Pakse, Laos and Khuanmany's hometown
After being jammed at the top of the bunk bed and feeling like I've been in a coffin, I woke up to the sound of the bus honking its horn…..over and over. The bus uses his horn to let other cars and scooters that the bus is behind them. The sun was out and it was obviously morning. I went to the upstairs bunk to check on my sister Lucky was, she had a way better bed and I was glad she was able to make it on the bus.
Did I ever tell you guys what Laotian people were calling me?…..it was "Buck Tha-wee" which translates in English "fat boy" I was a giant every where I went. Anyways……
I looked out the window only to be even more shocked and sadden. The view from bunk bed was the sight most Americans see on tv when someone is telling them that for 18 cent a day type thing. There were no houses only huts that were placed on stilts 8 ft above the ground which I found out later that its because of the flooding during the monsoon season. Kids were running with pants on and wearing nothing but t-shirts that looked like it had been passed down from 2 generations before. The cows looked like a blonde model in Hollywood, just nothing but skin and bones, most of the roads were a red dirt that reminded me of a baseball diamond, and what cars were there were covered in a red dust from the roads. However there was a green every where, the land looks like it gets its far share of precipitation. At any moment you could climb a tree and get yourself a nice young coconut to sip on.
We get to the bus stop in Pakse, less crowded but surround by building that were not finished or had been torn apart but what looked like some type of bomb, I don't know i f that was the case, but it sure looked like it. Waiting for us at the bus stop was my uncle, the uncle who raised my sister Khuanmany when my family fled Laos. He had been in America last year and I remember he came to my birthday party/comedy show at Asian Nites aka Manny's. After seeing where he comes from, that party must have been crazy to him, to see all the lights and people and crazy people running around getting drunk.
Speaking of birthdays, he is something interesting, in Laos not a lot of people know when their birthday is. This is due to the fact they do not live on the Mon-Fri 9-5 work week, they have parties when ever they want and time is not a real big issue over there. Most of the people in Laos own their own businesses, so work to them is whatever they could sell that day. Some of the old timers count the days by the moon and seasons. Celebrating birthdays is not a big deal for them. My oldest uncle doesn't even know how old he is or what day he was born. To me thats so crazy to think of.
We arrive to our hotel which had a beautiful view of the river, and as I walked into the hotel lobby I was greeted with wifi. Wifi was so important because the internet is the only way I was able to communicate to anyone. When I got to my room, I called Lacey up on Skype, it was 10am in Laos which meant it was 9pm in America, we were able to Skype and she called Tobee's wife Jude to come over so they could Skype with each other because half of my siblings don't know much about technology.
After taking a nice shower we headed to my Uncle's house which was the house that Khuanmany grew up in. We show up and guess whats for lunch?……yep thats right…more "Pho." Their house was nice, well nice for Laos, the living room area was well lit, there were fans on the ceiling, there were 3 rooms that all had their own little sink and toliet…however the toilets didn't use regular plumbing, it was just a regular type of sit on toilet but no flush, there was this big bucket of water with a little bowl next to the toilet. If you pee'd you would just take a bowl of water and pore it down the toilet……if you pooped….you pore water down before you wiped your butt….and this is the newer way of doing things. lol
My siblings got to meet Khuanmany's other siblings….it was kind of weird when Khuanmany would introduce me to her younger brother…..I'm gonna go with that I'm the cooler young brother.
After lunch we had the chauffeur drive us around so we could buy more books and school supplies because we were only allowed to bring one suitcase each from America. At night time following dinner it was planned that my family go to this street fair type of thing, I really didn't want to go because I was tired but I did because when else am I in Laos? The fair/dance thingy was packed, thousands of people there. They had two stages one that was concert style and the other mainly for people to dance to the music. They served Lao beer called "Beer Laos" every one drink it on the rocks, they drank it that way because it keeps their beer cold and because when the ice melts their drink last longer.
As I was walking through the fair thing I ran into a military guy with a machine guy, I forgot that normal to have a dude walk around with a machine just in case something goes down. It scared me a little bit, because I was the "tall American" and I think some times Laotian people hate Americans…or it just my own Yankee guilt. It seemed like they only thing they had for sale was grilled squid on a stick and fluffy buns, I mean there were a ton of vendors……95% sold squid on a stick and the other 5% sold squid off the a stick.
Time to go to bed because in the morning we make our journey to my dad's village to do the school stuff. Yay!!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Laos in the House
Laos in the House:
While walking off that plane and first stepping foot onto Laos soil was like setting foot on Yankee Stadium, this was it, we are finally here. It was humid, hot and the air smelled sweet. The workers at the airport were darker then most of my black friends back in the U.S, I didn't know Asians could get that dark and I first saw them by default I said, "What up son!" to which he just smiled big and exposed his missing teeth.
While we were waiting customs, my cousin comes through and the security guys says, "you can't be in here." my cousin replies, "they said I could." and all the security guy goes, "oh ok." Talk about tight security lol.
After we got our luggage we go outside to be greeted by crowd of my family members, a few of them I knew from when they came to the states to visit. They had a bouquet of flowers for all of us. A lot of them I was meeting for the first time. They was a lot of excitement and lots of crying. Most of them hadn't seen our family since they left Laos. With the little Laotian I can understand, I did hear lots of my relatives say in Laotian, "i can't believe they're here, they are here, they are finally here."
Everyone is shorter then me, I feel like a giant, one of my uncles came up to me and said, "you big and strong, you healthy." I could over hear my relatives say in Laotian,"he is big, he eats a lot, he is big boy."
As we got into the car our first stop was my aunt's house which is the house my parents and siblings use to live. It was more emotional for my siblings because they had not been to this house since they left for America, as we standing outside of the house taking off our shoes I saw the tears in my sister's eyes fall as if they were taken back into time and faded memories became once again reality. For me I the only emotion I felt was like an outsider looking in, I didn't grow up here, I have no memories of the staircase to the left when you walk in, or the back kitchen where there is a coal stove, all this to me was strange. Their was no real rooms, just half walls with a mattress on the ground, a shelf, and cracked ceiling. The wiring looked very amateur and would be a violation in the States but I guess these people are lucky to have power.
For lunch we again had Pho soup, at first I wasn't sure because of how dirty everything looked, but the smell of fresh vegetables and the aroma of the soup got to me. This was authentic pho soup, no more eating at a restaurant in Los Angeles, no more shipped veggies, everything fresh and homemade. My first bit was like having chicken mcnuggets when they are straight off the fryer, just burst of flavor that hit every taste bud, a taste my mouth knew but enhanced. After the pho soup we had desert that my grandma use to make, my sisters kept telling me they remember her selling these, I guess she was known for making these little yummy treats. It was banana mixed with coconut and placed a top of sticky rice and then wrapped in fresh banana leafs and then they steam it. It was wonderful….thanks G-MA!
Before we left the house my mom wanted to say hello to more of my relatives, so we walked through the half room half way thingy pass the coal kitchen and out the back door which we were immediately at my mom's other sister's house. However my mom's sister wasn't there, she had passed away about 5 yrs ago, my mom wanted to say hello to her brother in law and my cousins. I have never met any my cousins but they knew who I was from the picture my mom sends them. One of them just had a child, and my people have a tradition I never knew about when a female has a child. After birth she must sit and lay on a bed with warm coals under it for 14-21 days, the heat is suppose to heal her insides after birth she can't even drink cold water, everything has to be hot or warm. I remember my aunt when she came to live with us for about a year when I was in highschool, she helped my mom with the restaurant and always laughed at me for some reason. My uncle told me that she always said she missed me and I was her favorite. RIP Auntie.
We soon went to our hotel, which were not staying at, my parents got a room so we could drop off our luggage and shower. Our relatives followed us to the hotel and not having tallked to my lady love in over 24 hrs I was eager to talk to her. I busted out my iphone and connected to the wifi at the hotel and called her to facetime, its was 11am on Thursday which means it was 10pm on wedsnesday night in the states. Lacey were facetime chatting and then I realized everyone was looking me wondering what I was doing, then I realized they didn't have iphones and the fact I was looking at someone and talking to them at the same time blew their minds. My parents were even impressed. All my siblings dig Lacey and so everyone wanted to say hi to her via my iphone. Gosh technology is amazing, I'm half way across the country but I was able to see and speak with someone crazy.
We then jumped in to one of those trucks with the canopy covering the back and drove around town picking up more school supplies, clothes, uniforms, a playground set and a bunch of other stuff to take to the kids in my dad's home town. Driving I noticed that people are their own boss, not a lot of 9-5 jobs just people selling shit to each other and tourist…..which by the way…the only tourist are hippies I swear.
Most businesses are privately owned, owned by some family whose house is the business. Its shop up front, living space in the back. Its crazy to see most homes are small businesses. Kids running around in their under roos, ladies breast feeding in front of the store, it was nuts.
Are night ended and began at the bus station. We have to take a bus to Pakse,Laos where my dad's village is by, but first we must travel in a VIP bus, a sleeping bus with beds and they take you over night. The bus was big and filled with beds, my seat/bed was D11 next to my older sister Lucky. We walk towards the back where are seats are only to see that we had the bottom bunk in this really enclosed space. My sister Lucky try to lay down and freaked the heck out and ran off the bus. She could not handle being in such tight quarters. So after talking to some dudes upstairs with a regular bed and no one above them my sister switched,....I however was stuck in this bed up in a top bunk because I didn't have the luxury like my sister did, and my spot was small, no window and my face being 8 inches from the ceiling. Thanks to modern medicine I was able to take some sleeping pills and pass out.
After 7 hrs on the bus I woke up to what was an site that I never believed existed......
While walking off that plane and first stepping foot onto Laos soil was like setting foot on Yankee Stadium, this was it, we are finally here. It was humid, hot and the air smelled sweet. The workers at the airport were darker then most of my black friends back in the U.S, I didn't know Asians could get that dark and I first saw them by default I said, "What up son!" to which he just smiled big and exposed his missing teeth.
While we were waiting customs, my cousin comes through and the security guys says, "you can't be in here." my cousin replies, "they said I could." and all the security guy goes, "oh ok." Talk about tight security lol.
After we got our luggage we go outside to be greeted by crowd of my family members, a few of them I knew from when they came to the states to visit. They had a bouquet of flowers for all of us. A lot of them I was meeting for the first time. They was a lot of excitement and lots of crying. Most of them hadn't seen our family since they left Laos. With the little Laotian I can understand, I did hear lots of my relatives say in Laotian, "i can't believe they're here, they are here, they are finally here."
Everyone is shorter then me, I feel like a giant, one of my uncles came up to me and said, "you big and strong, you healthy." I could over hear my relatives say in Laotian,"he is big, he eats a lot, he is big boy."
As we got into the car our first stop was my aunt's house which is the house my parents and siblings use to live. It was more emotional for my siblings because they had not been to this house since they left for America, as we standing outside of the house taking off our shoes I saw the tears in my sister's eyes fall as if they were taken back into time and faded memories became once again reality. For me I the only emotion I felt was like an outsider looking in, I didn't grow up here, I have no memories of the staircase to the left when you walk in, or the back kitchen where there is a coal stove, all this to me was strange. Their was no real rooms, just half walls with a mattress on the ground, a shelf, and cracked ceiling. The wiring looked very amateur and would be a violation in the States but I guess these people are lucky to have power.
For lunch we again had Pho soup, at first I wasn't sure because of how dirty everything looked, but the smell of fresh vegetables and the aroma of the soup got to me. This was authentic pho soup, no more eating at a restaurant in Los Angeles, no more shipped veggies, everything fresh and homemade. My first bit was like having chicken mcnuggets when they are straight off the fryer, just burst of flavor that hit every taste bud, a taste my mouth knew but enhanced. After the pho soup we had desert that my grandma use to make, my sisters kept telling me they remember her selling these, I guess she was known for making these little yummy treats. It was banana mixed with coconut and placed a top of sticky rice and then wrapped in fresh banana leafs and then they steam it. It was wonderful….thanks G-MA!
Before we left the house my mom wanted to say hello to more of my relatives, so we walked through the half room half way thingy pass the coal kitchen and out the back door which we were immediately at my mom's other sister's house. However my mom's sister wasn't there, she had passed away about 5 yrs ago, my mom wanted to say hello to her brother in law and my cousins. I have never met any my cousins but they knew who I was from the picture my mom sends them. One of them just had a child, and my people have a tradition I never knew about when a female has a child. After birth she must sit and lay on a bed with warm coals under it for 14-21 days, the heat is suppose to heal her insides after birth she can't even drink cold water, everything has to be hot or warm. I remember my aunt when she came to live with us for about a year when I was in highschool, she helped my mom with the restaurant and always laughed at me for some reason. My uncle told me that she always said she missed me and I was her favorite. RIP Auntie.
We soon went to our hotel, which were not staying at, my parents got a room so we could drop off our luggage and shower. Our relatives followed us to the hotel and not having tallked to my lady love in over 24 hrs I was eager to talk to her. I busted out my iphone and connected to the wifi at the hotel and called her to facetime, its was 11am on Thursday which means it was 10pm on wedsnesday night in the states. Lacey were facetime chatting and then I realized everyone was looking me wondering what I was doing, then I realized they didn't have iphones and the fact I was looking at someone and talking to them at the same time blew their minds. My parents were even impressed. All my siblings dig Lacey and so everyone wanted to say hi to her via my iphone. Gosh technology is amazing, I'm half way across the country but I was able to see and speak with someone crazy.
We then jumped in to one of those trucks with the canopy covering the back and drove around town picking up more school supplies, clothes, uniforms, a playground set and a bunch of other stuff to take to the kids in my dad's home town. Driving I noticed that people are their own boss, not a lot of 9-5 jobs just people selling shit to each other and tourist…..which by the way…the only tourist are hippies I swear.
Most businesses are privately owned, owned by some family whose house is the business. Its shop up front, living space in the back. Its crazy to see most homes are small businesses. Kids running around in their under roos, ladies breast feeding in front of the store, it was nuts.
Are night ended and began at the bus station. We have to take a bus to Pakse,Laos where my dad's village is by, but first we must travel in a VIP bus, a sleeping bus with beds and they take you over night. The bus was big and filled with beds, my seat/bed was D11 next to my older sister Lucky. We walk towards the back where are seats are only to see that we had the bottom bunk in this really enclosed space. My sister Lucky try to lay down and freaked the heck out and ran off the bus. She could not handle being in such tight quarters. So after talking to some dudes upstairs with a regular bed and no one above them my sister switched,....I however was stuck in this bed up in a top bunk because I didn't have the luxury like my sister did, and my spot was small, no window and my face being 8 inches from the ceiling. Thanks to modern medicine I was able to take some sleeping pills and pass out.
After 7 hrs on the bus I woke up to what was an site that I never believed existed......
Traveling to Laos
My dad told me that to get to Pakse Laos it will take about 24 hrs, I didn't believe him because my dad tends to blow things of out proportions, if you ever wonder where I get my humor from it comes from my dad, the dad who loves to tell all my comedian friends a dirty joke……
Dad: "you want to hear dirty joke?"
Friend: "sure"
Dad: "the pig jump in the muck haha"
Friend: "oh you mean mud, thats good….can I have another eggroll please"
I've flown internationally before, I've been to Australia but thats it. Everyone is meeting in Seattle since Quito and Leh live there and form there we fly to Seoul, Korea, then to Bangkok, Thailand then to Vientiane,Laos.
We met at my brother Quito's house for lunch and from there we all head to the airport. For lunch his wife made us 'Pho" which is a rice noodle soup, very popular in southeast Asia. Persoanlly I wanted true American food before we leave, I want a good ole cheese burger, just some thing unhealthy.
So we get on the plane in Seattle (Asiana Airlines), very big airplane filled with Asians going home or visiting family, and of course out of all the passengers I was randomly seated next to the only white people on the flight, even more crazy…they were from Montana, Kalispell, Montana in fact, they were going to Bangkok for a school trip. The flight to Seoul, Korea would take 15 hours….not looking forward to that. I send off my last text message to my girlfriend telling her I love her and buckled up. I will say this about foreign airlines…..customer service is amazing, they treat you very well, always there when you need them and never have an attitude.
We had to spend 8 hrs in the Bangkok Airport, it was pretty nice. They had a massage parlor there, it was $20 for an hour, it was around 2am there and my family was loopy so most of decided to get a massage, they even had a places where you can pay to take a shower.
Anyways, I had a massage and it wasn't all that, I had to go in this small room and put on this weird shirt, the lady and I could not communicate cause she doesn't speak english and I don't speak Thai….well I really don't speak any sort of Asian languages lol During my massage she kept making me do this weird stretches and jamming her elbow into my back…it hurt more then it was relaxing. There was one point I wanted a head massage, ya know the like when you go to the salon and they wash your hair….ah thats my favorite so I showed her I wanted my head massaged and she nodded yes….I was finally excited for a relaxing massage…nope of course she jammed her thumbs into the side of my head making me feel like my head was going to exploded. In the end I was mad and only tipped her $3 for an hour massage but as it turns out…that was a big tip… Lukas-0, Thai Massage Lady-1
Boarding the plane to Laos was strange…..I couldn't believe that in 1 hr I will be the land my parents grew up, the place where my family had to flee just to be free and be whatever they wanted to be. I could see the look on my parents face, they had been waiting decades to take their whole family back to Laos and show them their roots, to make sure we didn't forget where we came from and for us to appreciate what they did.
As I'm walking through the plane in search of Seat 19-B I pass a group of what looked like a retired senior citizens, they see my black Mariners hat and a lady with thick plastic glasses and permed hair says, "hey there, where did you get that American hat?" to which I reply in perfect and clear English, "oh I made one of the kids at my factory make this for me…looks real doesn't it? those kids are amazing with their little hands."
As her jaw dropped the look her face and her powdered haired friends was priceless. They had a look on their face of confusion, I don't know if they were surprised I replied with a fake joke or the fact I spoke perfect english. Maybe they were expecting me to say, "oh yeah, me rerry rike America, number one, hotdog, Mcdonalds and Nascar, bang bang me rove you wrong time."
As im sitting in that plane I hear the pilot say we will be landing in Vientane, Laos, I then looked out the window only to see nothing but jungles and little huts everywhere. I couldn't believe I was in Laos, cause to me Laos was kind of like this mythical creature my parents always talked about and now I finally get to see it come to life.
Dad: "you want to hear dirty joke?"
Friend: "sure"
Dad: "the pig jump in the muck haha"
Friend: "oh you mean mud, thats good….can I have another eggroll please"
I've flown internationally before, I've been to Australia but thats it. Everyone is meeting in Seattle since Quito and Leh live there and form there we fly to Seoul, Korea, then to Bangkok, Thailand then to Vientiane,Laos.
We met at my brother Quito's house for lunch and from there we all head to the airport. For lunch his wife made us 'Pho" which is a rice noodle soup, very popular in southeast Asia. Persoanlly I wanted true American food before we leave, I want a good ole cheese burger, just some thing unhealthy.
So we get on the plane in Seattle (Asiana Airlines), very big airplane filled with Asians going home or visiting family, and of course out of all the passengers I was randomly seated next to the only white people on the flight, even more crazy…they were from Montana, Kalispell, Montana in fact, they were going to Bangkok for a school trip. The flight to Seoul, Korea would take 15 hours….not looking forward to that. I send off my last text message to my girlfriend telling her I love her and buckled up. I will say this about foreign airlines…..customer service is amazing, they treat you very well, always there when you need them and never have an attitude.
We had to spend 8 hrs in the Bangkok Airport, it was pretty nice. They had a massage parlor there, it was $20 for an hour, it was around 2am there and my family was loopy so most of decided to get a massage, they even had a places where you can pay to take a shower.
Anyways, I had a massage and it wasn't all that, I had to go in this small room and put on this weird shirt, the lady and I could not communicate cause she doesn't speak english and I don't speak Thai….well I really don't speak any sort of Asian languages lol During my massage she kept making me do this weird stretches and jamming her elbow into my back…it hurt more then it was relaxing. There was one point I wanted a head massage, ya know the like when you go to the salon and they wash your hair….ah thats my favorite so I showed her I wanted my head massaged and she nodded yes….I was finally excited for a relaxing massage…nope of course she jammed her thumbs into the side of my head making me feel like my head was going to exploded. In the end I was mad and only tipped her $3 for an hour massage but as it turns out…that was a big tip… Lukas-0, Thai Massage Lady-1
Boarding the plane to Laos was strange…..I couldn't believe that in 1 hr I will be the land my parents grew up, the place where my family had to flee just to be free and be whatever they wanted to be. I could see the look on my parents face, they had been waiting decades to take their whole family back to Laos and show them their roots, to make sure we didn't forget where we came from and for us to appreciate what they did.
As I'm walking through the plane in search of Seat 19-B I pass a group of what looked like a retired senior citizens, they see my black Mariners hat and a lady with thick plastic glasses and permed hair says, "hey there, where did you get that American hat?" to which I reply in perfect and clear English, "oh I made one of the kids at my factory make this for me…looks real doesn't it? those kids are amazing with their little hands."
As her jaw dropped the look her face and her powdered haired friends was priceless. They had a look on their face of confusion, I don't know if they were surprised I replied with a fake joke or the fact I spoke perfect english. Maybe they were expecting me to say, "oh yeah, me rerry rike America, number one, hotdog, Mcdonalds and Nascar, bang bang me rove you wrong time."
As im sitting in that plane I hear the pilot say we will be landing in Vientane, Laos, I then looked out the window only to see nothing but jungles and little huts everywhere. I couldn't believe I was in Laos, cause to me Laos was kind of like this mythical creature my parents always talked about and now I finally get to see it come to life.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Quicksand, guns and hamburgers Part 2
Quicksand, Guns and Hamburgers Part 2
Living in a 3 bedroom house with 7 people and and being the youngest made me the weird dude I am today. All my siblings were a lot older then I was so I had to play with myself a lot, plus we were poor so I had to use my imagination because my parents couldn't by me toys. They came to America with $5, no real education and 4 children (5 when I was born) which by the way…..I realize I was a mistake or at least I had to be, I mean my sibling closets in age was 8 yrs older then me….plus when you look at the time my family arrived to America (June 1981) and my birthday (February 1982) you can tell I was a product of my parents having sex in celebration of coming to America…gross
Anyways, fast forward to 1994, I was a 7th grader, just hitting puberty and my parents tell me they are going back to Laos to bring my sister they left behind. Hearing this was a little bit of shock only because growing up all the brothers and sisters I knew were Lucky, Leh, Tobee and Quito, I mean I've heard of another sister but I thought the picture they showed me was of a child in need, ya know the kind you can feed for 78 cents a day or the price of a happy meal…..nowadays it cost more to feed a child in another country then to fill up a tank of gas…
I can remember when my sister Khuanmany arrived to America, she had buck teeth, thick black hair, funny looking feet and didn't speak a lick of English, so this was gonna be interesting considering the fact I barely know how to speak my own language. For years it was tough communicating with Khuan, the language barrier made it hard and the cultural difference were totally opposite. However, the family was now complete, no one left behind, all American Citizens, eating our favorite American meal the "cheeseburger" and the American dream to live.
Fast forward to March 2012 (present day) my whole family is getting ready to go to Laos for the first time as a family. Here is a quick update on what we've all been up to in the last 30 yrs…..
My mom started selling eggrolls every where around Billings at street fairs and by popular demand she opened up a restaurant "Khanthaly's Eggrolls" and was open for 9 yrs and closed in 2002, my dad retired from his first job working at St. Vincent's Hospital in 2008. Now they sell eggrolls in the summer time and in the winter my mom plays tennis and my dad watches youtube videos.
My oldest Sister Lucky is married to Chong, they have 2 kids Christine who was pretty much like my little sister growing up, Ethan who just started school. They have a restaurant called Samurai Seafood and Steakhouse. Oh, Lucky also had breast cancer, fought it and won!
Leh the second oldest lives in Seattle,WA and she is married to married to Colin (the first white guy in our family) they have two children Alex and Ashlynn
Tobee the 3rd oldest lives in Billings, he is married to Jude, they have two children Minnecco and Mia, he runs a catering business called Mia's Lumpia
Quito the 4th oldest is married to Kayla, they reside in Seattle and have 3 children, Victoria, Bella and the only grandson to have the Keutla last name Preston.
Khuanmany (the one we left behind) graduated from high school and college in 7 yrs (frickin smart Asians) she is married Jason and own a restaurant Taste of Asia. They have 3 children Jasmine, Malika, and Jacob. Cute little monkey kids
and myself well…….being the only child born in America I was obligated to do American things…..I played football for over 10 yrs ending after my Senior year in college. I live in Los Angeles,CA were I'm a stand-up comedian. I started a comedy scene in my home town Billings and provide an opportunity for locals to do stand up. I made stand-up comedy debut on national television on the Showtime Network on July of 2011. I'm not married but I got a swell girlfriend.
We are all going to Laos to help the school in my dad's home town of Champi which is near Pakse Laos, which is in a place most people never heard of. Its a small village were you have to squat to use the bathroom. No internet, no paved roads, and where I'll probably be the tallest person there standing at 5'8 and 3/4. For my siblings it will be the first time back to Laos since they escaped 30 years ago, and the first time for me ever. I really don't know what to expect but I'm excited. Especially because this is our first family trip since I was 8 yrs old. No kids, no spouses, just my parents and my siblings.
Through out this trip I will be updating this blog on our experience in Laos, and all the things were get discover on this journey. I will be filming the whole trip, not just for memories but to share to the world about my 2nd world country I'm proud to be from…..feel free to share this on your social networks….we would appreciate it.
Living in a 3 bedroom house with 7 people and and being the youngest made me the weird dude I am today. All my siblings were a lot older then I was so I had to play with myself a lot, plus we were poor so I had to use my imagination because my parents couldn't by me toys. They came to America with $5, no real education and 4 children (5 when I was born) which by the way…..I realize I was a mistake or at least I had to be, I mean my sibling closets in age was 8 yrs older then me….plus when you look at the time my family arrived to America (June 1981) and my birthday (February 1982) you can tell I was a product of my parents having sex in celebration of coming to America…gross
Anyways, fast forward to 1994, I was a 7th grader, just hitting puberty and my parents tell me they are going back to Laos to bring my sister they left behind. Hearing this was a little bit of shock only because growing up all the brothers and sisters I knew were Lucky, Leh, Tobee and Quito, I mean I've heard of another sister but I thought the picture they showed me was of a child in need, ya know the kind you can feed for 78 cents a day or the price of a happy meal…..nowadays it cost more to feed a child in another country then to fill up a tank of gas…
I can remember when my sister Khuanmany arrived to America, she had buck teeth, thick black hair, funny looking feet and didn't speak a lick of English, so this was gonna be interesting considering the fact I barely know how to speak my own language. For years it was tough communicating with Khuan, the language barrier made it hard and the cultural difference were totally opposite. However, the family was now complete, no one left behind, all American Citizens, eating our favorite American meal the "cheeseburger" and the American dream to live.
Fast forward to March 2012 (present day) my whole family is getting ready to go to Laos for the first time as a family. Here is a quick update on what we've all been up to in the last 30 yrs…..
My mom started selling eggrolls every where around Billings at street fairs and by popular demand she opened up a restaurant "Khanthaly's Eggrolls" and was open for 9 yrs and closed in 2002, my dad retired from his first job working at St. Vincent's Hospital in 2008. Now they sell eggrolls in the summer time and in the winter my mom plays tennis and my dad watches youtube videos.
My oldest Sister Lucky is married to Chong, they have 2 kids Christine who was pretty much like my little sister growing up, Ethan who just started school. They have a restaurant called Samurai Seafood and Steakhouse. Oh, Lucky also had breast cancer, fought it and won!
Leh the second oldest lives in Seattle,WA and she is married to married to Colin (the first white guy in our family) they have two children Alex and Ashlynn
Tobee the 3rd oldest lives in Billings, he is married to Jude, they have two children Minnecco and Mia, he runs a catering business called Mia's Lumpia
Quito the 4th oldest is married to Kayla, they reside in Seattle and have 3 children, Victoria, Bella and the only grandson to have the Keutla last name Preston.
Khuanmany (the one we left behind) graduated from high school and college in 7 yrs (frickin smart Asians) she is married Jason and own a restaurant Taste of Asia. They have 3 children Jasmine, Malika, and Jacob. Cute little monkey kids
and myself well…….being the only child born in America I was obligated to do American things…..I played football for over 10 yrs ending after my Senior year in college. I live in Los Angeles,CA were I'm a stand-up comedian. I started a comedy scene in my home town Billings and provide an opportunity for locals to do stand up. I made stand-up comedy debut on national television on the Showtime Network on July of 2011. I'm not married but I got a swell girlfriend.
We are all going to Laos to help the school in my dad's home town of Champi which is near Pakse Laos, which is in a place most people never heard of. Its a small village were you have to squat to use the bathroom. No internet, no paved roads, and where I'll probably be the tallest person there standing at 5'8 and 3/4. For my siblings it will be the first time back to Laos since they escaped 30 years ago, and the first time for me ever. I really don't know what to expect but I'm excited. Especially because this is our first family trip since I was 8 yrs old. No kids, no spouses, just my parents and my siblings.
Through out this trip I will be updating this blog on our experience in Laos, and all the things were get discover on this journey. I will be filming the whole trip, not just for memories but to share to the world about my 2nd world country I'm proud to be from…..feel free to share this on your social networks….we would appreciate it.
Quicksand, guns and hamburgers
I'm Lukas Seely aka Luke Keutla most people know from me for being a comedian and hear about my jokes about being Asian and living in Montana. As people have always wondered how my family ended up in Montana, there is a part of my life that most people don't know............I'm the youngest of 6 six kids and I'm the only one born in America. My family is from Laos, a country in Southeast Asia in between Thailand and Vietnam. 30 yrs ago my family escaped the communist government in Laos to become free and live their American Dream in the USA.
Through out the next week I'm going to share my family's story and our journey back to Laos and the experiance through my eyes as an Asian American who has never been to his homeland and about my family going back to help a my dad's village of children in need.
To keep you up to speed I'll fill you in on everything and here is how it started.........
Back in the 60's and 70's the U.S government was secretly putting US troops in Laos as a way to try and stop Communism in South East Asia. There the U.S troops they were teaching Lao people how to fight with guns and was trying to help the Lao people over throw the Royal Communist Government. After a failed attempt the U.S pulled its troops from Laos without giving the Lao people a real reason for leaving........the problem.......any Laotian person who sided with the U.S Army was now considered an enemy of the Royal Government....this included my parents.
The Royal Government was taking all Laotians who were involved with the U.S Army and putting them in work camps, taking fathers, sons, and mothers and killing them for opposing the Lao Royal Government. All the Lao people were waiting for the mighty American Army to come back and finish off the Royal Government...but this was never the case.
One by one the Royal Government was killing officers involved, taking families and putting them into concentration camps to brain wash the Lao people into thinking Communism was great. My family was put into a camp, my dad....sent to work outside the camp and only being able to see my family maybe once a month....I was not born yet.
One night my parents decided to make a deathly escape from the camp and make a run for Thailand. If they were to get caught trying to escape, they would be killed on sight. At the time The Keutla Family (my family) consisted of my mom (Khanthaly) , my dad (Sisavath) and my siblings, Lucky, Leh, Tobee, Quito and infant Khuanmany.
My sister Khuanmany was only 2yrs old and bringing her would increase the chances of my family being caught and killed if she were to cry. So my parents decided to leave her with my aunt and uncle with a promise to return for her in the future if they make it.
On a full moon night, my family sneaked under the fence and made a dash for the river were a boat awaited to take them to Thailand. As they were running they could hear guards yelling that someone escaped and running as fast as they can my mother's foot got caught in quicksand. My dad looked at her and knew helping her would only slow they family down and rise the chance of everyone getting caught...however my dad could not leave his true love behind and helped her out of the quicksand. The thought of raising his children without his soulmate was something he could not bare, my father would have rather died by my mother's side. Soon thereafter they got on the boat and barely made it across the river to Thailand. Now thats true love mother effers!
My family was in a refugee camp in Thai, awaiting for a country to sponsor them into their country. My parents were hopeing Paris,France because they spoke french and a lot of their friends ended up there . Living in the slums of Thai my parents were very anxious to leave and try to create a new life for their families.....soon there after a church named St.Luke's in Billings,MT said they would sponsor a family and The Keutla family was next in line.......ok if your confused as why I go by Lukas Seely and Keutla.....its because Seely is my stage name which Seely is my middle name and its the first part of my dad's name and the last part of my moms name.....make sense now? Good glad your with me...if your not then you might not be smart enough to continue reading this story.
June 17th 1981, my family arrived in the USA! and soon after my family got a surprise...me Luke Seely Keutla, the first born in on US soil and they only one to have an American name. Yep im the youngest, the first citizen (I got a birth certificate to prove it, unlike someone unless we know) When my parents look at me they see freedom, a new life, and a little monkey who pooped a lot as an infant. To be continued.....
Through out the next week I'm going to share my family's story and our journey back to Laos and the experiance through my eyes as an Asian American who has never been to his homeland and about my family going back to help a my dad's village of children in need.
To keep you up to speed I'll fill you in on everything and here is how it started.........
Back in the 60's and 70's the U.S government was secretly putting US troops in Laos as a way to try and stop Communism in South East Asia. There the U.S troops they were teaching Lao people how to fight with guns and was trying to help the Lao people over throw the Royal Communist Government. After a failed attempt the U.S pulled its troops from Laos without giving the Lao people a real reason for leaving........the problem.......any Laotian person who sided with the U.S Army was now considered an enemy of the Royal Government....this included my parents.
The Royal Government was taking all Laotians who were involved with the U.S Army and putting them in work camps, taking fathers, sons, and mothers and killing them for opposing the Lao Royal Government. All the Lao people were waiting for the mighty American Army to come back and finish off the Royal Government...but this was never the case.
One by one the Royal Government was killing officers involved, taking families and putting them into concentration camps to brain wash the Lao people into thinking Communism was great. My family was put into a camp, my dad....sent to work outside the camp and only being able to see my family maybe once a month....I was not born yet.
One night my parents decided to make a deathly escape from the camp and make a run for Thailand. If they were to get caught trying to escape, they would be killed on sight. At the time The Keutla Family (my family) consisted of my mom (Khanthaly) , my dad (Sisavath) and my siblings, Lucky, Leh, Tobee, Quito and infant Khuanmany.
My sister Khuanmany was only 2yrs old and bringing her would increase the chances of my family being caught and killed if she were to cry. So my parents decided to leave her with my aunt and uncle with a promise to return for her in the future if they make it.
On a full moon night, my family sneaked under the fence and made a dash for the river were a boat awaited to take them to Thailand. As they were running they could hear guards yelling that someone escaped and running as fast as they can my mother's foot got caught in quicksand. My dad looked at her and knew helping her would only slow they family down and rise the chance of everyone getting caught...however my dad could not leave his true love behind and helped her out of the quicksand. The thought of raising his children without his soulmate was something he could not bare, my father would have rather died by my mother's side. Soon thereafter they got on the boat and barely made it across the river to Thailand. Now thats true love mother effers!
My family was in a refugee camp in Thai, awaiting for a country to sponsor them into their country. My parents were hopeing Paris,France because they spoke french and a lot of their friends ended up there . Living in the slums of Thai my parents were very anxious to leave and try to create a new life for their families.....soon there after a church named St.Luke's in Billings,MT said they would sponsor a family and The Keutla family was next in line.......ok if your confused as why I go by Lukas Seely and Keutla.....its because Seely is my stage name which Seely is my middle name and its the first part of my dad's name and the last part of my moms name.....make sense now? Good glad your with me...if your not then you might not be smart enough to continue reading this story.
June 17th 1981, my family arrived in the USA! and soon after my family got a surprise...me Luke Seely Keutla, the first born in on US soil and they only one to have an American name. Yep im the youngest, the first citizen (I got a birth certificate to prove it, unlike someone unless we know) When my parents look at me they see freedom, a new life, and a little monkey who pooped a lot as an infant. To be continued.....
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