GARY- SUCH A GUY

                                                              

                                                     

      If I hadn’t met HUNG- a good friend of mine, I would never have got a chance to get to know his English instructor- Gary- from whom I have learnt a lot. What I have learned from him is more precious than what a young student could get from his college. 

     To make our first meeting special, HUNG drove his car to pick me up at my place then to drive me to “Con Co” restaurant on Tran Binh Trong St. We had been there for a while before Gary showed up. Even though he and I had had a small talk on the phone the day I first met HUNG, I had a few difficulties understanding what he said. He spoke so naturally that I enjoyed every moment of that night. We found several things in common especially our point of view. At the end of the party which HUNG paid for us, Gary asked me to get in touch with him as we were either physically or mentally close. Actually, I prevented myself from meeting him the following weeks as I wanted to save my monthly low income. Till the third weekend, Gary and I met again at a small popular restaurant on Cao Dat St. He and I talked about a lot of different things but mainly about how to live happily. He would never mind answering my questions nor asking me what had been in my mind. I tried to speak to him as at home in Rach Gia I had not had many opportunities to do so.

The most interesting question I asked him which made him pleased was

“What is the most important thing in life?”

Having a gulp of beer, drying his mouth with a handkerchief, he replied:

“To live my life in such a way that I would have a big smiling on my face before my dying.”

He asked me why I had come there and what I would be looking for. I explained as simply as,

“To make my life a bit better and then I would make my family better.”

We not only shared the bill but also the feelings.

The following weekend as I had promised, I came to his rental house to co-teach with him. A group of 4 young teen girls and 3 small ones welcomed me as I appeared with my guitar. First, I played a short piece of Ngoc Le’s famous song: “The three candle lights.” Then when I asked them to follow me, one of the girls did so well that Gary was amazed how much and quickly I won his neighbor kids’ hearts the way he would have to try to make himself close and popular in the area. In that way, I also won his heart and that Sunday we once more time drank talking chatting a lot about life. One of the stuffs he could not get through was that to find out a woman to be with which I also ready had. He was never reluctant to correct my mispronunciation or my distressed syllabus. He taught me how to be powerful how to be independent and the most important how to be pleased ourselves. That night, I rode home happily.

As time went by, he and I became closer. Hung was glad to hear that. Things seemed to work out great that way. We were planning to co-operate to join hand to be one. Laughing relaxingly, he joked,

“Thanh, if I were a gay, I would fall in love with you.” Or

“Thanh, If I could be a lady, I would marry you.”

To respond, I spoke more seriously than ever,

“Gary, If I had been here earlier, we would have made a big difference in our teaching procedures.”

Gary told me several things about his life. One of the secrets he had rarely talked about was his youth. At the age of 19 he began gambling and he never tried to stop, he once heard an old guy who gave him a lift home say,

“A gambler is someone who tries to get something from nothing.”

    He realized what the man meant to teach him but he could not win himself. He clearly told me more about the time he taught English in Korea, Japan and what had been happening to him when he was about to open a language school in China. I was especially concerned about his parents’ health conditions. I never heard him recall any of his colleagues so I guessed he hadn’t been friendly among them or that could mean to me that he was so strict to have some. He never felt shy to talk about anything. That 37-year-old guy revealed that he had made some mistakes in his adult-hood. He unbelievably ran a kind of one-person-painting company as he was a young good-looking guy. Some older widows or divorcees asked him to hang up with them or even ask him to be with them. He never lost himself but sometimes after drinking, he asked me to take him to gambling places and he later told me he lost all the money he had got. One night, on the way to a casino at about midnight, he summarized what he had lost and found in Sai Gon and then he revealed that he would be home for the loss. He showed me how much men need companionship. First he asked me to be beside him at a small restaurant on Pham Ngu Lao St. When he played poker, he asked me to have some beer with him and to have a look. He was the first ever invited me to 3 parties of his foreign friends. I was welcome and I was aware of being confident in any cases. Once while in a good mood of drinking, he took me to his friend’s restaurant, there he introduced me as a good friend of his.

    For the new year’s Eve, I asked him to join my class celebration at Son Thuy restaurant at 394 Vo Van Tan St. Having been told earlier, all of my learners enjoyed talking to him. I started the party by making a short speech and to everyone’s surprises, I withdrew a roll of paper from my pocket on which I had written a question in large words:

 “What is your new year resolution?”

Gary was supposed to be the first to answer. He said smiling,

“Not making mistakes of finding a girl friend.”

Then I asked him to ask another. We took turn doing that and we all felt great. My reply was:

“Never miss any final sounds” 

I pleased Gary that way as he had always been concerned about the matter.

    Gary tried to be friendly with one of my learners and he took her a restaurant, a coffee shop and they had a good time. I introduced him to teach at where I was teaching and he was very welcome. We became partners. Dr. Hau, one of my former learners paid and treated us well and advertised us. We were invited to be the co-founders of a speaking club at Binh Dan hospital. Hung was so happy with what we had been doing that he offered us a trip to a fresh-sea food restaurant in Long Thanh. During the trip, he and I took turn asking responding to show Hung and his young employees how to learn to practice and I showed them the way I improved my English. Gary made such a good joke that Hung really enjoyed. We deserved being offered what Hung was paying for.

    Failing to apply for my TESOL course, not making enough money for a family of 4, hearing my daughter starting her puberty, being concerned about what would be worse, I decided to go back home. Before leaving Gary, I had assigned an email. Till the last class I was in charge, I kept quiet. The following early morning, I emailed him. He phoned me as soon as he got it. He sympathized with my decision and reassured that he would welcome me back. Gary recognized a lack of my income that month so he asked my son- Canon- to meet him and he gave my son what would be called a gift of friend ship: 2 million dong.

   Three months after I had left him, Gary had a big health problem. His sister encouraged him to go home and he did. On that day, not wanting to disturb me, he told my son not to let me know and at the airport he phoned me to say goodbye:

“Wherever we are, whatever happens to us, we are still friends.” said Gary.

“You bet.” simply I replied.

                                                                 Rach Gia Feb 21, 10

                                                               Luong Ngoc Thanh