The last two and a half years of my life, I have been looking forward to and counting down the days to the Fourth International Vietnamese Youth Conference, and the day after tomorrow, I'll be on my plane with my friends to Sydney, Australia. Yeah, baby!!! The Third International Vietnamese Youth Conference in San Diego has forever changed my life and has inspired me to do the things that I do for the Vietnamese community. The fire within continues to burn and never seems to die out in me. Vietnam is not only the country of my origin; it's the passion of my life. I can't wait to see all the actions and the positive changes within our Vietnamese community that I hope to see being induced through DH4.
The Aussies are instant-messaging me to get my *ss over there to help with IT stuff and have asked me to do four slideshows (yikes!!!), but with a lot of effort I negotiated it down to three. This past weekend, I've locked myself into my nice little apartments with my two feline friends (who are going to cost me $265 to have them sheltered at a pet-sitter for the next three weeks, grrrrrr!!!) and worked on the Opening Ceremony slideshow, which I just completed yesterday. Tonight, I'll start on the second one and probably have to work on it on the plane over to Hawaii and then Sydney. As with most conferences, the work on the Closing Ceremony slideshow won't be even started until the last day. :)
The Fourth International Vietnamese Youth Conference is around the corner, and I am excited as ever. With the nostalgia I have in me about DH3, I can't help but miss my friend Phu Heo, who passed away at the age of 21. I've met Phu Heo mainly through DH3, and his work, dedication and humor has inspired so many people, myself included. My friend, you are never forgotten and always with us wherever our quest for a Vietnam will take us.