May- Lee Chai- Author of "Dragon Chica"

My first gig as a journalist has been published at Cambodian Alliance for the Arts(CAA). Below I interview the award-winning author and educator May-lee Chai about her relationship with the Cambodian community and what led her to write her latest book, “Dragon Chica.” When I asked her what her message for the Cambodian community was, Chai said,“It doesn’t have to be defined by the Khmer Rouge anymore. This is a new beginning. I hope a lot more books come from Cambodian Americans.”



Wearing my shape-up shoes and my red-hot business coat, I walked more than two miles up the steep hills of San Francisco for the opportunity to get up close and personal with the award-winning author and educator May-lee Chai

Before I tell you about what it was like to meet up with this award-winning author and educator, let me share with you a little bit about my background and how much this interview meant to me.

As a Cambodian immigrant, I was looking forward to meeting Chai to discuss her recently released book, “Dragon Chica,” a novel about a Cambodian Chinese family who immigrated to the US in the 1980's. Much, like the main character in Chai's newly released novel, “Dragon Chica,” my family and I had to find ways to survive in America. I was born in a Thai refugee camp and came to the United States when I was eight years old. Along with the language and culture barriers I faced in the US, I was forced to grow up faster than most kids my age. I had the responsibility of helping my parents to access health care and looking after my younger siblings and making sure they were doing well in school. At times, living in our new country, we faced painful and hate-filled experiences, yet at other times we faced moments filled with laughter and happiness. It is due to my personal experience, that it was a great honor to meet with Chai who wrote this powerful novel that not only addresses the Cambodian immigrant experience, but also highlights the overarching xenophobia that some immigrants face in America.

While not being Cambodian herself, Chai has been involved with the Cambodian community since she was 15. Once she entered college, Chai states:

“I started a mentor group for the Cambodian immigrant community in Grinnell, Iowa. Then, as an Associated Press reporter, I made sure to include the Cambodian community in my articles. My first short story about Cambodians in America was published in Seventeen in 1994. I continued to reach out to the Cambodian community. I try to do what I can and that is to write and tell their stories, their struggles, and their dreams. Since they too are a part of the community. I wanted to emphasize America’s great diversity and show how Cambodians, too, are part of the fabric of America.”

Her latest book, “Dragon Chica,” was inspired by a promise she made to a Cambodian woman back when she was a teenager in South Dakota. The book, which was released last October, it is a coming-of-age novel, featuring an eleven-year-old girl named Nea. Along with her mother, three sisters and little brother she emigrated to Texas following the Khmer Rouge regime. After discovering the exciting news that a rich family member lived in Nebraska, the hopeful widowed mother and her children moved to what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Once in Nebraska the family opened the first Chinese restaurant in their new town. However, what Nea and her family did not expect was that escaping from the Khmer Rouge would not be their last negative experience. Their bad luck continued to haunt them, but this time in Nebraska they faced different struggles. Especially Nea, who was caught between two worlds: the one her family left behind in Cambodia and the new society in America. Nea experienced racism in school and she was put in Spanish ESL with Latin American students. These experiences ended up making Nea a stronger person and a fighter.

During our conversation, Chai and I shared our mutual experiences as advocates and writers and our joy in simply giving back to the community. Three hours later, Chai had marked a special place in my heart. She was friendly, open-minded, and caring, which allowed me to immediately feel comfortable and open up to her. Below I interviewed her about her background and what led her to write her latest book, “Dragon Chica.”


Yenly Thach: Where are you based?

May-Lee Chai: I’m based in San Francisco.

Thach: What is your Nationality?

Chai: I am mixed race. My mother strongly identified as Irish American through her maternal line, but there is also a German, English, French and Welsh person in my family tree and my father is Chinese. I think of myself as Asian American because I feel that’s a very broad category that can encompass many mixes and besides most people perceive me as Asian.

Thach: What made you want to become a writer?

Chai: In 1992 I encountered a cancer scare. I realized I didn’t want to die without writing. From that moment on, I made the decision about writing and made the time for it.

Thach: What inspired you to write “Dragon Chica?” Was this a story that you felt needed to be told?

Chai: I made a promise to a Cambodian woman who was very kind to me when I was 15 years old that I would tell the story that she told me of how her children died. They died as she tried to escape the Khmer Rouge by walking through a minefield. As a 15-year-old, I couldn’t tell that story yet. I didn’t have a way. However, that story does make it into this novel, so I feel I’ve finally fulfilled the promise.

Thach: What are the topics that you explore in this book?

Chai: I wanted to explore, among other things, the idea of America. Who is American? Who gets to decide what American culture is? As Nea struggles to fit in, she finds that every time the family moves to a new city or state, the culture is somewhat different—from the language to the food to even the ethnicity of the people in each part of the country.

Thach: Who is your favorite character in this book and why?

Chai: I love all the characters, even the ones who at first may seem really nasty in the book. I had to spend so much time writing about them and seeing the world from their point of view that I ended up empathizing with everyone.

Thach: What is the significance of the book's title?

Chai: The word Chica shows the issues with immigration in America. Dragon is seen by the society as a negative image for Asian women. I try to make it positive for the new generation. Besides, I thought the title, Dragon Chica sounds cool and back in your face in today’s society.

Thach: Explain Nea’s role as an outsider and her struggle for acceptance both as a Cambodian Chinese and American in Texas and Nebraska.

Chai: Nea is my fighter, all right. I started writing this novel at a time when the political rhetoric was very xenophobic in America, very anti-immigrant. Nea is a strong narrator so she became my way of fighting against the forces who would say people like her and her family (and frankly, most of us!) don’t belong.

Thach: How does Nea’s role change in her adulthood?

Chai: When she is young, Nea has to spend so much time trying to understand what is “American” and “American culture,” why people don’t want to accept her, why people are threatened by her family as well as why the adults in her family don’t understand her either. As she grows older, she comes to understand better the forces around her and within her family. With knowledge she gains power. Power over herself and her own emotions, and she can better navigate in the world. I’m sorry if I’m being too vague! I don’t want to give it away.

Thach: What is your connection with the characters?

Chai: The characters are fiction. They embody experiences from many Cambodian immigrants I have encountered through work and study. I decided to write Dragon Chica to bear witness to the struggles of the first generation of Cambodian refugees in America, whom I met when I was a teenager growing up in the Midwest. I saw that many people treated Cambodians and other refugees in the 1980s very badly, and as a young person, that upset me terribly, because Cambodians had been very kind to me!

Thach: Explain the development of the “Dragon Chica.”

Chai: It was a very long process. I start writing short stories about Cambodian Americans to try to remedy the situation. One of these short stories became required reading in schools across America after it was published in a number of anthologies. Students and teachers really liked the characters in the story and wrote me many emails about the characters. That inspired me to write a whole novel about the family that I had created in my short story... and that became my novel Dragon Chica.

Thach: You have written over five published book, what is different about this one?

Chai: Besides that it is fiction; the difference about this book is that it was not painful to write about like my other books from personal experience. I felt free to write about something else. Writing from Nea’s point of view.

Thach: Who are your influences as a writer?

Chai: I get influences from every writer. I love to read and try to read from the world.

Thach: If you weren’t writing, what would you want to be doing for a living? What are some of your other passions in life?

Chai: I couldn’t imagine living without writing. But in terms of other passions, I believe in working to promote education, multicultural understanding, and history. I am also completely addicted to movies!

To learn more about May Lee Chai, please visit her Official site at:
http://www.booksbychai.com/
Blog:http://mayleechai.wordpress.com/
Like May Lee Chai on ://www.facebook.com/pages/May-lee-Chai/108225445200
Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mayleechai
Purchase "Dragon Chica" Book on HERE
Follow Dragon Chica on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Dragon_Chica

Say Hello to Twenty 11! Happy New Year!

What is in store for this year? Although 2010 marked one of the most important events in my life by getting married to my soul mate and best friend from the Peace Corps, I am excited for what this year may bring. Even though I am not aware of what is in store this year for me, there are few things I plan and look forward to experience soon.

1. Receive my Master Degree in Global & International Studies
2. Presenting my MA Thesis at an International Conference in Montreal, Canada
3. Move into a new place
4. Start/Finish writing the memoir book
5. Visiting spots domestically: Tahoe, Big Bear, Catalina Island, Portland, Big Sur & etc
6. Interviewing/Networking with talented Cambodian Artists around the globe!
7. Celebrate One Year Anniversary being married

My twenty 11 resolutions are:

1. Spend more quality time with families and friends (attending important events, returning calls, making plans & etc).
2. Move around (walking, dancing, & doing yoga/Pilates).
3. Eat more healthy, includes veggies & fruits with rice.
4. Write for 30 minutes everyday (carry a mini note pad).
5. Read more, at least three times a week (no internet).
6. Make/have dates with the hubby (every weekend).
7. Being there for my younger brothers & sister.
8. Visit/call parents more.
9. Maintain contacts with relatives overseas (grandma & aunt).
10. Help my refugee friends to obtain a job.
11. Don’t buy things I WANT! Unless, I NEED them! Like cute booths!
12. Pretend to be a good housewife (learn how to cook-pho-again).
13. Have more time for myself.
I am sure there will be more goals to accomplish. These should help start out the New Year right! I hope this is realistic.

Yenly Thach-Cambodian American scholar, writer and advocate for refugees

I had the great opportunity to interviewed May-lee Chai last Friday in San Francisco. I guess I was not the only one doing the interviewing! Below is an article that she wrote about me! I hope you enjoy it.



Profile: Yenly Thach
January 23, 2011 by mayleechai

I recently had the good fortune to meet with Yenly Thach, a contributing editor for Cambodian Alliance for the Arts

Yenly is a fascinating person—an advocate for refugees, writer, grad student at UC-Santa Barbara, and blogger (you can check out her blog here: Curious and Determined).

In so many ways—because of her bubbly outgoing personality, because of her quintessentially So-Cal look: the golden tan, the sun-streaked hair, because she talks fast and she’s both smart and funny—Yenly is the epitome of the Southern California All-American Girl Next Door. She is also herself a former refugee. These identities are not at all contradictory, if you really think about it.

Read More >>

Why do you want to volunteer?

I have always been asked the question, “Why do you want to volunteer?” My answer has always been the same. Strangers continued to be curious, “You don’t get pay. So what do you get out of it?”

From my first service experience with the Cambodian Association of America (CAA) in Long Beach, California to my international community development with the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, my humanitarian practice with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and today back to domestic service with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), I honestly realized that I am committed to volunteer service and I love it. Through these last ten years or so of volunteering experiences, I have gained new skills, knowledge, friendships, and patience. I honestly value the meaning of service and my life forever has changed.

Last Tuesday I attended the IRC workshop on “Refugee 101.” It was important information on the process of refugee status in the United States (U.S). The workshop was designed to help volunteers understand more about refugees’ experiences before arriving in the San Diego areas. Although I understood most of the information in regards to refugee status due to my personal experience as a former child refugee, things have changed in the last 20 years since I resettled in the U.S. Improved projects have been established to cater new refugee arrivals. New challenges are faced by former refugees’ communities due to policies changed, after the 9/11, which impacted their lives in the U.S.

I had the opportunity to meet the executive director of the IRC office in San Diego, Bob Montgomery, who later gave a presentation on the process of refugee status in the U.S. He has worked with the IRC for over 30 years since 1976 with the first flow of refugees to San Diego from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Today, refugees from countries such as Somalia, Iraq and Myanmar are new additions to the San Diegan residents.

The highlights of the workshop for me, besides meeting the IRC staff and obtaining information on refugee status, were meeting other volunteers. It was so rich and delightful to learn about their volunteer experiences. Exchanging and sharing my volunteer experience has helped me understand why they decided to volunteer and the impact they have had made on refugees’ lives in San Diego. It makes me so happy to see and hear that others like myself are volunteering for the same reasons.

One of the volunteers asked me, “So what made you want to volunteer with the IRC?” Of course, I ended up giving them long answers. However, I tried to keep it short. I told that person, along with other interested volunteers, “I want to give back. I feel that I owe it to my family, myself, and many people who had made an impact on my life growing up. I am so blessed to be in a position to give back.”

I do hope this holiday you join me with other volunteers through giving back in your local community. It could be something as simple as just an hour a week with a non-profit or an organization (i.e. homeless shelter, youth program, or food drive) that you would love to give your skills into use and make a difference. Throughout my volunteering experience, I discovered that you do not have to be rich or have money to give back. I honestly have been volunteering for more than ten years now and have not earned an income yet, but I have a lot of time on my plate. This is my way of giving back and to spend time with those who truly need my help.

In the end, it is a great feeling for me knowing that I can make a difference in someone else’s life. If anything, I have learned a new culture and gained new friends in my new community!

First YouTube video: My Passion- Advocacy for Refugees

I uploaded my first YouTube video ever about a month ago. To be honest, I do not think I would have done it, if it were not for a contest that I had entered. I entered a video on the subject matter: “What is your passion?” for the Voice of America (VOA) Khmer YouTube.

Here is a link to their webpage if you are interested in obtaining more detailed information: http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/about-us/.

Let me tell you. The process of creating a YouTube account was so quick and easy! It was like eating with a spoon! In less than two minutes, I created my account and uploaded my very first video! Now it is broadcast to millions of viewers like yourself. So check it out if you have not yet!

Below is my first ever YouTube video on my passion. My passion is advocacy for refugees: in combat, in conflict zone areas, and through the resettlement and repatriation process.

Link to the YouTube:

Today, I received an email indicating that someone subscribed to my YouTube! My first subscriber! I just checked the video again and 107 people have viewed it in three weeks! I am very excited for this great discovery of technology. Now, I have to upload more videos!!

Green para Gringa: Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica (2005-2007)

I wanted to share with you an article I wrote & published in the Peace Corps Costa Rica newspaper about my experience as a minority volunteer in Costa Rica (November 2006 issue).


I had my interview with the Peace Corps recruiter in San Francisco, California. Many questions were asked and answered. One question stays with me to this day, "Most people think Americans have blond hair and blue eyes, what are yours plans to challenge this stereotype?" She told me a story about an African American volunteer who was in her group during her Peace Corps service. The volunteer had a hard time dealing with the racist remarks in her community and ended up leaving. With clarity, I tired my best to answer the question. "I would like to educate the people in my community that America is full of people from all over the world. That most of us started out as immigrants or are immigrants, like me. I would share with them my background and culture in America and what is like to be a Cambodian American." That was a year and six months ago. It was easy to say, but not so easy to do.

Ten months ago I settled into Las Delicias de Turrubares. Las Delicias is a remote town that runs off a dusty, red, dirt road in the mountains above Jaco. There are 174 adults, children and youth in my pueblito. My counterpart told me that I'm the first Peace Corps Volunteer that has ever been put in this town!


The first week, I walked around in my site and said "hola" to every person I encountered. I remember a 'super volunteer' advised me to do this during training. Although they gave me dirty looks and once threw pebbles in my direction, I continued my greeting pilgrimage.



I encountered racism from many people in town. The majority of the people called me a nica. I was not aware of this word. So I asked my host mom, "¿que significa nica?" "A nica is someone from Nicaragua. They are poor and very lazy. Por que?" she asked. I told her that people called me "nica" as I passed by. She said people think I'm a nica because I have dark skin. If anything, I look nica or indigenous. I don't look like an 'American'. She stressed that being called a nica is usually bad. I started an art class with the children. They asked where I'm from. I told them California. They laughed and said, "No really where are you from?" So I explained to them "I was born in Thailand, my father is from South Vietnam and my mother is from Cambodia, but I am an American citizen and have lived almost my entire life there." The explanations were going nowhere; thanks to my dark skin and small eyes I was nica china. It was difficult the first few months. It was hard enough I was still learning to speak Spanish but I look like a "nica" whom people in town look down on.


I started to educate my host mom about my culture. Among other things, I showed her how I cook rice and my favorite dishes that I learned from my parents. I told her in my family we eat rice everyday, three times a day. We cook rice with no oil or butter. We just cook it with rice and water. After the initial horror and comedy of the idea of cooking rice without oil dyed down, she told me that she wanted to lose weight. I recommend that she start with the rice. Now my host mom has lost 20 pounds! Other women in town are trying this too! One day I made one of my favorite Cambodian dishes, fish soup with vegetables. My host mom loved it and gave it to her family in town. Next thing you know it was "soup of the day" at the soda!!


Six months later children started to ask me how is California. I shared with them my life in California. People started to come around. They finally believed that I have lived in California; however I am still not an American.

A couple of months ago, I went down the hill where the poor Nicaraguan live. I went to socialize with some of the students from my English class. I shared with them that I was a "war baby." I was born and lived until I was 8 years old in a refugee camp in Thailand. They opened up to me and shared their struggles during the war in Nicaragua. That day, we realized that we have a lot in common. Now, I pass often on my bike, I once over heard them telling their friends and family who were visiting. "That's Yenly; she was born in Thailand, but lived most of her life in California. Her father is from Vietnam and her mother is from Cambodia, no not Puntarenas, Asia." I smiled with joy because I am very proud of my background.



In my English class racism does not exist. It is like we are in our own little world of peace! We have Nicaraguans, Costa Ricans and me, a Cambodian American. We laugh, learn and support each other. A couple of weeks ago, we played "Uno." I wanted them to practice their colors and numbers. One of the Costa Rican students had to either put down the color green or the number 5. He put down a green and said, "Vea, green para gringa, como Yenly." Everyone laughed and agreed that "green is for gringa, like me!" Does this mean they finally accept that I'm American?? Well it took 10 months for people in town to open my book and see that my brown skin might not make me the stereotypical American, but I really am an American.

I found out that the more you open up and share your background with people in your town, the more they can understand and accept you. So hang in there and have fun! I want to welcome new minority volunteers, to the challenges of Peace Corps Costa Rica!

San Diego MTS; How to get around in the city without a car or money...

I was at first disappointed that I had to take the bus and later the trolley to my volunteering interview position with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) especially on my birthday. I hadn’t heard great things about San Diego’s transportation, especially not like DC or NYC. Since I am a new resident to San Diego and my husband had to take our car to work today, I decided to make the best out of my adventure!

After taking the bus for 45 minutes from downtown Ocean Beach (OB) to Old Town San Diego, another half an hour or so on a trolley from Old Town to SDSU station, then finish with a good 15 minutes bus ride into City Heights, I learned the importance of a transportation system for the people. A good system is truly needed by the residents of a city!

I noticed most of the people who were taking the bus and the trolley, were dressed in work clothes. I talked to a lady from Thailand who had lived in San Diego for two years now. Although her English was a little rough, I enjoyed learning about her story of how she got to San Diego. She was telling me that she was on her way to work at one of the Thai restaurants in Point Loma area. She loves living in San Diego. It is way better than her home country she said with excitement.

I also talked to another San Diegan who grew up most of his entire life in the Ocean Beach OB) area. He was on his way to work in City Heights as a construction worker. I came to realize how much admiration I had for these people. Although the OB twenty- something guy looked and dressed up in a dirty bum clothes, I am glad I had the chance to talk to him. Once I heard his story and how many jobs he was going to work today, it really made me grateful and made me appreciate the time I had to be able to just listen and talk with a stranger. These are the people I don’t hear much about in the news or in a politically heated debate either. I think the reason they are not, is because they’re always working, some two or even three jobs. Despite how many jobs they work in a day, they still make enough to take the public transportation and to provide for their family.

My experience today, has made me truly appreciate having a car. Sometimes we take it for granted. However, it also makes you appreciate the fact that there is some kind of public transportation offered to the local community in case there is no access to a car, bike or some kind of motorcycle.

Now, I am actually planning to take the city transportation maybe once a week to go up to SDSU to work on my thesis writing. It is nice I don’t have to worry about driving or stuck in traffic. When you are in traffic, you don’t have to worry about the stress or someone cutting you off on the road. Someone else is driving, so I can just carry a good conversation with the person next to me or listen to my ipod or have something to read.

I absolutely love the trolley! It is amazing. Its quick, easy to use & doesn’t cost that much!

Although my trip took me almost three hours, I don’t mind taking the bus and the trolley again next time when I am car-less. It got me to my appointment on time, I was able to go sight-seeing in San Diego and I didn’t have to drive in the traffic! It is only $5 for a day pass, which includes both the bus and trolley!