For those of us living across the world from relatives, we have the luxury of visiting their country every now and then. Therefore, our worldviews are not limited to a particular hemisphere. The same privilege rarely applies to them, since they usually confine themselves to the areas within their country or nearby countries. However, merely experiencing a certain way of life isn't enough until appreciating different perspectives. My Vietnamese cousin Thai Minh experiences the latter places of residence as a result of his search for various opportunities. Although this doesn't allow him to grasp an understanding of Western ideals, Minh views his current situation as a progress toward attaining that ability one day. Our conversation begins on …show more content…
"The government back then, they confiscated all the property from citizens, from people, and many people are forced to go to the undeveloped area which has never been explored before to rebuild." These acts of oppression happened without warning. One moment, a family is living in peace, and the next moment, the government suddenly seizes their land away from them. Families of all classes during this time period lived in continual fear of the government. But in fact, these losses of property encouraged more people to rebuild for the betterment of their country. Minh's father is currently joining in the collective effort to regenerate the land through farming. The combination of various efforts to rebuild their infrastructure along with the ending of war lead to the economy starting to grow again and people leading stable lives. Minh expresses clear disapproval for the communist government in Vietnam. The country only has a single party, which means that an ideology will continue to stay, regardless of whether the people like it or not. This lack of freedom of choices is off-putting to Minh. "We feel very suppressed and we cannot even voice our suppression against the party," he says. Minh would much rather have multiple parties so the citizens could have more choices to vote from and therefore have representation. He welcomes a change to a more democratically based system of voting so everyone is included in the …show more content…
Minh has stated all he has tried, and it is beginning to seem clear why he made these decisions. Just to be sure, I ask him, "Is there anything else you want to share?" Minh ends up giving some advice on life. "Don't be aimless in your life. You must set up a goal in your life and pursue it. So work hard and live happy no matter what. Okay?" Minh has assumed the roles of both a tourist and tour guide. He travels to the places that he views as rich in opportunities: the attractions. My cousin is in control of his own path, and will strive to understand the way of life of others in those various locations. In embarking on his endeavors, Minh has truly learned to appreciate other cultures, thus expanding the scope of his worldview. There remains one final destination for him to complete his
The movie discusses the long term impacts of tourism on cultures, economies, and on the environment. It uses dramatic examples from several beach parties such as Thailand’s Koh Pha Ngan Island. With large amounts of litter lining the shore, the film suggests that the financial benefits of tourism will not work without a proper development plan. The story starts and ends in Bolivia focusing on the impact of the autobiographical book “Lost in the Jungle”. In 1981, Ghinsberg gets lost in the Bolivian jungles. He miraculously survives despite near death experiences. His tale of survival has lured many other adventure travelers to Bolivia, creating pressure to the country’s tourism industry. From the jungles of Bolivia, to the deserts of Timbuktu, Mali, we see breathtaking views of how tourism has affected society. The film follows the well-worn gringo trail travel route in Latin America and beyond, revealing a complex web of relationships between that cultures which collide yet require one another. Finally, the movie reveals certain sustainable alternatives to tourism.
Continuing with the views of Nguyen and his parents, Nguyen’s split identity of being Vietnamese and American is fueled by the way he interacts with his family. The aforementioned disagreement between Nguyen and his parents on fighting the
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
To what extent does one’s culture inform the way one views others and the world?
Daily, hundreds of thousands of people are traveling, whether it’s by plane, car, bus, boat, or foot, people are traveling to new locations and being immersed in different cultures. Many fail to realize how ignorant of a tourist they are. Kincaid explains that tourists are morally “ugly” and use other, less fortunate people, for their own amusement. She tries to enlighten those who are privileged to be more considerate when they are visiting new places. Published author Jamaica Kincaid wrote “The Ugly Tourist,” originally written in her book, A Small Place, where she tries to convince readers that tourists are, “a piece of rubbish” (207). Kincaid’s attempt to convey to the audience that tourists are ignorant and morally “ugly” is partially successful, due to her satisfactory emotional appeal, yet inability to produce a less angry tone, along with minimal logical appeal.
There are the tourists—those who seek temporary relaxation, or famous sights. There are the travelers—those who wander, without aim, for the love of moving. There are the explorers—those seeking adventure, the thrill of unearthing things rarely seen.
Communism as a political philosophy has had both its critics and nationalist proponents throughout recent history. As a tool for nationalistic movements in recent, one of the most compelling examples is how communism was introduced and used by Ho Chi Minh to help Vietnam become a unified and independent nation in the 1970s. Ho Chi Minh, a Marxist Leninist, charismatic and populist leader, adopted communism through his experiences, struggles, and challenges. Communism came to play an important role in bringing Vietnam independence and freedom from the French and subsequent colonialist rulers. Ho Chi Minh used communist to help the Vietnamese develop feelings of patriotism and nationalism toward the country. Ho Chi Minh created several
War is woven into the familial aspects of this novel. It not only separated families, but also separated Vietnam itself, dividing the people and therefore compromising the idea of unity and cultural identity. The Vietnam War left a residue of resentment
As a retired Vietnamese-American, Anthony Nguyen is currently residing in Moreno Valley, California with his sixty-three year old wife and their thirty-seven year old daughter. As a young boy, my uncle dreamed of freedom and was convinced that perseverance would help him thrive. I found my sixty-four year old uncle very appealing. His meticulous plannings and old age drew my attention. Therefore, when I was assigned this paper, I thought that there was no one more interesting and considerate to help me, other than my uncle.
Throughout history, the progressions of mankind has given way to a perpetually globalizing world. Globalization, the “process of interaction and integration among peoples of different nations, has strengthened human ties while our race has formed societies in every corner of the globe. As our world becomes more interconnected, the resulting blend of cultures has led numerous societal features to be shared between peoples, blurring cultural division lines. Globalization’s tying binds may frustrate many modern travelers seeking unique and special travel experiences due to the standardization of destinations resulting from increasingly cozy international social relations, but continued and extensive human travel has demonstrated that the essential human urge to move is a product of our search for fulfillment in what is unfamiliar and will not be suppressed by global interconnection.
The most provoking plot in this story is that when Toan’s father Minh decides not to wait for fate to change their life takes his family to the ambassador of Australia himself.Minh told the ambassador how only will power can help gain freedom. And he told the ambassador “we make our own fortune” which help the family get the opportunity to come to Australia. And this is because Minh realizes “there are worse things than dying” and surviving on a refugee camp without total freedom is worse than dying. Therefore, Minh decides to chase for freedom on his
The history of Vietnam is one of great struggle and conflict. For centuries the vietnamese people have had no choice but to change their society by force in order to gain their own freedom and independence. Pivitol events in Vietnamese history such as the Battle of Bach Dang in 939 and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 are examples of how the conflict theory brought change to Vietnamese society and culture.
Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh was a Communist, who had announced Vietnam independent. He was a Marxist and believed in “national Communism ". Throughout the war with the French, Ho Chi Minh took refuge in northern Vietnam and settled there with his followers. He founded the Indochina Communist Party and the Viet Minh. North Vietnam was a deprived area and was cut off from the agricultural profit of South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was forced to ask assistance from main Communist allies, the Soviet Union and China. Both aided North Vietnam before and during the war. (Dong Si Nguyen, Duong xuyen Truong son: hoi uc. Hanoi: Nha Xuat Ban Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1999). Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. This had been a tremendously significant event in world history perhaps the most important event since the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. It marked the first occasion in human history in which a radical national movement under Communist leadership had succeeded in overthrowing the influence of a colonial state and establishing and maintaining its own new, independent form of social and political system. However, Ho’s type of communism was markedly different than that of Marxist ideology that had been the metaphorical icon of the October Revolution. alike to Jose Antonio’s fascist movement, the hierarchical communist party (later renamed the Vietminh) conformed intimately to the ideas of the person at its head, but unlike Antonio’s movement, did not
The tourist’s experience is “dominated by the spectacle of the Other” which results in changes in behaviour that most likely would not fit with social norms in their home countries. Palmer and Lester use the example of photography in the film, noting that tourists become like stalkers when attempting to capture evidence of the primitive. Photography is a focus in the film, as it serves as an “embodied performative act.” The tourists are not interested in creating meaningful relationships with locals. The social interactions seem ingenuous and largely commercial. A woman stages a photo with local children, exclaiming “aren’t they cute?” She doesn’t create any meaningful connection with them, however the photo was composed in a way that will appear that she has to family and friends back home. In most aspects of cultural tourism, there is an aspect of staged performance to fit the needs of the audience. There is a dependence on the local people to perform a role eg. Selling objects, doing dances in native costume or performing a role from another era of history. In Cannibal Tours, the objects being sold are not authentic however tourists still purchase them, adding to the commodification of the interactions between tourist and local. Locals are confused why tourists come to buy inauthentic items instead of engaging with local history and culture in meaningful ways.