This Asian-American Life

Today's This American Life episode covers a white man who married an Asian woman and how they adjusted to a multicultural married life.

Coincidentally, I wrote a book on that.

Southeast Asian refugees in America

Refugee Arrivals to the U.S. from Southeast Asia

To provide more context to my last post, refugees from Cambodia dropped to the single digits by the mid-1990s, but a sizable stream continues from Vietnam. The annual number of Vietnamese refugees admitted to the United States rarely dips below 1,000. The sudden bump in the mid-2000s from Laos is the less than 15,000 Hmong refugees who were resettled from Wat Tham Krabok camp in Thailand's Saraburi province.

Considering the situation in Cambodia, I wonder if the number of refugees from the kingdom may climb again in the near future.

The numbers in the chart are from Southeast Asian Resource Action Center's report "Southeast Asian Americans at a Glance."

What U.S. city has the most Khmer?

In a previous post I broke down the Cambodian-American population by state. But states are big — just because Minnesota has a lot of people with Khmer ancestry doesn't mean you can buy prahok in Angle Township.

But conveniently for me, the U.S. Census offers a lot of information and many ways to slice it. Instead of only aggregating people based on the often arbitrary lines of local government, the Census Bureau charts the populations of broader areas. For example, instead of just tracking the population of Portland (with a mere 603,106 people as of 2012), the metropolitan statistical area includes Hillsboro, Vancouver and other suburbs (with 1,789,580 people as of 2010).

This is important because we are often unaware of the near-invisible political boundaries surrounding us, until we encounter high sales taxes or are unable to pump our own gas.

Anyway, everyone knows that Long Beach is the heart of Cambodian-America, but I surprised at how high Stockton and Minneapolis ranked. A listing of all cities with reported Khmer populations is after the jump.

Khmerica's favorite actor

"21 and Over," the latest film featuring Cambodian-American actor François Chau, opens today in the United States (and on various other days throughout the world.)

While taking a break from playing a stereotypically strict Asian-American father and a mad scientist, Chau talked with me about his career and his background:



Drink — and watch — responsibly.

Interviewing François Chau

What do you ask the man who has been in everything?

Not sure where you remember him from? Watch these episodes.

Tales of the SEA ICS

Thanks Rhummanee, Chan and Stephanie for taking the time to talk to me about the Southeast Asian Intercollegiate Summit!