https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w A collection of thoughts, images, and stories about Vang Phan en-us 2021-11-08 23:56:05 UTC 2024-06-03 21:54:44 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f320.png sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876631765 These were our uniforms.]]> 2021-11-09 00:00:20 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876631765 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876632083 I am the second oldest on the far left. I have one sister and 3 brothers. We took this photo in town to send to my father while he was in a concentration camp after the Vietnam War.]]> 2021-11-09 00:00:33 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876632083 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876632809 2021-11-09 00:01:04 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876632809 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876649486 Here I am visiting my uncle's grave in Vietnam. This is what cemeteries look like in Vietnam. I prefer these gravestones to the ones in America.]]> 2021-11-09 00:11:41 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876649486 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876655189 2021-11-09 00:14:49 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876655189 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876683272 Sitting on the far left is my best friend. I am the one sitting second to the right.]]> 2021-11-09 00:29:30 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876683272 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876683651 I did a few different jobs in the army. I worked for a while with radios, but in this picture I am standing on the far right. After I moved to America I used my experience with radios to pursue a degree in computer science and technology in college.]]> 2021-11-09 00:29:42 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876683651 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876695774 2021-11-09 00:35:11 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876695774 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876700198 My father fought in the Vietnam War for the South and was afterwards put in a concentration camp by the North, so he was absent most of my childhood. My mother worked very hard to raise all of us alone. I loved my grandmother very much and would spend a lot of time with her before she passed away.]]> 2021-11-09 00:37:14 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876700198 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876700476 2021-11-09 00:37:22 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876700476 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876709496 This is our generational home my family has always lived in. It is in District 4 of Ho Chi Minh City.]]> 2021-11-09 00:41:07 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876709496 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876717997 2021-11-09 00:44:52 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876717997 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876737763 I bought this Jeep and didn't know how to drive a stick, I tried for the first time trying to drive it home.]]> 2021-11-09 00:53:18 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1876737763 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879718586 The things I learned in school I never ended up using, but the things I learned in my life I always use. In school, they might teach you what you need for work, but when you go to work they train you all in-house. Wisdom is social knowledge you learn from experience. However, you have to be strong to go out and experience the world. Things can go wrong really wrong if you fall onto the wrong track, hang out with the wrong people.]]> 2021-11-09 23:48:40 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879718586 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879721764 My family and I came to St. Louis, Missouri November 15th 1994. My mother, father, sister, and 2 of my brothers came and we moved into an apartment together. My oldest brother had to stay behind in Vietnam. ]]> 2021-11-09 23:50:30 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879721764 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879737504 Things for this generation are a lot different than they were for us. We had very bad nutrition when the Communists took over. We were fine as young children, but after that it became very difficult. Children would starve to death. Now this generation has plenty and they are comfortable. Every generation has a similar goal, make the world better for the next generation. We went through a lot of pain and many wars that the next generation did not have to. I wanted to have fun and play as well, but I was the oldest in a bad area and I had to grow up quickly. In many ways, this next generation is spoiled because they did not have to live through these things.]]> 2021-11-10 00:00:57 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879737504 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879752497 In Vietnam, there aren't these systems of social work. The young take care of the old. Culturally, the Vietnamese feel the need to take care of the older generations as the Chinese do. In the US there is a financial security net that will take care of you, but not a social one. My friends in the US talk about how they need to build their own safety net maybe buying a house in Vietnam or here so they can make money because they know their children will not take care of them. I do not want to be a burden to my children. Personally, I do not like anyone being responsible for me. ]]> 2021-11-10 00:10:51 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879752497 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879758732 I have had multiple near death experiences due to heart problems I have had since I was a child. I almost died as a baby, again after I moved to the US, and twice more in my middle age. I also was in serious danger daily during my time in the army. Because of this I have had time to really understand what is important to me. I do not think like my friends who have money, houses, cars. They get sucked into American culture of wanting money wanting respect. More money makes your life easier, but that doesn't earn you respect. Life ends for everyone and you cannot take the money with you.]]> 2021-11-10 00:14:33 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879758732 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879762517 When I was 20, my eldest brother was enlisted into the Vietnamese Army to fight in Cambodia. To protect my brother, I took his place.]]> 2021-11-10 00:16:28 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879762517 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879772087 This act from American Congress is why my family and I were able to move to America.]]> 2021-11-10 00:21:35 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879772087 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879778858 2021-11-10 00:24:50 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879778858 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879785944 When I was young I listened to American music even when I didn't know English. I liked Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpion, Guns N' Roses, Tesla.]]> 2021-11-10 00:28:18 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879785944 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879787642 2021-11-10 00:29:12 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879787642 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879791110 Kids learn from examples. My father is old and has been through a lot in his life including my mother dying a few years ago and fighting Ho Chi Minh during the Vietnam War. I learned a lot from watching him grow old. He takes care of himself. My father did not spoil me and I do not spoil my kids. He stayed away from substances like drugs and alcohol that I watched kill many of my friends. What I learn from my father, I hope my children can learn from me.]]> 2021-11-10 00:30:55 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879791110 sydneyphan1 https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879811031 2021-11-10 00:40:08 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyphan1/syo178e20x46qi2w/wish/1879811031