Alex Hopes to Become the American Ambassador to Vietnam

Madam Kathleen and her children traveled to Da Nang and had their first Vietnamese Lunar Tet at this place. Her children, especially her two sons quickly integrated into their new environment. They liked to ride bicycles to the sea, travel to Hoi An, buy a motorcycle and get acquainted with their new friends.

Mr. Bob Huff and Mrs. Kathleen have 4 children, including o­ne adopted daughter. Angele, the oldest daughter who is now 27 is married to an Indian doctor. The younger son - Jacob Huff, 22 years old, is a student. Jacob has a Vietnamese name which is Minh. Despite staying in Vietnam for o­nly a short time, Jacob quickly obtained a considerable amount of Vietnamese language skills which enable him to chat with his friends. When coming back to the US, he has told his friends many stories about Vietnam and is also willing to teach Vietnamese for those interested. Alex is the youngest son and has stayed in Vietnam the longest time. In his class, his friends do not call him by his American name Alex Huff but simply Minh. In all his classes, he is the tallest with bright yellow hair and dark blue eyes, but no o­ne pays attention to this difference! Minh is like a Vietnamese boy who quickly harmonizes with his friends. He studies very well, continuously achieving excellent-pupil appellation in every term, with an exemption of a good-pupil appellation in o­ne term as at that time, his speed of writing Vietnamese was slow.

Up to the sixth level, he studied in a semi-boarding school. He talked so much in the class that the teacher had to inform his parents about it. Madam Kathleen strictly warned him and he answered, “I realize my fault, but I will die if I do not say anything in a day. May I talk a little and gradually I will not do that in the class?”.

Minh now speaks Vietnamese more than English. For such, Madam Kathleen says, “I have to force Minh to speak English at home as I’m afraid he will forget his mother tongue”. Her worry is understandable. o­nce interpreting for the talk between his mother and a Vietnamese journalist, at times he looked puzzled to find a proper English word to express the Vietnamese meaning. He won the 2^nd prize in a national story-telling contest for the 5^th pupils in 2002. The journalist teased Minh, “You have already become Vietnamese”, he answered without hesitating, “it doesn’t matter, I want to know about Vietnam and its people as a Vietnamese citizen as well as about America as an American citizen. I wish to become the American Ambassador to Vietnam when I grow up to make the two countries and people close to each other”. Sitting next to him, Madam Kathleen looked at him with consent.

Alex’s quick harmonization with his friends is partially due to the skillful direction from his mother who is a master of education psychology. She has been an education psychology consultant for over 20 years and heads the Psychology Department at a university. Madam Kathleen said that the 1^st time she sent Alex to Vietnamese school, she thought Alex would study o­nly 1-2 hours. But when she went to school to pick him up, the teacher asked her to permit him to study the whole day. At that time, I asked Alex, “Do you agree to stay at school the whole day?” He looked straight at me answering with an eye drop, “I can”. Afterwards, he no longer cried. Alex recalled for the 1^st time he had to learn how to write but had not known what to write and wrote very slowly. During the break, he still sat in class to learn writing. He o­nce asked his mother, “What should I do now?” and his mother said, “You should continue to write and be a friend, gradually your friends will get acquainted with you”. After o­nly 2 weeks, every o­ne in the class made friends with Alex and he had many close friends. Madam Kathleen requested Alex’s teachers to see him as a normal Vietnamese pupil without priority or differentiation, including fee payments. Not long after, Alex and his friends were admitted to the Ho Chi Minh Pioneering Youth Team.

In Alex’s family, he was the 1^st member to come to Vietnam, learn about Vietnam and inject a deep emotion about the country and its people to other members such as Mr. Bob Huff. When he was 20 years old, he was a soldier based in Da Nang. After returning to the US, he did not forget the deep grief and losses of disabled children in an orphaned camp in Vietnam and always thought of doing something to support them. 30 years later, he returned to Hanoi in the capacity of Representative Head of World Concern in Vietnam. This opportunity has helped him turn his own wish into reality.