One of the tallest buildings in Bien Hoa, Pegasus, has a cinema, apartments, bar, and swimming pool. On Thursday, we took Joanna to the pool, which is on the seventh floor. She had a blast. The baby pool is pretty deep for a baby pool -- one meter deep all the way around. Joanna started slow, as she always does, dipping her toes into the water, and then putting her hands in. When she saw other kids jumping in, she was ready to do the same, consequences be damned. But the White Monkey jumped into the chilly water and held Joanna, who clung to me at first, then squealed in delight when we went into the water. She was ready to be on her own within minutes, which wouldn't have been a good idea. Joanna loved trying to "swim" to the edge, climbing out of the pool and then going back into dad's arms and into the water. This went on for about 40 minutes. Two little girls gravitated toward the White Monkey and Joanna, and pool time was very enjoyable. There's an influx of people entering the pool area around 5 p.m., and this crowd is a little sketchier. Not bad, just sketchier. I was whipped anyway, so we bailed with plans to make this a twice-a-week outing. The other three afternoons we take Joanna to Wells Farm, which is close to our house. Wells Farms has some swinging tires, teeter-totters, a pile of sand, fish, and other things for kids. Joanna loves this place as well. So despite the aggressive nature of the other children here, we've gotten in a good groove with Joanna.
The aggressive nature of the children here was all too evident this past week when Joanna, who's almost 20 months old, pointed at -- and tried to touch -- a flower on a neighbor girl's T-shirt. The girl, who's about 30 months old, swung the back of her hand -- from her hip -- with full force at Joanna's face. The back of the girl's hand whizzed by Joanna's face, missing by inches. If it hit, it would have been nasty and surely drawn blood. The girl's family didn't say squat. Phuong barked some Vietnamese at the grandmom in charge of the girl, but the grandmom sat stonefaced, as she always does, and said nothing, as she always does. We learned our lesson, again. This is the same family, or families, who live on top of one another in the house next door and who used a jackhammer on our shared wall at 6 a.m. to replace tile. Classy folk. But when you firmly draw a line in the sand here, or anywhere else for that matter, most people usually get it. Even the classless ones. Remember Poland? The White Monkey doesn't pick fights, but he'll beat his chest and his buttocks will turn bright red if someone crosses that line and threatens him or his family.
I got an "invitation" for a job interview in Prague to teach at a business school. The job sounds good and the woman in charge of the hiring was refreshingly honest about the procedure to work in the Czech Republic. It could cost me some money and time to get the necessary permits. I liked the tone and honesty of the response I got, but Phuong and I believe that Joanna has responded very well to her dad's return from Poland, and the positive changes in her behavior would be best served by staying in Vietnam for the time being.
We haven't made any progress on getting Phuong to the United States. Our FOI request to the State Department for details about Phuong's rejections was brushed aside, from what I can determine from their cryptic letter. So now I'm spending lots of money to apply for a spousal visa with my lawyer's help, and then get rejected to find out why Phuong keeps getting rejected. I can't wait to find out the reason for her rejection and lifetime ban on coming to the U.S. Our case could ultimately end up in appeals court. I'm in it for the long haul; it's not like I'm going anywhere. Bring it on.
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