Life of a Vietnamese in Modern Day
During the first shift at a long-term caring facility in Toronto as a practical nursing student in 2020, I was presented with 2 problems.
- I am Vietnamese doing healthcare but in this case practical nursing. What do the general public think and need from me as now I am a public worker?
- Is my homeland culture and the Westernized culture I grew up with enable me to make medical diagnosis and give advice?
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In Canada and North America, the daily interactions you have daily is based on 0.4 layers of stereotypes.
This enables people to live easily. Commerce and daily choices are made within 2 seconds on the 0.4 layers of stereotypes about people like grade 9 – 10 high school quickly.
Stereotypes don’t change in 6 months, it takes 500 years to change or more. But does it ever change at all? Because location kind of determines everything.
That is why there are ethnic towns in Toronto and elsewhere where you aren’t judge poorly if you live in your groups.
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Was I kept in the dark? Yes.
Living in a multicultural society like Canada has it pluses and problems. You are supposed to mix out and blend during grade school.
Vietnamese finally got their independence in 1945.
So Vietnamese are still new in growing their modern identity.
Before 1945, we weren’t independent and had to deal with our neighbours and even far away ones. It helped and didn’t help. It is what it is.
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But were we kept out of the light in learning and growing alongside other countries over the last 5000 years?
The stereotypes of Vietnamese is bad when you finally get into the hearts of what some groups think in the West.
Somehow in the West the negative stereotypes of people are so caricaturized. It is so horrid to even bother with people in the West with caricaturized mindset sometimes … But at the end that causes commerce and things to happen in the West.
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So when I did my first shift in Toronto as a student practical nurse, this is how I handled the questions later …
- I am Vietnamese doing healthcare but in this case practical nursing. What do the general public think and need from me now that I am a public worker?
- Some established people don’t like the idea of new refugees from areas like Vietnam going into medicine and advancing their people and place in the 21st century. But kind of accept it as they are old and mature and in Canada people actually do what they like??? The location of Canada changes you just to accept everything really.
- Is my homeland culture and the Westernized culture I grew up with enable me to give medical diagnosis and advice?
- Not really for me. The people that live near Western Europe have the best culture and lifestyle usually. In order for you to give advice you must have huge merit in sciences and captivating culture.
After this first shift, doors closed for the pandemic.
I finished my practical nursing semester online.
Then I went back to school for programming because I felt I did not have enough health advice personally to give as a Vietnamese born in Canada. The Canadian culture and education was good but people saw me as a Vietnamese first sometimes which may cause conflict in health advice needed.
Am I thinking negative?
I am able-bodied and have learned resilience and grit to get this far in life.
Generally did people treat me with niceness and kindness and give way to me as a Vietnamese growing up here?
In medicine, you should have some gusto to give medical advice. Living life generally you are treated like crap sometimes. Sometimes worst than crap.
You must figure a way to bounce back at every insult or bad treatment.
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Now I am older, finished my diploma in computers and what have I learned?
Vietnam is still a developing country. The GDP is OK. Things are getting better. Now the rest of Southeast Asia is now getting developed too. I feel for the rest of Southeast Asia. The growing pains are real.
Going into medicine as a Vietnamese person isn’t great until you have established medical sciences in your country or sciences in general. I need to explore this more what developments Vietnamese have made since the beginning to counter people. What do Vietnamese know about health and social health including alternative medicines?
Otherwise keep building and coding to build the modern culture.
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Living in Canada does change you. You are living North. People care and don’t care really.
Days are plenty and life is good in Canada.
What can you really give as advice in Canada? Just do your thing I guess.
People live normally most of the day. People just do stuff. Do stuff to past the time.
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I have friends of the family in medicine in Toronto.
They did not grow up like me.
They are Vietnamese but born in the North of Vietnam.
The experiences and mindset and body they have is different?
I can not grasp what they grasp.
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Would finishing my diploma in practical nursing help me move around job wise? I finished 1 semester and 1 part-time semester. Need 1+ year left.
Can I even work in Vietnam doing healthcare work? It seems interesting to work as a Western educated health professional in Vietnam too.
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Why am I always talking about race and culture as a Vietnamese born in Canada?
There is some reason.
Vietnam is a sunny agriculture destination and no one bothers you really??? Is it really fun in the sun??? Also it is a junction country that joins Southeast Asia with East Asia. Lot of divide and mixing and collaborating.
Somehow when Vietnamese go overseas and start doing stuff it might have some difference???
Vietnam finally gained its independence in 1945 and now other people from other countries are realizing what happens when Vietnamese people mass emigrate.