Cultural Values In Vietnamese Culture

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Little Saigon in Garden Grove has the highest population of Vietnamese living in the United States. In fact, it is the highest number of Vietnamese living outside of Vietnam. How did they retain their language and cultural practices virtually unchanged after they immigrated to the United States? The preserve their culture and traditions and continue to teach it to the following generations that follows. Although, some of the children are born here they are still fluent on their Vietnamese language and carry on with their heritage. Americanized but still following the footsteps of their own ethnic group, most of my experience working in the airport we often come across a family of Vietnamese traveling together and they bring goods that it’s just like it came from Vietnam but the food and products that they bring are from Garden Grove where they make it at Little Saigon. How they are in the United States and not influenced by the American Lifestyle and still retain their customs and tradition after years and years of living in the country? This would have to do with the resources they have in Little Saigon. According to OC Register (2015), “Tucked inside Little Saigon’s shopping centers and strip malls are small, family-run bakeries, tea houses and delis. The markets stock dragon fruit, lychees and pickled celery. The cafes and bakeries sell banh mi (Vietnamese style sandwiches) and French-style coffee with condensed milk. The grocers stock live tilapia in fish tanks ready to be taken home and steamed with ginger, scallions and onion. In all, there are more than 390 restaurants, about two dozen TV and radio stations, and three Vietnamese-language daily papers”. They built their own empire in the City of Garden Grove and every corner is influenced by their Vietnamese culture from shops, restaurant, TV and radio. If they are surrounded by everything that they have back home it is impossible to change their cultural practices, it will thrive because they are breathing their culture everyday. Ethnocentrism play a big role on why they remain unchanged after living here in the United States for so long. They want to stay in their …show more content…
They are strongly attached to their own customs and tradition and they don’t want to change it a bit, that is one good reason that they still retain their cultural heritage and identity. This can be related to integration, while maintaining their own tradition they are also part of American community here in the United States. Cultural relativism can be also an argument why Vietnamese living in Garden Grove has preserved their culture. They might view that American culture is totally different from their own and it could be wrong to them. For example, divorced is widely accepted in American culture, to them is could be wrong because of traditional family values. What considered right in American culture can be wrong in Vietnamese culture and vice versa. This might be one of the reason why they kept a tight community and continue to practice their own way of life. Discrimination can take place also if they trying to fit into American culture and their features does not, it just makes them look like an outcast from their own community. In order to avoid being discrimated they stick with their own community, work with their own people and stay in their own comfort

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