Learning how to be American
From CNN Correspondent Aneesh Raman
THAMKRABOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Learning how to be American is part of the curriculum in Thamkrabok, a refugee camp north of Bangkok.
The lesson this week focuses on how to stock an American kitchen and use western toilets, with a touch of English language teaching thrown in.
"For the first time in my life I was exposed to electricity, TV, modern equipment, it was something that was a total culture shock," says Touger Vang, who moved to the United States two decades ago and has come back to help his people.
The modern day basics are a whole new world for the students, the ethnic Hmong of Laos.
An important U.S. ally during the Vietnam War, many fled the Communist government when combat ended.
For nearly 30 years around 15,000 of them have lived in Thailand, never acknowledged as citizens and confined to the refugee camp.
But late last year a deal between the U.S. and Thai governments recognized the Hmong's collective service by relocating them to America.
Most of them are scared, because they don't know what to expect and there is so much information being fed to them.
Vang is the teacher of all things American. A Hmong himself, at age ten he came to the United States as a refugee. Two decades later, Vang is back as an American helping others prepare for the same journey.
"I was a refugee at one time in my life and I can still vividly remember how it is, so I thought I could come back and share my personal experience with them."
In helping the Hmong people, he said he had to think back and train them like babies.
"Most of the time I deal with culture shock such as the use of modern facilities such as the bathrooms, some of these ladies have never used bathroom facilities, they don't know how to sit down on a toilet, how to flush the toilet."
In preparation for their first trip overseas, he set up the classroom like an airplane so they could learn how the seating charts work and know where to sit.
For the Hmong -- a majority of whom were born and raised in this camp -- moving to America is an opportunity of varied potential. Each one is hoping for something different.
The younger generation, like 21-year-old Vang Neng, are preparing for a new future.
The greatest opportunity in the United States is the chance to learn, he says, and to be educated and to be smart.
But for the elder generation, many with family already abroad, it's about reconnecting.
"I am getting old," says 62-year-old Thai Xyo.
"I would like to be reunited with my family, with my kids, I want to see them again."
Every day refugees check a list to see when they will leave for a place unlike anything they have known.
"We are not expecting Americans to feed us by mouth, or feed us literally, just give us a chance, to give these people a chance to make a life on their own and I think if you give them a chance, an opportunity, they can make something out of themselves," Vang says.
