{"id":9985,"date":"2014-10-27T06:10:28","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T10:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/verastic.com\/?p=9985"},"modified":"2014-10-25T13:24:12","modified_gmt":"2014-10-25T17:24:12","slug":"conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Conversations With My Vietnamese Friend – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

One thing I have always loved is learning about other people and their culture. I love talking with people who are not like me and finding things out that I probably would have never known. Yes, we can get information from text books and Wikipedia, but it cannot be compared to hearing it from the horse’s mouth. Even within Nigeria, it’s unfortunate how little we know about each other, except the stereotypes. I’m not saying the stereotypes are necessarily wrong, but they might be exaggerated, and we forget that stereotypes are just that: stereotypes. They don’t apply to everyone.<\/p>\n

\"Vietnamese<\/a><\/p>\n

I was talking with my Vietnamese friend – let’s call her Mary – and somehow, we started talking about cultural differences. I asked her what it’s like to be a Vietnamese in America, and the conversation was very interesting.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0People assume that all Asians are Chinese:<\/strong> They hate it. Absolutely hate it when people assume that they’re Chinese because they’re Asian. I felt good about myself because years ago, I realized how easily we (non Asians) assume that all Asians are Chinese. I made a conscious effort to find out for sure where people are from. We tend to call all of them Chinese, just like we call all the food Chinese (and all the nail techs), too. I liken this to Yoruba people calling all non-Yoruba and non-Hausa people Igbo. It’s quite offensive. And ignorant.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0People assume that they are not Americans:<\/strong> This one surprised me because I had never thought about it. Basically, people see Asians and are inclined to ask, “Where are you from?”<\/em> implying that Asians are not from here [America]. But some Asians are born here though, and for some of them, generations have been born here. The problem is that Asians have a unique look. You’ll always know that they are Asians, and somewhere in the back of your mind, you might wonder what part of Asia they’re from. It’s not like me being a Black immigrant. Unless people hear my accent or read my name, they’ll just assume that I’m a Black American. But I’m Nigerian.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0People assume that they speak the same language:<\/strong> Mary told me of an incident when she went to a retail store and was looking at shoes when a store attendant came to her and asked that she please tell another Asian customer about the sales they were having. Mary told her that she did not know the woman and that she wasn’t with her. The store attendant asked if she could just translate it to her. Mary told her that they don’t speak the same language, but she store attendant kept asking.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0People always tell them to go back to their country:<\/strong> As a fellow immigrant, I know about this.<\/p>\n

Of all these, what I learned most is about assuming that Asians are not Americans. I have been guilty of this. As a matter of fact, I have done this with Mary’s sister (this was before I knew Mary). I knew her sister first, and I asked her where she was from. I remember her telling me (with a bit of an attitude) that she was American, and I remember me thinking that this girl was crazy. She went on to tell me that she was American because she was born in California and had never been anywhere else. I then asked where her parents were from, and she said Vietnam, but she reiterated that she herself had never been there.<\/p>\n

This opens up a whole new can of worms: for those of you who have children that were born here, do you teach your children to claim Nigeria or America? When I have children, I intend to teach them that they’re Nigerians. I was born in Russia, and my parents are both from Anambra, but I was never told that I was Russian (only that I was born there), and I was never told that I was Hausa (because we lived in Jos). If anything, my parents literally gave me pop quizzes to know my State, the Capital of my State, my local government, and my City.<\/p>\n

So, I can’t say that I’m particularly thrilled with parents who don’t teach their children about where they’re from, but on the other hand, I can understand why an American-born citizen who has lived in America all their life would claim America as home. That’s all they know, and home is where the heart is.<\/p>\n

I still want to know though, do you (or would you) teach your children that they are Nigerian first? And ultimately, is our parents’ identity our identity, too?<\/p>\n

P.S.<\/strong> I tend to think of China as the America of Asia and Nigeria as the America of Africa. No?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One thing I have always loved is learning about other people and their culture. I love talking with people who are not like me and finding things out that I probably would have never known. Yes, we can get information from text books and Wikipedia, but it cannot be compared to hearing it from theRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_14738191_14738191":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[561],"tags":[277,412,1137,1138],"class_list":["post-9985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal","tag-asia","tag-culture","tag-identity","tag-language","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nConversations With My Vietnamese Friend - Part 1 - Verastic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vera Ezimora\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html\",\"name\":\"Conversations With My Vietnamese Friend - Part 1 - Verastic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Vietnamese-Friend.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-27T10:10:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Vietnamese-Friend.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Vietnamese-Friend.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":368},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Conversations With My Vietnamese Friend – Part 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/\",\"name\":\"Verastic\",\"description\":\"Recklessly authentic.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a\",\"name\":\"Vera Ezimora\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Vera Ezimora\"},\"description\":\"I mean, I'm a lot of things - a Writer, Blogger, Speaker, Vlogger, Content Creator, Storyteller, Truth-Sayer, Milk-Lover, Yogurt-Addict, Entrepreneur, Daughter, Wife, Mom, & Nwa Jesu. Nigerian girl with Russian roots and future mommy of confusingly identical twin boys.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/verastic.com\",\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/verastic\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/verastic\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/author\/vera\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Conversations With My Vietnamese Friend - Part 1 - Verastic","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Vera Ezimora","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html","name":"Conversations With My Vietnamese Friend - Part 1 - Verastic","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Vietnamese-Friend.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-27T10:10:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Vietnamese-Friend.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Vietnamese-Friend.jpg","width":750,"height":368},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/conversations-vietnamese-friend-part-1.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Conversations With My Vietnamese Friend – Part 1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/","name":"Verastic","description":"Recklessly authentic.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a","name":"Vera Ezimora","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Vera Ezimora"},"description":"I mean, I'm a lot of things - a Writer, Blogger, Speaker, Vlogger, Content Creator, Storyteller, Truth-Sayer, Milk-Lover, Yogurt-Addict, Entrepreneur, Daughter, Wife, Mom, & Nwa Jesu. Nigerian girl with Russian roots and future mommy of confusingly identical twin boys.","sameAs":["http:\/\/verastic.com","http:\/\/facebook.com\/verastic","https:\/\/x.com\/verastic"],"url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/author\/vera"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Vietnamese-Friend.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Mdf8-2B3","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9987,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9985\/revisions\/9987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}