I grew up in the California United States. I was born in Thailand in a refugee camp. My parents escaped from Laos to Thailand during the war in 1975. We lived in the Thai refugee camp for 4 years and got sponsored by a catholic church, which is supported by America. So I left the camp for the US when I was 3 years old. By the time I graduated fifth-grade school, my parents had a plan to visit Laos in 1990 for a long  holiday .Now I have been living in Laos for more than 30  years, well Laos is like my hometown now.