Life in America
Can you describe for us a little bit of what Vietnamese culture here is like in Orange County?
Vietnamese culture over here, we have a lot of, we celebrate a lot of [pause].
So Vietnamese culture over here, they try to do whatever they have in Vietnam. One of them, like Tet festival. Like in Vietnam they have a lot of accidents when we do the bonfire. So in Vietnam we don’t but like ten years ago we have it and now they banned it. But over here in America we still have it. So the tradition we’re still keeping.
Are there any other Vietnamese holidays that you know you guys celebrate or there’s a big celebration in Orange County for?
On the same day, on the thirty – after the war end, over here they do the memorial, things like that. But in Vietnam they celebrate it.
Have you traveled to other cities within the United States and noticed a strong Vietnamese culture in other cities?
I traveled to Louisiana, Dallas and I think only in Orange County, California the people here is more firm.
Have you ever talked to people in those cities about your past or about Vietnam?
If I try to talk something then they kind of misunderstand because the people, the way thinking different so I rarely talk about it.
Is for you, having a strong Vietnamese culture something that is important to where you live or is it something that why you like living in Orange County is because of the Vietnamese culture here?
Because actually my parents, they want to live with Vietnamese people. Like they want to get together with their group, that way when you come to a different country they want to be close to someone that they knows their culture so it is easier for them to adapt.
What signs of Vietnamese culture are there in Orange County here where you live in terms of supermarkets or things like that?
They’re all on the American side.
Do you guys visit Vietnamese supermarkets here?
Yeah, every weekend. We love the food so we go.
And to restaurants around – ?
Restaurants, yes.
And how do they compare to over in Vietnam? Over here the food, when we eat, we feel more safely. In Vietnam they – we cannot tell what they put in there. In Vietnam the food – there are some people who just walk around with their food [gestures lugging food on shoulder] and the way they – if you don’t know what they’re doing, you have the food and you think it’s very tasty but you know what they do after you. Like for me, I go and eat the bowl of noodles and after I finish [gestures wiping bowl with a washcloth] and then get a new one for all the people but in Vietnam it’s normal but here you do the cleaning.
Is there anything in Vietnam that you wish was in the United States that you don’t have?
About friends: over here most people – they are so needy so if you want to get together to do something it’s very hard; you have to make an appointment like next week or so. In Vietnam we just call them on the phone.
Is there anything in the United States that you think would be good in Vietnam?
A lot of things.
What are some of those things?
First is the education. Over here you have a lot of – more opportunities to be successful if you want to be successful when you go to college and you know whatever you choose and you try your best you get a chance to get it. In Vietnam you have to know somebody to get in. Even if you have no education but you know somebody, they put you in.
Are there any other things besides education?
The traffic. In Vietnam, people – they kind of know where they want to go and they go wherever they want. Over here we have to follow the rules.
And in Vietnam, sometimes when you have problems with the police you can pay the police to get out of the problem and you don’t have to pay for insurance, nothing. You buy a motorcycle, you buy a car and -that’s it. Over here when you get a car you have to pay for insurance so when anything happens then the company takes over.