Day 1: Welcome home

Returning to Vietnam after 30 years is one matter. Returning to Vietnam with limited Vietnamese language skills is another matter. My relatives have not seen me since I was 3-years old, and they’ll probably be shocked and disappointed to learn that I still speak Vietnamese like a 3-year old. I wish I could articulately tell them how much I still think of them and how having no family in Canada has been lonely without them. But the most I will probably manage to say is: “Da Thua” and “Da cam on”. This dilemma is on my mind as we just finished a 16-hour flight from Toronto to Hong Kong and now depart for a 5 hour flight from Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City.

Another thing on my mind is the fear of getting diarrhea. To be safe, I have packed 20 capsules of extra-strength Imodium and made sure to make use of the clean airport washrooms one last time.

The 5-hour flight somehow feels longer than the 16-hour flight, but I can eventually see the lush greenery of Vietnam outside my window. We land and make it past the young military-looking customs agents with ease. I’m ready for my 2-week Vietnam adventure!

As soon as we exit the airport, I can spot my Chu 3, Chu 5, my cousin Duc, and Duong Tu from a crowd of hundreds waiting outside for their families. People have warned me about the heat in Vietnam but it is actually not that bad at all. December here feels like early-June in Canada.

We arrive at Ba Noi’s house in District 8 on Duong Tuy Ly Vuong and any nervousness about meeting my family again after three decades is washed away with the tears of happiness, hugs, and kisses from Co Tu and Ba Noi as soon as I step out of the taxi van. That night, as we have dinner as a full family again at a cramped table, I look around at my uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and grandma and realize this: Canada used to seem large, but it feels small compared to home.