Mot goc cho o Chinatown

Theo thong ke chinh thuc cua My, co khoang 7.000 - 8.000 nguoi Viet dang dinh cu tai quan dao Hawaii. Dai da so song rai rac tai thanh pho Honolulu thuoc dao Oahu. o nhung dao khac cua bang Hawaii cung co nguoi Viet, nhung khong nhieu, khoang vai tram hoac it hon. Nguoi Viet tai nhung dao ngoai Oahu thuong co khuynh huong chon nghe nong lam ke sinh nhai, goi nom na la lam ray, hoac mo nha hang Viet Nam.
 
o day trai cay co quanh nam, nho vao khi hau giong vung nhiet doi va dat dai mau mo. Cay trai thi du loai, tu mit, xoai, man den nhan. Hawaii cung la vua rau thom cua My. Khong nhung cung cap du rau thom cho nhu cau trong tieu bang, nong dan nguoi Viet tai day con ban rau cho cong dong nguoi Viet tai bang California.

Con o dao Oahu, nhung nguoi Viet lon tuoi thuong co khuynh huong mo nha hang, lam viec trong nha hang, hoac lai taxi, buon ban nho, mo tiem lam mong... Doi voi nhung nguoi sinh truoc nam 1975, dac biet la nam gioi, ho thuong chon nghe lai xe taxi. Day la nghe khong can phai co trinh do hoc van cao, tieng Anh biet chut dinh nhung thu nhap cung khong it. 

Ngay nao bet bat lam thi cung bo tui duoc 100 USD, chu yeu la nho tien boa. Neu tru di tien thue nha, nha 2 phong gia khoang 1.200 USD/thang, va tien sinh hoat thi cung con kha kha. Phu nu thi chon nghe lam mong. Hau nhu toan bo cac tiem mong tai Honolulu deu la cua nguoi Viet. Cung khong it nguoi chon cach mo nha hang de lam ke sinh nhai va phan dong ho kinh doanh o Chinatown - Pho Tau.

Chinatown hay Vietnamtown?

Neu moi nghe den tu Chinatown, hau nhu ai cung nghi day la noi tap trung buon ban va sinh song cua nguoi Hoa. Dieu nay hoan toan dung cach day vai chuc nam, nhung doi voi nguoi dan ban xu, Chinatown gio day nen mang ten goi khac, do la Vietnamtown - Pho Viet. Hien khong con may nguoi Hoa lam an buon ban o khu vuc nay va hau nhu cac cua hang, tiem an o day deu do nguoi Viet lam chu. So con lai thuoc ve nguoi Lao, Campuchia, Indonesia va Malaysia. 

Mot trong nhung ly do chinh giai thich cho viec nguoi Hoa di chuyen khoi Chinatown la the he con chau cua nhung nguoi Hoa o day khong muon theo nghiep bo me. Ho co hoc van va muon theo duoi con duong rieng cua minh. Mot ly do khac la gia thue mat bang tang cao trong nhung nam gan day khien nhieu nguoi Hoa phai dong cua tiem va chuyen sang lam an o khu vuc khac.

Su xuat hien cua nguoi Viet da thay doi phan lon bo mat noi day. Den duong King ma xem, cua hang Viet Nam thay nhau moc len. Neu vong xuong duong River ke ben, cac cua hang Viet Nam mo san sat nhau, hau nhu ten tiem nao cung bat dau tu chu "Pho": Pho Kim Ha, Pho To Chau, Pho Sai Gon... Tat nhien nhung tiem nay khong chi ban co mon pho, ma du loai thuc an tu bun, mien den hu tieu, com. Thuc an thi khoi che. To pho o Hawaii trong ngon lanh va mui vi thi tuyet hao.

Khong chi dan Viet ma ca cu dan ban xu cung rat thich an mon Viet, vua ngon mieng lai it cholesterol hon thuc an Hoa. Mot trong nhung tiem an Viet ma nguoi My ua lui toi la Ha Le, nha hang chuyen thuc an mang huong vi mien Nam. Mot nha hang khac ma dan ban dia cung thich vi gia ca phai chang la Pho Ha Bien. Trong khi do, nguoi Viet lai chuong mon an tai cac nha hang nhu Pho 97, Ca phe VN, Pho Sai Gon. Ban cung khong nen bo qua tiem Pho Huong Lan nam trong khu Chinatown. 

Trong so nhung nguoi co cong quang ba thuc an Viet Nam tren dat Hawaii, co le nguoi noi tieng hon ca ong Lam Quoc Thanh, chu chuoi cua hang thuc an nhanh mang ten Ba Le. Ke tu khi tiem an Ba Le dau tien duoc khai truong vao nam 1984 tai Hawaii, da co 25 tiem Ba Le moc len tren khap tieu bang nay va thuong hieu Ba Le cung xuat hien tren duong pho Tokyo, Nhat Ban. Su thanh cong vuot bac cua chuoi tiem thuc an nhanh Ba Le da giup ong Thanh nhan duoc giai thuong Doanh nghiep nho tai My vao nam 2002.

The he thu hai

The he nguoi Viet thu hai co nhieu su lua chon hon. Ho duoc cha me cho an hoc day du, tot nghiep truong nay truong no nen co kha nang tim duoc cong viec tot. Tuy nhien, khong co may co hoi viec lam tai Hawaii, vung dat cua du lich va dich vu, nen sau thoi gian dai bi "giam ham" tai day, dai da so thanh nien nguoi Viet deu chuyen vao dat lien (My). Khi du mot dam hoi nguoi Viet moi to chuc hoi tuan roi, toi duoc biet hai nhan vat chinh cua buoi tiec da quyet dinh chuyen den Seattle, bang Washington, de dinh cu vi tai do ho co co hoi lam viec tot hon ma khong phai ganh chi phi dat do nhu o Hawaii. Dan dan, chi con nhung nguoi lon tuoi la con bam tru noi day.

Co mot dieu dang noi la do truyen thong ham hoc hoi cua nguoi Viet, rat nhieu sinh vien goc Viet tai Hawaii tot nghiep voi tam bang danh du. Cac bac cha me Viet Nam, du noi dau cung vay, deu co gang cho con di hoc truong tot de tuong lai duoc dam bao. Tham chi co mot so nguoi du chang kha gia gi nhung lai chon han truong tu cho con minh. Chi phi hoc tap tai truong tu kha dat, khoang 12.000 USD/nam. Chuyen cha lam dau bep, me lam mong nuoi con tot nghiep dai hoc khong phai hiem.

Kho khan 

Du dinh cu tai noi ma nguoi My xem la "Thien duong", song khong phai nguoi Viet nao cung cam thay de chiu, mot phan do chi phi sinh hoat het suc dat do. Chi Huyen, mot trong so it nhung cong nhan roi dao Samoa (thuoc My) vao nam 2001 va sau do dinh cu tai Hawaii, cho biet hau nhu chi chang co thoi gian ranh roi di day do, ma luc nao cung phai lam viec. Khoan thu nhap co duoc tu viec ban hang toan thoi gian o khu cho quoc te cung giup chi du song va co duoc chut dinh tien danh dum de gui cho nguoi than tai Viet Nam. Ngoai khoan thu nhap co dinh tren, chi khong duoc huong tien bao hiem y te hoac bao hiem xa hoi nhu nhung nguoi lam viec noi cong so. Do cung la dac diem chung cua nhieu nguoi Viet Nam tai Hawaii. "Co tien song o Viet Nam la nhat, khong dau sanh bang que nha", chi tam su.