Hello! My name is Phiviet Vo (He/Him/His), and this is my introductory post for the course! A little about me: I was born and raised in Vancouver/Burnaby, BC, and worked as a teacher on call in various school districts for 3 years. I am now working as an administrative assistant at University Canada West. I enjoy playing sports and other competitive activities in my free time. I look forward to connecting with you throughout the term.

I chose my backpack that I take to work as I use this every time I commute to the office. It has the all the items needed for surviving a day at work: Laptop for tasks, notebook for general notes and observations,  water bottle and lunch for sustenance, blue-light glasses and moisturizer for comfort, tissues for hygiene, multiple headphones for listening and communication, charger for devices, compass card for transportation, and wallet for identification. My phone is not included here because for one, it was used to take the picture, and for another, it is usually in my pocket. 

How might these items be considered “texts” and what do they say about you, the places you inhabit, the cultures with which you engage, and/or the activities you take up?

My notebook contains handwritten text relating to work policies and observations. My laptop gives me access to infinite amounts of text, and allows me to communicate using digital text. My wallet contains identification texts that show my personal information. All of the text is in English, mainly because I reside in Canada, but coincidentally, English is the only language I speak. 

The large “University Canada West” branding on some items represent the place which I work at, and can communicate that I am involved in and experienced with academia. The lululemon Olympic bag shows that I support the Canadian Olympic team and have interest in athletics/sports.

There are some items, such as the keychain attached to my bag or the sticker on my compass card, that do not have any text but speak to the Japanese animation show (commonly referred to as “anime”) culture that I engage with. These items reference the show “Demon Slayer” which I thoroughly enjoy and represent by having main characters decorate my personal belongings.

Thinking about the title of the course, what are the “text technologies” in your bag, if any? What do these items say about how you engage with language and communication?

In terms of text “technology”, my laptop and headphones are both technology that can be used to create and interpret text. However, one could consider the notebook and pen as text technology, as they are also used to create/store text, though they are not electronic devices. In reality, I use the former text technologies much more often, due to the need for constant and remote communication with others. It also reflects the evolution of human connection as more and more physical interactions are being replaced with online interactions (my work is sometimes remote, where I do not need to physically interact with anyone during the work day.)

Moreso, each of my cards have text and barcodes that are specifically designated for my use, such as the compass card and credit/debit cards. The print on the card communicates with digital when scanning or swiping the cards.

How does the narrative of the (private) contents of your bag compare with the narrative produced by the image you have of yourself or the image you outwardly project?

I think the contents of my bag match my image; I am aware of asian stereotypes and so one might assume that I have a natural inclination for academia and asian pop culture(s). 

What would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago?

There would be no laptop (if there was, it would be much bigger and much less efficient) or chargers, there would be no wireless headphones, only the wired in ear or  bigger over-ear type along with a classic ipod or walkman. There would be no items related to Demon Slayer, although anime did exist back then so it would probably be items referring to a classic anime such as Inyuyasha or Mobile Suit Gundam.

How do you imagine an archeologist aiming to understand this temporal period might view the contents of your bag many years in the future?

I believe it would be similar to how one would analyze the contents of someone’s bag 50 years ago from today. The design and functionality of objects and items, such as the bag, paraphernalia and technology can give some indication of what kind of fashion and what technology was available around the time. Perhaps in the future there is even less presence of printed text, and so they would be trying to compare the functionality of the ID and compass cards to their futuristic technology, where all personal identification information and payment methods are stored within a small chip in the body or bracelet. 

Anyways, I apologize for the lengthy post but I enjoyed answering the prompts and I hope that you have an idea of the face and person behind my name that you see online. Thank you so much for reading and feel free to provide feedback or ask questions!