Dear reader,
This year is my golden year, my senior year; with every passing day I am filled with memories and nostalgia. I often think back to the little Vietnamese girl born in a small town in upstate New York. She was one of three Asian students in her school and the only representation she saw was the nail salon employees where her family worked. I can vividly remember the self-hatred I had for my Asian facial features, The starvation I forced upon myself during school because I was scared my food would smell to others and the constant longing to look like those around me. I feel for my younger self and wish more than anything to hug her and tell her it will get better.
I look back to the frightened eighth-grader who was forced to uproot her life and move to Orlando. I fondly remember all those who helped me adjust and feel accepted. Still, I was always longing to go back to New York. I even recall the agonizing moment that would be the rejection letter to every New York college I applied to, desperately trying to go back to what I thought was home.
More recently, I think back to the life I had at my previous college in Los Angeles and how despite everything, I would come back to Orlando. Orlando has brought me so much stability; I am happier and healthier since moving back. With every milestone, I was twisted and turned. Never in a million years would I have thought this is how my life would go, but I wouldn’t change a single thing. These moments, whether heartfelt or heart-wrenching, made me into who I am today.
Even though I was born in New York and I will always call myself a New Yorker first, a lot of the experiences that made me who I am now were here in Orlando. Moving down to Orlando was the first time I got to see people who looked like me and had similar cultural values and upbringings. I know it's weird to think because New York has so many Asians but they were all located in the big city, and I was about three and a half hours up north.
In Florida, Little Vietnam was only 20 minutes away from my new home; Chinatown was about 30 minutes. My family and I were able to go to these areas more often, we would even have our favorite Asian restaurants and grocery stores that we would frequent. Additionally, we made friends that we would see constantly in the area. Being able to be near those who share my culture really helped me connect with the community. I never realized how important it was to find a community and family to belong to until I moved to Orlando. There was a sense of relief knowing I wasn't alone; to know the constant bullying I received as a kid about my eyes, my smell and more wasn't just a personal experience but an almost universal experience to Asians living in America. At the same time, it was also empowering to see the community and be a part of it. To know there are people who look like me and are flourishing. They speak their native language proudly and confidently; they own their identity and it’s a powerful sight to behold. It brought me hope that I could be like them.
This is all to say that having a local culture and a cultural community is important and, in my opinion, a necessity. Every culture should have a community and all together create a city with a beautiful blend of multiculturalism. This blend is how you build a community that will grow and strengthen, and I believe Orlando, while not perfect, is heading in this direction.
Having said all of this, I would not be doing this love letter justice if I didn’t highlight the stores, restaurants, people and more that have helped me come to love myself, my community and make long-lasting friendships.
My Faves!!
Drinks and Snacks
Bakery 1908
Light on the Sugar
Omusubee
Quickly (Boba)
Happy Lemon
Wafu
Blended Bistro & Boba
Sampaguita Ice Cream and Dessert
Paris Baguette
Restaurants
Bento Sushi + Cafe
Over Rice
Alex’s Kitchen
Loving Hut
Z Asian
Jollibee
Susuru
Izziban (ayce)
Zaru
Kaya
Ahmed Indian Restaurant
The Madras Cafe
Lotte Plaza Market Food court
K-Jumak
Thai House
Soong Thai
Sticky Rice
Pho Huong Lan
Veggie Garden
Entertainment and Activities
Gatcha
Rockstar Axe Throwing
Stay Curious Toys (Asian Heritage Dress up
Dolls)
Miniso
Kpoppin USA
Groceries
Lotte Plaza Market
Enson
Phuc Loc Tho
Community is all about who you decide to surround yourself with. I would like to take time in this letter to give thanks to those I surround myself around. Thank you Shannon and Cynthia for helping me adjust to Orlando and being one of my first and now longest friendships. I adore you guys and cannot wait to see what life has in store for us. Thank you Neil for always being willing to try any new Asian dish I put in your face and taking the time to learn Vietnamese to be able to communicate with my family. Teaching you my culture has in a way helped me get closer to it. Thank you Sparks for giving me a platform and for giving me a community within UCF. Thank you Jumpstart for giving me another sense of community and allowing me to help shape the minds of tomorrow in our local community. Thank you Vietnamese American Student Association (VASA), Asian Student Association (ASA), and all the other Asian organizations at UCF for providing students a home away from home with the community you guys have created. Thank you to my family for always supporting me. Thank you Orlando; I will always be a New Yorker, but I am now also a Floridian. Finally, thank you to the Orlando Asian Community; may you always be strong and united.
Thank you again to everyone and everything that made my young adult life and college experience special. Please go support all the Asian businesses in Orlando; it would mean the world to me. I hope this love letter helps those businesses like how they helped me. My community has brought me so much happiness and confidence, it even influenced me to travel to Asia. I’m not sure where my next chapter will take me, but I know I can always come home to Orlando.
Love forever and always,
Jenna