The important thing is that when we eat we cannot talk or drink anything; we can drink or talk only after we are done with the meal. I remember one day in particular when I ate dinner with all of my family and was very happy with the grade that I had received in school. My excitement caused me to forget our culture's traditions and I talked to my father about my grade. My dad looked at me but he did not say anything. A sense of fear overcame me as all of my family looked at me. I became totally silent and waited until the meal was finished. It was at the completion of the meal that my family began yelling at me. My dad said, "Do not do this again". I almost forgot the incident, until one day when my family had a dinner at home in United States, which was after all my family left Vietnam in 1998. I was talking about school again and once again at the dinner table. My family was laughing until my Dad stated, "You know how to make people think and you are a nice boy but please do not talk when you eat." Then, my mom tried to help me and said, "This is the United States." Mom was right. In United States, people like to talk and drink while they eat. Most people like to talk about their business during they meal. .
The second thing, I am going to talk about dating. In Vietnam, dating is considered an adolescent issue, and one so sensitive that people rarely mention it in conversation, at school, or even in books (Dating in Vietnam 1). Traditionally, Vietnamese males and females are not allowed to date. They simply grow up in their family until age 18 to 20, or sometimes earlier, marry according to their parent's arrangements, and establish their families from there. Dating is believed to undermine traditions, encouraging sons and daughters to defy their parent's wishes and thus bringing shame to their family. Youths who have affections for one another may marry, but only when the relationship is kept in secrecy.
