not so weird after all

growing up in america, i was tortured with this very un-american name that no one could pronounce: thy nguyen.

i always dreaded the first day of classes, or days with substitute teachers, or even winning awards at fbla competitions. my name was always called out with hesitation and a look of tongue-tied confusion..."thigh nuh-guy-in?"

oh the horror! i just felt so alone, surrounded by all these darn white people and their phonetically perfect english names!

my whole life, i've had to explain that my name is pronounced "tee"..."tee nuh-win." but even then, having been corrected, people still go back to calling me "thigh" or "tie" after they've seen how my name is written. it's not a huge problem or anything, just a minor nuisance.

i got a nice break from that when i went to vietnam.

my name is actually really common there. and not just my "smith"-of-a-last-name nguyen, but even my first name thy. go on, google me. you won't find me. there are like tens of thousands of people named thy nguyen.

only in vietnam could i get around without having to explain that 't-h-y' is pronounced like the letter 't' - or that 't' is indeed my name, that it's not short for something. nope, not necessary in the motherland. perhaps you recall my frequent "thy" encounters throughout the country. i simply loved seeing my name everywhere! but it wasn't until months later that i found the ultimate ME!

<--- first AND last name! how cool is that?!


this little sandwich shop bearing my very normal name is located in saigon's 3rd district, on cao thang road. see, my name ain't so weird after all!

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