Those morning lectures on Vietnam are really clearing things up for me, but they're also making me question exactly how true the American version of history is.
I was outside eating pho in the living room with my parents watching some karaoke thing just at first, so I decided to ease into the topic of Vietnam. I learned a few things about my parents that I will post here so that if you read this, you'll know to never offend me about Vietnam ever again.
First, I asked my parents what they thought of Ho Chi Minh.
My dad said that most of the people in North Vietnam liked Ho Chi Minh and that he was a very good leader. My mom agreed and asked me why I would ask that. I think she thought that most people shared the same views. I told her that from the American perspective, Ho Chi Minh was the antagonist because he was communistic. My mom was actually shocked. Isn't that funny? It really puts things into perspective huh? The people living there at the time didn't even understand why America was there. From my mom's perspective, all she sees it that America exercised its big-stickesque powers on a smaller country because America wanted to and had the power to. My dad is very "don't listen to that crap they teach you in school" about Vietnam and other wars. He warned me that the stuff we're allowed to learn in school is very jaded.
Then, I asked my parents about how they felt in Hannoi, the place that LBJ ordered the most bombings for.
My dad knows what B52s are. He really surprises me sometimes. (He was just trying to explain the phrase double standards to me earlier, clearly not believing that I told him I understood it!) Anyway. He said that B52s would fly over really close all the time and that it was always so loud. He still remembers this one time when the planes flew so close that the entire house shook and seemed as if it was about to collapse. My mom says she still has nightmares about it. They threatened to bomb the electrical plant in Hannoi alot and my mom was afraid because she lived near there and because my dad worked there. That made me want to cry.
My mom went on and gave me an example of double standards. America being against rulers that use dictatorial powers when America has a lot of stringent laws that take away our liberties. I thought that was funny.
My mom doesn't hate America.. for the record. She says she's torn because she recognizes how great our American freedoms are, but she also hates a lot of other aspects of America. (it's tough to translate this stuff from Vietnamese/Chinese)
Then, I asked them what they thought of Mao.
They don't think Mao is bad either. I was sort of like.. o_O;; What about all the killings! They said that Mao was a leader of a country in extreme poverty and he did what the needed to do under extreme conditions. My parents don't agree with all of it, but they said that Mao was inherently good intentioned and that that crap. So I asked them about religion. My mom said, "what about religion?" I said, "they don't let you practice your religion!" My mom said, "what are you talking about? How was your grandma a Buddhist in China then?" That was a good point. I don't understand that part actually. What's up with the whole Tibetan monk stuff? They can't practice their religion right? I didn't want to go into that with my parents. So I asked about Falun gong. My mom said that yeah on the outside it's peaceful, but it's just like those protestors at Berkeley during Vietnam, there were times when things got violent. My dad painted me a picture of what he meant. Imagine people camping out in front of the White House all year round, setting up tents for people to live in all their excrement and waste. Obviously the White House would have those people kicked off right? Well that's the same concept in China. That's like the Veterans Aministration march to the White House demanding their pensions early. I immediately thought of that actually. haha.
I guess there isn't really a point of this entry except to document what I learned from my parents. I don't necessarily believe everything they said, but it's really good to know their perspectives on history. I haven't decided what I believe yet.. It's tough for me though. I don't know who to believe anymore.
I was outside eating pho in the living room with my parents watching some karaoke thing just at first, so I decided to ease into the topic of Vietnam. I learned a few things about my parents that I will post here so that if you read this, you'll know to never offend me about Vietnam ever again.
First, I asked my parents what they thought of Ho Chi Minh.
My dad said that most of the people in North Vietnam liked Ho Chi Minh and that he was a very good leader. My mom agreed and asked me why I would ask that. I think she thought that most people shared the same views. I told her that from the American perspective, Ho Chi Minh was the antagonist because he was communistic. My mom was actually shocked. Isn't that funny? It really puts things into perspective huh? The people living there at the time didn't even understand why America was there. From my mom's perspective, all she sees it that America exercised its big-stickesque powers on a smaller country because America wanted to and had the power to. My dad is very "don't listen to that crap they teach you in school" about Vietnam and other wars. He warned me that the stuff we're allowed to learn in school is very jaded.
Then, I asked my parents about how they felt in Hannoi, the place that LBJ ordered the most bombings for.
My dad knows what B52s are. He really surprises me sometimes. (He was just trying to explain the phrase double standards to me earlier, clearly not believing that I told him I understood it!) Anyway. He said that B52s would fly over really close all the time and that it was always so loud. He still remembers this one time when the planes flew so close that the entire house shook and seemed as if it was about to collapse. My mom says she still has nightmares about it. They threatened to bomb the electrical plant in Hannoi alot and my mom was afraid because she lived near there and because my dad worked there. That made me want to cry.
My mom went on and gave me an example of double standards. America being against rulers that use dictatorial powers when America has a lot of stringent laws that take away our liberties. I thought that was funny.
My mom doesn't hate America.. for the record. She says she's torn because she recognizes how great our American freedoms are, but she also hates a lot of other aspects of America. (it's tough to translate this stuff from Vietnamese/Chinese)
Then, I asked them what they thought of Mao.
They don't think Mao is bad either. I was sort of like.. o_O;; What about all the killings! They said that Mao was a leader of a country in extreme poverty and he did what the needed to do under extreme conditions. My parents don't agree with all of it, but they said that Mao was inherently good intentioned and that that crap. So I asked them about religion. My mom said, "what about religion?" I said, "they don't let you practice your religion!" My mom said, "what are you talking about? How was your grandma a Buddhist in China then?" That was a good point. I don't understand that part actually. What's up with the whole Tibetan monk stuff? They can't practice their religion right? I didn't want to go into that with my parents. So I asked about Falun gong. My mom said that yeah on the outside it's peaceful, but it's just like those protestors at Berkeley during Vietnam, there were times when things got violent. My dad painted me a picture of what he meant. Imagine people camping out in front of the White House all year round, setting up tents for people to live in all their excrement and waste. Obviously the White House would have those people kicked off right? Well that's the same concept in China. That's like the Veterans Aministration march to the White House demanding their pensions early. I immediately thought of that actually. haha.
I guess there isn't really a point of this entry except to document what I learned from my parents. I don't necessarily believe everything they said, but it's really good to know their perspectives on history. I haven't decided what I believe yet.. It's tough for me though. I don't know who to believe anymore.
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