Viet School
In this story that Thi Bui put out, she illustrates how her time was spent during her younger years. When she was younger, she went to a Viet school. This was her main source of joy…she made friends with kids from other schools, found her first love there, and got to skip school days just to go and have fun with her Viet School. She would then go on and move away, no longer being a part of that community. Her mom would rent out a compartment in her house so they would be able to pay off their mortgage, and they found a tenant…and that tenant would be one of her old, wholesome teachers from Viet School. A pattern that I notice throughout the work is how Thi Bui is able to keep a happy but also a somewhat reminiscent tone throughout her panels.
I wonder how Thi Bui lived her life outside of Viet School. If Viet School was one of her main sources of joy, then what life like outside of it? Was she having fun at school too or just Vietnamese school? Why was it only Vietnamese school that she mentioned that kept her happy?
I can relate to Thi Bui because when I was younger, I also went to a Viet School. At my Viet School, we learned about our culture, our language(which I never really excelled at compared to my older brother), and customs that have been passed on by our ancestors. I was about 7 years old when I first joined the school and instantly made many new friends. I would always look forward and really enjoyed my Viet School, and Thi Bui’s story really made it clear that I miss it. After reading this short story, it really made me nostalgic for my past…
Thi Bui’s story not only reminded me of my childhood but also my dad’s as well. My dad moved from Vietnam to America as a refugee when he was 7. He was the eldest son of a family of 11, a mother/father, and 9 other siblings. He was a hard-working son and always worked to help out his mother and father who knew nothing of American culture or how things worked over here. But there was one place where he was able to relax and just kick back with friends… and it was at his Viet School. He would tell me stories about how he and his friends would always go work out and just be rascals on the streets messing around. Thi Bui’s story doesn't just represent how my father lived, but probably thousands of other Asian Americans that have migrated from other countries looking for peace.
