Memoire of My Life
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Memoir of My Life Nguyen Trung Thu TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Part I: Origins, Country Living and Studenthood Section 1: My Parents and My Birth 1.1 My Father 1.2 My Mother 1.3 My Birth Section 2: My Childhood in Country 2.1 An Cư Village and My Maternal Relatives My Grandfather My Grandmother Uncle Vọng and Uncle Phủ Aunt Hoan and Uncle Dzu Aunt Hai and Her family 2.2 Vinh Quang and My Paternal Relatives The Vietnamese Village and the Concept of Self-Sufficiency My Illness My Grandma Uncle Truồng Aunt Em and Uncle Thiên Cousin Phiên 2.3 Teacher Kính and His Moveable School Section 3: A City Education 3.1 My Short Stay in Đông Hà for Elementary School 3.2 Living in Huế City Trần Cao Vân Elementary School Hàm Nghi High School My Sister Ngọc Diệp Uncle Đồng Uncle Xân Uncle Huy 3.3 Living in Quãng Trị 3.3.1 Attending Nguyễn Hoàng High School 3.3.2 Building up My General Knowledge 3.3.3 My Friends in High School Hồ doãn Uyên Lê thọ Giáo Đỗ tư Nhơn Lê thị Diệu Minh Section 4: Living in Saigon as an Adult 4.1 Student Life 4.2 My Studies at the Technical Center of Phú Thọ 4.3 My Friends at the TCPT Phan văn Luân Phạm long Thượng Memoir of My Life - Nguyen Trung Thu 1/157 4.4 Meeting a Girl at the Diệu Quang Orphenage Part II: Working in Vietnam Section 5: The Quãng Ngãi Sugar Plant Section 6: The Vietnam Power Company Getting Married and Raising a Family My In-Laws, the Lys 6.1 Regional Power Exploitation – East 6.2 The Utility Centre of Định Tường Section 7: My Determination to Leave Vietnam 7.1 Journey from Vietnam to Subic Bay 7.2 Journey from Subic Bay to Guam 7.3 Landing on Guam and Process of Immigration to Canada Part III: My Immigration and Work in Canada Section 8: Sept-Iles and Port Cartier, Quebec 8.1 Acclimation and Job Search 8.2 Dravo Construction Ltd. 8.3 OEQ Membership and Professional License 8.4 Family Growth and Concern about Long-Term Job Security 8.5 Discoveries and New Friends 8.6 Concern about Relatives Living in or Having Left Vietnam 8.7 Moving to Montreal in the Winter Section 9: Montreal, Quebec 9.1 SNC Group Inc. 9.2 Living and Adapting to Montreal Section 10: Saudi Arabia 10.1 Trip to Qaseem and Al Nour Site 10.2 The Challenge of the Qaseem Electrification Project 10.3 Particulars of Saudi Arabia 10.4 International Travels Section 11: Moving to Mississauga, Ontario 11.1 Adaptating to Our New Environment 11.2 Colombia The Cerrejon Coal Exportation Project The Colombian Way of Life Section 12: Burkina Faso 12.1 The Kompienga Hydroelectric Project 12.2 The Vietnamese Association in Ouagadougou 12.3 My Trip to the Dam Site 12.4 Working with the French in Africa 12.5 Getting to Know Africa Section 13: Chicoutimi, Quebec 13.1 The Laterriere Aluminum Smelter Project 13.2 Exploring Saguenay 13.3 Family Concerns Section 14: Monenco Agra Inc. Memoir of My Life - Nguyen Trung Thu 2/157 14.1 Overseas Power Services 14.2 The Valerie Falls Hydroelectric Project Section 15: Bolivia 15.1 The Zongo Valley Hydroelectric Project 15.2 My Trip to the Town Site 15.3 Getting to Know Bolivia 15.4 Leaving the Project Section 16: South Korea 16.1 The Wolsong Nuclear Power Project 16.2 My Trip to the Town Site 16.3 Getting to Know South Korea Section 17: Pool of Monenco Agra Inc., AECL, Canatom Inc. and SNC Lavalin Group Inc. 17.1 The Merck Power Expansion Project 17.2 The Pickering A Return to Service Project 17.3 The Pickering B Environment Qualification Project 17.4 The Darlington Used Fuel Dry Storage Project 17.5 The PBMR Design Scoping Mission in South Africa Part IV: Family Life and Community Participation Section 18: Family Life and Community Participation 18.1 Efforts towards Our Children’s Education 18.2 Family Life 18.3 Contact with Relatives 18.4 Community Activities 18.5 Contact with Friends from the VPC Section 19: Conclusion Part V: Pre-retirement and Retirement (To be developed) Appendix 1. Curriculum Vitae Nguyen Trung Thu 2. Documents of Qualification 3. Award of Recognition 4. Memorable Photos (**) 4.1 Living in Vietnam before 1975 4.2 Living in Quebec, Canada 4.3 Overseas Living 4.4 Visiting Relatives and Friends 4.5 Visits of Relatives and Friends 4.6 Meeting with Former VPC Colleagues 4.7 With Nguyen Hoang HS Friends & Quang Tri Origin Compatriots ......With Thanh Quan Group 4.8 Gathering with SVNCP Friends 4.9 Family Photos through Time 4.10 Some Nice Places and Our Sky 4.11 Preferred Landscape Photos _______________________________________________________________________________________ (**) For photos, please open the link http://tiny.cc/8amlrx Memoir of My Life - Nguyen Trung Thu 3/157 Memoir of My Life PREFACE My children have often told me that my life has been interesting and that they would like me to put it on paper so they could read and teach their own children about their roots. I promised to do so, but due to the scale of the undertaking, and my limited command of written English, I have been hesitant to start. Now that I am retired, time is no longer a constraint, and the older I grow, the more I feel compelled to leave something to the future generations of my family and to other relatives and friends, and to satisfy my children’s genuine interest in my story. I am writting this memoir not only because I want my descendants to know about my life, but also because I want them to know about the lives and characters of my parents, who did not have much of a chance to communicate with them. I am also proud of my maternal and paternal ancestors and wish to preserve their memory. Finally I want to tell my parents - although both of them have already passed away – how deeply I appreciate what they did to bring me up. When I first began writing, I was unsure of where to start. However, I soon realized that life does not simply progress in a straight line, because the present often merges with the past to create a certain reality or event. I feel most comfortable telling my story in the order of my work history because my career allowed me to see the world and interact with people, including relatives. (We usually spent most of our lives working, anyway). This memoir therefore covers events from my childhood and working time in Vietnam, and then narrates other experiences I had in many countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, South Korea, Canada, etc. where I have worked since the day I left my homeland Vietnam and settled in Canada. I try not to address political issues in this memoir. However, when I was growing up, every Vietnamese person was influented by national and international political policies and doctrines. Therefore, sometimes politics are reflected in my personal views or life experiences. I do not put myself forward as a witness of Vietnamese history, but I believe some of the anecdotes presented in this book may help the younger generation or at least my descendants understand some aspects of the struggles that occurred during my lifetime, most notably the fight against French colonization and the ideological war between the Communist and non-Communist Vietnamese. A person cannot write about his life without mentioning the relatives and other people who surrounded him. For the sake of brevity, I will discuss only those people whom I remember most vividly and who have affected me to some extent. They are presented based on when I got to know them, not according to their role in my family. I have omitted the names of some closed relatives and friends, not because I do not value them, but to avoid misunderstanding or sensibility. I have also decided not to include many details pertaining to my direct relatives since I would need another book to describe them, and since I might be biased in my judgements. Spiritually, I consider this memoir one of my many projects, because for me, life is an accumulation of things to be completed. As said by the French author Bernardin de Saint-Pierre: “La vie de l’homme avec tous ses projets, s’élève comme une petite tour, dont la mort est le couronnement” (“The life of a man, with all its projects, is like a tower which rises in the air, which has death for its summit”); I will still have further projects as long as I live. Nguyễn Trung Thu Mississauga, Ontario, Canada December 2014 Memoir of My Life - Nguyen Trung Thu 4/157 Part I: ORIGINS, COUNTRY LIVING AND STUDENTHOOD Section 1: My Parents and My Birth 1.1 My Father My father was named Nguyễn Đăng Sung. He was born in 1915 in Quãng Trị Province, into a large and unique family that originally came from the province of Nghệ An, in Central Vietnam. He was a solid man of a medium build who was always healthy, optimistic and happy. He was a simple, easy- going, reasonable person. Whatever the circumstances, he remained calm and viewed new conditions with a positive outlook. He was willing to accept the less advantageous alternative to ensure that everyone was satisfied. He loved his close relatives, extended family and the ordinary country people who surrounded him.