Research Topic + Reading Details

Hi there! My research topic has been very much influenced by what I see and observe every day. The purpose of my research is to answer the question: How has the Vietnamese culture in America become Americanized, as a result of Vietnamese immigrants coming to the U.S.? As I am an American born Vietnamese-American, I definitely have different look on certain things in comparison to my parents and relatives. My family really does value our culture, though, and we try to uphold it as much as we can. We usually never speak to each other in English, and we keep the same customs as our traditional ancestors did. We greatly respect our elders the most, and we always wait for the elders to eat before we do. Showing disrespect to them is prohibited. When going out to eat, there is only one person who pays for the bill, which is the person who invited everyone there. People paying separate bills would be inappropriate. Shoes are never worn in the house. Religion and marriage are incredibly important aspects in the family, as they are both huge social events and bring people together. You can’t forget about the food, either! What I have observed so far, though, is that the culture is gradually disappearing and becoming more Western. I have a few friends who don’t even know how to speak Vietnamese. Their families even wear shoes inside of the house. General customs and traditions are not followed anymore. People usually got married really early; my grandmother was 15 when she had her first child. I guess because of the Western influence, the Vietnamese have become totally different. Usually, you live with your parents even after you get married and have children. But in America, grandparents live separately from their children. From my research, I’ve learned that Vietnamese street gangs have sprung up! I was surprised since being involved with crime and violence is dishonoring to the family. I also didn’t know about how most “Amer-asians” were treated. Having American soldier fathers and Vietnamese mothers, most were thrown out on streets and abandoned. My aunts also had an American military father who abandoned them, as well. But I didn’t know that there was a specific term for them and how many were left on street corners and were just dumped there. Basically, the culture has become Americanized by losing its Vietnamese roots and adopting the American values and traditions.

Growing up as a American-born Vietnamese, I've observed a variety of changes within my culture in my life. The purpose of my research is to understand how my culture has become Americanized as a result of Vietnamese immigrants settling in America. There are many components that make up the culture: food, traditions, morals, religion, music, and most importantly, our family. My family greatly honors our Vietnamese culture. We always aim to preserve our culture as much as possible by always speaking Vietnamese to each other. Our elders must be shown the most respect out of all. Showing disrespect to them would eating before they do during mealtime, or touching the top of their heads. Shoes must never be worn inside of the house. When eating at a restaurant, only one person pays for the bill for everybody there: the person who originally invited everyone to come. However, a conflict in the new Vietnamese generation has become evident. They are gradually beginning to become more Americanized as they lose their original Vietnamese roots. Most of my Vietnamese friends living in America are not able to speak the native language. Some families allow the household members to wear shoes inside of the house. Respect towards your elders are rarely ever seen anymore. Vietnamese couples were married unusually early; my grandmother was 15 when she gave birth for the first time. But here, that would be scorned at. The custom is to live with your parents even after getting married and having children, to be able to take care of them as they are of older age. In America, with the children living far away from their parents, they are unable to look after and care for them. From my research, I've learned many new things that I never knew about. For instance, many Vietnamese street gangs have arose. This surprises me due to the fact that being involved with crime and violence is a huge dishonor to the family. I also did not know the specific term for "Amer-Asians" and how they were treated back in Vietnam. Having "Amer-Asians" as aunts, they were abandoned by their American father in the Army during the Vietnamese War. But most other Amer-Asians were left abandoned on streets by both of their parents. Basically, the Vietnamese culture is becoming more and more Americanized each day from leaving behind components of their culture and adopting Western values and traditions.

Reading details:

1/23: Found, read, and annotated 4 sources: 240 min.

1/24: Found, read, and annotated 2 sources: 120 min.

Brian Wansick, Mindless Eating

1/23: 10 min., 1/24: 30 min., 1/25: 60 min. pp. 172-248

Total time: 420 min.

Free Post: Temptations and Guilt

After being consistent and faithful to something for a long period of time, whether it be a workout regime or practicing the violin everyday, and then having a lapse, can cause you to submit to feelings of guilt. Although there are many adroit dieters who are able to crusade with having salad every day for dinner, they might occasionally succumb to that mouthwatering, warm, and rich oatmeal creme pie in front of them. 

Not to affront anybody, but I do not know how it is possible to not have temptations. It might be easy to resist urges to those temptations, however, with me, it is an entirely different story. An advantage for me is that  I absolutely hate the feeling of guilt after doing something I know that I shouldn't have done. So the feeling of guilt holds me back from inducting in a naughty demeanor or action. Even though I can't provide erudite information about this topic as much as I want to, I just want to remind everyone that some pleasures in life are only temporary, while the feelings of shame and guilt lag behind you endlessly...

Update on Research + Reading Details

Getting back to the gist of school is overwhelming me right now, but topping it off with this research project isn't really motivating me to keep myself concentrated in my work. The good thing about the project is that I can actually relate to my topic. As I already have some knowledge about it, supplying my paper with support from actual sources and references will be the only challenging part. My project is slowly moving forward - I have found some really helpful sources that give me valuable information. However, most of it is stuff that I already know, like the story about the immigrants coming over to America on boats (as my father had also been a boat person who traveled on the Pacific Ocean to America), and their lifestyles in America in comparison to Vietnam. I always hear stories from my family about how the Vietnamese culture has been shaped and molded, having more Western elements as Westerners have a big impact on Vietnamese people. 

The one surprising thing that I found this week from research was an article about Vietnamese teenagers forming street gangs in California. I knew before that Vietnamese kids were involved in gangs, but not subject to Vietnamese gang members alone - there were different races in the gangs as well. However, this article talks about how gangs with only Vietnamese youths are influenced from their cultural rejection. This is really eye-opening for me, as I did not know about this. This article did not mention anything about what the gangs have done, no crimes or actions. I'm really curious to know more about this, but it doesn't say whether the gangs have actually been violent or are in gangs just because they have similar outlooks about their culture.

Reading details: 

Brian Wansink, Mindless Eating

1/14/13: 10 min., 1/16/13: 10 min., 1/17/13: 10 min. pp. 126-173

1/16/13: found, read, annotated 3 sources: 180 min.

1/17/13: found, read, annotated 2 sources: 120 min.

Total time: 310 min.

2013 Resolutions: Free Post

I am not very keen about resolutions due to my knowledge of people unable to stay consistent with them. I'm not the type to have specific resolutions (or resolutions at all.) However, I think having resolutions this year for myself is very, very necessary. 2012 was truly a bummy year. I developed some bad habits that I need to steer myself away from, like constantly grazing on junk food and not sleeping enough. Those are my biggest offenses that I will hopefully change this year.

My resolutions include eating healthy, sleeping early (which is impossible due to the amount of homework I have!!!), having a stronger concentration on my schoolwork, building a closer relationship with God, and most importantly, spending more time with my family. I find myself drifting away from my family because I am always worrying about school. Therefore, I don't usually find time to spend with them besides dinner and church on Sundays. This saddens me a bit because my family is the upmost importance in my life, next to school. I'm hoping to find more time with them this year. All of these goals I've created for myself won't be limited to just this one year. I'm hoping to always remain consistent with them year after year.

Why We Eat More Than What We Think: Mindless Eating (Reading response + details)

Brian Wansink, Why We Eat More Than We Think: Mindless Eating

1/7: 10 min., 1/8: 10 min., 1/9: 60 min., 1/10: 70 min. (pg. 1-126)

The Norton Field Guide to Writing:

1/8: 10 min.  (pg. 389-395)

Total time: 160 min.

I don’t really know why I chose to read this book. It was just due to the fact that I didn’t have an idea of what type of book I wanted to dip into. Plus, I wanted to know the effects of the Americans’ mindless eating habits (which include myself as well.) One of my resolutions for this year is to abstain from constantly grazing on junk food, but I also will leave an occasional cheat day just for my sanity. It is so extremely challenging to leave behind the warm chocolate molten lava cake with caramel glazed over topped with pecans and vanilla ice cream.  Try to admit how difficult that is! Sigh… that’s what I had last night… and I finished the whole thing.

Why We Eat More Than We Think: Mindless Eating informs its’ readers about the daily eating lifestyles of Americans. I never realized how much we eat in one day! I’ve taken from the book that it’s not necessary to eat when you are not hungry. That makes sense. Why should we eat if we’re not hungry? We sometimes just eat because we’re bored and have nothing better to do. This is one of the factors of the increasing obesity rates in America. When we are hungry, we have cravings for a certain food. That’s enables us to acknowledge that we’re hungry. When we crave a specific food, and not what you have in sight, this means that you just crave it or your body has too scarce of it and needs it, but you are not hungry. Also, I learned that the less sweets you eat, the less you crave it. I will attempt to try this out. Let’s hope it’s true!