Hương, a single mother with two young sons, hears a hurricane alarm in her new home of New Orleans. The sound triggers a flashback to her experiences of the Vietnam War; she panics. Bà Giang, an elderly neighbor and also a Vietnamese immigrant to New Orleans, calms her, explaining that the noise is just a test alarm; there’s no emergency. Hương finds her eldest son and returns home.

A Catholic priest delivers Hương and her two sons, newly arrived in New Orleans as refugees, to a local Vietnamese family—the Minhs—where they’ll stay until they can survive on their own. The priest and the Minhs believe that Hương will get along with the Minhs because of their ethnicity; however, Hương feels alienated and uncomfortable with the Minhs, whom she finds crass and whose lifestyle seems disruptive (given that Mr. Minh is a habitual drinker).

Although Hương knows little English, she tries (unsuccessfully) to find a job. She panics while trying to communicate with restaurant staff and experiences culture shock in the middle of the street, endangering herself and her children. The incident horrifies her; she feels guilty for hours afterward.

Hương leaves the Minhs for a motel.