January 14, 2005

‘The Dancing Lion,’ by Stephen D. Barry

Award-winning local teacher publishes novel about Vietnamese community

By Bea Baechle
Editor

Evergreen resident Stephen Barry describes the shift in his life 15 years ago as “a mid-life crisis that went the right way instead of the wrong way.”

Evergreen resident Stephen Barry, retired teacher and former faculty advisor for the Vietnamese Student Association at Independence High School, discusses the upcoming New Year Tet Show’s flow of acts with students Thien Pham and Hanh Le.

The retired teacher considers the strong personal change he went through as a spiritual awakening that gradually unfolded throughout the many years he worked with Vietnamese immigrants as teacher and advisor of their cultural club.

So after more than three decades of teaching in east San Jose high schools, Barry has chronicled many of his personal experiences in a heartwarming novel about a teacher working with first- and second-generation Vietnamese immigrants.

Based on 15 years as faculty advisor to the Vietnamese Student Associations at W. C. Overfelt and Independence high schools, “The Dancing Lion” describes a year in the life of an American high school teacher whose life is changed by his work with the Vietnamese.

The book captures the teacher’s magical journey through the breathtaking landscape of the Vietnamese culture. Candle dancers, Stone Woman, dancing lions and a host of wonderful young people embrace him and expand his limited understanding of the Vietnamese immigrants arriving in the schools.

Barry uses a particularity effective technique to engage the reader by starting each chapter out with powerful journal entries from his students as they learn the American culture and language.

Writing the book
Barry started writing “The Dancing Lion” when he left Independence High School to work at San Jose State. His new job offered time to reflect about his original intention to write a portrait of Vietnamese immigrants as seen through the eyes of an American teacher.

“I thought it important that everyday Americans grow to understand the character of this new group of people burgeoning in our community,” says Barry. “I had tried many times to explain my experiences with them to friends and family, but had always come away feeling frustrated.”

Barry felt that he might do a better job by writing about those experiences, and a few weeks into the project, he began to believe that others would find it interesting, too. He tried writing in a nonfiction, memoir format, but kept running up against a wall.

“Ironically, I couldn’t be honest writing nonfiction. I could only tell the truth when I had the freedom to explore my feelings,” explains Barry. “I had so much to learn about the emotional impact of my experiences with the Vietnamese, and I could only do that by creating a mosaic. A linear approach left out all the important things. So, I decided to write a story about a year in the life of an American teacher whose work with the Vietnamese creates an unexpected spiritual awakening.”

As he wrote, Barry came to deeply understand how important the experiences with his Vietnamese students had been.

Emotional experience
“I had known all along I was in the middle of one of those special times, but was so busy that I couldn’t fully reflect on what I was seeing and feeling,” continues Barry. “Writing the story brought focus. Focus brought understanding.

Barry stands mesmerized by a student’s beat of the drum for the Lion Dance.

Writing became one of the most emotional experiences in my life. I shed many, many tears.”

Out of this mix of reflection and feeling, a new theme emerged, something he had always understood, but had not fully appreciated.

“My years with the Vietnamese had changed me, awakened me,” says Barry. “The kids were my teachers. Their passion, their life experiences, their cultural perspective and their love had educated me in ways that no university program could ever hope to achieve. Simply said, they made me a better person.”

When he embraced this theme, the whole story fell into place. He tossed out about a third of what he’d written, and in just a couple of weeks, he finished writing.

“Reflecting now on what I’ve done, I can say I’ve accomplished what I set out to do,” notes Barry. “I created a portrait of the Vietnamese that expresses my love and admiration for them. But more importantly, I’ve gained understanding of the essential character of my experiences with them and was able to weave that understanding into the story.

Regardless of the success of the book in the marketplace, I will always feel good about what I’ve done.”

Vietnamese reaction to book
Tien Pham, now a counselor at Andrew Hill who taught at Independence with Barry, recalls Barry’s dedication as a teacher and faculty advisor to the Vietnamese Club. “He put in so many hours of his own time…I haven’t seen any advisors put in this much time.”

“When I read his book, I cried several times,” add Pham, who feels that Barry captured the true essence of the Vietnamese culture. “I really appreciate Americans like him who can write so deeply and emotionally about our culture.”

Pham stressed that Barry was not only a good teacher, but also a wonderful human being, and that the book captures universal themes of humanity that anyone would appreciate—not just Vietnamese readers.

Hanh Le, senator for the Vietnamese Club, worked with Barry since her freshman year when she first joined the club.

“I was very surprised to see a white guy at first, but I came to learn that even though he isn’t Vietnamese, he has a great appreciation of the Vietnamese culture and experience with Vietnamese immigrants—even more than me.”

Senior Thien Pham, president of the 60-member Vietnamese Student Association at Independence, said, “Mr. Barry is a very good teacher, especially to the Vietnamese. We really appreciate what he’s doing and the emotion he shows towards Vietnamese students.”

“The Dancing Lion” is an inspiring story of an American teacher working with students from a deeply traditional culture and a touching portrait of people reaching out to each other across a cultural divide. Published by iUniverse, “The Dancing Lion” can be purchased at www.dancinglion.org. For more information, call author Stephen Barry at (408) 270-1897 or e-mail him at: sdbarry@pacbell.net.

About Steve Barry
Steve Barry was named “Bilingual Teacher of the Year” for Santa Clara County in 1994. In 2004, he was selected as “Teacher of the Year” for both Independence High School and the East Side Union High School District. Barry has worked with the Vietnamese since they began to arrive in the Santa Clara Valley in 1975. He is now retired from high school teaching and works in teacher education at San Jose State University.

Tet Show: Independence High School

Friday, Jan. 28 from 7 - 8:30 p.m.
School gates close at 7 p.m. (Arrive early!)
Tickets are $6, available at the campus bank,
7 a.m. to 4 p.m., by Jan. 24.
Tickets will not be sold at the door.

The 15 acts of the Independence High School students’ 2005 New Year Tet Show are divided into the past, present and future.

During the celebration, Stephen Barry’s past students will honor their former teacher and faculty advisor for the Vietnamese Student Association. Barry, who served as a second father to many of the Vietnamese immigrants who came to this country without their fathers, will be on hand to sign copies of his book, “The Dancing Lion.”

Tet marks the end of the lunar calendar and the beginning of spring. It falls sometime between the last 10 days of January and the middle part of February. For a nation of farmers attached to the land for millennia, Tet has always been a festival marking the communion of man with nature, where both the field and the tiller enjoy some rest after 12 months of labor.

Today, Vietnamese families celebrate Tet with food, flowers and firecrackers to commemorate the New Year. Tet is also the time to forgive, cancel debts and release the past year’s problems. Hundreds of people gather in prayer at Buddhist pagodas at this time.