This is the third time BangHang classmates traveled on vacation in three consecutive years. Why did we choose Miami/Bahamas Florida this time? For those who don’t know, it all started with a phone call I received at home in around May of last year. When I picked up the phone, at the other end of the line was a lady’s voice.
“Are you Sean Ly?” calling my name in Mandarin.
“Yeah, this is he.” I replied. “To whom am I speaking?”
It was Diep Yen Binh, then a stranger, who introduced herself as a former DaNang Tho Nhon school alumna, stating that she was seeking alumni’s help to write short articles. Her goal was to compile the alumni’s articles written in Chinese into a Tho Nhon book to share the authors’ personal life experiences or stories with children at two new Tho Nhon elementary schools in Yunnan, China. These schools are located in the remote regions of China affected by severe poverty. Through her charitable organization---Brighter Days Foundation---she was able to collect monetary contributions from a number of alumni, together with her own donation, to partially help funding the construction of two school buildings at the two remote locations for little children to have improved classrooms and facilities for study. Click HERE for further information about the project; click HERE to view Brighter Days Foundation website.
In the course of our conversation, she asked me to write a short article, to which I committed, without any hesitation, even though I knew that my Chinese writing skill was poor. Within a month, our BangHang classmates in all contributed sixteen short articles and one song. By June of last year, her dream book was ready for printing with overwhelming contributions from many alumni from all over the world. Before the year end, all article writers received a copy of the book made in quality paper with hard cover, the first and ever printed book in honor of our beloved former Danang Tho Nhon school. The book’s design, layout and content received tremendous, positive feedback from all Tho Nhon alumni communities scattered around the globe.
Our BangHang classmates’ writing contribution was very minor, but chi Binh afterward told me to convey a message to our classmates that she welcomed us to visit Miami for vacation and that we could stay at her vacation homes for a few days. I told her, with appreciation, that I could not pursue any planning because at the time I was busy coordinating a China vacation tour for our classmates and other friends. Three months after the China trip, at the beginning of this year, for some reason I decided to call her up to check out her vacation home vacancy. Chi Binh reconfirmed her offer. I started to email BangHang classmates asking if there were any interests. With Ngoan Nhu’s help as a phone messenger, the initial sign-up was 17 people, but the final headcount gradually reached 25. Chi Binh reassured me in her always friendly manner, “No problem, all are welcome!”
Between email and phone contacts with chi Binh and her husband anh Vincent, I laid out an eight-day vacation package, consisting of a four-night Bahamas cruise and a four-day on-land visit of Miami area. We worked out the vacation time from April 22nd to 30th, with Khuan Bo’s couple and my family flying there two days ahead. Together with chi Binh/anh Vincent’s help and the following classmates’ assistance, our vacation plan was devised and implemented with success.
Huan: In charge of food purchase and preparation, and also driver of a rental car he booked.
Cuong: Helped planning on-land outdoors activity program. Cuong also was the driver of a second rental sedan he booked.
Ngoan Nhu: Assisted as a phone messenger since day one, and was also the bookkeeper of group expenses.
Hung Thanh: Driver of a third rental sedan.
Hai: Driver of chi Binh’s first van.
Van Dung: Driver of chi Binh’s second van.
Chi Binh’s family’s hospitality was the key to our trip’s success. Cindy and I thank them for the warm welcome and generosity, the splendid dinners at the Chinese restaurant and the Rusty Pelican, the two-night outdoors parties with plenty of delicious food and fine wine along with karaoke entertainment, the professional belly dance show at the party, the four-night lodging and the use of two vans, the store of food and drinks in the refrigerator, and their company in touring the beaches and vicinity during our group visit. All these must have cost them a lot of money, besides the time and efforts they spent on their planning to give us a VIP accommodation. It was the first time my wife and I have ever received such a generous first-class vacation package from someone we never met before, other than communicating on the phone. Their generous treat is greatly appreciated and will be remembered for many years. We told them our humble home is open to their visit at any time when they want to take a vacation to San Jose, California.
Before the trip, some classmates asked me how come chi Binh and anh Vincent wanted to treat us so special when we were almost like strangers to them. My reply: Nice people are generous and always have a warm heart. Although I cannot find a word in either English or Chinese to best describe chi Binh and anh Vincent, I believe I can sum it all in two words in Vietnamese language: Tử Tế. In English, the translation is close in meaning to “generous, hospitable, considerate and modest.”
Once again, thank you chi Binh, anh Vincent and their daughters’ families for making our trip to Bahamas and Miami a pleasant reality, and classmate travelers for making the travel a memorable vacation experience in which we all had a great time.
Sean
