A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
I received an unexpected proposal of marriage today -- my first since two separate Colombians tried to convince me that they were hopelessly devoted after a 30 minute bus conversation. Steve, a Vietnamese acquaintance I met while sitting around the pool at the Lan Anh Club, e-mailed me two days ago to say that I had given him the wrong phone number and to ask me to get in touch. Steve is his self-adopted name -- his real one is one of those Vietnamese names that is unpronounceable in polite company, so he switched to "Steve" shortly after his arrival in Seattle for a year of study at the University of Washington.

I was surprised to hear from him, actually. I had been weeks since we casually met, and I had never really expected him to call. I never have a whole lot to say to 20 year old men anyway -- they really seem like they live on a different planet, one that specializes in binge drinking and banal conversation about video games. The intensity of his desire to suddenly speak to me again took me aback as well. After I replied to his email, he tried three times to reach me the following day (I accidentally left my phone at home) and then sent another plaintive message requesting that I answer my phone. And though I replied yesterday evening with an apology and suggestion that he call me today, he obviously couldn't wait that long, as he managed to wake me from a sound sleep at 11:50 pm. Clearly 20 year olds don't need as much sleep as I do, nor do they respect basic phone etiquette.

He wanted to meet at 8 AM. Please!! I am a woman of determined leisure here in Saigon, and there's very little reason to be out and about at 8 AM on my day off, particularly when I have been rudely awoken at midnight. So we met at the civilized hour of 9:30 to get coffee, and after a mere 5 minutes of pleasantries, he hit his main point -- he wanted to live in the US, he couldn't get any visa without paying a fortune for school. Could I see my way clear to marrying him for an unnamed generous cash payment? Looking back, I rather wish I had entertained the idea for a few minutes and begun preliminary negotiations, as I am quite curious what the going rate is for this type of agreement.

After that was out of the way, we spent a delightful hour discussing the complexity and general illegality of the marrying-for-green-card plan, the reaction of his girlfriend to his efforts, and his utter lack of opportunity in Vietnam. I have a feeling I may see Steve hanging around foreigner neighborhoods trolling for prospects soon, despite my cautionary advice.

© 2003 Katy Warren


posted by Katy at 11:25 PM