Personal Narrative: How Vietnamese Music Changed My Life

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The first time I heard this song was in first grade. I was lying in the hammock with my grandma and she played it on the speakers. I remember asking her why Vietnamese music was so depressing, but Vietnamese people weren’t. She told me that if you’re able to smile at depressing music then you must have found a bit of good in it. She also said to never let people know when you’re sad because attracting pity is shameful. My grandma said it was representative of all the firsts that come in and out of your life.
“You can’t change it, so try to be happy and if you can’t then smile and you’ll be halfway there,” she would oftentimes say. There are many firsts that bring me joy, but also many firsts that drag me down. On one hand, I remember my …show more content…

I broke it again 10 years later. Tiff was the first friend I ever had. I still remember my first day at Pre-school. I couldn’t speak English. I threw a chair across the room out of frustration because the teacher couldn’t understand me. I was sat down in a corner and put on timeout. Practically all the kids in school avoided me. Tiff was the only exception. She tried to talk to me and help me in class. We weren’t able to have a full conversation in English until second grade, but we were still friends through the whole process. Tiff was my first friend and my first crush. She was diagnosed with cancer when we were in 7th grade and shortly moved over to Arizona. We talked and video chatted two to three times a month. Her cancer got worse and had to be moved to the …show more content…

Why am I still living? I can’t help anyone. Sometime in Mid-November, Mr.Teter assigned me the task of finding a song that was meaningful to me and to write a paper on it. I wasn’t feeling it, so I planned to just open up my Itunes and write a bull shit paper on the first song that came up. Không đánh mà đau was the first song that played. The sounds of the two string fiddle and bamboo flute reminded me of my house in Vietnam. The traditional folk style instrumentals whispered in my ears to stop and listen. It was a gentle yet firm command. I listened to the song from the beginning to the end and sat there in front of my computer. My face drenched with tears. Giờ sao đổi thaу, quên tình xưa, quên cả hẹn thề. Why now have you changed your mind and forgotten all about the love and promises. That line bounced around in my mind until it hit a switch in a place that I haven’t been to in a

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