An American Who Loves Vietnamese Music
About a month ago, I received an email from Adam Bray, “a big white guy” (in his own words) who loves Vietnamese popular music, complimented on my review column. Bray took a trip to Viet Nam and loved it so much that he ended up staying in Phan Thiet for two years. He spent his nights at local bars and hang out with the singers. The most intriguing part was that he did freelance Web design to get by. I envy him for his courageousness to live in a place that he just happened to love, and made a living with what he liked to do. I have thought of that, but never have the heart to go forward. As much as I love to live in Viet Nam, I don’t know if I can survive without a steady income. In addition, I don’t even know if I can find a job in Viet Nam. I don’t want to end up doing construction work for my uncle just like the rest of my cousins. Back to the subject, I found an interesting interview with Bray, “Mot Nguoi My Yeu Nhac Viet” (written in Vietnamese), on Giai Dieu Xanh. Bray is back in Maine now for family’s matter, but he hopes to get back to Viet Nam soon.
Thanks so much for your kind note. I’m homesick for Vietnam, but how can I complain about the opportunity to be with family for the holidays? Its nice to catch up on all the books, music and movies too.
As a side, someone just told me my friend Le Hieu has a website up finally at http://www.lehieu.org. If you aren’t familiar with him, he may be worth a listen. I only understand the lyrics in bits and pieces, but I’ve always liked the quality of his voice. He’s a really nice kid too. He told me that economics are leading him to go in a more pop direction on his next album. I’d hate to see him lose his unique style, as I really like his first 2 albums, but time will tell.
I used to think of coming back to Vietnam and live there since I have too many attachments to it. My childhood, my hometown, my family and friends… But I sometimes ask myself if I ever dare to make a decision to go back and live there. As you said, no job, no stable income, how can we go back? For those who dare to go back to Vietnam, find good jobs and live happily, I admire them! I’m serious, no kidding :-)
By the way, I’m reading a book by Andrew X. Pham right now called “Catfish and Mandala.” I’m only 30 pages into it but have been excited to be able to read it because he lived in Phan Thiet (my new home in VN) until his family fled the country when he was 10. There are not many books out there (in English anyway) that talk about Binh Thuan province or PT. It is eye-opening for me because even though I’ve spent so much time there, as a newcomer, it is so hard to detect traces of the war era. I’m happy for other similar book recommendations…