My Journey from Saigon to Ottawa by Alice Swann

Author:Alice Swann [Swann, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781973634942
Publisher: WestBow Press
Published: 2018-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

Rome, Italy—Embassy of the

Republic of Vietnam (1965-1967)

O Italy, Fatal Beauty

—Lord Byron

I informed Canon Jean Giblet that I had moved to Rome, the Eternal City. He answered, “Are you going to live in Rome, the Holy City of the Popes, or Rome, the City of All Sins?”

My godfather was ecstatic about the beginning of my professional life in Rome. He had preached to me that after graduation from university, I should return to Saigon to serve my country. He was adamant about my service to my own country of birth. Staying too long in Europe would uproot me, but I was stubborn in my resolution not to return to Vietnam. Rome was a magnificent city. Many people dreamed of being able to work or live in Rome. I was happy because I had a new purpose and a new country to discover.

Before being posted in Rome, Mr. Nguyen Duong Don was minister of national education, appointed by President Ngo Dinh Diem. He had graduated from a European university, and his German-born wife, Sophie Mohr, looked exquisite in pictures. I had not met her, but I had heard nice comments about her. After marrying Mr. Don, she went to Vietnam to live with him, and they had five sons. He started his career as a professor of math. The family lived in Hanoi, Hue, and Saigon; and as a foreigner, she adapted well to Vietnam’s customs and traditions. When I was in Saigon, I had overheard my parents commenting that the German-born wife of Mr. Don was rumored to wash the feet of her mother-in-law, as dictated by tradition. Sophie died in Rome some years before I arrived in Italy.

One of the secret plans of Mr. and Mrs. Minh was to introduce Ambassador Don, a widower, to a young Vietnamese girl from an excellent family. Vietnamese people were born spontaneous matchmakers. They thought it was a good idea to introduce me to Ambassador Don.

November 1, 1965, was my first National Day reception at the embassy. By coincidence, Dominique de Patoul was posted in Rome as an executive of the Belgian Airlines Sabena, so I again saw Claire and Dominique. They invited me to their home, and I had the opportunity to invite them for the National Day reception of Vietnam.

I had no clue about diplomatic protocol. I arrived at the reception later than Ambassador Nguyen Duong Don, and I left earlier than him. When I waved goodbye with my hands, the ambassador was stunned and looked at me with eyes as big as saucers. I learned afterward that as a staff member, I should have arrived at the reception before the ambassador and should have left after him.

When I arrived in Rome, I stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Minh in their apartment at Via Quatro Venti. I did not have to pay for my accommodation. We ate meals together at home as a family, and I lived with them as if I were their little sister. I became officially in Rome “their dear cousin.

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