As one can imagine, emigrating to the United States from war-torn Vietnam is a huge upheaval for Ha and her family. It also gives them a massive culture-shock, as they quickly realize just how different their new home in Alabama is from the city of Saigon they've been forced to leave behind.

The most obvious point of difference between Alabama and Saigon is the lack of Vietnamese people in the southern state. In the neighborhood where Ha and her family settle down, there are no other Vietnamese folk around, and this makes them stick out like a sore thumb. The presence of these newcomers generates a degree of hostility in the neighborhood, so much so that the house where Ha and her family are staying is vandalized.

It's not just the people who are different in Alabama; their religion is too. There are no Buddhists here, only Southern Evangelicals. In order to fit in with their neighborhood, Ha and her family start attending their local church, where they are baptized into the Christian faith.

The food that's available in Alabama is also completely different to what Ha and her folks are used to back home. By comparison with what they used to eat in Vietnam, the food in Alabama is pretty dull, to say the least.