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30th March, 2001

Saigon Families Gather To Welcome Relative Visiting Vietnam, His Country Of Birth. Happy Vietnamese Children Gather At Door To Study Western Visitors

December, 1996
Saigon was extremely hot when Trung and I arrived there from Hanoi, even though the month was January. When I asked Trung's uncle, which was the coolest time of the year in Saigon, he said, "Now !" We had come to Saigon to visit Trung's relatives, following the death of his Grandma a few months earlier, but the occasion was a happy one, as they had not seen him since he left Vietnam as a young boy in 1979.
Saigon family members in living roomThere was much talk between all the members of the family, of which I could understand not a single word, but I shared their happiness at this re-union, and a gist of the conversations was always translated for me by Trung, and by Minh, whom we first met when we travelled from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay. At that time Minh was escorting a tourist from France.

Grandma's funeral scrolls on wall.Shortly after our arrival at the home of his eldest aunt, Trung paid his respects by kow tow and the lighting of joss sticks at his grand-mother's shrine in the living room, and then all the scrolls from his grand-mother's funeral, were explained to him. By custom, the names of all relatives are inscribed on these funeral scrolls, and his name was amongst them.

One of Trung's younger cousins had reddish brown hair, which I could not understand until I learned that the cousin wanted to be more fashionable, so he had had his hair dyed some weeks before our visit. He would have been about ten years old and must have seen the hair style on pop stars or actors for it certainly did not come from either of his parents. He was also starting to learn English and was eager to practice his knowledge on me.

Two friends talking by door. All the activities in the living room could be observed by passers by, because the doors were open. The heat would have been quite unbearable had they been closed. Minh and an older cousin of Trung's, named Hao were wise enough to sit by the doorway for a very spirited conversation, and although they had never met before, they obviously shared some common interest, and became good friends.

Inevitably, the sight of a Westerner in a basically Chinese or Vietnamese Vietnamese children by door.community attracts the curiosity of the children, and this "China Town" in Saigon, was no exception. It was not long before a group of children gathered at the open door, excited and happy, as all children tend to be, and I would have given anything to have been able to understand what they were saying to each other, instead, I just had to guess !

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