July 24th, 2010 | Posted by Trong

The closer it gets to your departure October 26 it gets a lot harder! Today I went to watch Inception and spent about 5 hours in the mall shopping for clothes! Summer clothes are getting cheaper! I never been a shop-a-ho-lic but the thought of being in Vietnam makes it easier to shop. I spent most of my time wondering the mall looking for clothes that would fit Huong! Ahhhhh any gals out there that wanna give me some suggestion EMAIL ME trong @ trongnguyen.com

Later all! Crashing for the night

Read Users' Comments (0)

July 23rd, 2010 | Posted by Trong

Yesterday I went to seattle to pick up my son. While on the way back I stopped by

Nam Phuong Book Store
Place page
1032 South Jackson Street
Seattle, WA 98104-3037
(206) 324-6364

to ask  visa process and whats the best step. Since I’ll be in Vietnam for a year I want to know whats the best process to start the Visa process. It’s going to cost me $1,000 for the paper works (NOT INCLUDING VISA FEES)

Decent enough for me!

Read Users' Comments (0)

July 22nd, 2010 | Posted by Trong

Since this is a real marriage I began to worry from all sorts of things. I’m worried how can I make it easier for my wife who has limited education process goes easier. She doesn’t know much except work on the farmland and sweatshops. Therefore I got curious and started to ask lawyers online at justask.com. Later I got curious and sent an email to US Consulate in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. I have fell in love before and know exactly how it feels to be sepeated from your love ones. Now that I am having feeling for Huong everyday of my life.  I know I love her dearly. I don’t think I can be seperated from her more then 3 months! I would die if that hapens after our marriage. Therefore I began to worry all sorts of things. That is also the reason why I decide to stay in Vietnam for one year with my wife each trip till she gets her visa. So the plan: I’ll head back to Vietnam and get marry with my wife then stay there to start the visa process. After my Vietnamese Visa close to expire I’ll head back to the state for 1-2 months then head back to Vietnam again to be with my fiancee.

===== My E-Mail to acshanoi@state.gov $ hcminfo@state.gov ====

Hi There!
 
I’m going back to marry my fiacne in two months. My jobs allow me to work anywhere in the world. Could I start the process in Vietnam or do I have to go back to the United States to start the process. I’m a US Citizen. Please let me know whats is right. thank you
 

=====================================================

===== acshanoi@state.gov Replied  =======================

Dear Cardin Nguyen,
 
If you want to bring your fiancé to the U.S. and get married to her in the U.S., you have to file a petition for a fiancé visa for her.  Please contact the Citizenship and Immigration Services Office in your city for specific instructions and forms.   
 
If you want to get married in Vietnam, please ask your fiancé to contact the Justice Department (So Tu Phap) from her province for specific instructions and forms.  After you obtain a Vietnamese Marriage Certificate, you may want to file petition for an immigrant visa for your wife to join you in the U.S.  To do that, you also have to contact the CIS office in your city for specific forms and procedure.
 
Please refer to the attached website  http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html
for your information.
 
We hope the information is helpful.
 
Sincerely,
American Citizens Services Unit
Consular Section
U.S. Embassy
Hanoi, Vietnam

=====================================================
 

Read Users' Comments (0)

July 18th, 2010 | Posted by Trong

Everyday it gets closer to leaving I’m getting excited. It gets harder to sleep everyday thinking of how fun it would be in Vietnam. Though I grew up in United States 95% of my life time I still could feel the connection with Vietnam. Remembering back to Summer of 2001 when I visited Vietnam I miss that feeling walking the street feeling connected with the soil, breathing the condense air, feeling the love for my other country. I consider United State as my country now because I was raise up in United States, but nationality is still Vietnamese.

I finally understand what this video meant after listening to it again. I heard it many times over the year but I did not understand what “Que Huong” love means at that age. Now that I am excited to head back to Vietnam I could feel bits and pieces of what its like.

[dailymotion width=”480″ height=”360″]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyyez_ve-que-em-phi-nhung-manh-quynh_music[/dailymotion]

Read Users' Comments (0)

July 16th, 2010 | Posted by Trong

This morning I had an interesting talk with my father about traditional weddings. A few weeks back we talked about how we're not going to have "Dinh Hon / Le An Hoi" because of the timeframe that my father will be in Vietnam. While I was doing my research how to obtain Visa's for my fiancee I found that Consulate officiers are harder now due to all the fake marriages around. My father said that we're not going to have Dinh Hon becuase of the limited time he is in Vietnam to attend. It's important for parents to attend wedding so only wedding is nessescary. I then told him about the VIsas process. He said that its not important because we're truthful so nothing going to happen. If Huong fail we'll just keep trying again and soon she'll be over here with me.

I got my dad really upset because Vietnamese wedding are discuss between the two parents. Each family has their own values and morals that they have to keep so its important to let the parents do the discuss and planning for the wedding day.

First we have to go over to the bride side and ask fo marriage approval. Then there's the Dinh Hon (engagement party) follow by 3 years slave labor!

What i the world is slave labor? Curious as I am again…

"Dad what is 3 years slave labor"

After Dinh Hon the Groom (soon to be son) every 2-3 days Groom has to go over to Fiancee house to do all sorts of slave labor from digging, helping the father-in-law, and working int he farmlands (wheat fields). Now that's some crazy tradition! 3 years wait just to get marry! I'll die! hahahhaahh

Therefore as time moves we have to change the way " Dinh Hon" (Lễ ăn hỏi còn được gọi là lễ đính hôn – Also known as Le an hoi) are and still keep the importants of wedding.

Since my father is in Vietnam for limited timeframe and money problems he couldn't stay for long. He got his jobs and other things that he has to do so we're not going to have Le Dinh Hon, but it will just be a formal agreement and small party between the two family in replace of "Le Dinh Hon/ Le An Hoi". In traditional wedding its important for one of the parents to attend Dinh Hon and Wedding day, but since my father couldn't attend both we had to tweak the tradtional values to have only a wedding.

This make sense why traditional values are sometimes tweaked to suit the situation of each family needs, but still able to keep the ceremony of the wedding day! That explains why wedding are changed over time.

See you another day

   are are adsfd

Read Users' Comments (0)

July 15th, 2010 | Posted by Trong

In October 2009, I called back home to my uncle 6 (Bac 6) and said that I will be going to Vietnam in a year after saving up my cash. I told him that I was having a tough time finding a stable, loyal, and true commitment relationship. He that its better I get marry to a Vietnamese girl there in Vietnam. Tay Ninh is mostly farmlands. We grew up with farmlands and understand the value of money. Mostly girls there have limited education and work hard for their money.  We talked about 3 hrs discussing the value of traditional aspects of the Vietnamese culture. I major in Computer Science and minor in Sociology, therefore I’m familiar with what my uncle 6 was saying. I finally agree to be introduced to several girls. 

A couple months later in January 2010, my uncle called me and said that he found a gal for me. Her name is Le Thi Huong. He mail me her pictures and I have to admit she is damn pretty. Not only that I fell in love for her looks. After talking with Huong for two months I really love her. The way she talks isn’t like “I’m all that, I want this, I want that” kind of talk when you date here in United States. I dated 5 girls and married 1 Vietnamese girl that was here. It’s not the same. She taught me many Vietnamese Traditional aspects that I am missing out. This is when I began to appreciate the value of Vietnamese arranged traditional marriage. Nearly my relatives, close friends, and other people I know around Tay Nnih that are married have been together nearly all their life. That’s when I accepted to marry Huong without hesitation. Huong taught me the family values that I am missing and how family as one is important in our culture. Another example would be my parents at home that I am missing out. Since I was young my parent’s (Dad – Tiet Nguyen & Mom – Che Thi Khoi) fought everyday. They called the cops a couple of times and still are together even after huge fights that most people would break up by then. My ex-wife and I fought over small things all the time then give up the third time.  I tried to hold together the relationship but then it didn’t work out because she walked out. Those are the reason why I accepted this marriage. I accepted it because I want a stable and honest relationship that that last forever and agree to marry Huong. I then called my uncle up and agree to the wedding. That’s when uncle 6 went over to Huong parents and asked for hands in holy marriage agreement between the parents. Now shes officially my fiancee. Two family agree on the arrange marriage with both our approval. That ties the bonds between two family. Both family now officially agree move forward with the wedding. I’ll write about how this process works when my uncle (represented my parents, due to the fact that we live in the states, my uncle has the rights to represent my parents to go over to the bride side.) goes over to the brides house to ask for marriage. If her parents accepts then that ties the bond of the arranged marriage. Later that week my uncle called back and said that her parents agree to the wedding. February 17, 2010 started my arranged marriage journey!

(more…)

Read Users' Comments (0)

July 15th, 2010 | Posted by Trong

I’ve been am a simple and honest man who loves to write blogs of my self over at Cardin Nguyen(I’m know as Cardin), but since this website is dedicated to my Vietnamese heritage hence I am using Trong Nguyen to write this journal. I have been through a lot through life grew up in a pretty poor family. While going through Kindergarten to high school I had a few good friends such as Brandon Walsh and Lloyd Lupfer who wasn’t interested in education. Though that didn’t stop me from trying to get the best education. I graduated high school with a 3.5 average GPA and head directly to Western Washington University to further my education where I met my ex-wife (Ngoc-Tran Nguyen). Shortly she gave birth to Nguyen Thanh Trieu (Nickname: Travis). But because we marriage at an early age we found that we’re not compatible and separated a couple of months after Trieu birth. Hence my divorce was inevitable.

I have been a single father ever since trying to raise my son alone. My ex-wife and I was separated for awhile and then went through court to file a divorce later on in August 2009 (even though we’re decided we’re not compatible for each other 2008). Raising Trieu is a tough job alone when I have to clean, work, and give my son the best childhood possible. When I was young my father couldn’t spend time with me much. He had to work because we were immigrant from Vietnam. After nearly two years raising my son alone I found it got tough doing a mother job so I gave myself another chance to love again. Many nights I lay thinking of how my parents had an arrange marriage and had worse arguments but still together till this day. One day while talking with my father he bought up going back to Vietnam to marry a girl. My dad gave me Uncle 6 (bac 6) phone number and later that week  gave him a call. After 9 years of not giving a single call to my family I felt really bad. I visited Vietnam in 2001 for vacation but since then I lost communication with my family. That week in October 2009 my uncle was happy that I actually called after many years. We spent several hours talking on the phone updating each other what happen. That’s when he bought up the subject again

“Why don’t you ge have an arrange marriage?” . After few minutes thinking quietly I accepted the offer and asked uncle 6 to go find a good girl. That’s how it started my journey of an arranged marriage.

Background Song: “Con Nho Con Thuong – Truong Vu” – I chose this song because it represent this blog really well. Basically this songs mean that every moment thinking of you means I love you more.

Read Users' Comments (0)

July 14th, 2010 | Posted by Trong

Tay Ninh

Tay Ninh is a town in southwestern Vietnam. Tay Ninh is the capital of Tay Ninh  province, which have several small towns and majority of the land are farmland.

Tây Ninh is approximately 90 km (56 miles) to the northwest of Ho Chi Minh City.  The city is well known Cao Dai religion, an indigenous Vietnamese belief. Therefore my family is Cao Dai religion. While in the Olympia, Washington we went to Church and Temple at the same. I was confuse why my father could go to both religion.

I was born on October 25, 1983 in Go Dau, Tay Ninh, Vietnam. I was the last boat people to sail to Philippines then later was approved to migrate to the Olympia, Washington, United States.

Tay Ninh Gallery *
Cao Dai Gallery *

(more…)

Read Users' Comments (0)

July 14th, 2010 | Posted by Trong

I started this website dedicated to Tay Ninh, Vietnam where I was born. I will be talking about Vietnam in particular. I will also discuss about my arrange marriage in vietnam. Stay tune while I’ll fix up all the kinks of this website.

I did not start this website to discuss about southern or northern vietnam who’s better. Its to discuss now and then in my point of view. I created this website to discuss about the negative and positive changes of Vietnam Today!

-Trong

Read Users' Comments (0)