VIETNAM

I Like Vietnam

By Anonymous

I am from Viêt nam. Viêt nam has rock music. Viêt nam has jeans. Viêt nam has rock music song Alibaba. Viêt nam has music cha cha cha. Viêt nam has music dance. My favorite food is chao. My favorite food is rice balls. Viêt nam has a Harvest Festival. Viêt nam has festive songs. Viêt nam has a pilgrimage festival. Viêt nam has holidays.

My Country

By Thanh Dang

My name is Thanh. I am from Viet Nam. I like Lunar New Year. I visit my family. I like March 8, Beauty Women’s Day. I like watching movies. I like traveling.

Diversity Of Culture

By Tuyen Dang

In my opinion, although each nation has its own traditional culture, as part of the culture interchange, we also share the same customs. I can clearly see this since I moved to the United States two years ago from VietNam. My first impression is that the majority of people in both countries are very friendly and polite. They usually greet and shake hands when they meet each other. However, in Vietnamese culture, this greeting is solely for people that we know well or our acquaintances. American people rarely talk about age, marriage or income because it is supposedly impolite. However, this is very normal for Vietnamese people.

American people usually use forks, knives and plates for their meal but Vietnamese people use bowls and chopsticks as part of their eating etiquette. Some traditional foods such as Vietnamese pho” and roll” as well as the American hamburger and steak have become more and more popular and are vastly consumed in both countries. In

Vietnam, when you are invited to a restaurant, the person who invites you will be the one paying. In the U.S you have to pay for what you have ordered. Every year, people in both countries have family reunions. In VietNam it s Lunar new year and in U.S it s Thanksgiving. In Vietnamese traditional and conservative families, many generations live together under the same roof and they feel happy with that. In the U.S the children tend to live independently and they usually move out past age 18. Furthermore, elderly people usually live in a nursing home if they don t have their own house.

In conclusion, It is our responsibility to maintain our cultural identity while adapting to new customs and cultures where we are living. As we know, the U.S is a multicultural country so I m very happy to be able to share a little of my cultural knowledge and experiences with other people in this community.

My Little Story

By Nhuy Lam

I was born and grew up in Vietnam. That is a beautiful country with rice fields, natural landscapes and the streets filled with light at night. My country has a lot of different from the United States. When I moved here, I had many changes and opportunities in my life. For me, the biggest challenge is the different language, so I want to share some of my experiences here. Back then, I thought English is very difficult for me to understand and absorb, so I thought that I’ll never study English. However, when I found out I was going to move to America, I tried to study it. Then, I realized that learning English is possible for me. During the first time in the U.S, it was really hard for me to understand and talk with someone, so I started to fear conversation and dare not leave the house. After a few months, I decided to learn English, and now everything is getting better, I have more confidence to go to shopping, market or wherever. Therefore, I hope my small story can give you motivation to learn English. I used to be a person who hated English and thought I would never learn it, but now, I'm on the path of learning and developing my English skills, so I hope you can also learn it by your efforts.

VIET NAM NEW YEAR’S DAY

By Van Lam

My name is Van. I am from Viet Nam. In Viet Nam my hometown has the lunear New Year. There is music and fireworks in the sky to celebrate the new year and there are many people to watch but the weather is hot.

My First Days Feelings In The Usa

By Dung Chien Le

I'm Vietnamese. I’ve been living in Olympia now with my son’s family: his wife and his children. I came to the USA in May 2022. In the first days in the USA, everything was strange for me: houses, traffic, people...

This country has few people and many cars on the road. In my home country it has more and more people and vehicles on the street. In USA, I don't see booths on a lot of streets, so it has less junk and street food like in my home country. Many high speed cars are on the road but all of them run orderly and safely, I think one of the reason because of the strict traffic laws in USA. In my home country, many motorcycles were used on narrow roads, so the traffic jam is a tricky problem. People in the USA are friendly and polite. When coming to public place like supermarket or others, I always hear "Hi" "Excuse me" or "Thank you" around me. How good!

These are the first things I feel myself, I think when living a long time in the days after in the USA, I'll perceive more different things. I like to live in the USA, but I always miss and relive my memories in Viet Nam, where I was born and grew up.

Cultural Differences Of Family Life

By Ngoc

How do you define the word family? Family is very important in every society and country. In Vietnam, we call the country Quoc Gia. Quoc means country itself and Gia means family, so family is the basis of a country. In another words, family is the root of the society and culture of most countries in the world. You can have a good understanding of the culture of a country by looking at the life of a family in that country. For that reason, family life is unique for different countries and cultures. Since I moved to the U.S., I have noticed the major differences in family life between the U.S. and Vietnam. There are three aspects in contrast between family life in Vietnam and the U.S., which are communication, duties of family members and the time children stay in the family before they move out.

Communication between family members is the most standout difference between a family in Vietnam and the U.S. In Vietnam, people take the way children call and talk to their parents or to the elders in the house more seriously than in the U.S. For example, children in Vietnam are not allowed to call the elders or parents by their names because that is considered very disrespectful. They only allow you to use names with someone that is the same as their age or younger. However, children in the U.S can sometimes call their grandparents or older family members by their name. Another example is that when children in Vietnam talk to their parents or elders in the family, they must use the word da, which means yes or please in a respectful way. To illustrate, if your parents ask you something, your answer must start with da. Different from Vietnam, children in the U.S. can just talk to their parents normally without any strict language. Communication in a family is a major difference between Vietnam and the U.S. that I have noticed since I moved to the U.S.

The second difference between Vietnamese families and U.S. families is the responsibilities or duties of the family members. In a Vietnamese family, the oldest son is the one that will be in charge when the father passes away. In other words, the mother and younger children must listen to the oldest son, and he is the one that can make the decision for the family when the father passes away. The oldest son will most likely stay in the house and take care of his parents for the rest of his life. In contrast, children in the U.S. are not responsible for taking over the family. So, the oldest son in a Vietnamese family will have more responsibilities than the oldest son in a U.S. family.

The last difference between Vietnamese families and U.S. families I’ve noticed is that young adults in the U.S. will be most likely to move out of the family when they turn eighteen. For example, most of my American friends moved out of their family, either going for college or just to find a job and live on their own. Unlike my American friends, young adults in Vietnam will often stay with their parents until they are married. Even after they are married, they will sometimes live with their parents. For that reason, you will see many people living together as a big family in Vietnam. People in the U.S. want to move out early because they love to have freedom, but in Vietnam, they want to live together so they can support each other and save money.

Looking at the family life of a country, you can see some of the unique culture or tradition of that country. A family in Vietnam and a family in the U.S. will have differences which also define the cultural differences of the two countries. Communication, duties of family members and the time children stay in the family before they move out are three cultural differences that I’ve noticed since I moved to the U.S.

My Country Vietnam

By Son Nguyen

My name is Son. I’m from Vietnam. I like Vietnamese food like pho, spring rolls and salad rolls. Vietnam has a festival called lunar new year.

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN THE U.S.

By Anna Tran

Hi guys, my real name is Anh but please call me Anna! Today I want to share a few things about my own experiences since I moved to the US.

I come from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. My family moved to the US on August 7, 2022. At first, I had a hard time adapting because my English was not good and I had to start all over again in life. I was under a lot of pressure about study, work and family. You know, there was a time when I thought about dying when I was feeling extremely stressed and that was also the first time I wanted to give up on everything.

I used to be an independent girl, having my own business with my passion and being able to take care of my family. But I left and stopped everything to move with my family to live in America and I have nothing here. I have to go to school and work part-time after that, feeling quite tired but I have to motivate myself to try. I started learning English again at SPSCC from level 3 because my English is not good. I don't understand when communicating with someone because they speak too fast and I don't know what vocabulary they are talking about. After a few courses, I can assess myself that I have improved a lot compared to before and most especially, I have more friends from many other countries. After school, I drive to work. I work part-time at a nail salon with my mother. At first, this job was very stressful because it has to follow the wishes of the customer. Sometimes there are some extremely difficult customers and it makes me tired to the point of exhaustion. As time goes by, I am now used to working at the nail salon and feel it is fine and not heavy. My colleagues are also very friendly and help each other during working hours. But most importantly, working at a nail salon makes it easy for me to arrange time to go to school and also have more money to spend for myself. The coming fall in 2023 is also the time when I will start college, and I have chosen to major in software development. I hope I will always be strong enough to keep trying, hope I can confidently communicate in English better every day with everyone here.

Last week, I flew to Massachusetts and New York. I went to the University of Massachusetts Lowell to attend my boyfriend's graduation and spent a few days there with him and his family. It felt great to see him in his graduation gown. Then we went to New York together by bus and experienced many new things here. My boyfriend is also an old classmate; we have known each other since high school when we were in Vietnam around 2010 or 2011. He moved to the US to live with his family in 2013. I was surprised when he confessed the first day we talked again when he found out that I had moved to America. Small hint, he actually liked me since high school. Now he wants to have a serious long-term relationship because he wants to get married after I finish two years of college. I fell in love with him and then I told him "If I had known that I would love you so much now, I would have loved you since we were in high school."

There are unexpected things that happen that we don't know in advance, so let's always believe that everything will be okay. It's lucky that I didn't give up when I was desperate.

Work and study hard, set goals to do, don't give up and always smile! I believe you will do it and be successful.

My Country

By Oanh Quan

My name is Oanh. I am from Viet Nam. In Viet Nam we have the lunar New Year. New Year’s Eve has a very beautiful fireworks display. In spring the weather is very warm.

A Bout The A Uthors

Ahmadi, Mariam – Mariam is from Afghanistan. She has been living in Olympia for seventeen months. In her free time, she enjoys going shopping and listening to music.

Ahmadi, Marwa – Marwa is from Afghanistan. She has been living in Olympia for seventeen months. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her family.

Ahmadi, Tamim Ahmad – Tamim was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1996.

Barat, Feerozan – Feerozan lives in Olympia. She takes care of her kids. She doesn’t have a job. Her life is better in America.

Bi, Ya Jie – Ya Jie lives in Olympia. She works as a cook. She likes ice cream. She has been studying English for six months. She has lived in the United States for one year.

Bibik, Anna – Anna is from Lviv, Ukraine. She has lived in Olympia since 2022. She works as a 3D interior/exterior visualizer. She enjoys reading, traveling, running and swimming in her free time.

Calderon, Heidi – Heidi is from San Salvador, El Salvador. She has lived in Lacey since 2017. She has worked in restaurants and cleaning services. She enjoys spending time with her family, watching TV, and listening to music.

Candelaria – Candelaria is from Peru. She lives in Lacey. She loves sleeping, work, and parties. She is studying English at SPSCC.

Castro, Lucia – Lucia is from Mexico. She has lived in Olympia for 22 years. She has 3 children and is married. She came to the United States to meet people. She is studying English because she wants to talk with more people and wants to understand. Her favorite food is tacos.

Ceja Cisneros, Javier – Javier is from Mexico. He has been here since 1989. He was a shingle block cutter for 33 years. He has a wife and three sons. He enjoys cooking and walking around the park.

Chavez, Sandra – Sandra lives in Lacey, WA. She enjoys being with her family. She has been studying English for 6 months. She has been living in the United States for 2 years.

Contreras -Perez, David – David is from Mexico. He has been living in Olympia for two years. In his free time, he likes to play soccer and spend time with his loved ones.

Coste, Irina -And reea – Irina-Andreea is from Romania. She has lived in Olympia since September 2022. She’s the mother of three kids and likes to travel, meet new people and learn about their cultures.

Covarrubias, Emanuel Hernandez – Emanuel lives in Shelton. He works in a Japanese restaurant as a kitchen helper. What he likes to do the most is go for a walk with his wife in green areas. He has been studying English for a month and has lived in the United States for eight months.

Cun ningham, Claudia – Claudia is Salvadorian. She is studying level 6 in ESL and is so happy to write down a little experience of her life in this book. Blessings.

Dai, Sheng Yun – Sheng Yun lives in Olympia. She works at the Overlook. She is a cook. She has lived in the United States for seven months. She has been studying English for six months.

Dang, Thanh – Thanh is a Level 1 ESL student at South Puget Sound Community College.

Dang, Tuyen – Tuyen is from Vietnam.

Davida, Ester – Ester is from Tel Aviv, Israel. She moved to the U.S. 2 years ago. She lives with her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.

Dias De Andrade, Fernanda – Fernanda is from Brazil. She has lived here in the United States about three months. She loves to spend time with her husband hiking.

Dominguez, Ana – Ana lives in Olympia. She does not work. She likes to walk and cook. She has been studying English for a year at SPSCC. She has lived in the United States for 26 years.

Esparza, Stephania – Stephania is from Oaxaca, Mexico.

Espinal, Alejandro – Alejandro is from Mexico State, San Sebastian, Ocuilan City.

Espinosa, Anacecilia – Anacecilia is from Mexico, the state of Nuevo Leon. She studied veterinary medicine in the university Centro de Estudios Universitario in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. Anacecilia enjoys walking her dog, Bonnie. She likes to go to the lakes with her husband Angel.

Farooqi, Shella – Shella was born in Afghanistan. She was a teacher for many years. She likes to enjoy her time with her family.

G. Maldonado, Amanda – Amanda was born in Las Vegas, NV. When she was a baby, her parents took her to Mexico. She grew up in Mexico until she was 21 years old, and now she is 23. She came to the United States when she was 17 to work in the cherry season to get money for her school in Mexico, but in 2021 she made the decision and emigrated to the United States to continue her studies. She is not 100% sure about her decision, but she is trying to do her best.

Goderidze, Daviti – Daviti is from Georgia. He has been living in Olympia for eight months. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his son.

Gomez Arana, Edwin – Edwin is from Perú. He lives in Lacey. He works in construction. He’s lived in Washington for five months.

Gomez Maldonado , Am é rica – América is from Mexico.

Gomez, Arlette – Arlette is from Guerrero, México. She has lived in Olympia since 2021. She likes to travel, taste new food, and know and learn different things.

Gonzalez, Victor – Victor lives in Lacey, Washington. He works as a handyman. He likes to know new places and learn new things about different topics. He has been studying for the last 2 years. He has lived in the United States for 4 years.

Grapeniuk, Anna – Anna lives in Olympia. She likes to read, make healthy sweets and embroider. She has been studying English at SPSCC for 5 months. She has lived in the United States since Fall 2022.

Grapeniuk, Bogdan – Bogdan is from Ukraine. He has been living in Lacey for seven months. In his free time, he enjoys traveling with his family.

Guadalupe – Guadalupe lives in Olympia in the US. He installs siding. He likes to play soccer.

Guzman, Noemi A. – Noemi is from Mexico. She has lived in the Olympia area since 2009. Noemi is married and has 2 children. She enjoys hiking, camping, paddleboarding and spending time with family and friends.

Hernández, Hortencia – Hortencia is from Venezuela. She lives in Lacey. She has lived here for 11 months.

Hyrtsak, Andrii – Andrii is from Ukraine. He has been living in Olympia for two years. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, talking with friends, and traveling.

Hyrtsak, Marianna – Marianna is from Ukraine. She has been living in Lacey for one year. She enjoys traveling with her family in her free time.

Ibrahim, Shakira – Shakira is from Peshawar, Pakistan. She has lived in Olympia since 2016. She enjoys cooking, sewing and learning new things. Shakira got her United States citizenship in 2022.

Jaimes Garcia, Jose – Jose is from Mexico. He has been living in Lacey for two years. He likes to skate and run in the mornings.

Jimenez, Rolando – Rolando is from Lima, Peru. He has lived in Olympia since 2023. He has an 11-year-old son named Alonso. He likes to read, run and play soccer.

Juan – Juan is a Level 1 ESL student at South Puget Sound Community College.

Kashyna, Olha – Olha is in ESL Level 5 at South Puget Sound Community College.

Kim, Hae Mi – Hae Mi is from South Korea. She lives in Olympia. Her favorite activity is going to a farmer’s market and Costco. She wants to get a degree and a full-time job.

Kim, Sammi – Sammi was born in South Korea. She has lived in Seoul, Korea and Tokyo, Japan and she lives in Yelm now. In her free time, she likes to read and garden with her daughter.

Lagos, Nadia – Nadia is from Honduras. She has been living in Seattle for two years. She likes to travel with her family when she has free time.

Lam, Nhuy – Nhuy is from Vietnam, and is working in a restaurant. She loves painting and drawing. She started English class in summer quarter 2022 and has lived in the United States for 1 year.

Lam, Van – Van’s hometown is Can Tho, Vietnam.

Le, Dung Chien – Dung Chien is Vietnamese. He’s living in Olympia now with his son’s family: his wife and his children. He came to the USA in May 2022.

Lee, Suji – Suji lives in Olympia. She is not working yet. She likes exercising outdoors. She immigrated to America. It has been almost 4 months since she started studying English.

Lopez, Antonio – Antonio is from Mexico, San Sebastian, Ocuilan City.

Lopez, Iris – Iris is from El Salvador. She has been living in Olympia for fourteen years. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family. She also likes to go fishing.

Machacón Villarreal, Marly – Marly is from Cartagena, Colombia. She has lived in the United States since 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. Since then, she has not been able to return to visit her country. Now she lives in Olympia, studies English at SPSCC and sings in a restaurant on weekends, which she enjoys because she likes to share with others.

Martinez, Edgar – Edgar lives in Olympia, WA. He is a graphic designer and screen printer. He lives to draw, design and spend time with his family. He has been studying English for 2 years. He has lived in the U.S. for almost 10 years.

Mendez, Nelba – Nelba has lived in Lacey for 2 months. She works in a jewelry store. She likes walking in the park. She has been studying English for a short time. She arrived in the United States 2 months ago.

Mendez Arizmendi, Anahi – Anahi has been living in Shelton Washington for 5 months. She works in a Japanese restaurant as a dishwasher. She likes her job because she can study to improve and she really likes school.

Mendoza, Antelma – Antelma is from Guatemala. She is a student, and she is learning English at SPSCC. She works at an oyster farm. In her free time, she likes to go for walks in the park.

Montalvo, J. Israel – Israel is from Mexico.

Ngoc – Ngoc is from Vietnam, where she lived for 19 years.

Nguyen, Son – Son has lived in Lacey for 10 months. He is from Vietnam.

Ny, Lima – Lima is from Cambodia. She sells things online. She likes selling perfume. She has been studying for 4 weeks. She has been living in the United States for 1 year and 3 months.

Oliveira, Eder – Eder lives in Olympia. He likes to train in Jiu jitsu, go hiking and go to the gym. He has been studying English for a month and moved to the U.S. 8 months ago.

Park, Son – Son lives in Lacey, WA. She enjoys life and likes to make food. She has been studying English for about 8 months and has lived in the U.S. for 38 years. She is from Seoul, Korea. She was born in 1960.

Peña López, Rolando – Rolando likes Mexican music and the Mexican food enchiladas, posole, mole, tacos, and tequila. He’s from Mexico City. He has been living in the United States for 1 year.

Plasido Cruz, Misael – Misael is from Oaxaca, Mexico. He has lived in Olympia for 16 years. His first job was cook’s helper at Happy Teriyaki and his current job is carpet cleaner. He enjoys spending time with his family and he loves sports cars.

Quan, Oanh – Oanh was a strong teacher in Vietnam.

Rivero Guerrero, Kimberly – Kimberly was born in the U.S. but grew up in México. She came to Washington 1 year ago because she wanted to study English here. In México, she studied English but had no one to practice it with. Also, she graduated high school there. Every 6 months she has traveled to México with her family. She likes to live here but misses all her family in México.

Rodriguez, Leonel – Leo was born in Mexico. He grew up in Zacatecas City.

Rodriguez, Leonora – Leonora lives in Olympia. She is not working. She likes to go shopping and visit gardens. She has been learning English for 3 weeks. She has been living for 19 years in Olympia, WA.

Roldan Solis, Miguel – Miguel is working as a cleaner in Target. He likes soccer and basketball. He is from Tapachula, Chiapas in Mexico.

Rovech, Rortos – Rortos lives in Olympia. She works at a restaurant. She likes studying English. She has been studying English for one year. She has lived in the United States for two years.

Sanchez, Angelica – Angelica lives in Olympia with her husband and children. She has lived in Olympia for 14 years.

Sosa, Dafne – Dafne is from Mexico. She has been living in Lacey for five months. She enjoys experiencing the different seasons here in Washington.

Soto Torres, Marilu – Marilu is in ESL Level 6 at South Puget Sound Community College.

Sou, Safira – Safira lives in Olympia. She likes to cook and work. She has been studying English for 2 quarters. She has lived in the United States for 3 years.

Spivey, Yoko – Yoko is from Okinawa, Japan. She and her family have lived in Washington since 2015. She loves taking pictures of the sky, flowers, her dog and cats, and also enjoys reading and playing Okinawan music.

Tran, Anna – Anna is from Vietnam. She has lived in Olympia with her family since 2022. She enjoys listening to music, shopping, watching TV and traveling in her free time.

Trofimova, Olga – Olga was born by the Japanese sea in the beautiful city of Vladivostok. Vladivostok is a modern center, the capital of the Far East. Her love for the sea, forest, and mountains kept her in her native land for 50 years. Eight months ago, she packed her whole life in one suitcase and came to the United States of America. Olga started English here.

Tsvietkova, Olya – Olya is from the wonderful country Ukraine. She has lived in USA for almost 1 year. She likes it here and also misses home too.

Vera -Fierro, Mariana – Mariana was born in Valparaiso, on the central coast of Chile, where she studied visual arts at the University of Educational Sciences. She taught secondary students, and developed as an educator by working with students of all ages around the Patagonia region of southern Chile. She has one daughter who lives in Patagonia and one son who lives in Olympia. In her free time, she enjoys painting birds of diverse species, inspired by photographs taken by naturalists.

Villavicencio, Consuelo – Consuelo is from Mexico. She has been living in Lacey for ten years. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family.

Yasar, Muharrem – Muharrem is from Türkiye. He has lived in Olympia since 2022.

Zanon, Debora Sprenger – Debora is from São Paulo, Brazil. She has lived in Olympia since October 2022. She has two kids and she enjoys playing with them, getting to know different places and restaurants, and traveling in her free time.

Zavala, Xiomara Elizabeth – Xiomara is from El Salvador. She has been living in WA State in the U.S for 4 years. She likes to ride a bike and spend time with her family. She started to study English in Fall 2019 but only took 2 quarters of class face to face because of the COVID 19 pandemic. Then she took 3 quarters online in 2020.

Zavrazhnova, Iryna – Iryna left Ukraine because of the war in Ukraine. The city of Mariupol, where she lived, and her house were bombed. She lost her job. Now she is learning English, and she hopes to stay in America.