DIETARY ACCULTURATION AND INTEREST IN MODIFICATION OF STAPLE FOODS: A PRELIMINARY QUALITATIVE STUDY WITH RICE

This preliminary study examined differences in dietary perceptions and beliefs of a staple food product and a health focused modification of that food product in a focus groups study of native Vietnamese in Vietnam (VNV) and Vietnamese immigrants to the United States (USV). The concepts investigated were rice product awareness and beliefs, use and preparation of rice, and overall interest in value-added brown rice product concepts incorporating health related language. While white rice was well accepted and daily consumed by both USV and VNV, the brown rice product concept, despite its numerous health benefits, was not readily accepted by Vietnamese consumers, either from US or Vietnam. Both sets of consumers had culturally negative associations of brown rice with poverty, aging, and illness in Vietnam and those perceptions had not changed with immigration. Neither USV nor VNV consumers considered health benefits as key factors for rice consumption, a staple food in all of their diets, a difference from Caucasian US participants studied earlier. Exposure to US culture seemed to have little impact on US-Vietnamese’s rice eating habits. Thus, for a staple food product it appears that it would take time and considerable effort to impact the Vietnamese immigrants’ cultural foodways.

Feel at Home. Vietnamese Immigrants in Poland

In this paper, we develop the concept of home, presenting an example of Vietnamese entrepreneurs running their business in Poland. This subject is peculiar to the perspective of immigrants, who have already left their home country and need to establish themselves in a new place. We base our study on material gathered from four sources: a broad ethnographic study, non-participant and direct observation of Vietnamese places in Poland, photographs taken in Poland and Vietnam, and interviews. We argue that the concept of home is extremely broad and is represented by immigrants in diverse ways. After our analysis, we propose a deeper understanding of the activities of immigrants and their ways of acculturation.

Mobility and the assimilation of immigrants: Variationsin migration patterns of Ukrainians and Vietnamesein the Czech Republic

The distribution of international migrants is an essential part of socio-geographical differentiation. In addition to international migration, internal or domestic migration plays an important role in the geographical distribution of immigrants. Based on data from the population register, the Census, and a quantitative survey, we analysed the internal mobility of Ukrainian and Vietnamese immigrants, which are the first and third largest international migrant groups in the Czech Republic. Using the assimilation perspective, the results of the analysis indicate that each ethnic group behaves differently. Specifically, the concentration of these immigrants differed at both regional and neighbourhood levels.

Vietnamese immigration in Poland: issues of education and integration for children

This paper investigates the issues of education and integration conditions for Vietnamese immigrants’ children in Poland. These points of interest were primarily treated as the additional research connected with our teaching practices. It was conducted as an empirical study with three non-standardised interviews with the families, informal observations, and group discussions. Regardless of the limitation of a perhaps not significantly substantial range of data, the study led to the outlining of some concerns connected with the process of education and integration of the children in these Vietnamese families. The main four findings which are related to the research question are: the cultural differences and expectations of the parents, the language barriers of the parents, the typical stereotypes of educating children at home, and the conflicts of self-identification in the future. The research implied that children from all the immigrant groups should be assessed as to their growth as well as to the quality of their adaptation into the society.