cám ơn bố mẹ, và cả gia đình.

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The duration of two months separate me from the land of my ancestors, Việt Nam. I recently got accepted into CIEE, which is a well-known independent study abroad organization. In July, for my third time on an airplane, the journey begins. In hindsight of this past year, five months have come and gone in a blink of an eye. Five months in Việt Nam may not seem as much, but time is all relative. The thought of Việt Nam excites me beyond belief, but coupled with this excitement, the impact of my family onto this entire situation, I recognize.

My family fled VN after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Both my parents, from VN, arrived on Wake Island, not married at the time. It was on Wake Island, or rather on the boat to Wake Island, where they met. After several months, my father received a scholarship to attend a private catholic college in the greater Chicago-land area. My mother and her entire family, after several months, arrived in Arkansas, USA at one of the refugee camps. Several months later, they were sponsored by a family in Milwaukee, WI. Adjusting to life in their new environments, my parents and family reached out to other Vietnamese people within the Midwest region, networked, and made friends. My father, who has the gambling blood within him, was invited to play Mahjong at one of his good friend's house, Bác Bạn as I know him by. Bác Bạn and his wife ran a phỏ business from their home. According to my mother, most Vietnamese people, without a license, ran food businesses from their homes. Bác Bạn's home, being it a restaurant and a social gambling hall, attracted quite a few Vietnamese people around the area. My mother, invited by one of her friends to devour a big bowl of phỏ, agreed to go. There, my father and my mother met again. This was around the late 70's. My parents got married, had their first born in 1984 (my older sister), and then me in 1985, 10 years after the fall of Saigon. Basically, that is how I came into existence.

A lot of Vietnamese families-those of the first wave-within the U.S., through observation, tend to have this wall built in between them and Vietnam. Generalizing, of course, hold negative consequences, but this feeling is widespread. Many of the first-wave, and perhaps any other waves that have come latter, possess hostile feelings towards VN. Why? The list exceeds the numbers I can count up to. But one overarching cause is the loss to communism. Families died, stripping away of one's land, and a vast refuge out pose as central reasons why this wall exists. As one of my friends thought, "our community often becomes a bit engulfed in the past and forgets to recognize the accomplishments of the present" (j. vó). In identifying this perception held, I am quite thankful that my immediate family strongly influenced onto me Vietnamese language, culture, and traditions, and have portrayed post-1975 Việt Nam as a land of beauty rather than one ravaged, looking towards her future.

My father, very nostalgic of Việt Nam, has plans to return to his home land after thirty years to teach English to locals. My mother, employed at Head Start, works with Vietnamese refugees and immigrants within the community. She hopes one day she can do such work on a grander scale in her native land. It is because of these non-hostile feelings towards Việt Nam, I have been able to forge my positive affections towards the country and its future. Thus, if not for the compassion and love for their land, my love for Vịêt Nam is eradicated. In midst of the anticipation and excitement, I just want to look at the reason for why I have been able to construct such a feeling towards VN, and ultimately the decision to study abroad there. Cám ơn Bố Mẹ đá ảnh hưởng con với điều tốt và qúy.

 

 

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