Schwarting - Final Video

Schwarting - Final Blog

The Vietnamese people received a bad reputation in the Untied States in the 1960s through 1975 because of the Vietnam War.  Even though they were American citizens, they were treated like outsiders just based on their culture and what they looked like.  Today, the Vietnamese still are not fully accepted by the American people. My goal is to raise awareness of their culture and lifestyle and eliminate Vietnamese ignorance.  To do this, I will first look at the Vietnamese culture.  Then, I will explain the concept behind my research.  Lastly, I will explain my results and explanations. 

Culture is defined as a “learned pattern or behavior and attitudes shared by a group of people” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p.88).  The Vietnamese culture focuses on traditions and family.  They are proud of their culture and where they came from.  They are a high context society (Ashwell, 2005).  They also have many different nonverbal gestures that our different then other cultures.  A woman and a man may not shake hands otherwise it is viewed as inappropriate (Ashlwell, 2005).  The Vietnamese sense of values seems a lot stronger then American values.

Next, I will explain the concept behind my research.  When I was conducting my interviews, I focused on the culture shock aspect of coming to the United States.  Culture shock is described as, “A state of bewilderment and distress experienced by an individual who is suddenly exposed to new, strange, or foreign social and cultural environment” (Culture shock,” 2012).  Culture shock is a normal part of the human process, just like any other transition experience (Martin & Nakayma, 2012, p.332).

I interviewed Anh Ha, Anh Le, and Terri Tran for this project about culture shock and got some of their stories.  Even though most of my questions were about culture shock, I received way more information through observations and their stories.  Through their stories, interviews and observations, I found that three categories that I found interesting that differed between Americans and the Vietnamese people. 

The first observation I made about all three of my participants is their use of time.  All three participants were late in various activities.  Anh Ha showed up about Ten minutes late to a school meeting while Terri Tran showed up 15 minutes late to work.  They both causally walked in and headed straight to work like nothing was wrong.  I work with Terri Tran and she does this on a daily basis and it is almost expected out of her.  She does however leave exactly on time, not a minute early or a minute late if she is not overly busy.  She is one of the hardest workers and does not waste time during the work hours like the rest of the employees do.

The second observation I made was the attachment they had to material things, which was non-existent!  I am very attached to my iPhone and will not let it out of my sight while Anh Ha can drops and cracks the whole screen and act like it is not a big deal.  Terri Tran told me how she threw away her wedding dress when she was moving into a new house.  Her husband went and dug it out of the trash and Terri found it and threw it away again.  When I asked her why she did this she responded, “I don’t have any use for it anymore” (Tran, 2012). 

Lastly, I noticed how generous they all were.  When I was invited into Anh Ha and Anh Le’s home, Anh Le gave me some ice tea without asking but did not take any for herself.  It was such a sweet gesture that you wouldn’t usually experience when walking into an American home.  Terri Tran insisted on giving me her phone cover once she saw mine was unprotected which then left hers unprotected.  While I waited for my phone cover to arrive in the mail, Terri put two ponytail holders around her phone to protect hers.  I felt bad for having her phone cover but she would not let me give hers back until my came in the mail. 

After all my research, I discovered that the Vietnamese are such a sweet, caring, nice and loving culture.  They care about their family and friends more then themselves.  They do not place a high importance on materialistic things.  They will do anything in their power to help you.  It makes me sad to realize that they have not got the best treatment based just on the way they look or because of people’s ignorance.  Once you realize how they were raised, you will not take offense if they are 10 minutes late to a meeting or event.  Once everyone is educated, then there will be no more prejudice or ignorance and people can finally all be treated equally.  Wayne Dyer once said, “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.”    

 A funny but true way on how exchange students 

were culture shocked when they came to America

References:

Ashwell, M. (2005). Vietnamese gestures and politeness. Retrieved from http://www.adoptvietnam.org/travel/vietnamesepolitegestures.htm    

Culture shock. (2012). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/culture shock

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2010). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill. 

Ha, A. H. (2012, October 15). Interview by M.S. Schwarting [Personal Interview]. Culture shock.

Le, A. L. (2012, October 15). Interview by M.S. Schwarting [Personal Interview]. Culture shock.

Tran, T.T. (2012, November 2). Interview by M.S. Schwarting [Personal Interview]. Culture shock.

Schwarting - Blog #2

Imagine living in a place that does not feel like home.  I had a hard enough time just leaving my parents house let alone leaving my whole entire family, friends and way of life to live in another country.  This is what two individuals that I interviewed experienced when coming to the United States. 

I interviewed these individuals over the concept of culture shock.  Culture shock is described as, “A state of bewilderment and distress experienced by an individual who is suddenly exposed to a new, strange, or foreign social and cultural environment” (“Culture shock,” 2012).  Culture shock is a normal part of the human process. Just like any other transition experience (Martin & Nakayma, 2012, p.332).  

The two individuals I interviewed came from Vietnam for education.  Anh Ha came to the United States from Hanoi back in 2008.  His mother always dreamed for him to study abroad.  He first went to Indiana to finish his last year of high school. He mentioned how it was hard making friends and people weren’t very friendly to him.  He felt like he didn’t belong and didn’t have anyone to talk to except for the teachers.  In Vietnam he was very passionate and loved playing soccer.  He said, “My high school in Indiana didn’t have a soccer program.  That was really hard for me.  It was like a huge piece of me missing.” (Ha, 2012).  When he came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln people were a lot more accepting.  He made a lot of friends living in the dorm and being involved in activities. He works at the coffee shop in CBA and is a referee for soccer games.

Anh Le and Anh Ha

Anh Ha’s girlfriend, Anh Le, mentioned that something that shocked her when she arrived to the United States this year to study at UNL was the food.  She makes a lot of her own food since she is not used to the food the United States serves.  She had somewhat of an idea of what the United States was like since Anh Ha has been here for four years and they would skype to keep in contact while he was at UNL and she was back in Vietnam.  She said, “It isn’t like the Hollywood movies.  There are no skyscrapers and a lot less people then I thought.” (Le, 2012). 

You may be confused by why both of their names are Anh.  I was at first also! Vietnamese have very few family names for a population of 56 million people (Nguyen, 1985).  Their names are always written in the following order: family, middle and first name (Nguyen, 1985).  Even though they are not related, they share the same family name, Anh.  Since Americans believe the first name written is their first name, then that’s what they call them.  So in the United States, they are both known as Anh.

Anh Ha and Anh Le have had a fairly easy time adjusting to their new lifestyle in America.  According to the social science theory, younger people have a less hard time then older people because they are less fixed in their ideas and beliefs (Martin & Nakayma, 2012, p.333).  This may cause more trouble though when they go home.  Even though they have an easier time, it still isn’t home to them.  When asked if they both would make the same decision again, Anh Ha said, “Of course.  In a blink.” (Ha, 2012).

Foreign exchange student getting a hard time from

 his host family on his cultural differences.

   

 References:

Culture shock. (2012). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/culture shock

Nguyen, M. D. N. (1985). Culture shock-a review of vietnamese culture and its concepts of health and disease. Cross-cultural medicine, 142(3), 409-412. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1306060/?page=1

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2010). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill. 

Ha, A. H. (2012, October 15). Interview by M.S. Schwarting [Personal Interview]. Culture shock.

Le, A. L. (2012, October 15). Interview by M.S. Schwarting [Personal Interview]. Culture shock.

Schwarting - Intro Blog

If I gave you a list of stereotypes, would you be able to guess what culture I am talking about?  What group of people own most nail salons?  Or what group of people is very family oriented or prefer to eat on the floor?  How about what group of people like to eat dog? You have probably narrowed it down to Asians but I specifically want to look at the Vietnamese culture.  Through my research project I want to break down the stereotypes most Americans believe about the Vietnamese culture and give you an inside look in how they think and act.

Culture is defined as a “learned pattern or behavior and attitudes shared by a group of people” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p.88).  The Vietnamese definitely share many values and tradition that would define them as a culture.  They have a strong sense of traditional family values, spiritual values and hard work ("Vietnam culture values," 2006).  They also have traditional clothing, music, food, literature, art and holidays ("Vietnam culture values," 2006).

 

Next, I want to look at the Vietnamese communication styles.  The Vietnamese is classified as a high context society (Ashwell, 2005).  In a high context society, many times communication is left up for interpretation.  Unlike the United States, they beat around the bush when it comes to agreements and tasks.  They are not straight to the point like most Americans are.  Another couple of differences is how some body language here can be offensive or negative in Vietnam.  Shaking one’s head is a negative body action (Ashwell, 2005).  Also winking at someone is not acceptable, especially toward someone of the opposite sex (Ashwell, 2005).  A woman and a man may not shake hands (Ashwell, 2005).  Women and men are treated very differently in Vietnam.

Using the interpretive method, I plan on studying this group.  I plan on using participant observation when studying the relationship on how Vietnamese relationships differ from an American relationship.  I will be observing Anh Ha and his girlfriend of several years in their home.  I will also be interviewing a woman named Terri Tran about raising her boys through her Vietnam culture in the United States.  Some limitations of my research are that these Vietnamese people have lived in the United States for quite some time now.  They still keep their culture strong with them but they have been Americanized in their way of life. 

Here is a video with explanations of a traditional wedding

tea ceremony. 

As I go about being an interpretive researcher, I suspect that I will find many similarities and differences in the way I grew up in my own culture.  I can’t wait to learn more about these amazing people and be able to understand more about their culture. 

References:

 Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2010). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill. 

Vietnam culture values. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.vietnam-culture.com/zones-6-1/Vietnamese-Culture-Values.aspx

Ashwell, M. (2005). Vietnamese gestures and politeness. Retrieved from http://www.adoptvietnam.org/travel/vietnamesepolitegestures.htm    

Schwarting - Cultural Identity Video