ENTERTAINMENT
CROSS CULTURAL
L
SUCCESS STORY
Amerasian model Mary
Xinh has used her success
in the fashion world as a
stepping-stone to college,
where she is active in Hillel.
E-
L]
E°
Mary Xinh: The transition
was a bit traumatic.
STEVE K. WALZ
Special to The Jewish News
icture the following —
a fledgling screen-
writer strolls into the
office of a major movie studio
executive and pitches the
following scenario: North
Vietnamese forces are pour-
ing into Saigon. A beautiful
Amerasian child is aban-
doned by her G.I. father and
forcibly placed by her Viet-
namese mother on one of the
last flights out.
The girl is temporarily
adopted by a St. Louis family
until her mother is able to
escape from Vietnam. The
mother finally makes her
way out, tracks down her
daughter and takes her to
Santa Monica, Calif.
There, the mother meets a
Jewish man, who falls in
love with the entire family
and asks them to convert to
Judaism, so that he may
marry Mom. They convert
and the marriage takes
place.
The young girl grows into
a beautiful and intelligent
woman who not only
becomes one of the most
photographed models in the
United States, but enrolls in
a prestigious university so
that she may pursue her
Steve K. Walz writes from New
York.
goal, i.e., becoming U.S.
Ambassador to Vietnam.
Odds are, the movie exec-
utive would usher the
screenwriter out the door
and urge him to check into a
substance abuse center.
Problem is, the aforemen-
tioned storyline is not only
true, it continues to play
itself out, even as we speak.
At this very moment, 21-
year-old Mary Xinh (pro-
nounced Sin — which means
beautiful in Vietnamese)
"People used to
pass out when we
went to shut."
— Mary Xinh Nguyen
"Yaffa" Nguyen — that's her
entire name (English, Heb-
rew and Vietnamese) — is
enrolled at Boston Univer-
sity, studying pre-law and
political science.
A few weeks ago she
wrapped up her last model-
ing assignment for Revlon
Cosmetics in NAN York as
the focal point of the corn-
pany's "Unforgettable
Woman" campaign. Ms.
Xinh was chosen for the
advertising campaign last
year over hundreds of other
young ladies.
By modeling standards,
Ms. Xinh had no business
winning the contest, since
she is only 5 feet 4 inches
tall and weighs maybe 100
pounds soaking wet. But
while Ms. Xinh may look a
bit fragile, she makes up for
it by projecting warmth,
sincerity, intelligence . . .
not to mention an incredibly
exotic aura.
"It was actually my boy-
friend up at B.U. (yes, he's
Jewish) who had urged me to
write an essay for the Un-
forgettable Woman contest.
So I wrote that I was certain-
ly unforgettable because of
my experiences and the fact
that I had to overcome so
many burdens growing up as
an Amerasian.
"Winning the contest has
helped me pay for my edu-
cation and did much for
Amerasians. People still
look at the Vietnam War as
a bad thing.
"Well, the Amerasian
children are still the respon-
sibility of this country.
There are still so many of
them who are coming and
already 20 years old.
They've been ridiculed and
treated like outcasts in
Vietnam during these years.
"I have been fortunate in
that my mother married a
wonderful man who took us
in. But I still don't know who
my real father is."
Ms. Xinh has also had to
endure other hardships —
cross cultural ones.
"It is hard to find a Jewish
guy who really appreciates
Asian culture, but my boy-
friend is very different in
that respect," she said.
"However, people used to
pass out when we went to
shul. Which actually has
happened quite often since
we (the Nguyens) converted
from Catholicism some 15
years ago."
Since her conversion, she
continues to search for new
ways to explore Judaism and
Asian culture.
"I am very active in Hillel
at B.U. and hope to do the
same when and if I go to
UCLA Law School a few
Li
F
years from now," she added.
"You have to realize that I
actually went to a Roman
Catholic school in Vietnam,
so the transition was a bit
traumatic.
"However, I have discovered
how deeply I want to further
my Jewishness by reading,
going to shul — I was the first
Viet-namese-American to be
bat mitzvahed in my parents'
shul in Santa Monica. I took
Hebrew in high school and
mother lit candles every
Friday night at home and we
never went out on Friday
evenings except to shul. I
want to know more. I would
love to go to Israel.
"People don't realize that
the reason Asians and Jews
get along so well is because
both cultures believe in
tight-knit families and in-
still the learning ethic. More
than that though, both are
proud of their heritages."
Although Ms. Xinh has
succeeded admirably as a
model, she doesn't see
herself continuing.
"It has been fun and
lucrative but I want to be a
lawyer and spend more time
with my family in Los
Angeles."
Ms. Xinh also intends to
continue the search for her
natural father. And if
Hollywood beckons? She'll
leave that to some crazy
screenwriter.0
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
53
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