I just came back from a weekend in Seattle where I was able to celebrate a traditional Vietnamese wedding. Something interesting about a lot of my family that live in other states is that they tend to live nearby each other. What I mean is that brothers, nieces, uncles, cousins are in close proximity to each other. They therefore end up taking care of each other and helping to raise each other's children. I love being in that environment!
Anyway, It was definitely a worthwhile trip. The weekend also reminded me (along with Mitch's visit earlier today) about how I need to learn and practice my Vietnamese. I often wonder why I lost it and why I have not picked it up more over the years. It is a bit disheartening when my mom understands my English better than my Vietnamese. So I made a few observations...
1. I miss out on a lot of family gossip and jokes. Maybe not knowing all the dirty on everyone is a good thing but I would like to be able to share more laughs with the relatives without my cousins having to translate!
2. As Mitch reiterated to me...I will not gain the same respect in Ha Noi if I can't communicate effectively. How am I to advise and discuss nuances of the project with fellow researchers and doctors if we do not completely understand each other? Another problem is that even in San Francisco, my appearance and personality make me come off as "very young" in the eyes of many health professionals. Speaking like a kid in Vietnamese is going to make establishing any kind of respect even harder!
3. Looking back, I think it has probably made me a bad listener. My sister and I were kind of emo, angsty growing up and did not see the importance of learning our "native tongue" until after we have moved out of the house. Since I did not understand the language, I sort of learned to automatically tune out conversations, lectures, and church sermons in Vietnamese. Sadly, this has probably translated into my in attention and sleepiness in lectures and on rounds. Work with me and you will find out what I mean!
4. I am pretty sure my family does not know my true personality. I tend to be a bit quieter around them because of the communication errors. I am not saying I am a very loud person, but most of my friends will say I tend to be bubbly and talkative. Though this might not really be a communication problem but just me putting on different fronts in front of different people. Then again it is rather normal to have a variety of manners depending on one's audience. So maybe my family (and I guess my more intimidating residents and bosses) gets my quieter one.
Anyway...I need to stay motivated and learn. More important than just having these "how to" books though, I need to find a teacher! Now, enjoy some more pictures from the weekend!
