My close friends and colleagues have learned of my recent wish, which is to meet 100 fortune tellers in Vietnam. Goal? Not sure yet and I'll let it evolve itself. Turning 34, I think it is fun to do things just for the sake of doing and worry less about the end results.
So I met the fortune teller number 3 on a Sunday morning, with a close colleague, before I headed out to spend time with the lovely kids in an HIV Orphanage in Thu Duc District. On the phone Ms. H sounded rude, short-tempered, and arrogant; therefore, I was surprised by her kind words, open-mindedness, and understanding manner when we met in person. I was charmed after five minutes of listening to her, and I thought to myself 'This is someone I'd like to know as a friend.'
During the conversation, my career counseling instinct came up several times, and I must try really hard to control the urge of asking her to quit her current job and take a Masters degree in Counseling to join our field of work. This lady is a natural counselor and psychologist! She does not try to be mysterious; instead, she often follows her statement with logical explanation. She uses precise language to articulate her ideas and would repeat herself until the client shows their comprehension. She has kindness in her heart, and she really enjoys her work. She is also among the few fortune tellers who only see clients on appointment bases and set boundary to enjoy her personal life. Again, I would like to become this woman's friend.
I almost laughed aloud when she frankly stated, 'You cannot reveal your forehead like that. Do something with your hair to cover it. And you must fix your nose. Otherwise, men look at you and they are intimidated. You must fool them by covering your intelligence and ugly feature.' My God! Mom has always been proud of my forehead although she teases me all the time. And I never worried about my flat nose, which feature I think makes me look authentically Vietnamese. Sadly I secretly agreed about the 'intimidation part' but had no desire to cover my intelligence for any reason. She kindly explained that such a flat nose is not good for a woman's love life, and fixing it would bring good luck to my romantic relationship.
Beside that 'odd' advice, the rest of the conversation was meaningful, I think. She talked about my personality type and how it impacted my lifestyle and life quality. She mentioned career failures and successes and analyzed the few men in my life. She talked about the sadness and joy of a woman, the role of a mother, and how unfair life could be. Most importantly, I felt good because she made me feel she liked me as a person, and she gave me her full attention the whole time. In addition to that, this lady did not act like she knew everything (except the flat nose part). She gave her advice carefully, showed respect for her clients, and genuinely cared about them. I came to that conclusion because I could hear her conversation with the guys before me and the girlfriend after me. I like this woman a lot.
In conclusion, the third fortune teller has been the best experience so far. Since I am open about my wish of seeing 100 fortune tellers, acquaintances and friends have given me lots of suggestions. For budgeting and timing purpose, this project may take a long time to complete. And without a research question, I really don't know where I am heading. But hey, life is more fun that way, so why not take the risk, right?
I wish you all a good time. It's autumn time in the US, and I miss California, Dad and Mom, brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, and crazy friends terribly. I am starting a new semester in two weeks, with lots of changes and joyful projects. Oh, one more thing, my students converted me to a facebooker, so you can connect to me now using facebook :)
With lots of love,
Saigon, Vietnam
October 2010
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