Vietnamese families

The speaker last Monday was very interesting. He was a professor from the University in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. He came and spoke to us about research he had done with regards to family expectations and ideals of Vietnamese college students. The questions his survey asked gave good insight into the different views on marriage and education expectations in Vietnam, as opposed to here in the United States. I really enjoyed listening to him talk about the differences in how ideas about families had changed from the 1930's to present day. Many of his questions dealt with this topic, such as whether women should have jobs outside the home and how many children should a normal family have.
It was especially interesting to hear about how marriages were selected in Vietnam. Although, he made it clear that young adults in Vietnam may pick their spouse, they are not completely free to do so. Parallels were drawn to marriages in the United States, in particular how many young adults also are influenced by external factors (parents, friends) when picking a marriage partner. The professor gave a nice presentation and was knowledgable in the subject matter. The presentation was very well done!