Montreal is a quaint, comfortable, chilly, European (French) city. Hảo, Hiệp and I spent the 21st through 25th in Canada's European city. Although I am no where close to conversational in French, and it is somewhat necessary to be able to speak French to settle down there, I feel that I could live in the city for a time being. What is great about Montreal is the food and the European atmosphere. People walk everywhere and go about on the town. The choices of "formages" and "pates" are endless. Also the bread is much more satisfying than the bread baked back in the states. Essentially, when I travel with Hảo and Hiệp, we focus on sampling the cuisines of wherever that place is.
We visited downtown, McGill University, Vieux Montreal, Marche de Jean Talon, and much more. I also visited my mother's friend, Cô Như Mai. We also met her children, who are really nice and cool. She runs a Việtnamese joint which attracts the French Canadians. The place seems to be always busy, its probably because the French have instilled interest in VNese culture and food from the years of colonization. We also rode the Metro. I really like Montreal's metro. It is clean, fast, efficient, and beautifully designed.
Perhaps I'll come back to Montreal for grad-school. We'll see.
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New York City holds the status as numero uno in the U.S. for large cities, and I now see why it does. It has been a long ten years since I've visited NYC, so this time around can be considered the
first. Julie Nguyễn and her friend came to visit a few of their other friends. Kim-Mai is working in Manhattan at Bloomberg. It was nice seeing those familiar faces from Việt Nam again.
I tried to not do too much of the touristy things while in NYC, for I often distance myself away from a totally touristy visit, but it is hard not to visit what is deemed as a main attraction of a city. I did get to see the Empire State Building, from below though. We went to Brooklyn and stood on this pier and had a breathtaking, captivating view of Manhattan. At that moment, I realized how fast one can grow attached to such a city. There are so many things to do--restaurants, venues, music shows, Broadway, etc. What I also like about New York City is the diversity aspect. There are so many different languages spoken. One can witness this by simply sitting on the metro for some time. It is definitely a fast paced city, and very bustling, and to some that is not their thing. I am usually drawn in by cultural, metropolis sites such as NYC, Chicago, or Sai Gon. The thing with NYC is though, there are many different boroughs, which are distinct from one another. If Manhattan is too much for someone, just go to Brooklyn, where it is much more calm and relaxing. Maybe, just maybe I'll go to grad school here!
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The Asian-American Film Festival is currently going on here in Chicago. There are a lot of appealing films within the showcase. I went to two films yesterday. The first one was
New Year Baby, and the other,
Owl and the Sparrow. New Year Baby is a documentary about one Cambodian Refugee family returning to Cambodia after 25 years of horror at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Its a story of digging up the past, closure, and breaking the silence. Socheata Poeuv, interestingly enough, uses her own family as the main focus of the film, where the audience takes a step into the personal to be able to see how they have been affected by the atrocities of Angkar. Throughout the film, there were parts jerking tears within me. Poeuv's father's trip back really exposed the pains and horrors he felt twenty-five years back. To be able to return to what used to be "home" really takes courage. I definitely would recommend this documentary to those who haven't seen it. But then again, its hard to watch these indie-films, since they only occasionally show.
Owl and the Sparrow, I would rank one of the top films I've seen in my lifetime. I do so because it is a film about Việt Nam, its society, and the struggles people face today. I am drawn in by such films because I am Viẹtnamese-American. Thus, a connection exists. The film takes place in South Việt Nam, with three strangers who by the end of the story are strongly connected together, but in the beginning, remain as strangers in different worlds. The male figure, Hải, is a poor zoo-keeper, depressed because his fiance left him--probably because he is a poor zookeeper. His only friend is a baby elephant who is soon to be shipped off to Ấn Độ, or India for loads of money. The female character, Phương, is played by Cat Lý, an aspiring Việtnamese-American? actress. She plays a stewardess for what I believe is Việt Nam Airlines. She lives a somewhat secretive, "immoral" life by being a mistress of the Flight Captain, who is married to some woman and has children. Cat Ly's character is torn by this predicament of continuing such a life, or following her dreams of meeting a nice gentleman. The final, and most important character, I feel, is Thủy, a little ten year old orphan working in a factory for her tyrant uncle. She runs away from home and heads toward Sài Gon to find a better life. Working as a street seller of postcards and flowers, she runs into Hải and Phương separately. Throughout the film, these two characters are drawn together by the actions of Thủy. It is a story which reveals the realities of Việtnamese society and what it is to love in what is considered a very money-focused society. Love is often times associated with money. This story reflects how despite such factors dominating the "love" scene in Việt Nam, there still exists compassion, love, and kindness in a world where it is most important to get by.
This film, I feel, also reflects the realities of street children working right now in Sài Gòn. Visiting SG several times, I witnessed many children trying to sell postcards, flowers, amongst other things into the late hours of the night. Just like Thủy in the film, many of the young girls in SG working wear school uniforms, pretending to be students making money to go to school. But the reality is that it is merely just another trick to make individuals a little sympathetic so that they exchange their 10,000 đồng for a red rose. There is not much being done for these street children, and a lot of them times throwing them into orphanages may not be the right way about it. Though there are many organizations, such as Blue Dragon, which target and help street children, but the number of children on the streets are so numerous it is hard to help them all. Scrapping for money, getting by in life, finding happiness in a society moving so fast can be difficult as the film depicts. This film simply is not a love story set in Việt Nam, but a film that pinpoints so much more about Việtnamese society. I highly recommend this film to all. I am hoping it comes out on DVD. Also to note, this film is directed by Stephane Gauger, his first production. Executive Producers include Timothy Bui, who was behind Ba Mùa, and Ham Trần behind Journey from the Fall.
Coming up are two documentaries: Boliano 52 and Oh Saigon. Journey from the Fall comes out April 13th here. Very excited to see these works.
Until next time.
Trần Qúy-Hạc.
