Being Chinese Vietnamese American

As a proud second generation Vietnamese American, I proudly associate myself with my Catholic Vietnamese community. Like all members in my group, we are indoctrinated with the typical immigrant values of perseverance, freedom, and respect for others and our cultural identity. The church that binds us together, Our Lady of Lavang, is the center where most of the Catholic Vietnamese Community gathers all over West Michigan. Since the 1st grade, I went through the Church's school program every Sunday to learn about Christian moral values, Vietnamese traditions, and language. These lessons has heavily influenced my outlook on life, enabling me to use faith to build confidence with myself, maintain integrity, and to love and respect every individual.

Being a Hmong-American in the United States was hard. Growing up in a community that was full of Americans, and being in a private school in my early years, (consisting mostly of Americans and little diversity) was difficult. In that kind of environment, I never saw each person differently. The characteristics that I saw were our skin color, and another distinction that I saw was our religious and cultural backgrounds. I started to lose touch of my own culture and identity as a Hmong-American girl. My family told me that in the stages of my toddler years, I used to be good at speaking my native tongue until I started school.

Tan’s grandfather encouraged her mother to understand and help others, and urged her to consider the possibility of escape from Vietnam. Aged sixteen, Mai married a wealthy pharmacist eighteen years her senior. By 1981 she was preparing to escape Vietnam by boat. In early morning darkness, she left with her daughters Tan and Min, her mother, sister and brother, and 161 fellow passengers on a boat disguised as a fishing vessel. At the time, Tan Le was aged 4, her sister aged 3 and her mother, Mai Ho aged 18.

Although one’s racial and ethnic identities are predetermined due to genetics, attachment to a particular culture is not a birthright; one has to accept and understand the community in order to fully identify with it. When Robert Chang writes “one is not born Asian American, one becomes one”, he means just that. In Chang’s opinion, having Asian blood and living on American soil is not sufficient to call oneself Asian American, but the connection to the community allows one claim to the title.

The streets of Ho Chi Minh City are beautiful around the summer time, but my favorite city was Huế, the city of cheap eats. My siblings and I have never been to Vietnam before, so it was an experience for all of us. As we were sitting down in a restaurant, looking at the menu, an old lady came up to us to take our order. My mother used to order for my brothers, so she ordered for them. When the lady looked at me, waiting for me to give her my order, all I could do was point at the picture on the menu and give her a smile. The look on her face was clear displeased. “She was born in America. She doesn’t know Vietnamese,” my father quickly told her, apologizing for my lack of knowledge. I felt embarrassed, lowering my head whenever she came near us. It was not my fault that I did not know my native language, but it was not my fault entirely for being able to learn it all these

Family is supposed to listen to you when you're in need. Family is supposed to have your back. Family is supposed to be loyal. Family is supposed to be dependable. Family is supposed to accept you at your worst and best moments. Family is supposed to make you laugh and smile. Family is the number one unconditional love that everyone has. Whether it be the unconditional love from immediate family members or close friends, everyone has that one person they go to in times of need. It’s funny how those closest to you can hurt you the most.

For this paper I will examine Vietnamese culture according to the five essential questions all cultures must answer (according to Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck). I will then take those answers and compare then to out culture here in America. I realize that some might argue that using North American culture as a starting point is an attempt to simplify this writing, but I believe that any initial examination of something new is most effectively done in comparison to what one already knows.

To be young and Asian in America is a special brand of torture. There is an unspoken dictum of silence that grips Asian youth, a denial of our place in popular culture. Asian youth walk in America not quite sure where we fit in-black children have a particular brotherhood, Hispanic children have a particular brotherhood, white children own everything else. We cannot lay claim to jazz or salsa or swing; we cannot say our ancestors fought for equality against an oppressive government or roamed the great hallways of power across the globe. We do not have a music, a common hero, a lexicon of slang. Asian youth experience personal diasporas every day.

The Chinese Experience records the history of the Chinese in the United States. The three-part documentary shows how the first arrivals from China, their descendants, and recent immigrants have “become American.” It is a story about identity and belonging that is relative to all Americans. The documentary is divided into three programs, each with a focus on a particular time in history. Program 1 describes the first arrivals from China, beginning in the early 1800’s and ending in 1882, the year Congress passed the first Chinese exclusion act. Program 2, which details the years of exclusion and the way they shaped and distorted Chinese American

Amy’s parents are the authoritative figures keeping their Chinese traditions and cultures alive. Rather than appeal to the American tradition even though they invited the Minister’s family, they decided to stay true to who they are, by making a menu according to their traditions. “What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?” (Tan, 110). Amy describes how her family will stick to their normal chinese menu rather than cook American Christmas eve food.

Ha’s mother is grieving the disappearance of her husband and the fall of Vietnam to Communism. The fallout of the Vietnam War causes separation for Ha and her family. Once in America, Ha finds that many in the small township move to ignore her culture and her heritage. Vietnamese culture and

During yumcha, there is a wide range of food from steamed buns to spare ribs to fried vegetable dumplings to chicken feet. I generally don’t eat chicken feet or animal offals because I don’t like their texture or taste, but native-Chinese people often misinterpret my pickiness for a sign of my American upbringing. They assume that I don’t eat chicken feet or animal offals because I am an American who disapproves of eating organs or bones, not because I am an individual who dislikes the slimy texture of liver. Thus when I eat with native Chinese people, they will use my food choice to distinguish me as from a native Chinese, and instead label me as a jook-sing, or a Chinese person raised in a Western

First, Chinese Americans preserve their ethnic identities through holidays. One of the biggest holidays is the Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is different from the regular New Years in that it relies on the moon cycles instead of the western calendar, so it falls on different days each year. There is a lot of preparation that goes into the Chinese New Year. People start cleaning their houses and decorating them with spring couplets on the twentieth day of the twelfth moon. Spring couplets are short poems written on red scrolls of paper in black. A popular New Years tradition in the United States is the exchanging of red envelopes containing money, which are called hong-bao. Most families spend this holiday celebrating together because this holiday, above others, emphasizes family and family ties.

The author is a travel expert in Southeast Asia. Her book “Vietnam” is about the useful experiences for every tourists when they plan to visit Vietnam. Janet focus on Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Nha Trang, and few central cities. The book has 2 episodes and included 30 chapters. It gives readers a background knowledge of culture, history, and local lifestyles. Each chapters takes readers on an introductory tour with stops at museums, historic sites, and local attractions. It provides the useful information for places to stay, eat, and get around. Detailed maps features and tourism contacts are also provided. This book is an adventure guide to Vietnam.

You personally have your favorite holiday here, but for the Chinese the Lunar New Year is hands down the most important festal to everyone.