FAMILY HISTORY
-Maternal grandparents move from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) shortly after 1975
-All maternal aunts/uncles except younger maternal aunt ("co") move to Saigon between 1975 and 1985
-Maternal uncle ("bac") dies around 1992
-Maternal uncle ("chu") dies around 1993
-Father works in Eastern Europe from 1992-1996
-Younger maternal aunt ("co") and her two children move from Hanoi to Saigon in 1994
-Maternal grandfather ("ong ngoai") dies in 1999
HOUSEHOLD CONFIGURATIONS
1994: Maternal grandparents have just renovated their house to rent rooms to foreigners.
Oldest maternal aunt ("bac") has a separate household, her children are grown, and she visits her parents about 2x/week.
Younger maternal aunt ("co"), recently widowed, moves in with grandparents and starts working for a state-owned firm. In the evenings, "co" helps her parents with household cooking and cleaning. The grandparents spend many nights at ego's mother's house (their youngest child).
Ego's mother rents a house 3 blocks away from her parents. She has a job and is saving the money her husband sends her from Eastern Europe. Her children spend the day with their grandparents. She also handles much of her parents' finances.
Maternal uncle's second wife ("bac") lives with her mother; her two young daughters stay with their paternal grandparents on weekends.
1995: "Co" has moved out of her parents' home and is now renting a house on the other side of town. She says this gives her greater freedom, although the house is in bad shape.
Toward the end of the year, ego's mother purchases a house one block away from her parents and moves in. Renovations start on the new house by the end of the year so that rooms can also be rented to foreigners.
The two daughters of maternal uncle and his second wife continue to spend weekends with their grandparents. Their mother uses this time to travel and sell the clothes which she makes.
Maternal grandparents start hiring live-in domestic help to take care of housekeeping. These are mostly distant "cousins" from the countryside.
1996-7:
Construction on ego's mother's new house is finished.
Ego's father returns from Eastern Europe. He spends much of his time with his mother (paternal grandmother, "ba noi") in Hanoi, 1500 miles away.
Ego's mother hires live-in domestic help for both her home and her parents' household.
Younger maternal aunt ("co") has started to rent a room next door to her younger sister, ego's mother. The two sisters start fighting with their parents, particularly ego's maternal grandmother, about money.
A conflict emerges between maternal uncle's second wife and ego's maternal grandparents. The grandparents assume responsibility for their only son's 2 daughters. The young girls are hard for the grandparents to discipline, so ego's mother suggests that the girls move into her house. The grandmother refuses and accuses ego's mother of being an outsider who causes trouble and doesn't respect her parents. Ego's father also accuses his wife (ego's mother) of not respecting her parents.
1999:
Maternal grandfather dies.
2003:
Ego's paternal grandmother comes to live with the family. The family buys a new, larger house in the same neighborhood in which they've been living. Ego's cousins through maternal uncle's second wife now live with their maternal grandmother while their mother travels for work. Ego's mother is worried about ego's older sister who seems depressed.
2007:
Ego has received a student visa to attend community college in the US. Ego's parents forced his older sister to get married. She moved north to live with her husband's family, but the living arrangements proved difficult. Ego's elder sister returned to live with her parents. She became pregnant, but the marriage ended before she had the baby, a daughter. The daughter lives with ego's parents (i.e. the daughter's maternal grandparents) while ego's elder sister travels for work. Ego's paternal uncle now lives with the family as well and helps with their expanding real estate and construction business.
