The lost Vietnamese Generation in America

I was once a little girl, who only spoke Vietnamese. Fortunately or unfortunately, I moved to the United States. My family and I arrived in the United States of America in February of 1991. Times flew by so fast that now I was 22 years old. At home, I learned Vietnamese culture, but then I learned American culture at school. Today, I feel that I am a lost Vietnamese American woman in America. I have been living in two cultures that have different historical culture, social culture, economic culture and political culture.

Since I went to grade schools in America, I was influence by the social culture in America. I had to learn English, while had not fully understand Vietnamese language. I struggled to read, write and speak in both languages. One reason for this deficiency was because of my habit of sitting by myself in the cafeteria and in classroom. I did not fit into Vietnamese group, but at least I hung out with some Vietnamese people. Luckily, I knew a Vietnamese girl from church and two Vietnamese girls from middle school who I called friends. However, I did not have any American friends. Maybe it was because I usually did not understand and lacked interest in Americans’ conversations. For instance, typical Americans had conversations about movies, actors, or actresses. I did not watch movies to engage in the conversation. I have never being closed to Americans people. However, I hung out with some Americans when I came to Berea College. I also was introduced to native Vietnamese and Russian students. I understand more about their social cultures that I began to be more open minded than when I was in high school. One common social culture between Vietnamese and Russians was that they enjoyed drinking and eating.

I was born in Vietnam and lived there for about nine years. When I came to America, I saw the economic and political cultures different from Vietnam immediately. Vietnam is a communist country, but the United States of America is a capitalist country. I learned that Vietnamese people have very little saying in Vietnam. The government makes almost all decisions. Communist is a good in theory, but not good practice because people corrupt the government and abuse their power. People used their political power for personal gain, while others suffered. On the other hands, the United States of America gives people the freedom of speech and many others freedom. Importantly, the freedom of free trade is encouraged in America. However, their freedom has its limitation.

In a communist country, people would think that communist country has free public system. It is the other way around. Students have to pay to go to school. Students love to learn and to advance themselves. It is a privilege to attend school. I still remember how I want to learn so much in school, and I never want to miss class in Vietnam. The longer that I live in America, American culture influences my ways of things and the way I act. Ironically, students are forced to go to a public school in America. It is a country that gives people so much freedom, but students have no saying of their schooling until they reach a certain age. Since I was schooling in the United States, I too was affected by the law.

My school experiences in both Vietnam and United States affected my ways of thinking. Social and historical cultures had taught me to respect elderly and be obedience to them. It also meant that whatever adults say youngsters have very little saying. I tried to do that, but it was very difficult to keep my mouth shut since I learned to speak up my mind in school. I lived simultaneously between two dichotomous cultures.

My experiences in two cultures will affect the way I teach my students. I will teach them independent and respect. Students will be able to raise their opinion in my classroom, but at the same time being respectful to me and their peers. I will encourage them to think for themselves and for others – being good citizens. They will also be introduced to my culture, by sometimes exploring Vietnamese culture. By being in America, I have learned to be very tolerant to other people. This will help me when I become a teacher, one that can tolerate students and guide them to the path that is good for them.

I am a lost sheep in America that is why I declare that I am a lost Vietnamese generation in America. I know how it feels to be alone and isolated from others. In my classroom, I will try to get students to know one another by having them do group work. I also allow students to work together on team when they are doing exercises and homework. I also welcome opinions from my students about almost everything that is appropriate. I am here to guide students. When I aware of historical, social, political, and economic cultures in both Vietnamese and American, I learn more about myself as a person. Only then, I can grow and can affect the lives of others.