My daily walk through Bien Hoa, in addition to being good for my health, has become a great social outlet for me. My wife encourages the walk and my tai chi, which is just another reason I love her so much. I've met some nice coffee shop owners, waiters and waitresses on the walk. I've discovered a family restaurant near my coffee shop where the family grills chicken and pork in honey sauce. They're quite nice and their chicken and pork are delicious. I've met a family of five ladies -- mom and her daughters -- who make Hu Tui (or Tieu in the north), a noodles, pork, sprouts, onions and broth concoction that comes with really hot peppers. One of the girls speaks OK English and was showing me pictures of her American "friend", who's a doctor. I show them pictures of my wife and daughter and we try to chat in a combination of Vietnamese and English. Two of the daughters are twins and lament their freckles, telling me local men don't find them attractive. They're just fine, believe me. I bought a cool spatula in this little shop where they also train chefs in Korean cooking. I've gone to a couple of businesses where the prices seem to rise for the White Monkey. Instead of a discount, I qualify for the White Monkey miscount. Whatever. Vietnam calls itself a Capitalist Communist country, or something like that, so I sample the burgeoning free enterprise and shop where I want.
We made another trip to Ho Chi Minh City last week to complete paperwork to obtain our daughter Joanna's birth certificate, which we need with a bunch of other documents -- like our passports, marriage license, divorce decrees, social security card, driver's license, and my social security benefits statement from the U.S. government -- to apply for her U.S. citizenship. All the documents must be double-secret certified. Should be a snap, right? I have to prove I lived five consecutive years in the U.S. to get her application process going. That's why the social security document is so crucial. It proves I worked a lot of consecutive years in the U.S. Amazingly, the U.S. tracked me down in Bien Hoa at our house and gave me the exact document I needed when we apply for our daughter's citizenship. If only the folks here would get their act together and stop trying to frustrate the White Monkey, and allow me to do the best for my daughter.
Joanna will need a passport because I hope to take her and Phuong to the U.S. in November for Thanksgiving and Dec. 12, the world holiday and celebration that is my birthday. I joke, of course, because once you get passed a certain age -- for me it was 21 -- birthdays don't mean too much. But now that I'm in my 60s, birthdays are a little weird. They remind me of my mortality. No matter because paperwork, embassies and government officials will be the death of me anyway, since I apparently have nine lives on the motorbike. Phoung and I are hoping and praying we can come to the U.S. together for a month.
On a sad note, my big, black, mean, ornery cat named Kitty (like all my cats), that my friend Ron took care of for me, apparently died. Ron is one of the great people on planet Earth. He's smart, kind, generous to a fault, funny as hell, and great company. The exact opposite of my cat. Maybe that's why they hit it off.
My daughter Jessica, who is one of the brightest and most genuine women in the world, turns 33 on Aug. 8. And no matter how old she is, Jessica will always be my little girl. I know she might not want to read this sort of stuff, but I have so many wonderful memories of her growing up (the Bee Hive trail in Maine) and becoming an adult (a hard-fought college degree). I know I'm preoccupied these days with my newborn Joanna in Vietnam, as I should be, but Jessica was my first child and she's No. 1 for a reason. Sounds corny, but I love all my kids the same, regardless of past history, dramas, disappointments and triumphs. Jessica, Caroline, Jack, Alec and Joanna all bring something special to my life. I'm a natural cynic, and my sincere and always cheerful wife Phuong has nicknamed me "Mr. Complain," but I've been really fortunate and blessed to have such wonderful children. And I continue to be blessed.
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