This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Peter Truong, a content creator who moved from Vancouver to Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, Vietnam. It has been edited for size and readability.
I used to be born and raised in Vancouver to Vietnamese immigrant mother and father who got here to Canada within the Eighties.
Though my mother and father have been typical Asian mother and father, I grew up very Canadian — I like hockey, pancakes, and maple syrup. I did not really feel particularly linked to my Vietnamese roots rising up.
This was earlier than the web, when the one Asian representatives on TV have been Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
My mother made positive our tradition lived inside the home, however exterior, like at college, it was a distinct story. I might convey a bánh mì to high school, and children would say, “What’s that scent?”
I keep in mind wanting my mother to get me scorching canine for my college lunch as a substitute. I simply wished to slot in and be extra Western.
I spent most of my childhood dwelling in predominantly immigrant communities as properly, the place lots of people have been first-generation Vietnamese-Canadians or Chinese language-Canadians.
For a very long time, it did not really feel cool to be Vietnamese. In college, I went by means of this section the place I believed, OK, I’ll embrace my Asianness — nevertheless it wasn’t actually Vietnamese. I listened to Ok-pop and different Asian artists, and principally explored every part however my very own tradition.
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It took me some time to lastly perceive that being Vietnamese was distinctive to who I’m. It was on my first journey to Vietnam as an grownup, in 2017, that it lastly clicked.
In 2022, I used to be laid off from my job at a company tech firm.
I used to be single, in my 30s, and one thing I might at all times wished to do was take a niche yr to show English in Asia. So I believed, why not? In 2024, I moved to Ho Chi Minh City.
I believed I might have the ability to adapt to my new setting simply, however quickly discovered that wasn’t precisely the case. I used to be in all probability a bit of too assured in my language abilities.
Once I picked up the cellphone, individuals would begin talking speedy Vietnamese, and after they could not perceive me, they’d simply cling up. Even easy issues, like accepting a supply, may very well be irritating.
Little issues like that made me actually admire how necessary communication is. Additionally they made me replicate on how my mother and father managed to move to Canada with out understanding English and nonetheless construct a life there.
I ended educating English after a yr, and now, I am specializing in being a content material creator.
Work culture in Vietnam, and in a lot of Asia, tends to be extra intense, with longer hours in comparison with Canada, the place you may clock out at 5 p.m.. However in Vietnam, there is a nap tradition, which I actually admire.
It has been pretty simple to meet new people, too, as there’s extra of a communal spirit. If I hold going to the identical café, individuals begin chatting with me. Earlier than lengthy, we’re buddies.
Trying again on my journey, I discovered that I am able to much more than I believed. I did not have to move to Vietnam to develop into a brand new model of myself, however the expertise made me notice that.
There is a quote I have been holding onto in my second yr right here: “Wherever you go, there you might be.”
Should you had insecurities again residence, they’re going to comply with you until you’re employed on them from inside. It does not matter what nation you progress to — you must discover that sense of safety in your self. That is been my largest lesson from living abroad.
Furthermore, as a second-generation child who has skilled only a fraction of what my mother and father did, I really feel a a lot deeper respect, love, and compassion for them.
Once I’m in Vietnam, I miss the chilly in Canada. However once I’m in Vancouver, I miss the energy of Vietnam. It may be as a result of I am within the suburbs, however I do not really feel that very same buzz within the air.
It has been a few yr and a half. At first, Vietnam felt like residence, however over time, I spotted Canada is residence, too.
In Vancouver, every part’s acquainted. I do know the streets, my mother and father are there, and life runs on autopilot. In Vietnam, issues nonetheless really feel new. I’ve to consider how one can open a checking account or discover my manner round. However as my world there expands and I construct extra connections, it is beginning to really feel like a second residence.
Moving to Vietnam introduced every part full circle for me. I spotted I am not cut up between two cultures — I am absolutely each.
I am 100% Canadian and 100% Vietnamese. That is what makes me, as they are saying, a third-culture kid: somebody who will get to have the very best of each worlds.
Do you may have a narrative to share about relocating to a brand new metropolis? Contact this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.
