Upon arriving in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), we were living in the lap of luxury for two free nights at the Park Hyatt Saigon and I felt like getting used to that type of pampering. My first full day in HCMC began with a 5:50am swim in the hotel’s outdoor pool followed by a shower surrounded by mirrors—you can’t hide much but I liked it. Then I left our room to meet my Saigon “Free” Walking Tour guide in front of the market at 8 am. My guide was Thuan whose 21st birthday was the next day. By the way, the organization requires a $1 donation and a tip of your choice. Thuan and I walked around the city center for most of the four hours we spent together except for a smoothie break. The most fun for me was getting to know Thuan. Here are some of the highlights of what I learned.
He’s majoring in Japanese and will begin giving tours in Japanese to tourists next month. Next year he will have a university degree and hopes to live in Japan while getting an advanced degree in tourism.
His grandfather will be 90 in December 2019 and lives with his parents, his third eldest sister and him because his health is not good and the family cares for him. His family is Catholic. His two eldest sisters are married. The eldest married a Catholic man and does not have children. The second eldest daughter’s husband was not Catholic and was persuaded to convert by Thuan’s mother but he doesn’t practice. They have a 9-year old daughter.
The Tet New Year is Feb 4 this year. Thuan will receive separate red money envelopes of about $10 each from his mother, father and third sister. He will make sure that the first person with whom he interacts on Tet has a compatible Chinese zodiac sign with his buffalo one and his movements in his house will be propitious according to feng shui principles and he will wear red to bring him prosperity.
After our tour, I found myself very curious about Thuan’s Dad’s story so I emailed him to learn more and he very graciously replied. His Dad was born in 1957 in Quang Nam province (Danang and Hoi An used to belong to this province) and his hometown was very poor and far from Danang. In 1975, when he was 18, Vietnam was unified and a lot of Vietnamese could easily choose to live anywhere in the country. After finishing high school, he decided to move to Saigon.
He came there with nothing because he wanted to change his life. He didn’t want to stay “poor” any more. He came with his two empty hands. He did a lot of things to make a living. He sold tobacco, was a street vendor and worked in an industrial factory. He met Thuan’s Mom’s sister, who introduced him to his Mom. After 10 years in HCMC, he saved money and had a lot of close friends. Gradually his Dad was able to help his parents and siblings move to HCMC. Thanks to Thuan’s Dad’s financial support, his relatives had good housing and good opportunities to develop their careers. There were a lot of challenges at the beginning but their living conditions improved over time. Now all of Thuan’s relatives live in HCMC.