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travelling overseas
They left Vietnam because of the Vietnam war. Her grandfather tried to leave Vietnam with his family many times but something always stopped them. They tried one final time and secretly boarded a boat with over 100 people. After 9 days at sea, a violent storm shook the ship with many people losing consciousness. The morning after the storm her grandfather was so surprised that they survived. They arrived in Hong Kong. -
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refugee camp
When their ship arrived, they stayed in a refugee camp for four months. At the end of their time at the refugee camp, they got sponsored to go to Ottawa. -
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Tiffanie Tri
She was born in Canada and never really took an interest in her family's history and their immigration to Canada. She got told stories of their immigration and always thought that they were these super cool adventures but couldn't understand their significance. (I am guessing with these dates, I assume she is born in the '80s or '90s because her family came to Canada in 1979 and her parents were already together at that point.) -
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learning her grandfather's story part 1
She only started taking an interest in her grandfather's story during the pandemic. She wanted to document his stories. She met a film producer whose family also moved to Canada during the same time and they worked together on his story. They would set up zoom calls with her grandfather and ask him many questions. They also asked him what he missed about Vietnam and he said "It's hard to remember. Life feels like a dream." -
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learning her grandfather's story part 2
During one call she could tell he was getting tired and they ended the call with a goodnight. That was the very last time she spoke to her grandfather as he did in the spring of 2021. She was very upset that she waited so long to learn this history.