I took a gap year to teach English in Vietnam after getting laid off. It changed how I see myself.

"I was born and raised in Vancouver to Vietnamese immigrant parents who came to Canada in the 1980s. Even though my parents were typical Asian parents, I grew up very Canadian - I like hockey, pancakes, and maple syrup. I didn't feel especially connected to my Vietnamese roots growing up. This was before the internet, when the only Asian representatives on TV were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee."

"For a long time, it didn't feel cool to be Vietnamese. In university, I went through this phase where I thought, OK, I'm going to embrace my Asianness - but it wasn't really Vietnamese. I listened to K-pop and other Asian artists, and basically explored everything but my own culture. It took me a while to finally understand that being Vietnamese was unique to who I am. It was on my first trip to Vietnam as an adult, in 2017, that it finally clicked."

Peter Truong was born and raised in Vancouver to Vietnamese immigrant parents who arrived in Canada in the 1980s. He grew up culturally Canadian, enjoying hockey, pancakes, and maple syrup, and often tried to fit in at school rather than display Vietnamese culture openly. He passed through a pan-Asian pop phase in university that did not connect him to his Vietnamese roots. A visit to Vietnam in 2017 prompted a stronger sense of identity. After a 2022 layoff and a decision to teach English in Asia, he moved to Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 and now considers Vietnam his second home, embracing a third-culture identity.

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