My name is Thanh Nguyen, I was born and raised in
Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. I moved to Hawaii when I was 14. The reason why I
moved here was simply because my whole family resides here on the island of
Oahu. Eventually, I had to move here and live my family. Before coming to
Hawaii, I heard so much about Hawaii on television, news, radio, etc. Back in
Vietnam, people called Hawaii a paradise for living. I too had the same thought
as well: a living paradise for me. Therefore, I was so excited moving here on
this island.
For the first week after moving to Hawaii, I was
like “wow”, the air smelled so different compared to Vietnam, fresh air
everywhere I went. People are so different in general. Different skin colors
and different languages they use for communication. I was in cultural-shock for
the first couple months because of the difficulties in communicating with
others. Everything was so new and I thought it would be a new chapter in my
life moving to Hawaii. In other words, I got to start my life over from
learning a new language to changing my life style.
First years living in Hawaii wasn't easy for me.
I had no friends beside those Vietnamese guys I met when enrolled in Kaimuki
High because of my language barrier. That was the most difficult time of my
life. I found it difficult living in a new place especially because the
difference in language and culture. My life was miserable back then.
Roughly a year later, I changed my aspect about
Hawaii. Being able to speak the language everybody use and mingle into the
society make a huge difference in my life. I was able to make many
non-Vietnamese friends. And I got to say that Hawaii is the best place to live.
Setting aside from the fresh air, the people are friendly. Of course, there are
also some bad guys on the island too. But people tend to be friendlier in
Hawaii generally.
When
talking about Hawaii, most of non-islander people consider Hawaii to be a
destination for vacation, hotel, beach, scuba-diving and dark-skin hula girls.
It indeed has all that and more. However, to me, Hawaii means a place to work
and live, and unit with my family. As a matter of fact, being living here on
the island for 10 years, I got different perspective on how I see Hawaii. To
most people, they view Hawaii as a paradise place. However, to me, Hawaii is
all about the people. I love the way how the people live their lives here. It
is more lay-back compares to other places. Well, except for tall office building
and the heavy traffic. In fact, Hawaii is in 4th place in the
American traffic statistic. Other than that, I think Hawaii is a beautiful
place physically and spiritually. Now, I consider Hawaii my second country, a
place that I come to love.
