Hanh, a Vietnamese UTA MBA student, went with me to the airport to pick up a new Vietnamese student. We didn’t know what to expect but when he took a long time to come out of the international terminal we were a bit worried… It’s not easy coming to a new country alone… When he came out of customs, we were suprised! Both his older sister who studied in Singapore before and his parents were with him. Wow… would they all fit in my car with all that luggage.

The family was planning on staying in a hotel quite a distance a way from the University and they did not have a way of transportation to and from the hotel. What was supposed to be a 2 hour pick up ended up being 2 days of hard work. Hanh and I worked to help the student get housing, settle in his apartment, set up a bank account, get them some food, and shuttle he and his family back and forth from the hotel.

Honestly, it was a joy to do this. I had forgotten how much fun it is to help in such a thorough way. His parents wanted to pay us and almost seemed sad that they wouldn’t take anything. Most Asian cultures have a strong sense of obligation when someone does something for them.

Anyway, we with Hanh took them to the Fort Worth Stockyards (http://www.fortworthstockyards.org) and they insisted on taking us out to dinner. The students parents insisted on paying for dinner and they bought Lisa a “cowboy” purse. I was most touched when the student said that I was his best friend after only one week in America and his parents told us to take care of their son. WOW! How humbling… What a wonderful experience…