Another Thank You Note

Thăng Củ has written an eloquent, heart-felt thank you note to those who helped out with the entertainment program. We must add another thank you note to the rest of Ban Mua Việc, who have tirelessly given themselves for several months to make this event so memorable to all of us:

• Thank you Kimmie for your contribution since the conception phase of this project, when you made several trips to Berkeley looking at dining halls and hotels as possible venues for our event. Thank you for being so flexible – we know you really wanted to do it in Berkeley but were willing to lower your expectation. Most people wanted the event in San Jose, but your trips to Berkeley didn’t stop. You continued to go there to pick up little art & craft supplies, gifts and prizes. The people did not want to go to Berkeley, so you brought the Berkeley atmosphere us. You spent countless hours with restaurant staff, negotiating and working out detail, to the point I’m not sure they want to see your face anymore And you’ve kept your eyes on the budget “like a hawk”, making wise decisions and yielding a surplus of $2 to pass on to the next Ban Mua Việc. Hooray! One other thing, if anh Phú is the designated historian of the VSA, then Kimmie is the social hub. It was the friendship that she has kept with “most” of the alumni over the years that made this reunion event a success. Thank you Kimmie.

• Thank you Hà (Super Woman) for teaming with Kimmie on several of those Berkeley excursions. Your artistic touch has helped make people feel at home as soon as they stepped into that restaurant. And thank you for your infectious mua việc attitude. Anything we dumped at you, you’re willing to take – designing flyers, making phone calls, selling tickets, constructing gallery stations, recruiting photographers, setting up photo booths, writing name tags … anything! Too bad you were locked up during the college years. Otherwise we would have made you president of the VSA for several years in a row
• Thank you Diễm for willing to be the bad cop, hardening your “cutest cheeks” into the “thick face” of Ban Mua Việc. You put yourself out there to call people, collect money and keeping our cash flow positive. Personally I think treasurer is the most difficult and least appreciated position in any organization. Now I know why the Boy Scout troop in your area is doing so well. With you in charge of their finance, they’re in good hands. Thank you for lending your hands in this event.
• Thank you Bích Du for the stunning Campanelli cake. With it you have brought our beloved UCB Campus right to our restaurant that night. We understand you worked on it for 2 straight weeks. Thank you for your dedication. Are you sure you didn’t attend architecture school?
• Thank you anh Hải Nguyễn, Thái Anh, Cẩn, Thắng and many others for capturing this rare moment together on images and video clips. We know your work is not over because there’s still so much to be done, with consolidating and editing and publishing. The reunion event came and went but your work will continue to remind us the blessing of friendship we’ve all experienced.
• Thank you Thắng & Tùng (Diễm) for lugging your TV and LCD screen to display memorable images of the past (and helped us sell a few DVDs too). Thank you Thúy for supplying us with those 3 VHS tapes. It’s amazing you still have those priceless videos.
• Thank you Thắng, Khánh, Tùng Mai and a few others who helped with set up, reception, crowd moving and body bouncing. Your subtle job as “an ninh chìm” helped prevent a few mishaps before they occur. Thank you for providing a safe and pleasant atmosphere for us to mingle in.
• Thank you Thăng Củ for pulling together an all time classic with the Văn Nghệ program. You have given a heart-felt thank to everybody else in the entertainment team but you forgot the most important person – you. There’s so much work behind the scene to ensure such an entertaining program, to include all the participating classes, to bring back good ole memories, and to keep within the time limit. Thank you for your hard, selfless work. And thank you for your thoughtfulness, always coming to our meetings and practices with those delicious snacks and drinks.

Cho dù còn tóc hay không,

Cho dù thẳng tắp hay cong vòng vòng,

Cho dù anh mập hay kòm,

Vẫn thương Thăng Củ đến mòn tim em.

- Kẹp Tóc

• Thank you Thụy for giving birth to this project. Yes it was your idea originally. Thank you for yielding to the crowd and hold this event against your family plan. You are the other social hub of the alumni. This event is not possible without your Blackberry and its phone book. You are an inspiring leader and the master of bán việc. Whenever you have a job to sell, we’ll line up to buy it.
• Thank you to the picnic team: Thanks to Mai (Huy) for insisting on the idea and for your willingness to finance it. Without you we’d be too chicken to dream of having a picnic. Thank you for singlehandedly buying and bringing most of our picnic supplies. Thanks to Trực for going the extra mile (more like 100 extra miles) to ensure we have the authentic TopDogs. Thank you for not accepting imitation from Costco. Thank you Hà for storing the dogs and for working up our appetite to the edge of starvation before delivering those juicy dogs. Thank you Minh for coming out early and setting up a perfect charcoal fire. Your BBQ is still the best. Thank you Diễm for hăng say mua việc with bánh mì thịt nguội. Thank you Kimmie for extending the Berkeley feel to the picnic area. What a welcome sign to see those blue and gold table cloth from a distance. And thank you many others for helping out with cooking, serving and adding to the fun.
• Thank you to Ban Mua Việc of the 2007 Reunion – anh Chiến, Thắng Quản, Câu, Thụy, chị Misa, Thúy and others. Thank you for starting the momentum and giving us a valuable experience.
• Last, but not least, thank you ALL OF YOU who came and participated in this event. Your presence made it historic! Many of you had to cancel or change family plans to be with us. Some deserted their family at a campground to be with us. Some canceled their son’s graduation party to be with us. Some ditched a family wedding to be with us. Some made a special trip back from Vietnam to be with us. A lot of people traveled from Southern Cal to be with us. Hoàng and his bride flew in from Seattle. Hùng Hawaii from Colorado. Many had to rent hotels for the weekend. Others slept on the floor somewhere. ALL OF YOU sacrificed something to participate in this event. Your spirit, the Bezerkeleyian spirit, was what made this event special. For that, we thank you! When someone commented to Hùng Hawaii and Ninh Khanh that they were better than Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên, Hùng Hawaii said, “you know this crowd is so high spirit and easy to please … you can just put them together in a room, without any entertainment or food, and they’d still have a good time. Even if you charge them $100.” To the future Ban Mua Việc: take note!

Thank you EVERYONE!

Tôi xin từ chức