Tsunami dream

Thought I would tell my home-coming story, but then the frustration of job hunting consumed most of my time. In short, it was weird to be amid the noisiness, the crowd and the heat of Saigon after nearly two years away, and it was weird again to walk alone on the quiet streets of Washington DC. Like two different worlds, even the people are different. Only me, seem lost in either world.

Ly and Truong made my first days back to Saigon much easier than it should have been. I flew from Hanoi to Saigon in an early flight, escaping the cold, wet North to the hot, noisy South, enough time to have lunch with Hien and Huy Duc, felt like nothing had changed (thank you very much Huy Duc, you are always our hero :)

The three of us went to Mui Ne, Phan Thiet that very afternoon. We stayed at Bamboo Village, in a cottage nearest to the sea, and at night, the sea was so noisy that I dreamed of a tsunami. No, I am not paranoid. On the way to Mui Ne that afternoon, Ly and Truong entertained me by their own tsunami story. They were staying in a small island of Maldives when the tsunami hit. " The island is so beautiful, it is literally a paradise on earth," Ly told me. But that morning, while they were lying on the beach, paradise turned to hell when the black, dirty waves rushed in from the other side of the island, push them to the sea. Like many other, they were shocked, it was incomprehensible. They lost their belongings, but considered themselves incredibly lucky to be alive.

That night, from my bed next to the window, the sea sounded cruel. I felt asleep early anyway; and in my dream, huge waves rush in the small resort, plunge the tiny cottage with me inside and sweep it together with everything else to the sea. The scene was somehow interrupted there. Next thing, I found myself lying in my cottage in Mombasa, but the waves sound much more gentle. Outside my window, there are faces, African faces, dark and quiet, looking at me attentively. I was in Africa again - in the dream. will tell you about Africa another time. Ly was there, too.

The day when the tsunami hit Asia, Christmas, I was in Buffalo with Cam Ly and friends, experiencing my very first skiing (with a broken elbow, I was proud of it) We got home late, everyone were happy, and the news startled us. It got worse every hour, everyday, and for the New Year, there is another reason to wonder what would happen in the year we are longing for, would it be good, would it be bad, would it be both, would it be great anyway, because we have a new year to live?

I guess the answer is always yes, because there is always hope :-)

I went to school today and worked for a few hours at School of Management library. They were preparing a memorial service for Rafik Al-Hariri, former Lebanese prime minister and a prestigious BU alumnus who was assassinated last month. The hall was decorated in beautiful white flowers. I stood there for a while, then made my way home. I missed a call today. Was it an editor from California?