» Read the Vietnamese version of this story

Author: Nguyen Thanh Hong
Storyteller: Nguyen Thanh Hong
Community Language School: Wollongong Vietnamese School
Main School: Towradgi Public School

The story of how my family came to Australia.

My name is Hong and I am ten years old. I live in Fairy Meadow.

I live with my parents and my three sisters. My father is 45 years old and works for BHP Steelworks. My mother is 43 and works for Crystal Bears. My older sister is Van, 14 years of age, studies at Keira High. My two younger sisters are : Uyen, 8 and the youngest is Dung,6. My younger sisters and I study at Towradgi Public.

My family is from Vietnam. My father came to Australia in 1977. He left Vietnam for Thailand, stayed there for a few months, and then finally came to Australia. My mother came to Australia in 1984. She had left Vietnam for Malaya and stayed in a camp called Palau Bidong. After one year and six months, she came to Australia.

My mother is happy to live in Australia because she has her freedom. My father is not really happy because he misses his country. We, the girls, we like to live here.

When my mother was young, she went to school and after school, she worked around the house, cleaning the yard and gardening. She started work at 15 years old. She likes sewing.

In the next three years, I would like to make some progress in sport.