The Dalat's Update Spring 2017

Introduction Page 3

Exploring Japan Page 7

Dan’s Corner Page 4 Taste of Japan Page 8

Daisy’s Den Page 5 Gadgets Page 9

Hanna’s Canvas Page 6

Family Legacy Page 10

https://youtu.be/na2tGY4oIZk

Contributors

Dan Dalat, a Senior at Zama American High School who enjoys making short animated film using LEGO toys. Additionally, Dan loves making cartoon using an app in his iPhone. Dan is scheduled to attend a four year university next Fall.

Daisy Dalat, a Sophomore at Zama American High School who enjoys baking, cooking, and watching Japanese anime. In her spare time, she runs tracks and serves as the Cadet First Sergeant at ZAHS Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC

Hanna Dalat, a fourth grader at Arnn American Elementary School who enjoys drawing animals. One of her works has been selected for an Army competition in Washington D.C.

Torii gates leading up to Oinari-san, Kyoto Photographed by Lan Dalat 2017

Minnie - Cherry blossom at Camp Zama, Japan

Getting up fairly early, our family went on a road trip to Kyoto and Osaka. With the rented cargo Van from Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) facility, my dad drove 548 kilometers which took five hours and 45 minutes from our home at Camp Zama to Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. Our first visited place has many Torii gates in rows heading up the mountain which named Oinari- san. After that short visit, we drove through the crowded streets filled with tourists from many countries. It took a significant amount of time to find an available parking space as the sun began to set.

“Let’s just go to the hotel now. We can get up early and come back here in the morning.” Dad said to Mom with some frustration as he was driving at a pace of less than 1km per hour. Suddenly, a parking lot came into view with one vacant spot.

“Honey, can you walk down there to see if that space is available?” Dad asked Mom as she unbuckling her seat belt.

We were in luck, there was an available parking space. Since our rented cargo van occupied most of the road, it was difficult to maneuver into the small space. Miraculously, Dad did it. Now the fun part, paying for the parking space. For one hour, Dad had to pay 2500 yens which is around $23.00.

Heading up to our second destination - Kiyomizu dera Templewe hiked through a very crowded Sannenzaka street. Reaching the temple, Mom paid the entrance fees and headed inside. According to the tour book, it is recommended to visit this temple during sunset. We hiked further to the back of the temple as we follow the crowd along the designated path.

College Choices

Celebrations

April: Month of Military Child

May: Asian American and Paci c Islander Heritage Month

May 14: Mother’s Day

May 20: Grand ma’s 80th Birthday

May 20: Uncle Toro’s 43rd Birthday

May 26: Aunt Christine’s 44th Birthday

June 9: Dan’s High School Graduation

June 14: Cousin Amelia’s 14th Birthday

Arts & Cultures

Mailing Address

"EDO-FUJI" is a monument 6m high and 23m across, created by a famous “plant hunter” Seijun Nishihata.

Daisy was inducted into the National Honor Society

Story by Dan Dalat

Univ. Zama City Giant Kite Festival is an annual traditional event with a history of more than 200 years.

Dan graduates from Zama American High School with honors

“Honey, let’s go up this path. The best time to visit this place is during a sunset.” Mom told Dad.

“How do you know this?” Dad inquired.

“I read it in the tour book.” Mom answered.

“Okay, let’s go” Dad agreed. With that, we went up the path and sure enough, people were lining up the path waiting for the sun to set behind the mountain range in front. From the path, the temple silhouetted against the clear sky creating a calming effect after a long day traveling. In my mind, I just want to check in to the hotel and go to sleep.

Following the sunset, we headed down path that would lead us out of the temple. By now, Sannenzaka street began to have less tourists. Most of the tour buses were gone leaving the street maneuverable. We stopped by a few shops along the way and sampled a few delicacies.

Finally, we reached our parking space, paid the fee and headed to Osaka which is an hour drive south where we lodged into Sheraton Miyako Hotel.

The next morning, we left at around 10:00 AM to go see Osaka Castle. We decided to visit Mister Donut right outside the hotel.

“I want to try a glazed donut.” Hanna requested. I had the same but covered in chocolate. Daisy chose the strawberry covered donut instead.

“Okay, we will walk to the castle from here. It’s only a mile away.” Dad told us. In reality, it was more like a three kilometer hike through the desolated city. We were sweating walking on the side with the sun shinning down. Halfway point we switched over to the shaded side and it was too chilly. There was no middle ground during our walk to the castle.

We first saw the moat of the castle where we wandered around before heading inside. Dad gave me a camera and I took some extra pictures.

“Dan, here is my spare camera. I want you to take this camera and capture what ever is interesting to you. Make them your memories of Japan.” Dad handed me the camera.

We went inside the walls of the compound where we can see a very unique green and white building that is known as the Osaka Castle. Shortly after admiring the historic structure, we proceeded toward the ticket booth to purchase the entrance tickets to the museum inside the castle.

KYOTO, JAPAN: Sannenzaka street during twilight.

Donuts om Mister Donut

Dan looks at the Fuji lm XE-2’s display to compose a shot at Osaka Castle with the surround moat.

The museum was similar to others; it had ancient artifacts and told history of the old empire. There were old painting, armor, weapons, pottery, and any other remains in the castle. There was one floor that had some holographic displays that told history by fusing dioramas with holographic actors. After seeing the panorama view from the top of the castle, my dad and I went down stairs to get some more photos of the castle. Dad set up

They were so interested to learn more about my dad that it turned into an interrogation as the men asked so many personal questions about my father. They eventually left and my father surmised that they were probably members of the Communist party. We eventually left the kingdom and took a long subway ride to Dotonbori district in Osaka.

we went back to the hotel, discovering that it was actually a walking distance from the district. We finally rested in the room and slept.

On our final morning in Osaka, Dad checked out of the hotel right after eating in Mister Donut. I ordered something that looked like a hexagonal apple tart, but it turned out to be macaroni or corn.

On the road trip to Kyoto, we encountered an old man at a toll booth who yelled at us in Japanese, but we did not understand his frustration. We headed over to the bamboo groves in Arashiyama. Again, the site had quite the amount of tourists from around the world. On our last leg of the journey, we headed to the Golden Temple which is known as Kinkaku-ji. The gold covered building was surrounded by water and trees and visitors from different places.

On the way home, I endured a very long ride home. For some reasons, there weren’t much rest stops on the way back. (By the way, I had to pee in a bottle twice). All in all, it was a great trip. Get to see some very cool places.

e sun begins to decent below the horizon casting a beautiful silhoue e of Kiyomizu-dera temple.

Exploring Japan

Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto

Bamboo Groves, Arashiyama

Manhole Cover in Osaka

To

Japanese F d

One of the main attractions during travel is to enjoy the local dishes. Here in Osaka, the local dishes are

In addition to these amazing main dishes, the desserts are equally

delicious. Some desserts are heavily influent by European’s baked goods, ice cream, and flans. Nonetheless, Japanese mochi is one of the kind and if you get the green tea flavor, you will be in for a nice surprise. Some will like it and some will never touch it again. Based on our experience, kids don’t like green tea at all. Just substitute that for chocolate and you have a winning recipe.

DOTONBORI DISTRICT, OSAKA- This area is filled with restaurants of every kind imaginable. Most Japanese restaurant in this area will require diners to get in line for a wait around 30 minutes.

Minnie discovers Pablo cheese cake bakery. It is amazingly delicious.

Sashimi serves with avocado as an appetizer.

Cherry Blossom Mochi Dessert

Dan’s Corner

Dan has made his decision to study Mathematics at the University of California Irvine in the city of Irvine, California. It’s redundant to mentioned Irvine twice but it is important to emphasize that he is not doing the online course but rather attending the actual university in the actual city.

This is a big change for Dan since he had spent most of his life overseas following his dad’s military career. Although he was born in the United States but left there when he was a toddler. Since that time, he had lived all over the world to include: Germany, Italy, Korea, and Japan. Even for military kids, that was a phenomenon. Due to his outstanding academic achievements, athleticism, leadership roles, and community

service Dan was selected as the Military Child of the month and was featured in the US Army Garrison Japan’s official Facebook page. In addition, he was interviewed by the local media for a Feature story which is on YouTube now: https://youtu.be/ na2tGY4oIZk.

On June 1st, 2017, eight days before his graduation, Dan was recognized

On Friday March 23, Daisy took the stage at Zama American High School’s Auditorium where she lighted a candle signified her induction into a membership of a prestigious organization - the Zama Chapter of the National Honor Society.

The selection was based on her Scholastic performance, her Service to the community, her Leadership, and her Character.

Few weeks later, she was also inducted into the Key club as a member where she excels in academic and volunteerism.

Recently, she was hand picked by her school to serve as a representative during a visit by a senior official. Single handedly, Daisy answered all questions from the Department of Defense Education Activity senior official.

Speaking of success, Daisy climbed to the top of JROTC ranks in a very short period of time. Most sophomores

are happy at cadet sergeant or staff sergeant. Daisy was promoted to cadet first sergeant to lead all of her classmates. While learning leadership skill within JROTC, Daisy also volunteered to be in the Rifle Team, the Honor Guard Team, and the Color Guard Team.

Daisy races in the 200 meters distance at Yokota Air Base during her rst season of Track and Field.

Proud parents share a moment with Daisy as she holds the certi cate of induction into the National Honor Society.

Last month, Hanna came home telling her mom and dad that she wanted to enter into the Arnn’s Got Talent Show at her school.

“So, Hanna, what talent are you competing for?” Minnie asked not knowing if she was going to play the Piano, sing, or cracking jokes.

“I want to do TaeKwonDo demonstration!” Hanna said with confident. Both parents were surprised with the response from Hanna.

“Way to go Hanna! That’s my girl.” Her dad said with great enthusiasm.

At the tryout, Hanna and her parents arrived at the point where the audition was closed and most of the judges had gone home. Her parents took her to the wrong location. After convincing one of the remaining judges. The judge went to gather other teachers to help making the decision. Not knowing what Hanna was about to do, they think it would be a very quick tryout.

“So, tell us your name and what talent you would like to do.” One of the judges addressed Hanna.

“Hi, my name is Hanna and I will demonstrate TaeKwondo.” Hanna said.

They judges were confused and agreed to see the demonstration. They were surprised and accepted her into the contest. The rest is history on May 26, 2017. Hanna made her parents extremely proud.

Shortly after that talent show, the family took her to see “Wonder Woman.”

Hanna Dalat recognizes by Mrs. Bailey-Oakley, Arnn Elementary School’s Principal for her outstanding academic achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in ont of an audience of students and parents during the Shining Knight Award on April 28, 2017 (Photo Credit: Lan T. Dalat)

O cial Class photo for Hanna’s school year 2016-2017 at Arnn Elementary School, in Japan.

Garden Organic

Minnie enjoys gardening in the back yard where she grows several tomato plants and bell pepper plants.

ere are also owers and herbs in her garden.

studio Creative

Minnie practices her water color painting technique.

Painting by Minnie Dalat

Giant Kite

Zama City festival

First part of May is filled with holidays in both Japan and Korea. These are known as the “Golden Week” On May 3rd, Japan celebrates its Constitution Memorial Day. On the 5th of May, both countries celebrated the Children’s Day. In Korea, there is a Parent’s Day which is held annually on the 8th of May. This year Buddha’s Birthday was on May 10th. Because of the Golden Week, there are many festivities in and around Japan.

Minnie’s sister Kyong Ran returned to Japan for another visit. During this trip, Kyong Ran enjoyed some of Japanese dishes and toured around the area experiencing Japanese culture.

Zama City hosted the annual Giant Kite Festival that has a history of more than 200 years. This year, the city hosted on May 4th and 5th that fell on a Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately, these are not considered holiday for American children and military service members.

While Dan and Daisy were taking his AP Government exam, Minnie and Kyong Ran took a 10 minutes walk to Sagami River where the Giant Kite Festival occurs. The giant kite measured 14.5 m x 14.5 m (43.5 x 43.5 feet) and weight around 950 kg (2095 pounds) was propped up with several large bamboo poles holding it up at a 45 degree angle.

Before launching of the giant kite, there were many performances occurred in front of the kite. After the last ritual was performed, a group of men dressed in traditional blue and white yukata preparing to launch the kite. It’s not an easy operation. During this kite launching event, Minnie and Kyong Ran witnessed several men got caught by the rope that hurling them off high off the ground. Fortunately, no one got seriously hurt.

Service Community

and Nation

GILWELL FIELD, TAMA HILLS, JAPAN -

Lan had been serving as a scoutmaster for three years now. During his tenure as a scouter, there were many opportunities for him to attend the Wood Badge course in the Far East but unable to do so due to conflict with work schedule. However, recently in May of this year, Lan deconflicted his responsibilities and took advantage of the opportunity by attending the Wood Badge Course W6-803-17 in the beautiful U.S. Armed

Force Recreation Facility located on the outskirt of Tokyo. The six-day outdoor learning event reinforced many principles of Servant Leadership that helped scouters to further develop young boys upon their return to the units throughout the Far East to include China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea and Japan. Lan was assigned to the Owl patrol where he developed lifelong friendship with other scouters. Most pleasant surprise was his encounter with Mr. Paul Hoffmeyer who is a faculty member at Dalat International School in Penang, Malaysia.

Lan T. Dalat Scoutmaster BSA Troop 34

AAPI Heritage Month: Observance keynote speaker shares American Dream through Vietnam refugee story

By Lance D. Davis, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs

CAMP ZAMA, Japan (May 23, 2017) - Camp Zama's 2017 Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Observance was hosted by Public Health Activity-Japan May 18 at Camp Zama Community Club.

"Unite Our Voices by Speaking Together" was this year's theme.

The observance began with welcoming remarks from Lt. Col. Dwayne C. Bechtol, commander of PHA-Japan, followed by music from the U.S. Army Japan Band-Pacific Brass.

The keynote speaker was Lt. Col. Lan Dalat, assigned to USARJ G-6 (Information Management)

"I'm honored standing here in front of you as an American," said Dalat. "To be exact, as a proud American Soldier defending freedom in the land of the rising sun."

Dalat began with a video presentation he produced that included interviews with eight Asian American or Pacific Islander Soldiers currently serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Zama.

The interviewees shared their diverse backgrounds, personal stories and why they chose to become American Soldiers.

Dalat continued his time with sharing his own personal story.

"Like these American Soldiers ... I want to serve the country that has given me so much. Today, I will share with you my perspective of the American Dream."

Dalat took the audience back to where his story all began - in the middle of the Vietnam War where he was born originally under the name Lan T. Nguyen in Da Lat, Vietnam.

Dalat said his mother decided to escape with their family to freedom from the post-war social, economic and political turmoil in Vietnam.

"On March 8, 1981, in the darkness of night, my mother, my three siblings, and I crept along the Saigon River.

"We left everything behind for a very dangerous journey, searching for freedom and opportunities," he said.

Dalat continued on, telling the audience about the small canoe he and his family traveled in to meet up with others who were fleeing Vietnam on a larger boat he described as an "unseaworthy, wooden boat."

"At that moment my family and I unknowingly joined a new and growing demographic called 'boat people.' We were among millions of Vietnamese who crammed onto small wooden boats and fled Vietnam."

There were a total of 138 passengers, he said.

After enduring five days of the pounding waves of the South China Sea, Dalat said, the vessel's engine

stopped, leaving them without power and adrift the open sea.

When the food and water supply ran low, Dalat said small groups began discussing the implications of cannibalism for their ultimate survival.

"Facing a critical juncture, some openly discussed suicide as a better alternative to dying of starvation and exposure," he said.

Dalat recalled a moment when his younger brother was thirsty and asked their mother if she could buy him some water.

"Son, I will buy you all the water you want when we get to shore. Don't worry, we will be there soon," Dalat said his mother insisted, trying to comfort his little brother.

Lt. Col. Lan Dalat shares his perspective of the American Dream through his family's story of escape om Vietnam with an audience of community members May 18, 2017 for the Asian American Paci c Islander Heritage Month Observance at Camp Zama Community Club. (U.S. Army photo Honey Nixon) (Photo Credit: Honey E Nixon)

After several days of the voyagers sinking into a "deep pit of hopelessness," Dalat said on the evening of March 20, 1981 someone seated on the other side of their boat noticed ships, which caused an increase in excitement for everyone once again.

"Pure excitement rushed through my body," said Dalat, "as I screamed out while looking at my mother and siblings 'I can see the ships!'"

U.S. Navy Captain Dan A. Pedersen, USS Ranger CV-61 commanding officer, ordered his crew to change course of the aircraft carrier with crew members rescuing all 138 boat people, according to Dalat's account.

"At that point, I was no longer a boat person. I became a refugee."

According to Dalat, half a million boat people died at sea and 1,231,000 reached refuge with the U.S. adopting 823,000 refugees.

Dalat, his family, and the other refugees were taken to the Philippines and placed inside a Vietnamese Refugee Camp in Puerto, Princesa, Palawan,

Philippines with his family later settling in Orange County, Calif.

Dalat said his father - who attempted many escapes from Vietnam with hopes of sending for the rest of the familyhad been in jail but was later released, making a successful escape and immigrating to the U.S. two days before Dalat's high school graduation.

After he graduated high school, Dalat enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve as a way to serve and help pay for school.

Dalat also became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. and changed his surname, which was Nguyen at the time, to Dalat in honor of his birthplace.

He said he wanted to be an American but did not want to forget "my heritage" and "my roots."

"I set my goal toward achieving the American Dream; I focused my effort in getting a commission as an Army Officer."

Dalat said his pace for success was much slower than most of his peers because he had to balance his life with a

Continuation "om the previous page

full- time job, a struggling immigrant family, and school.

Nevertheless, he graduated from California State University-Fullerton and was commissioned through the Army ROTC program as a second lieutenant in the Signal Corps.

"The United States adopted me and gave me the same equal opportunities that are available to every American," Dalat told the audience. "America is definitely a country with core values worth risking one's life to protect."

"I gladly stand and fight to ensure that future generations will have the same freedom and opportunities we enjoy today.

"I was born in Vietnam but made in the USA.” The observance concluded with entertainment that included Hawaiian and Samoan dance performances followed by an awards presentation to Dalat and his son Dan Dalat, a senior at Zama American High School.

Dalat said his son was named after U.S. Navy Capt. Dan Pedersen whom he referred to as "the skipper who had saved my life on the open sea."

Camp Zama’s Asian American Paci c Islander Heritage Month observance was hosted by Public Health Activity-Japan May 18, 2017 at Camp Zama Community Club. is year’s theme was “Unite Our Voices by Speaking Together” with keynote speaker Lt. Col. Lan Dalat, assigned to U.S. Army Japan. (U.S. Army photo by Honey Nixon)

Family Legacy

Thai Lang in 1965 Cam Quy at 22 yrs old

Grand opening of the Art Gallery Cam Quy and Thai Lang’s 1st child

Great Grandma takes the one year old Lu to Dalat market

Lulu is celebrating his first birthday with neighborhood kids near Bui Thi Xuan

Thai Lang gives his first son a tricycle in Da Lat

Thai Lang and family hangs out with a famous actor at Da Lat hill

Curious Lu plays with a Zippo lighter

Congratulations

Hono Gra ate

Zama American High School