You will never leave a Vietnamese household empty handed.  You will either come out with food straight from their garden, seeds (most likely squash seeds), or both.

“And even when we arrive on the land of unbridled capitalism, privacy fence, and HOA-mandated lush green lawns, we never forgot that sharing with each other what we could grow from our land, even if our land is a tiny apartment balcony, is what has kept alive for this long.”

Welcome, beautiful squash blossoms.  In this space, I will serve my role as the bridge between you and the Vietnamese culture that I was privileged to be a part of for the first ten years of my life.  Aside from my real-lived experiences, I was also one of the lucky few who had educated parents and a family full of cultured scholars who contributed to my extended knowledge of the language, literature, folklore, music, poetry, and wisdoms of Vietnam - the very essence of our people.  And thus, it is my calling, as one of the few people in the world who can serve this role, to be the bridge.

So let us gather under the squash vines, and learn some wisdoms and stories.