Still others make the trip to find a spouse. And some seniors have even gone back for good, relying on their Social Security checks to lead a nostalgic life in their ancestral towns and villages. In Little Saigon, every supermarket sells at least one item imported from Vietnam from jackfruit to rice to preserved tamarind. Other shops hawk music videos filmed in the homeland. In return, Vietnam is fascinated by countless things Western.
Restaurants offer hamburgers right next to their traditional entrees.
This synergy will likely increase. More than half of Vietnam's 80 million people are younger than 25. Many, too, have learned of the Vietnam War and communism in classrooms instead of war trenches. Political rhetoric alone won't do it. We have to focus on pressing issues like overpopulation, poverty and environmental degradation in Vietnam.