Canadian Life

Chapter 1
10-year old Nguyen Xuan Dinh and 8-year old Dac Kien stepped outside the suburbs of Ottawa.

A boy around Dinh's age went up to greet them

"Hi, you must be new here, I live nextdoor, let's be friends." The boy said.

Dinh and Dac Kien didn't understand English and they turned to eachother,

"Hey, Định, bạn có hiểu những gì anh ta nói gì không? Tôi không (Hey, Dinh, do you understand what he's saying? I don't)" Dac Kien said to Dinh

"Tôi cũng không (Me neither)" He replied back to his younger brother.

Dinh's father, came out of the house, then went towards the boys.

"Làm một người bạn mới? (Make a new friend?)" He asked, smiling.

"Tôi không hiểu tiếng Anh (I do not understand English, dad)" Dinh said.

Dinh was right, neither of the family understood English, despite English being available as a language in Vietnam, the brothers never got the hand of it and couldn't pronounce it well.

It was 7:00 and the boys were ready for school, and when they arrived to class.

"Hi, there your names?" She asked.

"They do not understand English, they are new here, the boy on my right is Dinh and the other one is Dac Kien, they are from Vietnam and have moved here recently and do not speak English." The woman with them said.

Dac Kien went to his own class while Dinh stayed in the class he was introduced in.

A girl with a whiteboard went up to him.

She wrote down "Bạn đến từ đâu?" which meant "Where are you from?", She wrote down

"Hà Nội, thủ đô Việt (Hanoi, Vietnamese capital)" Dinh replied back, somehow amazed at her ability to write in Vietnamese.

She then wrote "Bắc Việt sau đó?" which meant "Northern Vietnamese then?"

Dinh was taught that they were Northern Vietnamese and Southern Vietnamese, the fact he had an Hanoi accent and he was from Hanoi was a giveaway that he was Northern Vietnamese, even though both were ethnically the same.

"Tôi hầu như không đi đến các bộ phận phía Nam của Việt Nam (I hardly go to the Southern parts of Vietnam)" Dinh said.

Chapter 2
Today was Tet 2007, even though this wasn't Vietnam, the family still celebrated Tet.

Even though Vietnam was over a thousand miles away and they didn't really feel like traveling over a thousand miles to Vietnam, they invited members of the small Vietnamese community in their surburb.

And they also invited adopted children and their parents.

A Vietnamese girl entered the room, she had short dark hair, a red dress and black Mary-Janes, she arrived with a Caucasian couple.

"Have fun, Rachel, ask Dinh's parents if you need anything!" They said as she left.

Dac Kien went up to the girl.

" (Hi)" Dac Kien said.

Rachel's eyes widened, then she replied back.

"Cháo bạn (Hello)" She replied back.

"Th ủ đô Việt? (Vietnamese language?)" He replied, in amusement.

" (I live 6 houses away)" She replied.

"Ah (Ah)" He said.

Bac Kien went up to sit next to us, Bac Kien likes rap and history, he was also a polite brither.

"Tôi muốn tôi có một người anh như của bạn (I wish I had a brother like yours)" She said.

" Tại sao? (Why?)" He said.

"Anh trai tôi ghét tôi, tôi đã được thông qua từ Sài Gòn, thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, và anh ấy đối xử với tôi như thấp nhất của bụi bẩn (My brother hates me, I was adopted from Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, and he treats me like the lowest of dirt)" She said.

"Ah, chỉ cần cẩn thận khi sử dụng các thành phố hạn Hồ Chí Minh, một số dân gian ghét (Ah, just be careful when using the term Ho Chi Minh City, some folk hate that)" He said

She nodded, Dinh's parents, Duc and Bich looked in understanding.

"Không sao, chúng tôi không quan tâm (It's okay, we don't mind)" Duc said in understanding.

She went into her bag and got out a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards.

" (Shh, Don't tell my brother)" She said.