking again ‘just for the view’.  At the restaurant (aka tin shed), we all enjoyed some rest and fried rice or noodles. We set out again and continued along the range before descending into a valley and walking through a village until we got to Gers home about 5pm.  Lani wondered how they got their groceries and lollies if they don’t have a road or a car. Ger said electricity was introduced to the village only 5 years ago and until only the last few years there were no motorbikes in the village, and they walked to Sapa every few weeks to buy items they needed.  Ger’s house is a 2-storey wood structure separated into 3 small bedrooms with a kitchen with an open fire on one end.  One the second floor they store the rice they have grown and will use for the following year.  The floor was concrete and dirty from the outside dust and the house was smokey from the indoor fire.  Ger cooked us dinner of springrolls, fried rice and vegetables.  We had walked a total of 16km over the day and all enjoyed a rest. 

On our second day we headed out from Ger’s house after a breakfast of banana pancakes at about 9am.  We walked down towards the valley and river through the village to the rice fields.  It is really interesting to walk through the village, past people homes and farms and see how they live.  We found a lady brewing some happy water for her family and she gave us taste and Hung bought a small bottle from her for 30,000 dong – about 2 dollars.  We saw farmers growing hemp for clothing and tea and I discussed cannabis with the kids and answered lots of questions with Leon asking if men who smoke cannabis really do end up with boobs (not sure where he learnt this) to which I told him that yes that’s true.  We walked along the end of the rice fields which wasn’t so easy and Leon and Lani ended up with feet full of mud.  We all enjoyed to see the water buffalo in the fields which made it worthwhile.  About lunchtime we made it across the river to a waterfall where some local boys were sliding down the rocks and swimming.  Leon and Lani worked up the courage to have a swim in the pool at the bottom which was muddy and quite cold.  We had lunch nearby the base of the waterfall and decided to walk on towards our accommodation for the night in Tevan village.  Kai hadn’t been feeling well with a cold and Ger’s son picked him up by motorbike and dropped him off at our homestay.  We farewelled Ger and Hung, Leon, Lani and I set off for our village for the night.  We walked up a very steep, muddy hill and accumulated a couple of Hmong ladies with us. If they see you without a guide they latch onto you and try to become your tour guide.  The walk was along the mountain range through a bamboo forest and very different to the walk previously.  After about an hour, with the ladies still following us, we stopped and bought some of their wares which made them happy and then they headed off to their homes.  After walking through a few villages and picking some random paths we found our homestay about 5pm.

The next few days we relaxed at our homestay enjoying the tranquillity and rest.  I am sitting on our small verandah looking out over the rice fields writing this blog while watching the passing village life.  Hung walked into the small village to find some Xoi and fruit for lunch. Leon and Lani have spent the morning playing with the dogs, doing homework and using the computer for games.  Kai is recovering from a cold and getting some rest. I can see the local children coming home from school for lunch, with the occasional water buffalo wandering by.  We walked around the village out into surrounding farmlands and enjoyed the fresh air and rice terrace views.

After a couple of days we arranged for a taxi back to Sapa for the shuttle bus ride to Lao Cai to board the night train back to Hanoi.