Don't disclose your location if you feel uncomfortable, but if not, feel free to share your experience living there.

My parents moved from Vietname to America, however they were Chinese-Vietnamese.

-Norm

I was born in the U.S., but my Dad is from Vietnam and my Mom is from Korea.

Hmm, everyone's emigrating to America. The land of the free... right.

-Norm

Both of my parents were born in Vietnam. However I was born in Australia. Had not the French came and colonized Vietnam, I might have been born in Vietnam.

I wonder... why is everyone leaving Vietnam?

-Norm

From what I gather, people are starting to come back home now that the country is becoming more stable. I guess you can only be away from home for so long.

Some people leave because of the communist government..

Hmm... my mother doesn't want to return to Vietnam. She says she'll visit, but that's it.

-Norm

Yeah, I heard that from some other Vietnamese elders too. Apparently they're too used to living in a different country now. I personally would love to see Vietnamese all coming home. But I guess it comes down to individual preference.

There was something that I noticed when I was young though. My nose used to run all the time throughout primary/elementary school. I learnt later in life that, my blood was climatized for the Vietnamese land. I guess I really was meant to be born in Vietnam.

Hmm... whatever happened to adaptation?

In anycase... my mother claims the communists hates anybody rich and kicks them out... that's why she says she never wants to live there again.

-Norm

aw poor u... i would move back there if i have rights as i do in canada. i love the country, the land and the people..

I think people are leaving Vietnam because of the poor economy.

Hmm... well actually my mother's Chinese... she was born in Vietnam and she considers it her homeland. So I have a bit of both Chinese and Vietnamese culture.

-Norm

I was born in Sài Gòn/Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh.
Came to the States at a very young age.

That reminds me, what do the emigrants from Vietnam call it? Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City?

-Norm

I prefer to call it Sài Gòn but i don't mind when others call it Hồ Chí Minh City.

I think that Vietnamese who are living outside of Vietnam calls it Saigon, but the Vietnamese who are living in Vietnam calls it Ho Chi Minh City.. correct me if i'm wrong.

the majority of the Vietnamese call it Saigon, including people living in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City is only used on official documents and stuff.

Nobody really calls it Ho Chi Minh except for formally writing. First it's a long city name compare to other places in Vietnam, and the second it's a name of somebody ( usually places name in Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam indicated its surrounding and nature like Ha Noi-inside river, Thang Long- Ascending dragon etc...)

Why was it renamed?
Sorry, but I don't know Vietnamese history very well...

it was renamed to commemorate the winning side's hero Ho Chi Minh.

^
Thanks for the info!

Just curious, but what does "Saigon" mean?

no problem!

Hopefully Vietnam can rebuild itself quickly, so that in this life time of mine, I'll be able to take my parents back to live out their years there.

I'm not sure but I think it means something like "gift of the west". That's what I interpret from the chữ nôm.

there's another interpretation i heard somewhere. The region where Saigon is used to be dominated by the "gon" plant, hence the name.

^
Hmmm. Interesting.

What ever the name..saigon will be Saigon. There are many songs about it.

It seems nobody ever calls it Ho Chi Minh City unless it's formal.

And ranmatatsumaru, the reason the name was changed because it was done to honor the North Vietnamese's leader, Ho Chi Minh. Saigon was the name of the capital of South Vietnam.

-Norm

I never realised there were so many Viets in America. Although I can see how this went about. From what my parents told me, when they were in refugee camps, they got a choice of either migrating to America or Australia and some other first world countries.

2 theories.

The first one says the name Saigon came from "Prei Nokor" which means cottonwood in Khmer.

The second one says the name Saigon came from the Cantonese words "Thay Ngon" (viet: de ngang) or "to put something across". The Cantonese words infer that Saigon was swamp land that needed to be rearranged.

Doan Du, what does Tian Long Ba Bu mean ?

It's Thiên Long Bát Bộ in Vietnamese, or Eight sections of the Heavenly Dragon.

Are you a reader of Kung fu novels? If not, you wouldn't know anything about it.

Đoàn Dự is the prince of Dali, a country southwest of China. He was a reluctant practitioner of kung fu and a gentleman who loves pretty women. He falls in love with many of them but doesn't have much luck since all of them turn out to be his half-sisters (because his father was a big philanderer).

He then meets the most pretty of them all, Vương Ngọc Yến. He falls head over heels for her but to his chagrin she too turns out to be his half-sister. He contemplates suicide but then at the last moment, he learns that he is not his father's son.

Nice story, isn't it?

Darn! That's gotta suck! Poor guy!

Too much Phim Kiem Hiep, Doan Du.

Phim kiem hiep died in me 10 years ago.

Same, these days they are so lame. All recycled stuffs like stories, jokes and scenarios.

No, it doesn't. Now he has hope with Vương Ngọc Yến....That's a happy ending.

Thanks. Thien Long Bat Bo and Nhat Duong Chi were the specialties of the Doan family, weren't they ! I also like the character of Kieu Phong, one of Doan Du's sworn brothers.

Back in Vietnam, I used to read them kung fu novels a lot. My all time favorite was Tieu Ngao Giang Ho. You have a translation for that too, don't you? lol

The word Prei Nokore mean Kingdom of the forest. Prei is forest and nokore is kingdom.

Thanks. Do you now what YauTra DuiThen is ?

Huh? I am told that Nokor is cotton. Prey is, like you said, wood or forest.

Oh, yes...but I am most proud of my Lăng Ba Vi Bộ skills. lol.

I am still working on the story of Lệnh Hồ Xung and his tragic relationship with Nhạc Linh San.