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Sabaydii Tee and all,

First, thanks Tee for the nice words about my story. 
Let me include your email here.

--- bglan <bglan@alinga.newcastle.edu.au> wrote:
> 
> Sabaidee ai Siengkhene,
> My apoligies for writting unanounced, I am not even
> sure of your name but my
> brothers read every bit of " Along the shores of the
> Mekong river and I must
> admit you have me hooked as well. Its is so
> beautiful and so well told it
> brings back so many memories, sights , smells and
> sounds. Are you going to
> publish this? if so I'll buy the first copy and I
> believe it will sell well
> in Japan. Dah and Duh print out every episode and
> leave it on the coffee
> table. Everyone reads it,
> our Lao friends usually have tears in their eyes
> after reading your stories,
> our japanese friends always ask when they can read
> more. Thank you my friend
> from the bottom of my heart for bringing some of
> your memories and your love
> of Laos into our home. Sorry but I must ask a
> question, Have you ever
> climbed a banya tree and eaten the fruit while still
> hanging in the tree??
> What a magnificant experiance, its one of my
> favorite memories from my
> childhood. Last christmas I took Dah and Duh to a
> wonderful Banya tree that
> i use to climb as a boy, we spent hours up there
> picking fruit and eating
> it. Our Grandmother was dissapointed with the amount
> of fruit we gathered
> but knew where the rest had gone. She knew me as a
> child and slapped my butt
> for teaching the boys my bad habits. I have to say
> thank you again and I
> wish you well please keep writting we look forward
> to every episode.
> Tee

Know what? Your encouragement is like a raindrop in
the desert.  Thanks a lot.  As a token of appreciation
to both you, Thip, Deuane and some from
soc.culture.laotian, I will post my story twice a
week: Wednesday and Sunday. Regarding the publishing
of my story, I don't think I will have enough to do
that.
By the way, my name is Kongkeo Saycocie

*****



 Thakek years: 1967 to 1970
  
 We arrived in Thakek around 1967.  I didn't even
remember whether we got there by plane or by bus. 
What puzzled my
 mom and me the most was why we had to move in the
first place.  Compared to
 Savannakhet,
 Thakek was like a tiny town - far from the locus of
power.  Moving there was like you got demoted from
your job.  Still, my
 dad was anxious to move there.  From his point of
view, it was understandable. Thakek was a town where
most of his
 clan were.  You could say Thakek was a Saycocie town
as much as a Choulamany town.  Everywhere you went,
you
 seemed to run into  someone with the same last name
as yours. In my case, it was "Saycocie".  To my dad,
what was
 important was not power or wealth but the feeling of
being at home.  He could drop by to see his only
brother - a medical
 doctor, whose house was at Nong Boua just below the
foothill of Wat Chom Thong.  Also, around that area,
some of his
 half siblings built their houses there.  What's
interesting was
 many of my siblings like to stay close to one another
even in the states.
 There were two spots that they congregated: Houston,
Texas and
 Milwaukee,
 Wisconsin.  I, alone, live in California.
  
 As usual, when we moved to Thakek, we resided in the
post office.  The difference was the size of the two
posts.  The
 one at Savannakhet was like a mansion.  Living them
made you feel like you were a king.  On the contrary,
Thakek post
 office was small about 1/3 the size of the one in
Savannakhet.  As a result, the employees working there
were less than
 the numbers of fingers in my two hands.  Some of the
employees were housed
 at the tiny post office compound.
  
 Whatever one might think of our new residence, it was
livable.  Situated at the corner of the two roads -
one running
 alongside the Mekong River and another running
straight to downtown Thakek where the market stood,
our new residence
 was at a walking distance to school, the soccer
stadium,
 the temple (Wat Khang), the ferry port (Tha Dane),
the market and of course
 the Mekong River.  What's more: there was a little
stream flowing by the
 post office.  Connecting the two sides of the land
was an old iron bridge
 where kids liked to use it as a jumping board during
the rainy season to
 wildly bathe themselves.  It was hard to say whether
I liked the new places
 or not.  Far away from close friends and new to the
area made me want to go
 back to Savannakhet.  For the first  year, I made a
trip back to Savan during the summer school vacation. 
Until later did I feel
 at home in Thakek.
 Maybe, it was the magical place called Thakek where
steep hills
 circling around.
 Or maybe, it was the friendliness of Thakek people
itself.  I didn't know.
 What I knew was my heart rested at peace in Thakek.
  
 (to be continued)
  

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