Growing up as children of first-generation immigrants is difficult. There are many barriers to cross, from language to culture.
On her blog, Heidi Tai has written beautifully about the struggle to understand her immigrant parents via her experience visiting her father-in-law’s childhood home in Vietnam. Check out her post, which is complemented by her own photos.
Here is a snippet of her essay:
“‘Why are you so ungrateful?’
Growing up, whenever I was lazy with my studies or complained about the ridiculous rules that were placed on my childhood (basically no fun, no sleepovers, no pocket money and no boyfriends until I graduated with a medicine degree), I would be reminded that I was so lucky.
‘Why do you complain so much? You will never truly understand how lucky you are to be born in Australia!’”
Find the full post here. You can also read her “Closing the Cultural Gap” essay here.