Anyone coming to Vietnam?

[luckytxn 2,264]

The family is going to be really disappointed in me.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I also brought gifts every time I went to Vietnam. In addition, I brought gifts from family members in the US that I was expected to shuttle over. In two trips, I had to present cash gifts to the father of one of Phuong's cousins who lives in the US. He and I have a business relationship, and if I go to his parents house then it's just sort of expected that I will offer something as his representative. Last August I was invited to his parents house for dinner while visiting Phuong's mother in the village. I accepted. I was sleeping at 2:00am in the hotel in Hue when my cell phone rang. It was my friend. He'd found out I was going to his parents house the next day, and he pleaded with me to give his father a gift - a little cash in an envelope, and he'd pay me back when I returned to the US. Apparently, a Viet Kieu can even be humiliated by proxy!

Everything I did when I visited VN is nothing compared to what Phuong is going to be expected to do. I'm a member of the family now, but I'm not Viet Kieu. The amount of money will vary, I think, with the size of the family. Phuong has a very large family, both here and in VN. Many are distant relatives, but they all know each other and stay close. I went to a funeral for one of her "uncles" last weekend in Stockton. Not actually a brother or sister of either of her parents - don't know the exact relationship. There were over 200 people at the temple, nearly all family members of some sort. There was an equally large funeral held in Vietnam the following day. It was kind of sad, really. I'd been to his house for family events twice before Phuong came to the US, and we had an open invitation to come and visit anytime. Phuong's first visit to his home was for his funeral, though she did get to see him at two other family events in San Jose.

This was the third family funeral in a year, which might give you an idea how big her family is. They are somehow directly descended from the third Nguyen emperor, which they make a really big deal about. I'm still learning the details. All I know is that every family event usually requires tents and tables in the back yard because the house isn't big enough, and some of these people have pretty big houses.

Anyway, the smallest figure that's been quoted to me so far is $10K. Phuong's mom would probably forgive me if I didn't bring a lot of cash for her. I put a new roof on her house over the summer.

[Anh map 2,098]

Jim, can you adopt me? I promise to be cheaper.

[Mozzer1972 7]

Hi Jerome,

I just bought my ticket today but I will not be their until Christmas. If you can wait that long (and it doesn't consume alot of suitcase space), let me know and I can bring what you need to HCMC.

Eric

i mean "there"...(poor spelling)

[Dan_P 5]

The last time I sent something to Vietnam, it was like $20-$25 for 5lb (that's the min) from some place in Westminster/Santa Ana Area. This was about a year ago, so maybe prices changed. I'm sure San Jose or other towns with large Vietnamese populations will have similar service. iirc, it took about 10 days for regular service.