"Falling in love" with an English teacher, a Vietnamese girl left home to live in a remote place
Nguyen Hoai Nhan (from Ba Ria - Vung Tau) and Jason Sciss have been married for 13 years, and she has lived in the US for nearly 2 years. Before meeting Jason, the Vietnamese woman had never thought about dating, let alone marrying a Westerner.
Nhan said that when he was still in school, he was very bad at English and was very afraid of it. When he enrolled in a language center in 2010, Nhan only hoped to improve his level and learn enough to use in his work. They met when Jason came to Vung Tau to teach, and was the teacher who took over Nhan's class.
Couple Nguyen Hoai Nhan and Jason Sciss have been together for more than 13 years.
Nhan recalled that when she first met Jason, she didn't have much of an impression, except that he had messy curly hair, a thick beard that covered his face, and was very tall. Jason, at the end of a class, before teaching a new shift, grabbed Nhan's hand and asked if she wanted to have lunch with him. She agreed without thinking much about it. After that, they fell in love.
Nhan still remembers that when she was planning to bring Jason home to meet her family, her older sister “warned” them that adults might not like Jason’s shaggy appearance. She suggested that Nhan ask her boyfriend to shave off all his hair and beard to make a good impression.
Wedding photo of the couple
“ At that time, I also thought very hard, because people's culture is to respect individuals, if I forced him to shave, I was afraid he would be angry. I just hinted to him, that we had been in love for several months but I had never seen his face, because his beard and hair covered it all.
I said that, but a few days later he went to shave and get a neat haircut. That night on the way to school, I saw a Western man standing there, waving and smiling at me. I didn't even know who he was, I just smiled politely in response. After a while, the Western man came closer and spoke, then I realized it was Jason.
Nhan's small family when he was in Vietnam
He said he had grown a beard for 11 years very naturally, no one questioned it and he had no intention of shaving it off. But he decided to shave it off so I could look at his face, isn’t that cheesy? (laughs out loud) ”, she said.
After getting married, they lived in Vietnam for a long time and had two children, Lily (12 years old) and Violet (9 years old). When Lily was 8 years old, she moved to the US. Nhan and Violet will not arrive in the US until the end of 2022.
The family of four lived and worked in the city at the time. In June 2023, the whole family moved to live with Jason's parents on a farm in rural Arkansas.
The two children are very close to their mother and speak Vietnamese fluently.
"The price to pay" when living in the countryside
It was not easy for Hoai Nhan - a foreigner - to integrate and get used to life in America. Moving to the countryside also posed additional challenges for the mother of two.
Nhan confided that many young people do not want to live with their parents, but her family loves the countryside and the cozy atmosphere of family reunions. Living with her in-laws also helps Nhan somewhat compensate for the emotional attachment she feels when living far away from home.
A corner of the family farm
Jason’s parents have a huge farm, still cultivating crops. There are also some fruit trees and perennials in the garden. However, with so much land and so little manpower, it is difficult for them to fully exploit its potential.
When they moved in with their parents, Nhan and his wife renovated the estate together, calculating the land planning, where to plant what, what animals to raise... They grew tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers and some other plants. The soil was good and they grew their vegetables without chemicals, so the quality of the vegetables was very delicious.
Couple grows blueberries on the side of the house
Jason also plans to build a chicken coop to raise chickens for eggs, dig a pond to raise fish... It is expected that next year, when the work is done, the family will be able to provide most of their daily food. Not to mention that in the season, they can hunt deer, catch shrimp and fish.
Nhan has "reserved space" to grow herbs such as mint leaves, perilla, coriander, lemongrass, chili... Because it is not easy to buy seeds in the countryside, Nhan has to both eat and save seeds.
When it's too cold, Nhan brings chili and spices indoors to grow.
All six members of Jason and Nhan’s large family love nature. Not only do the adults diligently clean the garden and cut trees, the two children are also willing to help with harvesting or cleaning on weekends.
Every day, Nhan feels more attached to this countryside. Standing in her yard, she can clearly feel how vast and immense nature is. Through Nhan's lens, people can see a pure, simple corner of America, with generous nature.
Flowers are blooming in the garden and the children are running around freely on the grass.
Living with her in-laws in a multicultural family is also interesting for Nhan. The two children love their grandparents very much, and when they come home from school, they cling to them. She tries to “melt” her American in-laws with Vietnamese dishes.
After work and picking up her children, she takes charge of cooking for the whole family. No matter what Nhan cooks, pho, Vietnamese bread with grilled meat skewers, fried fish rice, vegetable soup, vermicelli soup... the whole family eats enthusiastically.
Vietnamese daughter-in-law cooks a variety of dishes for her family and is highly praised.
Regarding raising children, Nhan actively teaches his children to speak and write Vietnamese. Lily moved to the US when she was 8 years old, and Violet moved to the US at the same time as her mother, when she was 7 years old, so both of them speak Vietnamese fluently.
To make up for the fact that the family lives in a place with absolutely no Vietnamese community, Nhan only communicates with his children in Vietnamese at home. In return, the two children actively help their mother improve her English.
"Million dollar" view in Nhan's garden
Hoai Nhan believes that living in the countryside has many advantages: wide open land, fresh air, and abundant natural food. Even better, the "price to pay" for this life is just diligence and sincerity.
What makes her most happy is that her two children live in the loving care of their grandparents and parents, who are both cheerful and positive, so they are always full of energy. These are "privileges" that not everyone has.
" People keep asking if living in the countryside is boring. Usually after the family finishes dinner, I will have some time alone. But being busy with settling into my new life, I don't have time to be sad.
Peace or boredom is just a matter of how we live and feel. If we love enough, we will feel peaceful. If we don't open our hearts, even if we live in the most crowded place, we will still feel lonely, " she concluded.
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