BEAUMONT is where the first oil well in Texas—Spindletop—was discovered. In the early 70s this city was booming. Oil refineries sprouted all over its neighboring cities of Port Arthur and Orange, which together was called the Golden Triangle. Because of the oil business, some 50 percent of the workers did blue collar jobs.

      Beaumont was the commercial center of the Golden Triangle. It had the bigger shopping centers, banks and restaurants that specialized in all kinds of food.

      My friend My Lin and his Italian partner owned Blue Hawaii Restaurant. They renovated the restaurant to give it a Hawaiian-Polynesian motif. Other than Chinese dishes, we served all kinds of food, including Western steak and hamburger.

      Business was good. Every evening customers line up to get in.

      Many local residents had never tried Asian food before. When they came in, they did not know what to order. The more common items were egg roll, fried rice and wonton soup. We encouraged them to try something different, such as Peking duck and pepper steak with sweet-and-sour soup.

      One of the restaurant’s regular customers was Mr. Greenbird, a rich Texas businessman. He and his family ate at the restaurant every weekend. He loved all kinds of Chinese food. He always asked me to serve on his table and asked me to order for him.

He always paid in cash, which he carried in his pocket in 100-dollar bills. He didn’t use a credit card. One day I asked him. He answered: “Boy, rich people always use cash.” I found out later that he owned a local department store, and he was one of the richest men in Texas.

      Most of the restaurant’s employees came from Taiwan. Many of them were much older than me. They used to work in government or at bank in Taiwan. Like myself, they came to the United States in search of better opportunities.

      Many of the employees at the restaurant studied at the Lamar University. They came to work only on weekends. My friend’s restaurant provided a unique opportunity for all of us to earn some money.

      After six months, I decided to seek admission to Lamar. Fortunately, I was admitted to the university without much difficulty to earn my master’s degree in political science. While studying, I still worked at the restaurant during weekends.

At Lamar, I met Dr. Ma, a Chinese professor. He taught sociology. He came from Taiwan. He got his PhD from the University of Georgia.

Dr. Ma was very nice to all of his countrymen. He and his wife invited us to their home, where he not only served superb Chinese food but also gave us a lot of advice.

      (Dr. Ma still teaches at Lamar until today. Every year he brings his students to my office in Bellaire for a field trip. We always give him and his students the warmest welcome. Some six months ago, I hosted a party in my house to welcome Dr. Simmon, Lamar University’s current president. Dr. Ma arranged the event. In my welcome remarks, I told my guests that “Lamar University changed my entire life.”)

      Finding Lamar to be good school, I made arrangements for my girlfriend Catherine to join me at the university as a student. She was easily admitted to study for her master’s degree in special education. At that time, studying at Lamar was a wise move. Texas was one of the few states that offered free tuition. Texas also had one of the lowest costs of living.

      While studying at Lamar, I decided it was time for me to have a family of my own. I proposed marriage to Catherine. She accepted.

      In the summer of 1974, we got married at the university’s chapel. Without our parents, we invited some sixty guests, most of whom were my classmates and co-workers. Catherine and I couldn’t afford something grand, so we feasted on Chinese food and soda after the wedding ceremony. Even the gold ring I bought for her was very simple, something a working student like me could afford.

      We could not even afford a honeymoon vacation. We had to go back to school and I had to work during weekends.

After getting married, we lived at the student dormitory on campus. It was studio-type room that measured 400 square feet. We slept, studied, cooked and ate in this small room.

      Even though the situation was difficult, we had high hopes of finishing our masters’ degrees early. After all, going back to school was our main purpose in coming to America.

                Catherine and I spent most of our time in the school library doing our term and desertation paper. We hardly had time for leisure, as newly weds should. It was a difficult time, but we could feel a better future ahead of us.

(To be continued)