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Listen   Thanh Hue talks about her new home

New Home
- Thanh Hue -

"I came here to [Sydney] with my family: my husband and four young children, the youngest was eight. My first job here was as a process worker with Standard Telephones and Cables in Alexandria. I needed money to support my family and also my family in Vietnam, my parents and my brother, sister who were still there. My father was retired, already, and when the communists came and took power in my country, they even stopped paying my father's super, because they said he used to serve the former government, not their government. After that I tried to improve in my work."

"I came to Australia at Christmas time so all the factories were closed for holidays so it was hard to get a job that time. When I came to Australia, I thought I could have a teaching position, but they put me in an English class. I went there for a few weeks but then I stayed home because one of my friends recommended me to a lady who did knitting for boutiques, knitting the jumpers for her for very low cost. Can you imagine I can finish one a day that means I sit in the chair all day. And sometimes, the finger I had used to hold the thread, it's numb. I'd just finish one a day and I'd get $13 for each."

"I used to work at one of the centres for Women's Migrant Resources in Lidcombe. At that time I had three jobs to do at the same time. The job there is only in the morning 9-12 and from 1-9, I did the data entry for the National Australia Bank and I had a casual position as teacher to teach Vietnamese for the HSC for their elective subject. Not mentioning the house chores and cooking!"

"Sometimes I like to take them [grandchildren] on a picnic, so I took them to the Carss Park one time, they loved it and they played with the sand, the mud, in the water. And saw the seagulls. They found it to be a very beautiful and very big park."

"I have activities with a senior scout group, the Vietnamese senior scout group. Every two months, we gather together and if it's good weather like summer or spring, we go to the parks and usually it's Garrison Point. So far it's a very good group, we respect and we like each other, we always have a very good relationship, very close relationships."

"I usually go walking for meditation. Around the house I have beautiful parks in Tempe along the Cooks River - beautiful and far away from the traffic, everything. There is a big rock, very flat on the top and sometimes we walk there and bring coffee, stay there and have breakfast. Lately, I treated my friend from Vietnam, by coming here one day. I enjoy it sitting there and looking over the river, it's quite beautiful and the river is always fresh and very peaceful."

"The first time I went to Gymea Bay, that's a few years ago I caught mackerel this size, I caught about fourteen mackerel, a full bucket! And I caught about two and half kilo Bonito, it nearly drew me into the water! I think Australians do not like that fish, but it's really very tasty. That fish doesn't 'fit' with the western cook. It's no good for steaming or barbecuing at all, you have to cook it. I cook it with fish sauce and little bit of sugar and green chilli, and pineapple and serve with noodles..."

"I like fresh fish but as a Buddhist I don't want to kill anything, I feel sorry for them. I can't stop my husband, because it's his hobby."

"I like water. When I see water I am feeling something fresh, life. Because everything needs water. I don't like the ocean much, because of the sand, and sun, but hills with water, especially springs. Oh! I love it. Just last year I went to Canada, we were brought to a holiday place owned by one of my friends and at the back of the chalet is a spring. I always left the window open so I could hear the noise of the water, the sound of the water running. Somebody said it's too noisy but I like it."

"My garden, it's bushy, there is no landscaping at all, but you'll have an idea how the gardens in Vietnam look. So a lot of people come and say "Oh god I feel so homesick when I look at it", with the banana groves and the papaya tree..."

» Thanh Hue revisits Vietnam