We are no longer in Australia.  We are now settled in the United States of America, in Boston, Massachusetts.  It is quite different, but we will make it with Buddha' s help.

I am most happy to inform you that Quy, my wife, is better.  She had pneumonia; she was in hospital for about two weeks, but thankfully recovered.  I thought we were going to lose her; it was a scary time for myself and the children.

The children (Quynh, nearly 12 now, Phuc, 4 1/2, and Thuc, nearly 6) are in school, where they are learning English and the American way of life.  They are trying to teach us, their parents, English and how to read.  They are all very smart; Quy and I are both very proud of them.  They have adjusted to their new lives here in America better than us, their parents.

Quy is working as a cook at a local restaurant; meanwhile, I am working as a sanitation worker (garbage man).  I start my day before the first light of day, picking up bags of trash all over the city.  It is hard, backbreaking work, but the pay is good, so I am grateful.  At least we can pay our bills.  When the children get out of school, Quy comes home.  She wants to be with the children.  She works the day shift, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Some people have been very kind to us, helping us by giving us clothes, furniture, money, and toys; others, meanwhile, have been saying horrific things about us and telling us to go back to Vietnam.  It hurts me whenever I hear their cruel words; we left Vietnam because of the war; if we had remained, we would have more than likely been killed.  They just don't understand what we have faced to get here to America!

Don't know yet if we will make Boston, Massachusetts our home, but for now, that's where we are, so we must learn to make the best of it.

~Hinh.

(To be continued!)