Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 326

Seen in Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam

Seen in Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam

"What are you thinking about?""I come here to not think."(Ho...

"What are you thinking about?"
"I come here to not think."

(Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam)

"She’s our only child. She started college in Michigan...

"She’s our only child. She started college in Michigan this year. I took this photo on the day that I dropped her off at school. The morning I left, I walked into her dorm room, and saw a bundle under the covers. I said: ‘Sweetie, do you want to say bye to your dad?’ Then I saw that the bundle was shaking. I pulled back the covers, and her eyes were filled with tears. My heart was melting when I left. These days I stay at the office as long as possible, because my wife works late, and I don’t want to be at home with no one there."

(Hanoi, Vietnam)

"Our daughter was five months old when I got a scholarship to...

"Our daughter was five months old when I got a scholarship to Johns Hopkins. My wife came with me to Baltimore so that our family could stay together. I will always be thankful for that sacrifice, because I know it was the toughest three years of her life. She didn’t speak a word of English. We lived in a tiny studio— so tiny that many times I did my studying in the bathroom. In Vietnam, she had a job where she was getting phone calls all day long. But in America, the phone never rang. She wasn’t allowed to work because of visa requirements. Vietnamese holidays were regular days in America, so I’d be in class during New Year and we could never be together. Sometimes when I’d come home from school during wintertime, she’d look at me with tears in her eyes and say: ‘Tuan, I want to go home.’ But she still stayed with me. When I finally got my degree, many of my friends asked if I’d look for a job in the US. But I wouldn’t do that to her. She had done enough for me. So I said: ‘We are going home immediately.’ And as soon as we got back to Vietnam, she was like a fish back in the pond."

(Hanoi, Vietnam)

"I wrote a comment. She liked the comment. I sent her a friend...

"I wrote a comment. She liked the comment. I sent her a friend request."

(Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam)

"We’re gonna crash."(Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam)

"We’re gonna crash."

(Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam)

"Do you remember the happiest moment of your life?""Every day...

"Do you remember the happiest moment of your life?"
"Every day when I get home from work."

(Hanoi, Vietnam)

"The American jets were called Phantoms, because they appeared...

"The American jets were called Phantoms, because they appeared out of nowhere, and by the time you saw the plane, the rockets were already heading toward you. My friend and I were doing maintenance on the machinery when our factory was bombed. We heard the plane coming and tried to run toward the coal vault, but before we got there a missile tore him in half." 

(Hanoi, Vietnam)

"When I pick him up from kindergarten, sometimes I stand quietly...

"When I pick him up from kindergarten, sometimes I stand quietly across the room, and watch him play with his friends. It just makes me so happy to know that I have a son and he is growing every day."

(Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, Vietnam)

"Who has had the greatest influence on you in life?""My...

"Who has had the greatest influence on you in life?"
"My father."
"What’s your favorite thing about your father?"
"He’s got a great heart."
"Do you remember the saddest moment of your life?"
"There was a short period of time when I was younger that my father would beat my mother. It made me very sad."
"Does that not affect your view of your father’s heart?"
"It was a period of high stress. My mother had very high expectations of him and he wasn’t making any money. I think she would mock him sometimes. I just want to leave it in the past. They’re much happier now."

(Hanoi, Vietnam)