“I’m afraid that my child won’t understand the culture (s)he came from.” This is one of the main concerns I’ve heard from parents since I started working with OneVietnam Network. We’re reaching the era of 2nd generation Vietnamese Americans—those who were born here and have never stepped foot in their homeland. I’ve always believed that the best way to experience culture is … [Read more...] about Giving Experience: Should the Vietnamese Diaspora Community take a page from Birthright Israel?
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The Bagua Mirror
I was about twenty years old before I finally noticed a strange old mirror hanging above the doorway of my parents’ home. It was cheap looking. It was just a piece of wood cut into an octagon with a mirror in the middle covered with cheap paint. My parents have such a beautiful home. Only a few years before they had not only remodeled but rebuilt the house from the bottom up, … [Read more...] about The Bagua Mirror
My Native Tongue
Vietnamese is my second language. I was raised as an American with my grandfather’s culture sparsely scattered upon my childhood. I was fed Vietnamese food, mainly by my paternal grandmother, ba noi, who had a natural talent for cooking but mostly everything else was either completely American or a mixture of Vietnamese and American and so the term “Vietnamese-American” really … [Read more...] about My Native Tongue
A Wedding of All Traditions
Young Vietnamese-Americans today have an expectation from their parents and grandparents to embrace their Vietnamese culture and pass it on to their own children. There are many traditions which may never die out such as passing out red envelopes for good luck during Tet every year. On the April 29, 2010 OneVietnam published the article “What’s the Big Deal with Vietnamese … [Read more...] about A Wedding of All Traditions
The Tale of Kieu: Old Story of Sexual Exploitations Parallels Modern Crisis
A few years ago, my brother married someone by the name of Vuong Kieu. My mom had mentioned that she had the same name as a character in a famous piece of Vietnamese literature. Intrigued, I hopped onto Google to find out who this other Vuong Kieu was. “The Tale of Kieu,” written by Nguyen Du, is a story about a beautiful and educated young woman, Vuong Thuy Kieu, whose family … [Read more...] about The Tale of Kieu: Old Story of Sexual Exploitations Parallels Modern Crisis