A close neighbor of my parents introduced me to my fiancée, Thuy. The neighbor's name is Lien and she is Thuy's aunt-in-law. Thuy and I had been communicated over the Internet since April, 2007. Since we met, we were chatting (voice and text), exchanging emails, viewing each other's webcam, and text messaging. Our chatting schedule was almost two times a day: before I go to work (6:30am – 7:30am) and after I get home from work (7pm – 10:30pm). Thuy was able to do this because she was self-employed, owning a family clothing shop. In our conversations, we exchanged our values, confidences, and everyday activities in which we had many in common.
After a while, we began to have feeling for each other, and I asked her to be my girlfriend. We promised ourselves that once we meet in real life, if the reality is what we had expected, we will maintain our relationship and get married as soon as possible.
Our next step would be meeting each other in person to see if the reality is in accordance to what we had exchanged. Therefore, I took a three week vacation (11/3/2007 - 11/25/2007) and went back to Vietnam to meet her in person. We met in person for the first time at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on November 4th (Vietnam timezone). That same day, she joined me and my cousins to put away our luggages, then we went out and strolled around Saigon streets.
The next day, I asked my father to come along with me to her home for lunch to get to know her family and to ask for permission to date her. During the first few days, while waiting for a tour that we had registered, I spent almost all my time with her strolling around Saigon. Places we visited include Tao Dan Park, Dam Sen Park, coffee shops, and restaurants.
On November 10th, the two of us started our eight-day tour to Vietnam's central region, from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang, Qui Nhon, Hoi An, Da Nang, Hue, and Quang Binh. The tour was organized by Vinasun in coordination with Viet Culture Tourism. However, our tour was terminated early on the third day at Qui Nhon due to floods in the central regions. On our way going back to Ho Chi Minh City, we split on our own and stayed in Nha Trang for one more day. We then took a 16-seat van of Mai Linh Corporation to Da Lat and stayed there for a few days until November 17th. At Da Lat, we visited Xuan Huong Lake, Bao Dai Palace, Cam Ly Waterfall, Truc Lam Pagoda, Da Lat Market and took a lot of pictures there.
The remaining days of my Vietnam trip was mostly spent in Ho Chi Minh City with Thuy. We walked together, had coffee times, and bought gifts for our friends and relatives. There was one special event that I would like to mention. On November 22nd, after our mind had been set since the reality was over expected, we decided to take our studio wedding photos to prepare for our wedding in the future. We had the album taken at Anh Linh Studio.
During the past days, we were always side by side, exchanging confidences. We had the happiest days with each other. We felt that each of us have found our other half, and could not miss each other anymore, for we love each other so much. Therefore, we decided to get married as soon as possible.
