Section B
mate****. v iA L
The News-Journal
Editorials ? Columns ? Features ? Classified ads
wzmm
Thursday, February 9, 1984
*'? T, r*T> ? ? . ^
" In my country , I would not have been able to do the things I have done here . I
am grateful that the United States gave me the chance to be all / can be . "
? Nguyet Thi Tran
? ^alr fcMfty Mattknn^^^
I l ying to adjust to a new wav ot
life and a new country filled with
striate customs b not an easy
task, but is "worth the stnuo^v
according to Raeford business
woman Nguyet Thl Tran.
Tran, a Viet Nan native who
moved to the United States m
1966, owns and operates the China
DoH Restaurant on the U& 401
By-Pass. '
Since her arrival 18 years act),
Tran has become a teacher, consul
tant, social worker and
restaurateur.
"I could not have done the
things in my country that I have
accomplished here," Tran said.
"My people would have fraf&v
down on me for what I have ac
complished here in America," she
added.'
^ Tran, who admits to being
Americanized, started her new
"American life" in Los Angeles
where she attended school.
"It was not easy back then,"
Tran said.
"I did not know anyone and
could not speak your language,"
she added.
"It was frightening," Tran said.
I Despite her fears and the ' 'strug
gle" to be accepted, Tran enrolled
herself in an English class where
she began to break the language
barrier.
"Once I learned the language, I
felt I was on my way," Tran said.
While in school, Tran majored
in Social Ps^hology dfd business
management. .
"School was not easy. There
' were very few foreigners," Tran
said. ' . ? ...
"I found that people seemed to
be looking down on me. It made
me feel so terrible," she added.
Although prejudices seemed to
follow Tran through her first years
in the United States, she "fefused"
to let it discourage her.
"I have always been stubborn,"
I she said.
"I wanted this life and was
determined I could adjust," she
added.
Once she completed her school
ing in Los Angeles, Tran moved to
Washington, D.C.
From Washington she traveled
to North Carolina and hung her
shingle at nearby Fort Bragg.
"I came to Fort Bragg in 1971 to
' look for work as a substitute
teacher," Tran said.
When Tran arrived, she found
"many" Vietnamese wives living
on base.
"They were just miserable,"
Trail said.
"They were in a strange coun
try, with no friends and no way of
communicating," she added.
"I knew how they felt. I wanted
to help in some way," Tran said.
For Tran, helping came in the
form Of English classes that she
began teaching during her stay at
Fort Bragg. - .i'J
"When I started tteidajpg^^B
teaching about 30 ladies. From
there the numbers began to grow,"
Tran said.
"I was trying to help mm id*
.jj a T.
"They must learn to accept a
strange American culture and leave
the heritage they have known
behind,*** added.
'That can cause you to lose any
identity you may have brought
with yon.
"I tried to help them adjust to a
new way of doing things so they
weald be accepted over here.
"Uh here it a lot easier once
you learn to adjust," Tran said.
"1 just want to hdp my students
realize this so that they can get on
with their fives," she added.
.With 594 volunteer counseling
hours under her belt, Tran decided
to try her hand in the new adven
ture of the restaurant business.
Tran was looking for
ifca deckled to
teaching and
m
for them. They get a fed for what
life is like in America," Tran Hid.
For Tran, life in America "feds
great" and It "very mud) ap
preciated."
"It has not always been easy,
but 1 think it was worth it."
Although Tran admits to bouts
of homesickness, despite her
family's arrival nearly 10 years sab,
she has never been back to ?r
country.
"They would not want me to go
back. There is too much difference
now.".
"I would not be accepted in ? ? 1
L jSSttSK
mericanized througfc <4k6 y
? ?dmiu to holding on mf
? ? ? ? w w .V^p
"I have no regrets about any of
ffccWoQg. I am doing what I
want," she added.
"Isn't that what America is sup
posed to be about?" Tran said.
iV^J!|ie .people here have given me
i - ? ? ? -
and my business a lot of support
and I really appreciate that," she
added.
With her life, "pretty much"
together, Tran is not sure where
she will go from here.
"I am pretty much satisfied with
my life now.
"I have my work, my hobbies
and acceptance," she added.
"I have had to fight a lot of bat
tles to survive, but I made it."
This Vietnam*** refugee Is impioyed by Tran at tht enough " to learn how to work and Ove in the United
China Dotti he is also one of her many students. Tran States. '7 am just trying to give them a sens* ofidenti
ts attempting to get the refugees " Americanized ty." Tran said.