Tuesday, July 29, 2008

He ain't heavy; he's my brother


This is Hut, my youngest brother. He left Laos for USA in 1997. He was about 6 then. I had not seen him for 11 years. When I first saw his photo (today), I could not even recognize him.

I still remember when he was about to board a plane, he was crying so hard. So did my sister and me. Now he can't speak Lao. I asked him over the phone one time whether he wanted to return to Laos, he said "Not really. I have already forgotten everything there. I have no friends in Laos..."

He has never visited Laos since he left.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

he must be more comfortable where he is now, although it's regretful to think that he has no memories of his six years in his home country.

Khoun Radio Support Project said...

It was kinda sad to hear that from him at first. But it was quite understandable. I have been away from my hometown for as long as he has been and I went back home twice only (and stayed there few days). I don't know. Although friends and relatives are there, you don't feel closed or share the same interest anymore.

Anonymous said...

he's still young... one day he will want to return and see Laos, retrace his roots or something.

glad to see that you are still writing xai. Hope your film scholarship works out.

Anonymous said...

it's understandable that he doesn't want to live there since he's got his life in the US but still very sad to hear he doesn't even care enough to visit or rediscover the family he left behind. this would a good docu.

son from savannakhet anyone?

Anonymous said...

He ain't a bad guy lah. He told me if he were to spend thousands of dollars to buy a pair of tix to visit us in Laos, he would prefer to send that amount of money to us to spend instead. In fact, he just sent money to my younger brother studying at Singapore-run-IT school in Laos to buy a motorbike.

I've moved to work near the station; hard to access to the Internet.

My scholarship result will be released this Friday, 8 August.

Hope to see you guys in Laos soon.