Anthro 2a Paper

Immigration Course Paper

The person I interviewed about immigration was my mother, Hong Nguyen. My mom was born on August 11, 1962 and lived in a peaceful city known as Vũng Tàu in Vietnam. Vũng Tàu was about two hours away from Saigon and was characterized as a seaport city. Her family was part of the middle class in Southern Vietnam, with her father as one of the captains in the military. She lived with her three older brothers, Vinh, Vuong, and Vien, her younger sister Lan, and youngest brother Hai, along with her parents.

Growing up, Hong had a fun and carefree childhood. She lived her everyday life by going to school and church. School only consisted of half days for my mother, so after school was finished, she would usually play with her friends or go straight to church. Throughout Vietnam, only two religions were practiced, which were Catholicism and Buddhism. Catholicism was an extremely important part of my grandparents’ lives, so they pushed their religious beliefs onto their children. My grandfather was very well known in the church in Vũng Tàu and there was rarely ever a day in Vietnam my mother did not go to church. As for my parents, they used to make me attend church every Sunday, but after high school, I slowly stopped going to church. My parents didn’t push me to go to church like my grandfather, they just expected me to keep faith in God. To this day, my mother never changed her religious beliefs. When my mom would play with her friends, she tended to ignore her responsibilities. Occasionally, Hong would help my grandmother with her little store, which was similar to a 7 Eleven in America. The store sold basic necessities and sometimes my mother would shoo away customers and tell them there were no more products left so she could continue playing with her friends. As a result, she’d be scolded and disciplined by my grandmother.

Throughout her childhood, Hong’s favorite place to visit was the beach. Her family would regularly visit the beach as it was only three miles away from their house. My mother cherished munching on the various foods sold by vendors at the beach such as charbroiled squid, meatballs, and other snacks. She reminisced how this was a place where her family spent time together and forgot all about their worries. During the interview, my mother smiled talking about this memory as it seemed like a place of tranquility for her.

Hong’s early life wasn’t always filled with beach memories and playing with friends. Being the middle child wasn’t as enjoyable for my mother. She usually had to take care of her younger siblings, Hai and Lan, since her older brothers were rarely ever home because they were all stationed in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Just like in America, at the age of 18, men have the opportunity to join the army. Although in Vietnam, it was mandatory to participate in the army if you did not pass