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Personal Journey of Cultural Exploration

Cash Robinson

St. Cloud State University, Department of Social Work

SW 618: Refugees and Immigrants

Dr. Younsook Anna Yeo, PhD, MSW, MAS

April 28, 2022

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Personal Journey of Cultural Exploration

Our group interviewed Vietnamese-owned businesses in St. Cloud employees about their

views of their social relationships and traditional practices. Most migrants came to the United

States through the Family Sponsorship program as a path to lawful permanent residency. We

discussed concerns regarding public policies, availability, and accessibility of services during the

interviews and acculturation issues, legal status, substance abuse, and family issues. The main

themes for current problems in multiple interviews were issues with education, employment, and

acculturation. Those interviewed were not aware of any public policies or services to help with

integration into the community. Based on our interviews, we were able to identify strengths and

resources from their culture and society. The group attended activities and neighborhood walks

in Asian-owned companies and businesses. Our findings help us apply the new knowledge when

working with clients and colleagues.

Current Issues in the Community

Education

A worker at Encore Nail Salon shared that he could complete a year of high school when

he migrated to the United States when he was 19-years old. He stated he could do this because

the family told the school during the assessment for placement that he did not complete his

schooling in Vietnam. It is not uncommon for enrollment and school placement for immigrant

children 19 years and older to be told they are no longer permitted to attend school past the age

of 18 when the reality is that they are no longer required to attend school (Chang-Muy &

Congress, 2016). Education laws and policies such as the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of

1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act require that school districts make special

arrangements for children whose native language is not English (Chang-Muy & Congress, 2016).
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An immigrant student is defined as a student who is a child between the ages of 3 and 21 years

old (Minnesota Department of Education, 2018). Therefore, the interviewee should have been

able to attend school until he was 21 years old regardless of completing school in Vietnam before

migration.

Employment

An interviewee from Encore Nail Salon stated that he and his family did not have any

support when they migrated over from the local community for the government. Instead, they

relied on other Asian Americans within the community for the assistance they got to know from

friends and relatives. His father emigrated from Vietnam in hopes of living the "American

Dream" for himself and his family. His father has a high degree in Vietnam that he used in the

marriage industry, including matching couples and marrying them. He was in a leadership

position and received lots of respect. However, when he migrated to the United States, the degree

was not recognized, and he could not find work. As a result, he often took jobs of lower stature

and is currently working as a janitor at the hospital. The interviewee stated that his father became

depressed, drank a lot, and became violent because of the stress.

The interviewee's experience resembles the research by Beckhusen et al. (2013), in which

immigrants look for better opportunities than in their home country. However, more often than

not, the migrants find themselves in jobs for which they are over-educated. While the United

States has a reputation for being a nation of immigrants, Moon (2021) states, "the pathways of

equitable access to work and residency for various migrant groups are fraught with

inconsistencies."

Acculturation
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Acculturation takes on a divergence of topics. A theory that describes acculturation or

segmented assimilation indicates that immigrants adopt one of three varying paths of integration

to living in the U.S., or assimilation. The first path describes the pursuit of the mainstream

middle class, whereas the second path describes groups reaching the middle class while heeding

their cultural values. The third path describes some groups reflective of the disadvantaged (Tam

& Friesthler, 2015). The interviewed people and the ways they followed reflected mainly the age

in which they migrated. For example, one interviewee stated the older generations have a much

harder time acculturating to the United States than the younger generations. When he came to the

United States, he was 19 years old while his sister was in her early thirties. He stated that she had

a much harder time getting acquainted with the new culture than he did.

One of the interviewees states that the older generations migrate to the United States for

their children to be safer, have more money, and have more opportunities. However, at the same

time, they feel that they are losing their children because they do not hold the same values and

respect for their elderly. Hien (2016), "they preserve traditions from their home country by

transmitting this heritage to their children with the expectation that they will not abandon their

roots. Meanwhile, some of the older generations are concerned that youngsters have become too

"Americanized" or "Westernized" (Espiritu and Trần 2002). In the view of many elders, one

remedy for cultural loss and issues of cultural identity is to maintain and revive certain aspects of

cultural traditions, particularly in language, family and social relations, and religious rituals. As

Aguilar-San Juan states, "Vietnamese Americans need to stay Vietnamese to have some

connection to themselves, their histories, and their cultures. Most of the older generation are

refugees. This means 'keeping our roots' (Aguilar-San Juan 2009)."

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Another interviewee stated she migrated when she was 25 years old as a refugee to be

with her husband, already living in the United States. Her husband relocated through the

sponsorship program through his father, a U.S. citizen. She discussed her difficulty learning

English as a second language and wanting to move back to Vietnam for the first two years after

arriving in the United States. Since living in the United States, she and her husband have a son

who is currently 11 years old. The interviewee emphasized how much she wants her son to speak

Vietnamese at home to maintain his fluency; however, he prefers to talk about English. "As with

settings, activities associated with particular life domains for immigrants are often embedded

within different cultural contexts. The school and occupational domains often involve settings

culturally oriented to the mainstream culture" (Salo & Birman 2015).

Strengths and Resources

Based on our interactions, most of the people we spoke to stay to themselves in a small

milieu. Most of which travel to the cities for cultural events/resources. We discovered one of

Minnesota's primary resources with this information as the Vietnamese Social Services (VSS),

located in Minneapolis at 277 University Ave w, St Paul. They are a multi-service agency with

programs in health care, education, elder services, English proficiency, and job training. These

programs help ensure that all immigrants/refugees, individuals, and families achieve self-

sufficiency. VSS also provides a calendar and list of upcoming events. You can subscribe to their

calendar and find events based on the month and the day. Before researching resources in

Minnesota for the Vietnamese population, we had no idea VSS existed. Under the impression

that each county has a Social Service building but has to outsource through different agencies to

find appropriate services for immigrants/refugees.

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Very few places celebrate or offer cultural activities in the community. The Viet-Market

was the only Vietnamese-specific service. We tried to go to an Asian restaurant to eat Pho-

(Vietnamese), but it was closed as the owners were on vacation. So we went to a Japanese

restaurant instead. There is a Temple in Waite Park- Giac Lam (Buddhist Temple) used to

provide New Years' Celebrations. They are open most days, and people will go there for support.

People from all over the world go here, not just Vietnamese. People rely on each other for

celebrations and events, generally at home rather than in the community. Vietnamese

communities do not live in a specific neighborhood but spread out around St. Cloud, Waite Park,

Sartell, St. Joe, and Clear Water. However, they contact each other through social media and get

to know each other through friends and families. For example, during the interview at Encore,

the interviewee talked about the Viet-Market owner and how the owner had recently passed

away (in the last year) in a car crash, so the daughter has unexpectedly had to take over. He

further described how the community has supported her and assisted her in this process. More

significant events and cultural resources go to the cities.

A more significant celebration is the Vietnamese New Year, called Lunar Moon. The

interviewee stated they have a lot of food and music and exchange red envelopes for money to

bring good luck throughout the year. One interviewee says that St. Cloud State University is

where he gets most of his cultural experiences. He is currently going to school there for

marketing. He is from Nepal and has been working in the Viet-Market.

Another interviewee went to school to be a nail technician, but he didn't receive any

grants or scholarships. So, before doing nails, he worked in the food industry. The owner stated

she has worked as a nail technician for the past seven years. They opened Encore Salon in 2020.

She is one of the few employees who speak fluent English. She described how she felt more
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comfortable following her learning English as a second language. The employees work as a team

and support one another. The salon has won awards in 2020 and 2021 for being the best-rated

salon in the area.

She reports how much she likes it here in the US, specifying free speech and stating, "the

government is good." She gave an example of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the

authoritarian leadership. She told of how they take jewelry off of people as they please. For

example, they forcefully take off a piece of jewelry, such as a necklace. "Authoritarian rulers

strive to maintain control by developing regimes to oversee and control protests using

intimidation and violent tactics" (Nguyen, Hai Hong (2016).

. Attending Activities and Neighborhood Walks

When we started researching the Asian culture, there were a few specific things that came

to mind that we go to for activities. The first activity that we decided to do was go to the Viet-

Tien Market in St. Cloud. At the market we walked up and down the aisles to look at all of the

different food options that were available. Some group members even bought some of the

different foods with some of them being egg flavored chips, sweet and salty tambourine, matcha

green tea kit-kats. We also had the chance to talk to a few different workers at the market and

explain to them what we were doing and ask them questions if they were comfortable with it.

Next, we went to Harijme Sushi House, also located in St. Cloud. Originally, we were

planning on going to Dong Khanh Restaurant for pho because that is where some of the people

that worked at the market recommended us to go but it was sadly closed. This led us to finding

the sushi and hibachi restaurant, Harijme. While at the restaurant two of the group members tried

a Japanese beer called Sapporo beer. There was a wide variety of foods that we all tried at the

restaurant as well such as sushi, fried rice, and kani salad. Although we were hoping to have pho
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because most of the group members have never tried it before, going to Harijme was still a new

experience as we all had not been there before.

For our last stop we went to Encore Nails in Sartell. We wanted to make sure that we

were respectful of them and their time so before making the appointment we made sure to

explain to them that we were doing a school project on the Asian culture, and we were interested

in interviewing them. They agreed to be interviewed while they did our nails which ended up

being a great learning opportunity. All of us had the chance to talk to someone different while

they did our nails and depending on who we were working with varied in the information that we

received.

Application of New Knowledge

Social workers can help encourage families to consider whether their children should stay

in school for an additional period to help catch up in a new language (Chang-Muy & Congress,

2016). Social workers can help schools apply for grants to help immigrant children in their

communities. For example, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) reserves three

percent of the total state Title III award for districts significantly impacted by immigrants from

Section 3115 of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title III, Part A- Immigrant Children

and Youth Program, requires that states set aside funds to award subgrants to eligible local

educational agencies (LEAs). Title III Immigration Grant for minnesota: An immigrant student is

defined as a student who is a child who is aged 3 through 21; was not born in any State or U.S.

territory; has not been attending one or more schools in anyone or more states for more than

three full academic years (on a cumulative basis). Do not have to be English Learners (ELs)

eligible.
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Bulut & Gayman(2015) state, “From a public policy standpoint, policies and programs

that address obstacles to successful integration are needed. increased exposure to discrimination

and limited resources might affect immigrants’ acculturation related choices about how much to

assimilate or separate from the host society. In a culturally diverse society like ours, our policies

can provide a better context for immigrant acculturation by providing institutional support in the

form of multicultural curricula in schools and culturally sensitive and competent health care.”

Chang-Muy & Congress (2016) state, “New immigrants often turn to their local churches,

social service agencies, or perhaps a worker center for help, but these institutions and advocates

rarely have the resources to provide technical assistance on the complex legal issues that operate

at the intersection of immigration laws and labor and employment laws. It is critical for social

service providers to develop a basic understanding of these rights and some of the potential

remedies in order to serve their clients better and to help orient them so that immigrants can learn

how to solve their own problems, engage in community-organizing efforts, and become full

participants in the society they are helping to build through their hard work.”

Conclusion

The lack of cultural awareness in the St. Cloud area has limited resources for the

Vietnamese population. "You don't know what you don't know." The general population doesn't

know a lot about Vietnamese culture. This can perpetuate negative stereotypes, influence

discriminatory behaviors, and isolate individuals seeking to belong. Working with clients from a

different background than your own can be difficult. Immigrants and refugees learn more about

American culture through social media and television before even arriving on U.S soil. Whereas

in America, we rarely pay attention to what's going on in other countries. Without visibility,

content information, and support from agencies and the community, the Vietnamese population
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will continue to be displaced. Within every culture, there are subgroups, most of which only

come in direct contact by chance. Our job as social workers is to bridge the gap between

indifference and promote change. Hien (2016), "While U.S. Vietnamese are trying to adapt to

American culture; they are also finding ways to preserve their own cultural identity. Such

cultural preservation is possible because the Vietnamese are flexible, adaptable, and creative.

Vietnamese Americans, for example, often say there is something to learn from both cultures and

try to take the best from each."

Self-Observations

Jessica Brown

The personal journey of cultural exploration got me out of my comfort zone when talking

to other people from different backgrounds. I have never visited the Viet-Tien Market, and I feel

like I have missed out on such a neat business. The workers there were also very friendly and

willing to talk to us while working. I feel very honored to get to know the person I interviewed at

Encore Nail Salon and his willingness to talk about his personal experiences. The experience has

helped me appreciate the Asian community in the St. Cloud area. One place that I learned about

during our interviews that I hope to visit one day is the Buddhist Temple in St. Cloud. It sounds

like a great resource, and if we had known about it, I would have added it to our culture walk.

Being immersed through discussion and sharing food, I think, really helps with the core

value of providing the person with dignity and worth. Before the experience, I had preconceived

notions that we would not get much information from this population. I had concerns about

doing a cultural observation with the Asian community because I thought they would be more

reserved and wouldn’t want to talk to us, but that was not the case at all. I believe that is why I

felt like I had to make the appointments at the nail salon so our interviewees would have more
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space to answer our questions while being paid at the same time. When we made the

appointments, I made sure to get consent from the workers and let them know that we were

doing a school project to learn about their culture. The experience has helped grow my

competence in the Asian community within St. Cloud. In addition, we were able to identify

social justice issues that they have been facing within our community. As a result, I can take that

knowledge to serve this population and address social issues.

Kristen Betterman

I really enjoyed this experience in learning more about the vietnamese culture from the

perspective of the technician (Vivian) I worked with and interviewed. It was ensured the

participants that were interviewed were properly informed of our role as customers as well as

students interviewing each one to make their own decision. I was amazed at Vivian’s experience

she shared about her refugee and immigration process. While interviewing and talking with

Vivian, I was mindful of and respected her willingness to be open and talk about her culture and

experiences. I was thinking about what it must have been like for her to learn English and how

difficult it was as she described. The social work values that I relate to this process are dignity

and worth of a person and importance of human relatonships. I have learned some aspects of

Vietnamese culture prior to this experience, and this provided more! I had not been to the Viet

Tien store prior to our group spending time there. I hope their deli reopens soon to try the food!

Cash Robinson

In regards to feelings involved in this journey, it was interesting to find out that unless the

interviewers were in close proximity there was little to no connection between them. Therefore,

the lack of community resulted in the participants' involvement in the community primarily

based on their affiliation with st.cloud state university or by means of traveling to minneapolis.
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Some interviews were happy to share and some were hesitant. I believe this was due to being

undocumented immigrants and not knowing why a group of people where asking questions at

their place of employement. In retrospect this makes sense due to the deportation laws in

Minnesota and across the country. Immigrants could be reported through homeland

security,”Before a non-citizen can be deported, the government must prove that deportation is

necessary. This means that the non-citizen has an opportunity to argue that she should be allowed

to stay, but she cannot do that effectively without a good understanding of the deportation

process”.(FindLaw 2022). In some cases the Enforcement and removal operations (ERO) can be

used against non-citizens the government deems of a criminal element. “ERO manages all

aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including identification and arrest, domestic

transportation, detention, bond management, and supervised release, including alternatives to

detention. In addition, ERO removes noncitizens ordered removed from the U.S. to more than

170 countries around the world”. (Enforcement and removal operations.ICE 2022)

In our approach when interacting with interviewers/participants consciously and

unconsciously each person was treated in a caring and respectful manner. We sought to increase

our professional knowledge through intentional conversations. Keeping in mind the social work

mission, values, ethical principles and ethical standards. In this attempt to learn more about

Vietnameses culture we recognized the hardship and lack of cultural exploration in the St. Cloud

area. To which we all understood the importance of human relationships. Bringing about the

means to advocate for the well being of oppressed individuals without judgment or self-interest.

As the founder or “mother” of the actual social worker profession Jane Addams once did.

Leah Krupke
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I really enjoyed this experience and am glad that I was able to learn and be involved in

Vietnamese culture. Prior to this class project I never took the time to get to know Vietnamese

culture, or have the opportunity to explore it more. During this journey I wanted to be really

mindful and respectful of their culture and their time. Which leads to one of the core social work

values of importance of human relationships. It was really important to me that they knew prior

to doing our nails that we would like to interview them while they did our nails. I did not want

them to feel uncomfortable or taken advantage of, so I was glad that our group went about it in a

respectful manner. I was really appreciative of the time that they did allow us to interview them

and get to know their culture more because that is where I learned the most. The man who did

my nails, Van, was very eager to talk to me about his culture and seemed very proud in what he

was saying. An unconscious bias that I had was that being a nail technician was the job that he

did in Vietnam, and so naturally that is why he would do the same job here, but I was wrong.

When Van lived in Vietnam, he was an engineer and was very high up in the company that he

worked for, but when he migrated here, he was not able to get an engineering job because of the

language barrier. This made me think more about other immigrants that may have jobs that they

love and are really good at, but then when they get here, they have to learn a new skill or talent

because of barriers. Another core value that was important for me to remember throughout was

the dignity and worth of a person. While I was talking to Van, I thought it was important to set

some boundaries so that if there was a question that he did not feel comfortable answering he

was able to say that. Overall, I feel that this was a really good experience and it helped me to be

more confident when talking to people from other cultures. I am always worried that I am going
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to say something wrong, but I think the more experiences that I have I will continue to be more

comfortable.
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Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.

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then what?: Overeducated immigrants in the united states. Journal of Regional Science,

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0258-1

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