'We think it's something Chinese-y'

I don't know much about the new HBO show "Getting On," but judging from the clip it's hilarious. It doesn't look like it focuses on Cambodian-Americans, but it is set in a Long Beach hospital, so Khmer culture may be a recurring theme.

A sitcom that revels in class, race, age and bureaucracy? Why wouldn't it be popular?

Can't understand what she's saying? Perhaps it's time to learn Khmer.

Eating at the Riverside of Long Beach

Cambodiatown in Long Beach, Calif., is a neighborhood lined with Khmer-owned businesses. My wife and I had a chance to stop in and have lunch — but it was not a particularly great meal, though dessert was excellent.

We ate at one of the big, lavishly decorated restaurants near MacArthur Park. It had vast murals of Angkor Wat, a karaoke stage, great sound equipment and space for an epic wedding feast. It also had indifferent cooks, befuddled wait staff and a distracted manager (but this was only one visit, so I'm not naming the restaurant).

Overall, it was a disappointment for my wife, who was expecting a taste sensation straight out of Phnom Penh. But on the way out, we asked the waitress where she liked to eat.

Success!

It says "riverside" in Khmer, too.

Just a few blocks down Anaheim and around the corner was a market selling every kind of street food legal in America. Riverside Supermarket had barbecued beef kebabs, fried bananas, papaya salad and anything else a homesick Cambodian could wish for. All at incredibly cheap prices. Even the cafe across the parking lot had a better selection of Khmer meals than the upscale restaurant.

It's a phenomenon that economist Tyler Cowen examines in his book "An Economist Gets Lunch." Restaurants that invest in "nice" atmosphere are selling just that: a venue for impressing people. The rundown place off the main street has to compete on taste and price — things your average Cambodian-American very much cares about when no one is getting married.

The most Khmer city in the U.S.

The metropolitan sprawl of Los Angeles and Long Beach is certainly home to the largest number of Cambodian-Americans, but that leaves those with a Khmer background lost in almost 13 million people.


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Though you wouldn't think that on Anaheim Street.

So let's ignore the obvious leader (the Los Angeles and Long Beach metro area would come in at 13th on this list). What other U.S. cities have a significant Khmer minority?

1. Stockton, Calif. — With 12,557 people who identified as full or part Khmer in the 2010 Census (the source for all the demographic data in this post) out of 696,214 metro residents, this city in Central California is 1.8 percent Khmer. That might not sound like a lot, but it's far and away the densest concentration of Cambodian-Americans in a metro area in America. If you randomly put 56 Stockton residents in a room, one would be of Cambodian descent. (Those are better odds than Street 240 in Phnom Penh.) The local temple's even achieved tourist trap status.

2. Rochester, Minn. — The home of the Mayo Clinic has 187,612 residents, so the 1,688 Cambodian-Americans propel it to second place with 0.9 percent. Oddly enough, I lived here as a child and have distinct memories of being terrorized in grade school by a boy named Rath, who I thought was Vietnamese. Large numbers of Vietnamese (and as I now know, Cambodians) fled to Minnesota during the 1980s, but as a fourth-grader I had a tenuous grasp of Southeast Asian demographics. Today I would recognize him as Khmer and know how to say "at vai kyom!"

3. Modesto, Calif. — The home of George Lucas is also home to 3,934 Cambodian-Americans, comprising 0.76 percent of its 518,522 residents.

4. Fresno, Calif. — 5,618 Cambodian-Americans live in Fresno, 0.6 percent of the city's 942,904.

Fresno, where pages turn themselves and house Cambodian-Americans.

5. Seattle — The greater Seattle area is home to 19,240 Cambodian-Americans, 0.55 percent of the metro's 3.5 million. And they all appear to live in White Center, right around Queen's Deli and Golden House Donuts and Deli. The Wing Luke Museum has had exhibits on Cambodia and the Cambodian-American experience.

6. Thomasville and Lexington, N.C. — Before starting on this list, I had never heard of this place, but its 891 Cambodian-Americans win it 0.55 percent of the 162,697 residents. Statistics! The winning comment on the video below: "Saw HAlf My Family In This Video !!"

I'd prefer the paintings over the prahok.

7. Boston — You may have heard of Lowell, Mass. The town known for its historic garment factories accepted a wave of refugees from a country now known for its garment factories, and that pushed the metro area's Khmer population to 24,528. (That's 0.53 percent of the 4.6 million metro population.) Lowell has a Cambodia Town and a Khmer society.

Tea, soup and dancing is all you need.

8. Providence, R.I. — This metro area includes parts of Massachusetts and 8,135 people of Khmer background. They make up 0.51 percent of 1,600,224 residents. There appears to be a lot going on here.

9. Holland and Grand Haven, Mich. — These small cities are 20 miles apart, but have provided a home to 1,243 Cambodian-Americans, that's 0.47 percent of 266,300. Apparently, the only thing to do there is fish.

Khmer Boy Fishing in Holland, MI. YouTube officially has a video of everything.

10. Olympia, Wash. — I used to live here, too. You can see Cambodian martial arts bouts put on by the United Southeast Asian Cultural Association. The Chams have established a religious center here.

Dishonorable mention: Pittsburgh — The least Khmer city in the U.S. is Pittsburgh, with 166 Cambodian-Americans out of 2.4 million people. That works out to 0.007 percent. This is why you should fill out the Census forms.

Did I miss something? Tell me in the comments, on Twitter or App.net.

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.

Translate this!

Google has added Khmer to its Translate service to great rejoicing among all Cambodians and those who wish to communicate with them. This translation guide (which was originally published in the Bayon Pearnik like certain other things) was intended to be lighthearted guide to communication in the kingdom.

I expect Google will do a better job. Phonetics are not my strong suit.

Transportation

English: Take me to the nearest market with barbequed monkeys.

Khmer: Dope kayom dao passau ting svaa ang.

English: Slow down you fool!

Khmer: Bahn toi labuen menua chewkewit!

English: Turn left.

Khmer: Bat chuweng.

English: The other left!

Khmer: Bat chuweng! Bat chuweng!

English: Here is 2,000 riel. Please use it to buy soap.

Khmer: Pee pwayn. Som ting saa boo.

English: I’m looking for an insane mototaxi driver. One who has a battered, nearly useless  motorbike. He should be a little slow in the head and heavy on the throttle. A callous disregard for life and hygiene is preferred.

Khmer: Motodop!

Crime, justice and shopping

English: Please steal from my friend. He has more money than me.

Khmer: Som louich loi pi mit kayom. Que meine loi tran chien kayom.

English: Grenade! Run!

Khmer: Krowpbie! Rutt!

English: How much for that water buffalo?

Khmer: Krabie tlie pon mon? ...

English: I’m sorry, officer. Here is ten dollars. May I continue hitting him?

Khmer: Samto, lok polie. Nee dap dolla. Kayom buntoh wye goat tiet?

This is not a sign, it's a book

"Hand-Painted Signs of Kratie" is a descriptive if not imaginative title — but it's surprisingly interesting.

Anyone who has found himself staring at a unique sign in Cambodia would find something to like about this book. If nothing else, it will stir up memories of the bizarre commerce that has long since left the main streets of the West (hog stud services, anyone?).

Many of the signs are, of course, in Khmer. That's not as much a problem if you're illiterate in the language, because many of the signs are crafted for a populace that unfortunately has limited literacy skills.

That my wife is from Kratie and I have visited the area many times is an added bonus. Perhaps someday I'll be able to go on a sign tour and match the photos in the book with the real things. Assuming any of the originals remain.

It's available on Amazon and directly from the author.

The Badger States: Learning Khmer in Wisconsin

Despite my well-documented bumbling with the Khmer language, a Cambodian-American friend asked if there was a good way for her boyfriend to learn Khmer. While she has made an effort to teach him a few words, they are both busy university students — and this is Oregon, not Long Beach.

Being scattered across the U.S., it can be challenging for minorities to stay connected to their native culture. (Hence sites like Khmerican.) But, as photographer Pete Pin said when I interviewed him, language is key.

And as Khmerlette's Violetta Taing says, not everyone has a local community to learn from:

I grew up in Las Vegas, NV, and the only Cambodian folks I knew were my family and a handful of their friends. ... The lack of a strong Cambodian community coupled with my parents’ preference to be more “American” resulted in my limited proficiency in the Khmer language.

If you’re in the similar boat and want to learn or improve in the language, there’s hope ... (the) Southeast Asian Summer Studies Institute (SEASSI) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

There are apps to help people learn Khmer, but an app is no replacement for personally interacting with someone who knows the language and knows how to teach.

It's not just the children of Cambodian immigrants that want to learn Khmer, many barangs want to learn to speak Khmer fluently because they want to volunteer and work in Cambodia — or because they have become involved with a Cambodian-American.

I'm eager to hear from people who have completed the program. Leave a comment or contact me if you'd like to share!

This is not the wife you're looking for

Chris Pritchard shares a few stories of cross-cultural misunderstandings from his marriage with Suree, who is Khmer, in The Phnom Penh Post:

“I’ve just lost my wife,” I tell a shop assistant, when he asks how he can help.

“I’m really sorry to hear that,” he says, pretending to be sympathetic. “My condolences, sir.”

“No, no,” I stammer. “You don’t understand. I’ve just lost my wife – a half-hour ago, in this bookshop.”

Just then I spot Suree, browsing through local recipes in the food section.

“It’s okay,” I exclaim. “There she is. I see her now.”

By now the shop assistant is looking seriously alarmed. “Sir,” he says, as if speaking to a very small child, “That is not your wife.”

He is blocking my path, deciding I’m definitely deranged. “There’s nobody there, sir. She’s not there. There’s only a Chinese woman reading a book.”

I hope people enjoy this kind of anecdote, because I'm working on compiling a whole series of them. Something similar to At Home on The Mekong, but more focused on the humorous (if only in retrospect) miscommunications that arise in a world-spanning marriage.

Also, what is it with Cambodians and food?

King of the Water Buffalo

Water buffalo are not indigenous to Oregon, but there are enough at one farm to cause trouble now and then.

The water buffalo I saw in Cambodia were always docile, no matter what was being inflicted on them.

(No children or water buffalo were harmed during the filming of this video.)