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- Huy Pham -
"...and of course, being Vietnamese you find other Vietnamese you immediately linked up with them, it's just so natural."
"I went to school, I was in year five, I was very nervous, entering the classroom and meeting all these, people, with brown hair and blonde hair and green eyes. It was strange, I was surprised to find, middle eastern people as well. Also I was a bit surprised to see the number of Asians there as well some Vietnamese there, and of course, being Vietnamese you find other Vietnamese you immediately linked up with them, it's just so natural. And because you can't speak English as well, so you have to find people that you can talk to, communicate to."
"I thought all the houses here are all the same, everywhere you go you just see the same, the same shape, the red and brown bricks, they're everywhere. I think I was a bit sad when I got to Australia because life over here is very different. Like after school, I used to go home and there's just nothing for you to do. Like the neighbours in Australia, they're not like neighbours in Vietnam. The neighbours in Vietnam, they tend to be livelier, people tend to talk to one another all the time, you can just nearly go to your neighbours house and borrow fish sauce or garlic or sugar or salt and pepper"
"What people would normally do (in Sydney) is organise barbecues at the park, with other families..."
"What people would normally do (in Sydney) is organise barbecues at the park, with other families, it's like family catch up, then all members of the family would be there, the parents and the uncles, the aunts, the sisters all the cousins and the grandpa and grandma. It's a big event."
"So they would bring all the barbecue stuff that they have marinated overnight and the salad and they'd also bring a couple of fishing rods there. So by ten o'clock they would get to the park and start barbecuing then play some sports like volleyball is quite popular and find a spot and do some fishing. Then we'd go home around five o'clock. That would be a very nice day."
"I think that my favourite spot is the intersection between the River Road and Henry Lawson Drive, because you get the river there, also the barbecue facilities and parking as well which is very nice. It's spacious there and we can play some sports like volley ball or badminton. Badminton is a big part of the Vietnamese culture”.
"I think it's just a nice spot for you to go there to relax, or you have some things to think about, just use a spot and look at the water you know, you find maybe some serenity within yourself, and then some of your thoughts will be clearer."
"It's a big park (Chipping Norton), it also has water views as well, it's just nice and close and convenient to my place. And again it's got barbecue facilities and so that's why Vietnamese love to go there."
"In Vietnamese culture, whenever we think of water, we think of it as life..."
"In Vietnamese culture, whenever we think of water, we think of it as life, it's calming, it's fresh. It's like after you play sports for like two hours, you go home, and then you wash your face, doesn't that make you feel good? You feel so refreshed, and also calm as well. So, to us Vietnamese, that's what we think of water and hence the river as well. A river is a big part of Vietnamese culture because you know like in rural areas; people use the water from the river for agricultural purposes, like for the rice fields. So there's that connection of the river, and also the land and the rice fields there, to some people when they look at the river it makes them feel a bit at home. It reminds them of their memories in Vietnam. [The] river is a big part of our life and that's why a lot of people do fishing."
» Huy Pham revisits Vietnam
