WEBVTT

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Previously I had thought:
I’m employed by the government.

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It’s about solidarity and mutual
support between the two countries.

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That was also in my contract,
which was translated for us.

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We were supposed to learn a profession

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and when we returned home, we were
supposed to help develop the country.

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Then the German language classes began.
I thought, that’s strange

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nothing but ‘plate’, ‘pot’, and ‘knife’.
After two months of German classes

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they said: we’re putting you in the kitchen.

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At that time, 1981, in Vietnam,
a cook was not a profession.

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We women always have to cook
anyway, what’s the point of this training

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to become a trained cook, and
for canteen kitchens at that.

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I learned how to clean onions,
peel vegetables, carrots, and how to wash pots.

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For two whole years
we did nothing but that kind of work.

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And scrubbed the floors.

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From the beginning I knew that
this training would be useless for me.