hope the readers have relax moment !

what is the end purpose of finishing shool of lady ? " marriage " ,
as most of my friends replied to me , and i continued, "really , are you sure" , and they said " very sure" ....
then i ask them some more, " foreigner, overseas vietnamese or vietnamese guy , which " goods " is better ? " ,
some like viet, some like foreigner , but most of them like overseas , huh , ( that's my friends 's oppinion, may be yours are diffrent!, don't worry about that , )
"Why's that?"
And they are very smart when saying this funny sentence " viet is groose , foreigners is wild goose , so i want to see the diffrent between groose and wild groose is , may be new better kind of groose " . That's why i want to give out this awarded winner short story of NEWSOUTHWALES to my friends , and i want to share the story with the members of the club too, and i hope you like the "thunderstorm " story of Lesan ( not my own chit- chat conversasion with my friends )


â?oMy wedding was the biggest ever, compared with my relatives'. I wore a white, trailing wedding dress that
needed two young girls to lift the train whenever I wanted to move. We had a splendid, modern wedding car
fully decorated with flowers, and beautiful party tables in the most luxurious restaurant in the area where I
lived. Khai and I visited each and every table to have videos and photographs taken, and to receive the best
wishes, leaving behind words of praise and the admiring, covetous and somewhat jealous glances of ladies
of my age.
It is true to say that I was then the dream of all girls, and I myself had never thought I would be that lucky.
I was born in a middle-class family. My father is a postal worker, my mother is a nurse in a small hospital,
and I am the eldest child with four siblings. After finishing high school, I enrolled in a dressmaking course. In
my mother's view, it is better to be the owner of a dressmaking shop than to be a public servant with low pay
as my parents with no hope to improve their lives. On the other hand, my family would not have been able to
support me even if I had wanted to go to university. By opening a dressmaking shop at home, I would also
have time to help my parents look after my four siblings.
Khai is a friend of Son, my cousin. Khai and his family fled Vietnam when he was 16. Son said that Khai was
very successful after twenty years living in Australia. Khai concentrated on establishing himself and did not
have time to care for himself. He came back to Vietnam with the intention to find a suitable girl to marry,
because he said that girls in modern countries like Australia had so many material needs and they were not
tender nor did they care for their husbands and children, etc.
The first time Khai accompanied Son to my home, he was attracted to me immediately. I was not much
surprised, because my look was not that bad. Many boys had a crush on me when I was still a student. They
would wait at the front of the school to follow me, singing the familiar song of composer Pham Duy:
"Leaving school, you stroll home
I follow Ngo all the way..."
My parents were exuberant. The prospect of becoming parents-in-law of an overseas Vietnamese was
beyond their dream. I can say that the love story of Khai and I did not meet any obstacles, it was wonderful
from the very beginning.
After the honeymoon, I gave him a sendoff when he returned to Australia. A year later, the Australian
Embassy approved my application for spouse migration.
I was both absolutely happy and lost when I first arrived in Australia. Looking at beautiful tile homes
surrounded by lawns and flowering plants, I felt a tender pity for my parents and siblings back in Vietnam.
The seven of us had to huddle in a home 3 metres in width and 10 metres in length, even worse with the first
3 metres at the front reserved for my dressmaking business. In the evenings, my siblings have to go up to
the baking hot garret to sleep or study.
Khai picked me up at the airport with a shining car that gave us a perfectly smooth ride. I suddenly thought
about Tam and Thao, my two siblings who had to compete for a bone-shaking Honda motorcycle that my
father had bought before 1975 on hire-purchase. Everything here reminded me of the sad images in my poor
country. The car rolled on wide, clean, shaded roads, making me sad when my mind flashed back to the
roads that are flooded in the rain, dusty under the hot sun, and the small lane full of litter leading to my home.
The car stopped in front of a pretty house. When he opened the door to take me in, I suddenly felt that I had
arrived in heaven.
The house was comfortable, with lawns and flower beds separating it from surrounding homes. Such an
ideal house for newlyweds.

The first couple of days, Khai took me to some places. He went with me to a supermarket. We bought lots of
food, cans, fruits, soft drinks that filled up our huge refrigerator. He taught me how to use equipment, kitchen
appliances, vacuum cleaner, mower, adjustment of the hot water temperature...
On the third day, Khai led me to a room which might have once been a garage. Inside are three industrial
sewing machines, an overlocker, a button sewing machine, a buttonhole machine... and bundles of pieces of
cloth, waiting to be sewn. He said to me:
- You see, life in this country has everything and is comfortable, but on the other hand we have to work hard.
Let me show you how to use these machines, but I think it won't take you long because you're a dressmaker,
then you'll help me make clothes. This is the business that I've been doing, leading to our easy life today.
I happily followed his instructions, and it took me only half a day to learn everything. Husband and wife
working together for the future is a normal thing to do, and is also a source of happiness. He worked with me
in the first couple of days. He cared for me very well. He warmed the food and brought it to the workshop for
me. He urged me to eat for my health. He bought a radio that could be tuned in to Vietnamese programs 24
hours a day, to entertain me while I was sewing. I did my best, only lied down to rest for a little while when
exhausted. When it was urgent, I worked throughout the night.
A month passed, I felt very happy despite the fact that I had to work extremely hard. One day, the phone
rang and he told me after answering the call:
- I have to see a friend to discuss some business. Please stay at home to finish these clothes because we
have to deliver them tomorrow! I'll try to come back as soon as I finish the discussion.
After he left, I concentrated on making the clothes to forget my loneliness. I warmed some canned food for
hasty meals when I felt hungry at noon and in the afternoon. My companion was the small radio. That was
the first time he stayed out overnight...
He only returned late afternoon the next day, with crumpled clothes and a weary face. After taking a bath
and having some food, he threw himself on the bed and slept like a log.
When he woke up the following morning, he said to me:
- I want to put in some money to do a very good business with a friend, and I may have to be away from
home frequently. Please don't be angry with me, because I`m doing this for our future!
I replied:
- I can look after myself. Don't worry, just do anything that's necessary, provided that you love me, that's all.
Khai smiled and kissed me passionately:
- Whom do I love besides you!...
Khai was frequently out from that time. I do not know what he did. It did not help either, even if I did, because
I relied on him completely. Khai kept all the money that I made. I did not know anything about the paperwork,
how to do the banking and where to contact my clothing supplier. It is true to say that I would walk like a blind
person under the sunlight once I left my home.
I was pregnant eight months later. The first pregnancy made me vomit frequently and I lost a lot of weight.
My husband was away from home more frequently than not.
As my abdomen increased in size, I only moped about the house and stayed all day long at the sewing
machine, working on lot after lot of clothes that were brought in and taken away by Khai, without me knowing
how much money was involved. Khai came and went, sometimes disappearing for a few days at a time
before returning home with lots of food that he packed into the fridge. Many times, I was extremely bored and
wanted to go out and about, but I did not know the way to bus stops nor train stations, and I had only a few
dollars, not enough to catch a taxi. My neighbours lived behind closed doors. Even if I saw them, there was
no way I could communicate with them because my English was limited to a few words that I had learnt at
high school, not enough to express myself. I was like a person under home detention.

One day when Khai was taking a bath, the phone rang and when I answered the call, there was a female
voice at the other end of the line:
- Khai, is that you, dear? Why didn't you come home the last few days? Khoa cries frequently because he
misses you. Please come home to take him to a doctor...
I was completely stunned and dumbfounded. I quietly hung up and flopped down on a chair. The anxiety that
I had always tried to conceal from myself today had come true: Khai exploited me, with no consideration for
my sorrows and hardship. Despite being his legal wife, I did not receive anything. I was merely his means of
entertainment and to provide an income for him to spend, to pay home and car loans. He kept on repeating
himself to me:
- We try to work hard for a couple of years until the home loan is paid off, then we can fully enjoy ourselves
travelling around.
Now it turned out that those were only false promises. While I was working hard on the clothes, he enjoyed
happiness with another woman. I could not remain silent any more, things needed to be clarified.
When I told Khai about what I had heard over the phone, he said laughing:
- Oh! You're so suspicious. Those naughty girls at my work played tricks on you because you're so gentle,
and you believe them.
That ended the argument because there was no evidence really, only a few words over the phone like a light
wind or passing clouds...
One day when I was at home alone, there was a phone call:
- Hello, is that Khai's residence?
- Yes, I'm his wife. He's not at home, would you like to leave a message? I'll pass it on to him when he
returns.
- Could you please tell Khai that I, Tien, ask him to repay the loan to me as soon as possible, because I need
the money...
I cut in out of curiosity:
- Could you tell me when and what that loan was for?
- Last Saturday, I met him at the Star Casino. He lost all his money in gambling. I happened to have some
money to loan to him. Could you pass the message to him. Thank you.
The world was spinning around me, I flopped down on a chair, holding my aching head. Such were Khai's
business trips? No more abuses, everything had to be clear now...
I became an ill-mannered woman the first time in my life. I searched through all draws in wardrobes, desks...
A couple of his bank statements with a miserable closing balance; a number of bills, home loan, car loan,
electricity, water, telephone, unpaid in the last couple of months...OK! Here it is, the thing I was looking for: a
photograph of a woman nursing a few month old baby, with a sentence written on the back: "To remind you
of me and our child".
At that moment, I really neither felt sad nor angry. Maybe my emotions have hardened with time, or has Khai
burnt out my love?
I had to put aside everything to wait until my baby was born in about ten days' time. I was absolutely lost, I
did not even have a cent...It was not until that moment that I fully understood the old saying: "A woman is
like a boat between twelve jetties, it's happy at one with clear water and miserable at another with muddy
water..."
One day, I was sewing during lunch time when I had severe abdominal pain. I knew my baby was due soon,
but what to do now? Khai had been away for two days, and I did not know where to find him. Suddenly, I
remembered the well-known emergency number to call when necessary. I dragged myself to the table and
dialed 000...
After the "solo trip across the sea", I lay quietly in a hospital room, feeling pity for myself because I had no
visitors. The lady on the next bed was a happy woman, with her parents, siblings, friends...flocking in with

flowers. Especially, her husband was almost always there, giving his utmost care and attention to her, and
always nursing the baby...
Since I could not speak much English, the hospital sent a Vietnamese welfare worker to help me fill forms
and check on my well-being each day. Ms Van, a gentle woman, enthusiastically showed me how to do
things. While applying for a birth certificate for the baby, she was very surprised to see that I did not know
anything about my husband. I could not hold back my tears when I told her of my predicament. She gave me
her phone number and told me to ring her for help when necessary.
Khai only picked me up on the third day at the hospital.
With the baby, my life became more miserable. I had to stop working for months. When I started again, I
frequently finished the clothes late, and made a lot less money because of the baby. Khai not only gave me
no help, but he was also absent from home more frequently. When he did stay at home, he was always
gloomy, shouting, reproachful...
One day, Khai came home after three days away. There was no food at home, I was hungry and my baby
cried for lack of milk. I had to stop sewing to nurse him. Seeing that the work had not been completed, Khai
became very angry and he grabbed the baby and threw him into the cot, ignoring his loud cries.
He turned around and said to me:
- Leave him to cry! You must finish the clothes today, otherwise you and I have to leave this house because
we didn't make repayments in the last few months.
That was the last straw, I raised my voice:
- You married me to be your wife, not to be a person to pay your debts. While I bend over the sewing
machine day and night, you see one girl after the other, that's not to say you also gamble throughout the
night... my baby needs milk, I have no food, no money... it's better that you return us to my family, so that
you are free...
He yelled at the top of his voice:
- You want freedom? Pay me back the $10,000 for the wedding, sponsorship and the airfare, then we can go
our separate ways.
Such an unspeakable vileness, I thought to myself. You initiated everything. I was living peacefully with my
parents and siblings, then you came to ask for my hand with all your initial love and kindness. That was all
your decision. Now your words showed me your petty-minded calculations. I muttered in a daze:
- Such a vile, disgusting...
After my unexpected words, he jumped forward and strongly slapped me a couple of times. I lost my balance
and fell, my head knocking against a corner of the sewing machine...
...The sound of my baby's cries suddenly woke me up. What had happened vaguely appeared in my mind. I
put my hand up and found a lump on my forehead the size of a lemon. I struggled to get up, then picked the
baby up and nursed him to stop him from crying. Tired, hair tousled, face swollen and bruised because of the
slaps, I buried my face in the baby's hair, sobbing...
Holding the telephone in my hands, I dialed Ms Van's number without hesitation...
I received the assistance of the Rest Women Centre. My baby and I are living in a room provided by the
Centre on a temporary basis. The court granted me custody of the baby, and also issued an order that bans
Khai from coming within 500 metres from us.
At last, I am completely free after getting a divorce from Khai, and become a permanent resident because it
has been two years since I first arrived in Australia.
I started to learn English in the 510 hour program. I receive "Sole Parent" benefit each month. I hope that
after completing the English course, I will enrol in TAFE to become a welfare worker, so that in the future I
can help women in hardship as I have experienced.

Now I can take steps with the peace of mind in a free country. A new horizon is waiting for me after the
thunderstorm.
I would like to thank Australia, thank Ms Van and the Women Centre for having helped me, and I also thank
Khai who has brought me to this country, although up to this moment I still know nothing about his real life
and why he married me...Perhaps if I had not been a dressmaker and he had not been involved in the
clothing business, then I would be still living with my parents and siblings in my home country.
Sydney, 18/9/2002
Le Sanâ?

life is beautiful

too long to read that

relax moment?? Hic.

You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her

It's a heart breaking story. Unfortunately, besides hundred other success marriages, there exists those sad and heart wrenching failure like this one. I am still amazed that this lady, after suffering thru terrible abuses, still has no hate for the bastard , instead she, somehow , is grateful to him for bringing her to Australia . My admiration for her saintly heart .

Trời, bác Hùng ơi, em đọc bài này mới thấy còn lâu mình mới có saintly heart
Em là em không chỉ căm ghét, mà còn never want to see his face again.
Công nhận cô Lê San này hay, có thể vượt qua để được như bây giờ, nhưng nếu những người phụ nữ khác thì sao? Có phải ai cũng mạnh mẽ vậy đâu. Nhiều khi để lại trong lòng cả một terrible experience không thể phai nhoà đó chứ.

Một câu chuyện thật buồn, câu chuyện này phần nào giúp cho những người gặp khó khăn vượt lên chính mình. Chúc cho Le San luôn luôn vui vẻ, đầy ắp tiếng cười và niềm vui trong cuộc sống.
luongvec

First of all, I wanna say hi to you, nothernlights, long time no see. I miss you much hehe, actually I miss your posts They're always meaningful huh. By the way, how was your birthday party? Was it great? I hope to read your answer soon, well not here, "chat-chit corner" would be a more appropriate place.
Well, come back to the topic, how can I have relaxing moments after reading such a "pitiable" story. I mean "đáng tiếc", am I using the right word? I guess no. Le San, the woman in this story is so kind-hearted, strong and honorable. What would I do if I was her? Oh man, I think I would kill that dumb husband. hehe. He abused her and proved to be an extremely violent person. But in some ways, it was Mrs. San's fault to get into trouble. How can she marry a man without knowing any information about him She was too credulous or.... you know what I mean, right?!
As we go on, we remember all the times we had together
As our lives change, come whatever
We will still be FRIENDS FOREVER

chà chà , nhóc lịch sự quá đấy , anh chào nhóc Ạ ,
hi 101, hi nhóc , hi everyone ,
Ok , if this story won't give you relax moment then i wish that it could interest you a little bit , i really do !
Do you notice that final ending, happy ending don't you think :
Do you notice that in order to have something you have to loose something, you win some and loose some , without difficulties, i don't think you can TASTE success, without Khai's trick , Lesan might have stay the same way till she died ! SAY thanks to Khai , why not !
FINAL things, i love the way she could stand up when Khai pushed her down and then she could stand up , infact, look around us , where we are living, many girls in similar situation must accepted the fact , and they bend down on their knees forever, but in this TRUE story ...
i don't know much but i can sense the feeling when someone kick you down and you , take long time to stand up , but when you can do this, you bet will be stronger ! hence, difficulties is not so bad and that's why Lesan say thanks to Khai !
See ya ,
nho'c a`, co' gi` hay thi` messeage cho anh voi , dao nay anh dang thi , ban qu'a , thinh thoang moi ngo vao forum duoc, thay forum minh dong hon roi , anh thay vui vui
life is beautiful