Chapter 1: Going far to return

The loudspeakers of the flight from Tokyo to Da Nang, Vietnam, played non-stop.

Daisy Nguyen, is a small girl, over six centimeters. She’s wearing an untrendy T-shirt.

She’s taking a plane ticket in her hand. Her ears strained to listen to the announcer's announcement. 

Even though all the information is as complete as the ticket. Daisy Nguyen is a little worried. 

She thought to myself, “I really failed. A school teacher with a disability, all day revolves around children with physical and psychological disabilities.

Usually, I feel fine. The pace of life of the children here is especially slow.

The working environment is usually far from the city center, located in the countryside, away from the noise.

The teacher went out, fumbling like a chicken with a hair, no wonder the graduates were born, having difficulty integrating into the present life.”

Before going to Kyoto. She must move the subway twice. She felt really tired of her body. Coming to Tokyo, she felt even more unable to adapt to the fast-paced life here.

After more than five years away from her home, this is the first time to come home back. 

At this moment, she regretted that she had gone too far. Going home for a long trip is not easy.

Daisy Nguyen's real name is Nguyen Thi Cuc, but she works in a foreign environment. She took a foreign name for someone else to call easily. 

Apart from being a special teacher. She is also a community doctor. This second degree she obtained in California, USA.

When she studied the first major. Under the exchange student category. Due to these two occupations, they are relatively specific.

Daisy Nguyen easily earned a scholarship and got a job while she is still a student at university.

In Vietnam, the currency depreciated against the dollar. Saying studying abroad is something very sublime, utopian.

But in other foreign countries, moving between countries is very simple and gentle. Because the currency exchange rate is not much different.

Daisy Nguyen spent her youth running and running for her job. From this country to the other country. In a part, youth is greedy for fame and profit.

Wanting to go outside, expanding  knowledge. Affirming herself as a very excellent and intellectual student. 

This made her parents in the small village, in the rural mountain admire her more and more. Although life in a foreign country is sometimes full of thorns.

She couldn't stop crying, but she dared to call home and complain to her mother any word.

In the eyes of people in the countryside. Going abroad is a luxury concept. Pick up gold and silver to send home.

Who knows life in a foreign country, hundreds of thousands of bitterness. You can only bite back in her deep soul.

For a further impetus, she tries to separate herself from her family. The home has a father who is a heavy drinker. Likes to abuse his wife and children. But no matter what, her mother still refused to divorce. That’s a big problem.

Her home is in a mountainous province, north of Vietnam. Her mother is the youngest child in a family of two sisters.

The older sister works as a veterinarian surgeon at the commune health station. In a place where people don't have the concept of lovely pets.

The big uncle only specializes in giving birth to cows, buffaloes, and pigs. Give them a few injections of fever-reducing medicine when they're sick.

In general, this is just a side business, earning extra income. Who calls when to go at that time. The main occupation is still farming.

Her older aunt has been married for ten years and still has no children. Please have a son in the hospital, then. Being left behind. When he was only a few days old.

His whole body was as red as a baby monkey. Being an heir, having a refuge, taking care of their old age.

Her mother’s mother (grandmother)  is a healer, specializing in medicine from the different leaves. The price of a drug ladder is only a few coins.

Compared to the standard of living in the city, it can be said that it is so cheap, but in an attractive place, the wind blows all year, surrounded by mountains on all sides. It’s expensive enough.

Many people who do not have money to buy medicine still have to pay the debt from this harvest to another.

Grandmother never says “give”, but she has never gone to collect a debt from anyone. People came to cut the medicine, she didn't refuse.

The grandmother's husband is a farmer. At home, raise a few chickens and ducks. When the harvest is coming, the work is tiring.

Add a little fishy substance, improve food and drink for all members of his family. Improve your health. From time to time bring the poultry to the market to sell. Get money to buy the necessary things in the house.

Like soap, grease, salt, or clothes for the children on Tet (new year holiday) or at the beginning of the school year.

In the mountainous areas, people rarely trade and trade like in the lowlands and cities.

All of them live in a self-sufficient way. What to eat and what to wear is not a concern.

But children go to school, death anniversary. No money. As a result, the couples always argue, even fight.

The atmosphere at home is always stuffy. No one thinks that is important. To everyone is a normal thing in their life. 

Nothing unusual. The husbands here are ready to fight his wife when she says anything he does not like.

Women here seem they are not so special. Everyone has the thought "the dishes and chopsticks are still together, let alone the husband and wife."

The concept of feminism is a very luxurious concept. Even if you spend a whole day doing propaganda, people will just give you a smile.

They thought. They are outsiders, they just know how to say but they do not live in the situation of people here.

They do not understand anything, just try to live, you will know. There are things that penetrate deep into every cell, muscle fiber. Since birth. Very difficult to change.

In a remote, remote mountainous place. It is known that there are only a few professions that make a living such as teachers, doctors.

That's why Daisy Nguyen was extremely surprised when she finished the list of college admissions categories.

But say what industry. Her mother would dismiss them all. Learn what to do with that. Just study pedagogy.

In Vietnam, the pedagogical profession does not have to pay tuition fees. This is the optimal choice for many students from poor families.

Daisy Nguyen is no exception. Instead, choose prominent new disciplines.

When she took the university entrance exam, she only bought one set of documents and filled out one wish. Hanoi University of Foreign Language Education.

First-year university entrance exam. Due to the great psychological pressure. Daisy Nguyen failed. Her time, grade D, consisted of three subjects of math and English.

Pedagogical exam. He doubled. The school's entry score is more than thirty-one. While her score is below twenty. Haven't passed the floor point.

In the mountains, people only attach importance to university entrance exams. As for college, high school graduate, only good money, unemployed, can't get a job.

Daisy Nguyen did not study well, but she was forced to study by her mother from a young age. Nothing makes my mother happy except progress in studying.

So outside of school, she is not good at doing farm work. In the harvest, he just goes to support. It's impossible to really work as the main worker like your peers.

Learning became the only path she knew at that time. Failed college entrance exam freshman year. She prepares for the exam next year.

After Tet, many classmates gathered together to review at university exam preparation centers. 

Each month costs several hundred thousand tuition fees. There is money for meals and room rental.

So she decided to self-study at home. Every day I stare at the book. Many places do not understand, memorizing is okay. It means copy and paste. Nothing to think of it.

An ordinary girl was quiet. Communicating with others becomes an obsession. Now she's getting autism.

On the outside, it looks like nothing is wrong. Very confident. Deep inside is a girl with a defeatist mindset.

Self-confident in every way. Appearance, education, family. Not a single point to show off to classmates.

Always wear a sorrowful face like a stone. Compared to his friends, he looks a few years older than his actual age. Parents do not understand her anymore.

Always cursing "studying without doing anything seems like it's hard work. If you're good, go out and work."

One year experience. In the second year, Daisy Nguyen just choses to study pedagogy but was a special pedagogue.

Specialized in teaching children with mental problems and disabilities. This field of study has a pretty low score compared to other majors.

The reason people are afraid of enduring difficulties in their careers. Teaching ordinary students is sometimes even boring. In any case, students have said a sentence forty times and still can't remember.

Personality is rotten. Hatred to the whole world. Mom was angry, going back and forth saying “Study with outstanding majors. Finding out the woks is not easy. You studied this field, don't learn is the best way.

Don’t waste my money. Do you know after Four years of college, how much money do you spend?

I'm still alive, you just cut my meat, poke my bones out. Swearing did not work, the mother turned to the guise of advice.

People have to look up to live, only fail once, do nothing but look down. Just register for the specialty you want.

If the score is not enough, you can switch to another major. Seeing what my mother said makes sense. Daisy Nguyen followed suit.

University exam results at this time. Her score was twice as high as her first year, but she still failed her first wish.

She went to university for a second wish. Choose a university far away from home. At that time, she just wanted to go.

After a few years of leaving, I regretted it. No matter what family may be, it is still family. The members really think well of each other. Although it manifests many times, it is thorny and difficult to accept.

Eating bitter enough outside to see how precious it is to have a family to return to.