The movies couldn't make me cry as much as Vietnam

Vietnam is so amazing I am going have to skip over my summary of Hong Kong and skip right to it.

I never realized how many Cantonese people lived here in Vietnam and how much family I have. And here comes an amazing story.

My paternal grandma's sister is mute but she can hear. She married a guy who could not speak or hear. They adopted a child that was found by the mute sister in the streets. They adopted a second son whose family was escaping Cambodia - and the family sold the son to them. 10 years later that family comes back to find their son but their son does not go back with them, he stays with the family who brought him up. Somewhere in between the couple have a very beautiful baby but they were living out in the country and one night when the baby was sick, it was so dark they gave her the wrong medicine and she unfortunately died. The family move back to Saigon and they live in the house my dad grew up in now.

I met the brother in law and he is so amazingly down to earth that I started to cry. Then when my aunt told me about this story I started to cry again. It is so amazing.

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My dad and I were walking back from the house he grew up in when I started asking him about the war. He said in 1975, the road that we were walking on was lined with dead bodies - with the heat coming down, the bodies blackened and swelled. He said the smell was unbearable.

It is stories like this that is making my trip so intense. I seriously want to write a book about my family.

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In other news - I never knew the world had so many different fruits, thank you Vietnam!

We be flying to Hong Kong

Long ago, during the years after the Vietnam war, a baby girl was chloroformed. Her parents, emigrating in the dead of night - feared the coast guard would capture them if their baby cried. So she was chloroformed and they sailed to Hong Kong. While at the harbour the dad was on the dock. The mom, carrying the chloroformed baby girl on the boat, realized that the boat behind them was catching fire. She panicked. She gave a crazed look at the dad, and the dad, knowing his wife for a little while now, said... oh crap. That's when the mom threw the girl. If the dad did not extend his arms to catch the chloroformed girl, she would not be alive today.

Years later the baby girl's sister would be flying back to Hong Kong.

I asked my dad if he could bring me to the spot where mom threw my sister - but he said that the harbour was a make-shift harbour at the time, it extended deep into the ocean/sea/water area. It would not exist today. My dad didn't like Hong Kong back then - saying the people there were rude - let's hope that this trip will prove that statement wrong - we had trouble convincing him to go back to Hong Kong.

T minus about 7 hours :)

I'm going to Lille, France!

It's official (although my real acceptance won't be sent to me until later this month - I've been told, straight from the source, that I have been accepted to study at Universite de Catholique de Lille). Even though I am not Catholic, don't speak a lot of french (if you can even call my attempt of speaking speaking)... I've decided to push my boundaries to their limits and take my last three classes in a foreign country.

So - it kind of sounds like this year's travel plans will be as hectic as last year - but tougher - since I find out all my Lille info while in Vietnam, where as last year - I planned China and Montreal all at once during finals... but at least I was in one spot.

Oh well. Here's until tomorrow when I leave for Vietnam! And to add to random stories from my family, let's continue with my dad and the "one in a million girls" he could've chosen from in the factory. Upon announcing my decision to study in France a few months back, he asks "do you want to have my friend's address in Paris?"
"I think I'll be fine..."
"Are you sure? It's one of my ex's," Dad says, right in front of mother.
"...Uhhh, I think I'll be fine..." I respond, while eying mom's reaction.

T minus 2 days

My passport says "Certificate of Visa Exemption" because my parents were born in Vietnam. I told my sister that I could come in and out of Vietnam as often as I like for a year. All I had to do was pay $100... enter my sister boiling it down for me: "basically it's a fancy visa - because you still had to pay to be "exempt"" ... whatever.

Wednesday May 21 Leave Edmonton
Friday May 23 Arrive in Hong Kong
Sunday May 25 Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City

Our return is scheduled for June 30 but we'll be changing that, hopefully for July 12 - since that is what we told everyone :) But who knows - maybe we'll stay longer :)

I'm off to Vietnam!

and here's the kicker - it's with my parents - and it is their first trip back since emigrating.

So my question is how do you prepare for a trip bound to be so intense? Or maybe I don't - it might just be a HUGE shopping spree, a non-stop dinner, sensory overload, claustrophobic, sun intoxication, an "i want to strangle my family" kind of trip. So, because of these things running through my head I have stopped trying to "prepare" myself for the trip of a lifetime.

It has left me to reminisce about a past I know nothing about :) I am hoping that the factory where my parents met will still be standing - although my dad assures me "factory or no factory, we are walking through it and I'll give you a tour of the place even if I have to make it up." My parents met in a sewing factory. "She was one of a million other girls I could've chosen from" - is how my dad describes the experience. My mom was sitting in one of the many rows of girls sewing. My dad was the mechanic that fixed the machines.

Armed with stories like these my trip will delve deeper than any past travel I have taken - and I will share it with you. So check back regularly for random stories of the Cheung's and find out with me as I uncover my family history.

I'm so tired I could cry

It's a moment of weakness as I realize how quick things are changing. I haven't really prepared as much as I should have... but here is the summary:

-This is my last week of work (although I will come back to work over the summer) - but doing knowledge transfer with 3 new staff members is tough when you missed 3 days of work because you were so sick. I was pretty useless today - explaining things but not really explaining things. Missing details as I was still sick. Trying to listen and brainstorm about "measurables" for a project - only to have my brain recite Rent's seasons of love lyrics - more specifically "how do you measure, measure a year... how about love????? how about love???" While singing this in my head I snap back to reality and blank out. Get asked a question and proceed to see question mark images surrounding my head. Sorry girls - but am pretty sure you will be okay when I leave - especially given how spastic my imagination gets.

-I am still sick - what has transformed from a fever to a fever cough, to a cough runny nose, to what i have now: a rumbling cough in my chest combined with a runny nose that deprives me of sleep.

-I took the wrong bus home today because I did not check the number on the bus - oddly enough I discovered a new efficient way home - with one more day of work left! haha

-I leave for Vietnam in 6 days. I am not prepared. My mentality is not prepared for the change in weather. This statement was proven today when I stepped out of the house and saw how green the grass was, how bright the sky was, only to start sweating when I was indoors. My hypothalamus is confused. Jacket on or off, on or off? In the end - be glad you did not see the fashion foe pah - socks with shoes that you are not suppose to wear socks with.

Top it all off - nothing like trying to nap at home only to have your mom make a commotion when she gets home making it impossible to sleep. Can you hear my heart weeping from exhaustion or is that my delirium talking?

But hey, it could be worse - I heard my sister is a lot sicker than I am. I hear you "suck it up princess" - I can't, the mucous has clogged my nasal cavity. Really - check out the garbage can - I killed a shrub this week with all the tissues I used.

Thanks for reading me vent. Tune in next time as I properly introduce my trip to Vietnam - the ultimate family history lesson. (It's my family's first trip back to Vietnam since emigrating).