Antidotes

As a little child, my father would always buy me the traditional Vietnamese dress to wear for lunar new year. He did not care how much it would cost to buy as long as I had one to wear. And with each passing year, a dress would come with a story about Vietnam's history so I would have the slightest idea to who am I. Each dress's fabric was hand chosen and sometime handmade to relate to Vietnam and he would explain to why the flag was that color or why the Vietnam war was started.

When I began to grow up, my father started to noticed that I began acting like the "white-washed" child of the family. Even though I knew how to speak Vietnamese fluently, I refuse to speak Vietnamese at home because it was not how the American people spoke at home. My father soon became very disappointment and started to drill my tiny little brain with the Vietnamese language. And when I refused to learn, he would explain me why learning the language was so important. And as soon as I learn the language, I thought I was going to be done with this Vietnamese stuff, but no. My father started to show me videos, books, picture, and soon taking me to Vietnam every 4 years so I would have a better connection with my Vietnamese self.

And while being in Vietnam, I thought my father would take me all over the country. And he did take me to all the southern cities to see my other side of the family and learn the other Vietnamese language called "Hue". Not the city Hue, but the language. And while learning the language, my father enrolled me for Private summer school. Everyday of my summer vacation, I would learn Vietnamese this, Vietnam that, and on top of that my father pressure me on acting like the proper young Vietnamese girl.