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| I work at night and start at ten o'clock in the evening. It is a long way to work and I must be on time so I always leave quite early in order to make sure that a delay because of a traffic accident or a road closure does not make me late for work. Thus I am usually thirty minutes or so early and spend that time with a cup of coffee in a convenience store or, for a few months a couple of years ago, in the Burger King across the street from my job.
One of the employees there was a young Thai woman on a 6 month work contract. She had no more than a dozen words of English and worked in the kitchen so that she did not have to deal with customers. If the clerk up front made an error on the cash register or got confused and didn't know what to do Sunee would see what was happening and go up front and in a few seconds would have it all straightened out and the problem would be fixed. The shift manager, a high school dropout named Shakeela, did not like Sunee to do that, especially after Sunee got that shift manager out of a similar jam. It made Shakeela feel stupid.
Alas, Shakeela is, indeed, stupid.
When I started getting coffee in there I would always hear Shakeela yelling at "you stupid gook bitch!" and telling Sunee she was just an animal because she couldn't speak English. There were also Thai contract workers in Housekeeping where I worked then and one of them knew some English. I asked him if he knew the lass at the Burger King. He said he did and that she was miserable working for that shift manager.
I went on-line to a Thai language teaching site and learned the meet-and-greets and a couple of other social phrases and tried them out when I went into Burger King again. Shakeela was on a break and Sunee was up front mopping the floor. I caught her eye, put my hands together and said, "Sawadee." She looked up with a big smile and returned the greeting. We went back and forth with "How are you" and "I am fine," then "How is your family" and "What is your name" et cetera for half a dozen exchanges. I had also learned to say "That's all the Thai I know." She seemed pleased with that.
We repeated that performance, except the part about names, whenever I went in there much to the annoyance of Shakeela for a couple of weeks. Shakeela just gave her hell more and more for saying things Shakeela didn't understand. Once I made the mistake of putting my hands together in greeting when I went in and Sunee saw me from the back. With the blowers going she couldn't hear me say "Sawadee." She almost dropped the pans she was holding as she tried to respond with her own hands.
Then one night I could hear Shakeela screaming even before I got to the door. When I went in there were no other customers there and Shakeela quit yelling when she saw me come in. Sunee also saw me and came quickly out to the front and this time she greeted me first-"Sawadee." I returned the greeting and we went through the whole series . When we came to the end of my Thai, Sunee put her hand in front of her where Shakeela could not see and made "keep going" motions. I didn't know any more Thai so I shifted to Vietnamese and she answered me back in Thai. We made half a dozen more exchanges like that, neither understanding the other, and then she motioned me to end it. I put my hands together and bowed slightly and she did the same. Then I went to a table and sat down while Sunee returned to the kitchen. Then I heard Shakeela berating Sunee again for talking "that ugly noise" and demanding to know why she was talking to me and what was she saying about Shakeela. I could see them back there and the blower noise stopped for a moment so I heard Sunee reply in English, with her chin tilted up and a smug smile, "He speak my language."
She turned around and went back to work washing stuff.
After another minute Shakeela bustled out officiously and confronted me where I sat with my cup of coffee. "What's that (stuff) she talk to you? You really talk that (stuff), too? " I answered her," Yes, of course I speak Thai- I went to high school." The shift manager got suddenly very tense and her hands shook just a little. She started to say something but her voice just squeeked. She spun around and stomped back into the kitchen where she commenced again berating Sunee.
After that whenever I went in there and Sunee was catching hell from Shakeela I would see Sunee looking very serene as if the shift manager were just a noisy radio. She would see me and put her hands together and bow slightly and I would do the same. If she was in the front we would repeat the meet-and- greets. Then one night she wasn't there and Shakeela met me inside the door and said triumphantly that "that (adjective) gook gone back to Korea!"
I hope Sunee has better memories of her time in America than that shift manager. And I hope she was able to send enough money home to make it all worth it.
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| I discovered I needed a pocket-sized notebook and noticed a dollar store so I stopped there and went in. I found the notebook and a pack of stick pens and walked up to the register. There was a line of half a dozen customers waiting their turns at the counter. At the front was a woman with a cart full of items who was disputing the price and condition of every item one by one and it was taking a long time. I didn't want to drive to another store to get the notebook so I waited patiently at the back of that line. Two more customers extended the line behind me while I stood there.
The woman finally reached the bottom of her cart and everything was on the counter properly rung up and in bags. Instead of presenting cash or writing a check the woman said, "My boyfriend be here soon. He got the money."
I sighed and expected the clerk to push the stuff aside, clear the register and continue with the next customer but that did not happen. Things just stopped. The clerk got out her cell phone and called her boyfriend for a chat. Worse, the other folks in line seemed to accept the situation as normal. Everyone just stopped moving. No one complained. They looked as if they weren't even breathing except for one customer who got out her cellphone and called her mother to chat about operations and diseases.
I waited for a minute until I realized that nothing further would happen in that store until the boyfriend arrived with the money and I didn't see any cars driving up out front. I put the notebook and pens down and left thinking I had seen this show once a long time ago on Twilight Zone. Rod Serling should walk into the scene and wind up the show followed by final credits.
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| I am currently thinking about retirement and Social Security. This morning I went to the Social Security office to find out what I need to do if I decide to retire. While I was sitting waiting for my number to be called three people walked in through the door, a man, a woman, and a little girl. Only the little girl was facing me and she looked very familiar. Then the name "Mary" came to mind. The man turned around and I knew who they were. He is a fellow I have known peripherally for almost 30 years but haven't seen for a couple of those years. Tôma is a Vietnamese immigrant who went back to Việt Nam in 1999 to get married. He returned and began the sponsorship process to bring his wife to America. Tôma had been unable to bring his family, now including a daughter born in 2000 back to America because of problems he was having gaining his own citizenship. Tôma had been going back to Việt Nam every year for three months to stay with his family. He even thought about returning to Việt Nam for good but his wife would not hear of it. She wanted to come to America and told him to go keep trying. A week before I was due to get on the airplane to về quê (go home) from Cam Đức where I was visiting in 2003 a friend confronted me and said I had to get behind her on her xe mô-tô to go visit someone who I must meet. It turned out to be Tôma's wife Hường and their little daughter Mary. I had not then even known that Tôma had got married. He had not told me.
Mary and her maternal bà ngoại in Cam Đức
Mary impressed me then as very much an American child, not Vietnamese. She behaved like a very smart American child. She interrupted adults and could not keep still. In Việt Nam this is unfortunate. She was a ball of activity and eventually got out a picture album with her parents' wedding pictures in it to show Ông Mỹ. I saw them again in 2007 and had brought some things from Tôma's mother for Hường and Mary. Now Mary was very tall and properly shy and subdued at seven, not the ball of fire she had been at three.
Mary and Hường were the last folks I ever expected to see in the Social Security office. Mary says she doesn't ever want to go back to Việt Nam because in America she has a refrigerator and can go get ice cream whenever she wants Mary at 9 in America
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| VY IN SAIGON
My country, Vietnam, is a beautiful country where is famous for beautiful sites and a special culture. Although Hanoi is the capital, I only like Saigon , the former capital of South Viet Nam, is famous for its colonial architecture, tree-lined boulevards, and exciting bustling nightlife, where I had a lot of memories and it had left deep impressions in my mind. In the past, I thought Saigon was like Nha Trang, where I am living, it had a lot of houses, departments, parks…but without beaches.
Everybody had told me about Saigon before I went there to take University exams. In fact, I really wanted to arrived Saigon to know what Saigon is where I only watched on the TV and listened stories. Besides that, I have a close friend, his name is Dominico Ngo, I call him The Anh, he is a student and living in Saigon, he promised me that when I am in Saigon, he would take me to go everywhere in this city. In my mind, I said “Saigon, I am ready….”
After 2 months, I had prepared a lot of things to go to Saigon. With my knowledge which I have learned, I was ready to take my exam. My friend also told me a lot about Saigon, food, people, parks, road… everything. Generally, going to Saigon which is a big city with a lot of wonderful things makes me feel very glad. On July 07, I would take my exam, so on July 01, I went to Saigon with my mom by bus.
My trip started at 7.00pm, “Saigon, I am coming…” It took me about 8 hours to arrive Saigon from Nha Trang by bus. On my way, I had a memory which make me smile when I remember. With a long time on the bus, I had a problem with my body. Because of the bus was very crowded and my seat was not comfortable, I felt sick ! Unfortunately, although I and my mom prepared everything carefully, we forgot bringing medicine, cake and candy which can help me feel better on the bus. My friend, The Anh, did not sleep and talked with me until I arrived, I was very happy about that. 3.00 a.m, I was in Go Vap district, Saigon. This time, I was very tired and sleepy, so I decided to go to bed and would discover Saigon in the morning. “Hello Saigon – See you later” Good morning ! A new life started. Ho Chi Minh City, commonly known as Saigon or by the abbreviations HCMC or HCM, is the largest city in Vietnam. When I walked on the street, I feel everything was very big and I was very small in a big big world.
A mass of vehicles including bus, motorbikes, bicycles, trucks… always travel around the city nonstop. Although they make the environment pollute, they are essential parts which make this big and famous city. I really enjoy going to supermarkets which I can not find out in my hometown, where display a lot of goods, food, gifts…and especially a lot of beautiful sandals and bags which I like very much. After getting around some supermarkets, I bought one red bags which I think it is beautiful and suits me. Besides that, although I had about ten sandals, I also want to buy more 2 ones to be comfortable to change. I said “If I were a billionaire, I would buy all of things in this city”.
Thursday, in the afternoon, The Anh picked me up and took me to the District 1, where is still adorned with wide elegant boulevards and historic French colonial buildings. Firstly, when we went straight on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street, The Anh asked me “Can you guess what is it ?”. Wow, “This is Independence Palace ! Right?” I shouted. “That’s right ! But that is the old name, call it Reunification Palace where formerly South Vietnam's Presidential Palace stayed and the tank #843, crashed through the gate and ended the war on April 30, 1975, and now it still parked outside the Reunification Palace.” The Anh told me that. He promised me we would go into and discover this palace in one of these days.
Although Saigon has a dry season with a very high temperature, having a lot of trees in this district make us feel cool and comfortable to travel. I think this is the coolest district in Ho Chi Minh city and because of that, most of the foreigner usually stay here and get around this city. In future, I hope I will have a house here and live with my family.
Although emails and mobilephones are more comfortable and faster than handwritten letters, we sometimes sent letters together. After Reunification Palace, The Anh told me about the post office where he sent me letters and also want to show me a secret. City Post Office, a big post office stays at center of city, built in Vietnam war by French colonial, this is the most ancient structure in Ho Chi Minh city. “That’s wonderful !” I said that…..
Next to the main post office of the city is a big church with red tiles and sharp tops. Notre Dame Cathedral, a French-built Catholic cathedral in the city center. The Anh told me that we would go to mass on weekends, especially, we also have mass in English which help us make friends with foreigners and improve our English skills. Certainly, free entry.
When we were on the street, I learned a traffic-regulations. Streets in Saigon are very complex with a lot of traffic-lights. I thinked when the red light is on, we must stop. But we can turn left or right follow the way of the street which cross with our street. So, when the red light turned on, The Anh also turn left. I shouted “What are you doing? Why don’t you stop when the red light is on ?”. He smiled and said “We are allowed to do it.” I felt very shy and laughed…
In the evening, it rained. We were going to have dinner. In my opinon, Saigon is really a eating heaven. Maybe I have a problems to choose food in Saigon because it offers the country's largest variety of Vietnamese and international food. We almost can find all of special food of regions in country at Saigon. We ate rice with grilled pork and add omelet in my dish. I knew that going to eat rice in the evening and in the rain is culture of Saigon. If we can eat a hot dish of rice in cold weather, it is very cool. Is that so ?
After dinner, he told me that “Do you thirsty? Follow me and I will show you a wonderful coffee shop.” That is Era, a romantic coffee shop on Tran Quoc Thao street, district 3. The first impression of me is a small coffee shop without lights. They only use candles to get the light, they do not use light bulbs in both the night and the morning. Although the space is quite small, it makes everybody feels closer. Besides that special thing, they only play classical songs and sweet music, we can avoid noise from outside and free our mind.
Next days, I had to take my exam so I could not visit other beautiful sites. In this time, because a mass of students arrived Ho Chi Minh city, traffic jams had happened regularly, it is really terrible. It seems a Saigon culture. Smoke and noise from vehicles, dust on the streets…all of them draw a live picture and make a typical character of Ho Chi Minh city.
Central Ho Chi Minh City is the place to be holiday nights. The streets are jam-packed with a lot of motorbikes, bicycles and cars. Ho Chi Minh City never sleeps. Everywhere you look there is colour and movement. Hotels, restaurants, bars, coffee shops….with colour lights make Saigon more lively. It seems that everyone is busy, buying, selling, studying, and building. You'll find yourself swept up by the city's enthusiasm.
Ho Chi Minh City is a shopper's paradise, with trendy new boutiques and modern shopping centres just steps away from traditional open-air markets. After taking my exam and meeting some old friends, I must come back Nha Trang. In 2 weeks, although I had not discovered Independence Palace, had not visited Dam Sen Park and Suoi Tien Park and had not eaten a lof of food which I like, I knew what Saigon is, how its life is. A trip whereby I feel proud of both Saigon cultures and national cultures. I forgot to take my fan which I bought at supermarket to home. I will do it when I come back in September. I had a lot of memories which I never forget about Ho Chi Minh city.
“Thank you ! Goodbye Saigon – I will come back and I miss you !!!!!”
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