Great news for me

I've just received a call from my dad. He said he will pay for my air tickets to go home and come back here this winter break. I am now so overwhelmed with happiness that the news brought to me. The mere thoughts of being at home, playing with my nieces, and having dinner with my family make my heart accelerate. I'm wearing a big grin on my face right now ;)

Lately I've been looking for tickets at a decent price but it's just impossible. When I come back to Vietnam, I have to interview for visa, and so, the total expense would go up to $2,200 which is approximately half the amount my family has to pay each semester. Therefore, it is such a pain for me to tell my mom I may not come home this Christmas, because I don't want the burden she's carrying to get heavier.

I don't know if I tell you earlier, but my decision to go to US was against many family members' ideas. Everybody told my mom not to let me go to US because the cost here doubles the expense my mom would pay if I went to Finland. I got accepted into one of the top 5 university in Finland at the same time I received admission letter from Singapore Management University - the top 3 university in Singapore. My mom is 60 years old, retired, almost brought me up by herself while having to support my sisters to go to colleges. My family of 7 people live together in a house. We are not poor, but sometimes we can hardly find a penny in the house. Therefore, my studying abroad for 4 years is a huge challenge and a big decision for my mom. Now that I am much older, I no longer have that childish feeling of shame whenever thinking about my family's situation. I am PROUD of my family, of my mom. My mom never fails to provide anything I need, even during the worst days. She bought the best food she could afford, gave me the best clothes I wanted, and worked every night from 11PM to 8AM to earn each penny for my education. And I remember those nights when we had heated debates about where I should go for college, I promised her in tears I won't let her down, I won't waste her money and her trust in me.

So, I work as much as I can while maintaining all my major classes' GPA at 4.0. I can see by myself that I grow up every single day, that my viewpoint differs from that when I was at home. The great adventure I chose to take has brought me so many valuable lessons and realization that I believe all the sacrifices my mom made will be paid off.

Above all, I'm glad my dad decided to support me in this. Otherwise I may never be able to make it home. And mom will cry. And sister will be disappointed, as her wedding is on December 26th :)

Home, I'm coming.

P.S: home is wherever my mom is XD