FRIDAY SKY - THE CHRYSLER BUILDING IN NYC

(Here I am a week late and a few dollars short – well, I am more than a few dollars short but that is entirely different story which I will save for future entry.)

I took these photos of the famous Chrysler Building when we visited NYC last November. The Big Apple offers so many great images to be captured. I was asked many times what my impression of America or New York when we first arrived. When we were in Viet Nam, we watched American television shows such as Mission Impossible, Hawaii Five-O and various Variety Shows, plus living in Sai Gon, the capital of South Viet Nam (we lived in Cho Lon (1) to be exact), we were familiar with modern metropolitan living. I personally was not intimated by the hustle and bustle of NYC. However, for some people, NYC could be too hectic and I know a few Americans who find NYC is a bit too much!

The first few years, we had to learn everything quickly from taking the subway (this would be intimidating even for some Americans), learning to speak English, making new friends and knowing whom to trust. We learned how to survive from watching, listening to others around us and pushing ourselves forward while creating our own pathways. We did not have time to be choosy or the luxury to select something else. It was not easy but it was not difficult either. NYC is a fascinating town and there are so much to do, see and enjoy. NYC is a great town for someone who is rich (money definitely comes in handy anywhere), young, thin and beautiful. Too bad I did not have any of these when we arrived on January 10, 1980! (I still don’t – haa haa)

Tuesday, January 11th – I began a 13-week Bible Study for women at our parish. There are about 50 women signed up. We begin at 7:30 p.m. and end at 9:00 p.m. The gathering includes reading the scriptures, providing support to each other thru prayers and encouragement as we learn to renew, to re-discover the joy and fulfillment God has planned for our marriage.

Wednesday, Jan. 12th – I did not get home until almost 10:00 p.m. from a work-related (dinner meeting) activity.

Half of January has gone by. We had many sunny days and pleasant temperature this week. I promise to write more about a few projects that I am working on. No resolutions but I am actually excited with the changes I have already made.

(1) Cho Lon means Great Market (Cho = market, Lon = great or large) was a Chinatown of Sai Gon. Many of these Chinese who were born in Viet Nam did not attempt to learn Vietnamese nor considered themselves Vietnamese citizens. The Chinese merchants controlled 50% of the imports, textile factories and major trading. After the Fall of Saigon in April 1975, the Communist government nationalized all Chinese-owned businesses in 1978. In the Spring of 1979, we were among the Chinese-Vietnamese who chose the extreme escape route by boat over the South China Sea.

2435 DEVOE TERRACE

After a nice visit with my godparents, we drove by 2435 Devoe Terrace (photo below), an apartment building we called home the first few months in America. (How did we get from Uncle Ping’s house in Brighton Beach in Brooklyn to the apartment in the Bronx? Did we take the subway or Uncle drove us there? How did we know to transfer from the D train in Brooklyn to #4 to the Bronx? Who told us to make sure that we got off at Fordham Road?)I remembered walking from the building, around the outside of the park (I was told it would be safer not to walk thru the park.), and then a few long blocks to the subway station. Our apartment was next to the corner apartment on the top floor. (The old lady who lived in that corner apartment was really nice to us. She encouraged us to practice English with her and invited us to her apartment to listen to music.) Our apartment had three rooms, a small kitchen, a small eating area and one full bath. At that time, my father’s youngest brother also lived there and he had his own room. My parents got the other room and all four of us kids shared one large room. Seven people in one apartment and one bathroom, yet it still was so much better than the dirt floor hut in the refugee camp!I started working at MK the following month. MK Company was located around 31st Street and Lexington. After work, I would walk to 33rd Street and Park Avenue to attend English classes for refugees. I don’t remember what we did on the weekend. (How did Mom shop for food? Was there a supermarket nearby that she could walk to? How did she learn to find items she needed in a language she did not know?)Dad worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant in midtown. I remembered Mom would wait up every night until Dad got home. (What about me walking home after attending evening classes?) Ok, TOTA, stop making it sound so bad. Boo hoo – it is America, stop telling your boring stories about being poor refugees trying your best to make adjustment in the new land. We all had to go thru hard times. It is not about falling down. It is about pulling yourself up and moving forward.

After a few months living at this building, Dad got a better job operating a freight elevator at a manufacturer in Queens. Someone from a Vietnamese Social Agency helped the family find an apartment in Elmhurst which made it much easier for Dad to go to work. I still worked at MK Company and it was also much nicer for my commute. The #7 Flushing train is only a short walking distance from the apartment at 89-25 Elmhurst Avenue. (Good thing we did not know anything about baseball so it was not that difficult to switch from being a NY Yankees to a NY Mets!)

WELCOME TO AMERICA (OUR 31ST ANNIVERSARY)

Thanks to Qaptain Qwerty, I was able to take the above photo of Uncle Ping's house in Brighton Beach, during my visit to NYC last November. I looked at the house as if seeing it for the first time. Perhaps because it was the first time I "really" saw the house. Back then, the night of January 10, 1980, I was too tired to notice anything. The next few days, I was trying to keep up with so many things in the new country, I did not pay attention to the outside of the house. I do remember, after coming thru the front door, the sitting room was to the right and the stairs going down the basement was to the left. The entrance way led directly to the kitchen. To the right of the kitchen was a small bedroom, then the master bedroom and a full bathroom.

Singapore, January 1980
“Get up and get ready. The bus will be here soon. It is not going to wait for us.”
I got up, washed my face and got ready. (Did I brush my teeth? Did we even have toothbrush and toothpaste? Did I have a towel or had to share with others?)
The bus arrived to take us to the airport. (I remembered standing the whole trip because the bus was crowded. I was holding on the only piece of luggage with the whole family clothing.)
What did I see on the way to the airport? What did I see when we got off the bus, walking toward the terminal?

I don't really remember much of this trip or recall what went through my mind. I don't even remember boarding the airplane that took us from Singapore to Belgium. (Where did I sit? Who sat next to me, my sister CH or my brother VL? Were Mom and Dad nearby?) Except my Dad, no one in the family had ever been on an airplane before. Was I scared or excited about the new experience? (How did we know what to do, like putting on the seat belts? Did we use the restroom? We had to, it was at least 14 hours flight time from Singapore to Belgium. What kind of food was served and did we sleep during the whole flight?)

(Coney Island was only one subway stop from where Uncle Ping's house was but back then, we did not know what Coney Island was about. Above photo was taken in November 2010)

I remembered Dad went to search for ice cream when we were waiting for the connecting flight to New York. We teased him that the plane would take off and he could have been left behind. He came back all smiling with the ice cream cone. Was it chocolate ice cream?

From Belgium, we boarded another plane to NYC. We finally arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport around 8:00 p.m. (I don’t remember walking out of the airplane.) Uncle Ping was waiting for us and he was holding a few winter jackets. He was smiling and saying something like, “Welcome to America!”

It was dark when we walked from the terminal to the parking lot where Uncle Ping parked his car. A big snow storm came thru the day before. We were not prepared for the freezing cold and the snow piling high. We wore thin layers of clothes and worn sneakers. The jackets from Uncle Ping helped but we were still freezing.

To this day, I still remembered the comical scene when Uncle tried to explain that it was safe and encouraged us to get on the escalator to the upper level to get to the parking lot. All six of us took the stairs even though we were so tired and hungry. I remembered CH could not walk and fell down in the parking lot because it was too cold. (How did all six of us fit into Uncle Ping’s car? Was it a station-wagon? What color was it? Where did I sit and where did everyone else sit?)

When we arrived at Uncle’s house, his wife was so kind to have dinner ready for us. I remembered looking at the bowl of rice noodle soup with big chunks of meat and not sure if I was dreaming. After seven months of canned sardines, ready-to-eat noodles and steamed rice, we shamelessly ate all the food put in front of us. Of course, my parents had to be polite, controlled their hunger and instead of eating, keeping the conversation with Uncle and his wife.
After the feast, we all went to sleep in the basement. The next day, we went to the refugee agency to fill out the paperwork. We were provided a bag of decent winter clothing and $200, and that was the beginning of our new life in America 31 years ago.

St. Louis, January 2011
“TOTA, get up. Get ready for work so you could earn a paycheck and pay income taxes like all law-abiding Americans! And Happy 31st Anniversary coming to America!”