How about this for a coincidence: One night Masumi mentioned to me that she and Kensuke have been sponsoring a child in Vietnam for a number of years. They have been sending money and gifts to a little girl through an organization called Plan. I was obviously interested and asked Masumi to show me information about the girl the next time I was at her house. Well, the other night I went over to Masumi and Kensuke's house for a home cooked meal and asked to see the letters they had from the little girl. Through the organization, the girl writes letters in Vietnamese and they are translated into English. I was looking at the letter when I saw a familiar name: Nguyen Huyen. Yes, the little girl has the SAME NAME (minus the middle name) of Huyen. This blew my mind. I mean, what are the odds that my friends in Japan would be sponsoring a girl with the same name as my girlfriend in Vietnam. I just think it is nuts. When I told Masumi and Kensuke about the coincidence, Kensuke had a great line: "Well, now we can always remember your girlfriend's name."
One person was not impressed by this coincidence -- my Huyen. I called Huyen after dinner and told her about the coincidence and Huyen says to me, "I told you Nguyen Huyen is a common name." Come on!!! It's not that common! I had never met another Nguyen Huyen during all my time in 'Nam.
Anyway, the little girl Nguyen Huyen lives pretty close to Hanoi. When I get back to Vietnam, I'm gonna plan a trip to her commune to bring her some presents. So stayed tuned in a few months for a blog update and a picture of Nguyen Huyen and Nguyen Huyen.
