What will be the first thing that cross your mind if someone says they're from Vietnam?

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Novice

I'm Vietnamese living in the US, and this question is very interesting. At least the reaction I have gotten in the last 25 years has been very positive: folks in the USA have been very friendly and many have been curious about Vietnam, so I have been getting many interesting questions.

Since I'm of the older generation, quite a few questions have been about the war (which I experienced a bit, living in the middle of the country) and about how I got here (boat people.) The second topic has always seemed to lead to my narrating of my trip and the experience @ the refuge camps, and those have always triggered many wow's :-).

California is also heavily populated with huge Vietnamese community, and our presence has shown up in many areas (e.g. high tech, business, retails, science, schools, etc.) And the (positive) stereotype has been that Vietnamese people are working and studying hard, the same one used for many folks with Asian ethnicity. I'm not going to say if it is good or bad, but it is the reality of the perception.

Interestingly enough, if I meet another Vietnamese, the first thing crossing my mind is whether this person belongs to the same generation (of the same age), so that we can chat about some experiences that we might have shared or paths that we might have crossed. Vietnam is not that big of a country that it is not uncommon for folks to know about each other's home town or schools. Older and first-generation Vietnamese American tend to remember about the war and the motherland more often. Many have come back to visit the country and experienced the changes since they left the countries, so that is also another topic of discussions.

First Lady

I think of my dad....he fought in Vietnam.

Paige2

If they would be interested in telling me of some of their culture and life style. It would be a conversation that I would enjoy. I love to hear how other people live in different parts of the world.

okie

that they are just like everyone else but in a different location

Naomi

They might be my illegitimate offspring.

peanutz

I will be interested to know about their country and their culture. The Indo-chinese countries have quite similiar culture, so it will be interesting to have a comparison, especially when Vietnam was colonised by the French! Their culture is pretty well imbued with the west!

And I would like to know a lot about their cuisine, original Vietnamese as well as their French-influenced cookings. A cross-exchange of style in those dishes.

Also travel Vietnam. The country is still much unexplored, given the number of new animal species that had been discovered in the past years, and what more do they have in their still unfound jungles.

All in, a pretty interesting country to learn about.

~rocklover~

That they are from Vietnam, I don't usually think anymore on it.

botham H

I'm not from Vietnam, but the first thing what one gets in mind is the war between USA & Vietnam.

Ray T

How the Australian Government conscripted men to fight against "the red invasion from the North", and when we got home, we are still fighting the Government for diseases and wounds caused through service in Vietnam. God bless all Nam Vet's.

snow_anh07

the thousands of lives lost..

traveller

Many times, when I meet a Vietnamese person, the war comes to my mind.

Dean B

My three high school buddies that never came home.

Papa

So what.

Big_D

they eat dogs!

MojaveDan

I will be wonderinf if I'm related to them and whether I need to call them aunt or uncle.

Jessie

I would think of Vietnamese food. I love the springrolls and bun thit noung (and every other dish I've ever had).

Then I'd think of the Vietnamese grocery store I used to go to with all the cool foods.

It would remind me of the Rainbow Days in Carthage Missouri where thousands of Vietnamese Americans get together to worship and make really good food.

Yup, if someone says they're from Vietnam I definitely want to talk about food!!

pitbullcopper2004

why are your eyes shut?>

tanyalelliott82

I think about my partener, he is Vietnamese, im an Australian girl, id think 2 ask them where in Vn thbey come from, if its the same area as my partener! Id have respect 4 them as i know how there upbringing would of been very different then mine! Id b happy 2 have a conversation with them, n learn from them!

detecting_it

I think of my buddy growing up. We lived in the same neighborhood. His Father was well to do during the Vietnam conflict. He took a U.S. citizenship in the form of a U.S. military enlistment for his safe travel with his family to the United States. They were great Neighbors and friends who invited some of us kids from the neighborhood to their home to experience some of their culture. The Nguyen's didn't talk much about it. About what I've typed here.

Also think of my next door neighbor, Pete. Before I was born, Pete's Father moved from Mexico to the U.S with his family legally, in hopes of a better life. When Pete grew into late teens, the conflict broke out, and he joined the Army, 7th calvary. Was shot up in an ambush, sent home. He is alive and well, but has paid his entire families price for freedom. Pete didn't talk much about it. About what I've typed here.

That is what I think of when I hear the word Vietnam. I think of dear freinds, and great Americans.

michiganwife

I first wonder where in Vietnam are they from. I traveled all over there so I would want to know if its a place I have been. Then I think about the Vets, and how they gave their lives and everything just for those people. And what did they get for it? Harassment. It is sad how people treated them. I hate thinking about it.

Ron

I would have a problem if they said they were from North Vietnam. We were over there protecting the South Vietnamese from the Viet Cong and the spreading of communism.

DAYNE G

the war.... and those still missing.Damn....semper fi MIA/POWs

MAD MEL

Why can't you speak English clearly

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