From: neilh@eb4ts1.EBay.Sun.COM (Nghia Huu Bui)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Subject: [NEWS] Vietnam Impression
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 18:03:05 PDT
Reply-To: neilh@eb4ts1.EBay.Sun.COM
Distribution: world




Cha`o ca'c ba.n ,

Vu+`a qua Chaucer co' ddo.c ddu+o+.c mo^.t ba`i vie^'t cu?a mo^.t ngu+o+`i
Vie^.t ve^` tha(m que^ nha` sau bao na(m da`i xa ca'ch .  Chaucer nha^.n
tha^'y ba`i vie^'t na^`y ra^'t hay cho ne^n xin ddu+o+.c post le^n dda^y dde^?
ta^'t ca? ca'c ba.n cu`ng thu+o+?ng thu+'c .  Co' ddie^`u ma` Chaucer muo^'n
no'i tru+o+'c , ddo' la` Chaucer dda~ post ba`i vie^'t na^`y " without his
permission " .  Chaucer cu~ng hy vo.ng ra(`ng ba`i vie^'t na^`y se~ ddem
dde^'n cho ca'c ba.n nhu+~ng gia^y phu't cha.nh lo`ng nhu+ no' dda~ ddem
dde^'n cho Chaucer khi ddo.c ba`i vie^'t na^`y va^.y .  :-)))


*******************************************************************************

VIETNAM :  IMPRESSION OF A RETURNING VIETNAMESE AMERICAN


						( By Chung Hoang Chuong )

     In the summer of 1991, I took a trip, a trip that I have been waiting for
more than twenty years to go back to my native Vietnam.  It was hard to
describe the excitement and my anxiety kept on increasing as I took the long
route by going through Australia for a seminar at the University of Melbourne
before flying back to Vietnam from Bangkok.  When the captain of Air France
003 reminded us that we have to buckle and straight up our seat, I received a
hand shake from a fellow Japanese passenger congratulating me on this very
special occasion of seeing my family after 26 years.

     It was hot, humid, and crowded at Tan Son Nhut airport, but I was filled
with emotion.  Tears of joy came when I saw my 83 years old father still sharp
mentally and well physically.  He had seen a lot and lived through all these
years with unequal tenacity.  My mother, the best support that he had was
waiting for me at home prepairing a family meal.  I adjusted quite fast to the
tropical heat and the quick downpours that drenched Saigon with some two
inches of rain in an hour.  Vietnam is pretty, friendly, warm and still faced
with many problems.

     There are many more smiling faces as my van weaved throught motorbikes,
pedicabs, and pedestrians.  The city is in a new frenziness with throngs of
"Dream" Hondas go every which way.  Awakened after long years of waiting for
the change to take place, Saigon shows a new face of being once called the
Pearl of the Orient.  People are now working, waiting anxiously for work and
hoping to work more.  They are ready for the turn around and know that many
problems still exist as with many other socialist countries caught in the web
of political reconsideration.  Vietnam is struggling to make sense of all this
and find a proper way to move ahead.

     With the smiling city, the country side is also beaming with recent good
harvests.  I met my in-laws for the first time in Long An, a place made famous
by Jeffrey Race's book in the sixties.  A little extra income has helped my
cousin to get a Japanese made color television.  His children crowd and push
each other for the best place for "Monkey King" every night.  "It is better."
He said but he also knows that there is still room for any type of
improvement.  He hopes for a break and he hopes for a better political
climate.  "After all, we deserve a break after all those years."  He mentioned
during lunch and a flash downpour.

     The fruit basket of Binh Duong is plentiful.  The sweetness of a very
juicy pomelo is more than making up for the stickiness in the air.  My
relative's backyard is bringing in a little more during dinner time and the
children were able to buy better writing paper for the upcoming examination.
The road to Nha Trang is rough but the scenery quite enjoyable.  The beach is
not crowded and the facilities would give you a good night of rest with an
early wake-up call by the public loud speakers playing revolutionary songs.

     Joined by my family, I traveled north with my Sacramento friends and the
entire extended family to pay respect to the ancestral village of Phu Bai.
The Perfume river is still flowing slowly with a rhymth of an old love song
addressing to a departing soldier.  Hue is lovely.  The tradition is alive
with quite delightful at "Am Phu" restaurant, a landmark in Central Vietnam.
Many memories returned as the cicadas participated in unison when we counted
the steps leading up to the pagodas perched on top of Non Nuoc mountains.

     The trip was a memorable experience.  Being able to see things up close,
I was able to have an idea with more or less accuracy of the needs as well as
the major challeges that Vietnam has to face.  Among those challenges is the
issue of education development and more appropriately the educational
opportunities of rht upcoming generation.  There are eager minds wanting to
learn as I have had many chances to talk with the students during my stay in
Saigon and Hue.  Vietnam can certainly count on these future contributions.
This is one area I think VNHELP (Vietnam Health, Education, and Literature
Projects) has taken a leadership role to promote different likages with
education programs in Vietnam.  Perhaps, this could be the initial step for
may more exciting projects.


******************************************************************************


About the author:

	Chung Hoang Chuong is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco
	State University in Asian American Studies and a member of 
	Advisory Board of VNHELP.