It was almost 10 p.m. when she reached Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport with her family. While the family members were waiting at the arrival gate, Lan insisted on standing at Pillar 12. "I am excited and also nervous," the 67-year-old woman said, waiting restlessly for Ken Reesing, an American veteran she had fallen in love. Two months ago Ken told her that he wanted to visit Vietnam. "I did not want him to come to Vietnam alone. It is too far. I have a sister in the U.S and she will come to see me in Lunar New Year, I told him to delay the plan until then so he can travel with my sister," Lan says. "But he did not listen to me, he always wanted to go." Lan got divorced several years ago, and now is living in southern Dong Nai Province with her daughter and managing a food store. An hour after the flight landed, the veteran did not show up. At Pillar 12 in front of the airport, she started to feel butterflies in her stomach. Eventually he … [Read more...] about American soldier, Vietnamese girl find lost love after 50 years
Looks for 50 year old woman
For Tet, some people have ‘rice with tears’
Once, the Da Bac Leprosy Center had about 150 patients, now there are just seven people left. Most of them died, a few others moved to hospitals. Those who are left suffer from chronic loneliness, which is accentuated during festival days like Tet, the Lunar New Year, Vietnam's most important holiday, primarily celebrated as a family reunion and get-together. 75-year-old Nguyen Thi Soi from the northern province of Vinh Phuc is one of the lonely inmates. "Lunar New Year this year, eat rice with tears again because there is no one [family members] left," she said sadly. Soi's parents died when she was 5. By age 19, she discovered she had leprosy. In 1967, Soi was the first person to become an inmate of the Da Bac Leprosy Center in Minh Phu Commune, Soc Son District, 40km east of Hanoi. "It has been more than 50 years now," Soi said. Nguyen Thi Soi (L) and Khuat Thi Oanh (R) in the yard of the leprosy center a weekend before Tet. Photo by VnExpress/ Thanh Nga Every day, Soi sits at … [Read more...] about For Tet, some people have ‘rice with tears’
Where a 50-cent meal is good enough reason to go to school – VnExpress International
Back to English Comments News - January 10, 2019 | 08:04 am GMT+7 In Ha Giang in Vietnam’s northern mountains, poverty forces many kids to drop out, but the prospects of hot meals also entice some. It’s 11:20 a.m. Lunch time starts at the Chien Pho Secondary Boarding School in Hoang Su Phi District in Vietnam’s northern province of Ha Giang, a land of mountains, passes and rocks on the China border. The children do not waste any time. They quickly sit down, seek permission from their teachers, part of Vietnamese etiquette to show respect to elders, and begin to eat as fast as their little hands and mouths allow. Their food trays contain peanut roasted with salt, dried fish, fried eggs, and pumpkin soup besides as much rice as they want. In 15 minutes all are done with the meal. Most of the trays are clean with just a few having some remnants of fish or peanuts. Only for the last two days has Vang Thi Nga, an eighth grader, had the chance to sit … [Read more...] about Where a 50-cent meal is good enough reason to go to school – VnExpress International
British police scramble for clues in London airport drone chaos
LONDON — British police scrambled for answers on Sunday after releasing their only suspects in the London Gatwick Airport drone mystery that brought Christmas getaway flights to a standstill. Nearly 140,000 passengers were affected over three days of disruption Wednesday through Friday as Britain’s second-busiest airport shut down because of repeated reports of drone sightings. A damaged drone found near the airport was being forensically examined, police said, but it was not immediately clear whether it was connected to the sightings. Police admitted there was a possibility that no drones had in fact hovered over the airport as they were relying on eyewitness accounts. Police arrested a 47-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman from the town of Crawley, near Gatwick, on Friday after a tip-off but released them without charge on Sunday. "Both people have fully cooperated with our enquiries and I am satisfied that they are no longer suspects in the drone incidents at … [Read more...] about British police scramble for clues in London airport drone chaos
When an unhappy man becomes an ecstatic woman
Christophe at 14 in his hometown Alsace, east of France. Photo courtesy of Celine Audebeau In a two-storey villa near the West Lake in Hanoi, Celine Audebeau lives with her two Persian cats, keeps fit with yoga and swimming, and goes on dates via the Tinder dating app. Like most women, Celine loves shopping and trying out new cooking recipes. She was born 53 years go, but only began living a real life about 15 months ago. This is her strange but uplifting story. In 1964, a boy born in Asace, east of France, was named Christophe Audebeau. When he was 5-6 years old, he began noticing something strange. "I was attracted more to my sister’s clothes than what I had to wear." Christophe never dared to bare his confusion. At school, girls wore dresses and boys wore pants. Rest rooms were painted pink for females and blue for males. He knew these were the rules of society he had to follow. When he was 10, his family collected clothes to donate to immigrants. Every night, … [Read more...] about When an unhappy man becomes an ecstatic woman