Quang Trung House in the Memory of Former Laotian Students

(Baonghean.vn) - I am Vu Chong Cho, living in Phathom district, Xieng Khouang province, Laos. By chance, we met Vietnamese friends who came to visit and learned that the Quang Trung apartment building was about to be demolished to build a new, more modern and beautiful one. Memories of my days studying in Vietnam suddenly came flooding back...

We, Laotian students, used to live in A5 building, Quang Trung area in the 1980s. There were more than 40 of us in our batch, coming to Vinh city to study various professions: construction, mechanics, agriculture and teaching. Most of us studied at Vietnam-Germany College, Construction Intermediate School No. 6, the better students were able to study at Vinh Pedagogical University.

A corner of Quang Trung apartment building

We lived in a room of 4 people, and had meals at hotel A4. We went to school by bicycle, and the hardest part was having to carry it up and down the stairs every day. The next worry was the lack of clean water. Although house A5 had priority to pump water every 2 days, there was still a lack of water in the summer. Every time guests came over, we were worried, because there weren't many clean water containers.

To ease our homesickness, we often played sepak takraw at the stadium next to A5. There were many Vietnamese friends in A5, A6, A3…whose names I still remember, such as Long, Tu Thach, Tu Tuan, Bac Son, who often played with us. We would meet in the late afternoon, sometimes to play volleyball, sometimes to play against each other, with the sepak takraw balls we brought from Laos.

At that time, Vinh city often had power outages, we were equipped with kerosene lamps but when there was a power outage, everyone would go for a walk on Quang Trung street because it was unbearably hot at home. In front of A5 house, there was a restaurant with a famous ice cream stand, almost every night we ate ice cream and iced bean flour.

I also have a Vietnamese girlfriend named Thuy, she also lives in a multi-storey building. Thuy really likes Tam Maak Hung made from papaya. The papaya is chosen to be not too green but not too ripe either. After the papaya is shredded, it is put into a mortar and pounded lightly. The spices include lime juice, shrimp paste, eggplant, pepper, and chili.

On moonlit nights, Thuy and I went up to the rooftop to see Vinh city from above. I told Thuy stories about the Lao tribes, and Thuy told me about her student life. Until we heard the sound of running water under the public tap, the clanging of buckets, we quickly said goodbye so she could go home to "take care of the country" with everyone in the house. Almost every night, people living in Quang Trung area at that time had to stay up all night to fetch water. I remember Thuy really liked to wear the T-shirt that she bought from Xieng Khouang and brought over as a gift, the shirt with a very large heart.

By now, I have become a civil servant of the district thanks to my years of studying in Vietnam. The memories of Quang Trung dormitory and the budding love with my Vietnamese girlfriend have followed me throughout the years. I wonder if tomorrow when I return to A5 Quang Trung house, will I still have the chance to see Thuy's figure?

AT (write)