My wife is applying for US Citizenship

[ScottThuy 140]

Scott looking to add some flair to his vest.

killin me...

[luckytxn 2,264]

Jim and Scott.. you guys are great!!

They are the best we have here.

[Tuanv 2]

They are the best we have here.

Ditto that!

[Matt_Stevens 5]

I appreciate the nice words from some but don't appreciate the political BS posted in this thread. That's not why I started it.

A move to Vietnam would not be permanent. Likely 3 to 5 years.

[Jerry & Fiona 1]

A Viet Kieu is not any more free to voice their opinions in the US than they are in Vietnam. All of those people you see on TV protesting in front of the VN consulates in the US will never be able to return to Vietnam. They've cut off their ties with their family and friends just to make a political statement in the US. What's more, the VN government doesn't care what those Viet Kieu say in the US because nobody in VN will ever see those protests, and those Viet Kieu will never see their families again. Vietnam won't change until the people who live in Vietnam decide to change it.

There's a helluva lot more to life than worrying about what the government is doing. For the vast majority of people in Vietnam, the government has very little effect on their daily lives. They work, go home, and spend time with their family and friends. They also get a lot more pleasure from simple things than most Americans do, and generally are pretty happy people. When they do have to interact with the government then they play the game in order to make it as fast and painless as possible, and then they get on with their lives.

Most of the Viet Kieu I know are not happy with the VN government, but most of the Americans I know are not happy with the American government either. The difference is that in America you can complain loudly about it to your heart's content, but the net result is the same - nothing really changes. You can let it eat you up, or you can focus on what's the most important. One of the Viet Kieu I know spent two years in a re-education camp after the war. He still goes back to VN every year to spend time with his family, and he's one of the happiest people I know. I've asked him how he can go back and face the same government that beat him daily in that camp. He says the government didn't beat him - individual people did that. The guy checking his passport at the airport might work for that same government, but that guy didn't do anything to him personally, and there's no reason he should hold a grudge against him for what someone else did.

Do you know the serenity prayer? It goes like this...

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

I've never seen a better roadmap for a happy life.

Amen!

[ricochet 2]

I appreciate the nice words from some but don't appreciate the political BS posted in this thread. That's not why I started it.

A move to Vietnam would not be permanent. Likely 3 to 5 years.

Agreed!!!

I hope you live it up back there in Vietnam. No matter where in the world you are, as long as you're with the one you love then any place can be considered a HOME.

Edited April 3, 2011 by ricochet

[vietazn 1]

Why can't Viet Kieu be happy for themselves living here and let the Vietnamese people be happy for themselves

living over there too. After seeing what's going on in the world like Libya (especially since the war wouldn't have

been over 3 weeks ago if foreign powers didn't get involve to drag it out), I think in a generation,

history and the Vietnamese people will have a positive view of Ho Chi Minh and his fight against colonialism.

Ho Chi Minh fought against the Japanese while others bowed to them, and he also fought against colonialism and

foreign intervention and occupation. The government of Diem wasn't the greatest thing; it even refused to take part

in national elections it had already agreed to because it knew it would lose. Then it ended up rigging its own elections. And the rest is history.

Edited April 5, 2011 by vietazn

[tcTTct 37]

So we are looking at the options carefully. No matter what, we will get Anh her US Passport. But I gotta tell ya, I have a feeling we may move to Saigon by the end of the year and live the high life. Our standard of living over there would be through the roof and it would be easier to have children with her parent's help. They are retiring and would be 24/7 nannies. I do not want to raise kids in NYC.

I'm not sure if you have children yet but if you do live in VN as expats, chances are your kids will be going to either an international school or some other high end institution full of rich kids with chauffers etc, and it may be difficult to keep them grounded.

[Matt_Stevens 5]

We likely wouldn't say in Vietnam long enough for the kids to become completely 'self aware.' Five years, tops, so any child we have wouldn't be older than four.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Keep in touch. I was told this week that I can't stay home when my babe goes back early next year for a few weeks. Apparently her mother seems to think she is still in charge.

[Matt_Stevens 5]

The little woman has her ticket to Saigon for late May. It's a three week trip. Wish I was going.