Vietnamese School

In the midst of the tragic events that transpired last Saturday with the Victorian bushfire crisis, this white man neglected to make comment on his two sons, Kim and Luc beginning Vietnamese school. They will always remember what day they began their Vietnamese school odyssey, Saturday 7th February, the hottest and most tragic day in Victorian history. But it was a positive experience for the boys and they seemed to enjoy the class.

It is so important for Kim and Luc to own their Vietnamese heritage. In Australia, where everything is predominantly Western and English is obviously their first language, it would be easy for Kim and Luc to just flow with their Australian identity and ignore their Vietnamese identity. My hope is that Vietnamese school may just be the beginning of my sons equally claiming for themselves their shared identity as Australian-Vietnamese.