A Cultural Miscommunication

A disadvantage of being Vietnamese-American is that my fellow Americans only perceive my ‘American’ side. Holding on tightly to their convictions like a child clutching a teddy bear, I am quickly categorized into the ‘born and raised in the US’ and ‘native English speaker’ categories. But I wasn’t and I’m not. Growing up as a Vietnamese immigrant, I struggled to define myself. To myself, I was a member of the ‘one-and-a-half’ generation, an insider and an outsider, both Vietnamese and American and yet neither simultaneously.

Representing the Peace Corps as an American only highlights my identity insecurities. Ironically, it is not the native Mongolians in this country that raise such issues to the surface but my fellow American PCTs. Maybe it is my young looking face and short twenty-seven years that makes them lump me into the same group experience category as themselves. I wouldn’t mind this inaccuracy too much if it didn’t cause problems, but, as it was in the States and amplified here in Mongolia, this inaccurate label is the root of some of my communication problems.

Nowadays, I speak English without an accent, comprehending the language my in a way my parents still do not. Nonetheless, as a habit of learning English as a second language, I interpret what people say literally and ask many questions to clarify meaning. But English is a tricky language. There are hidden meanings behind the literal words that a native speaker expects another native speaker to understand. And when I don’t, I am quickly tagged as dim-witted and promptly laughed at or worse, made an enemy. A former boyfriend once accused me of “not listening” – a phrase I have heard uttered more frequently in the past two months. My attempt at clarification only causes frustration on the side of the ‘real’ native speaker and such situations usually end in dust clouds of hasty departures.

How ironic is it that in a foreign country, half way around the world from the place that I call home, do I feel more comfortable and accepted then when I’m with fellow Americans.