The Happiest Refugee

As chapter seven begins, Anh and Khoa are fitting into their new school, St. Aloysius. However, they struggle with the financial discrepancy between them and fellow students. Their now-single mother struggles to buy them the needed jackets, as Khoa is a large boy. Anh has to wear an oversized jacket that he grows into, and he and Khoa wind up trading clothes at one point. Anh is nervous that other boys will notice this, but they never do. Thanks to the thrift store, their mother is able to keep them in school uniforms.

Anh greatly enjoys drama class, where students get to play-act in a break from harder subjects. In eighth grade, the drama teacher cuts the class in half, removing the quieter kids, including Anh. A kind teacher, Mrs. Borny, starts her own drama class for the more introverted students. Anh credits her for giving him the inspiration to become a writer and comedian. He reminisces about his childhood, such as his mother’s slapdash haircuts for him and his brother, and their trips to McDonald’s for special occasions. One time, he gets a massive box of name-brand chips by complaining to the company about a green chip, and becomes the most popular kid in school for a week. His younger sister, Tram, wins a photo competition , and she and her brothers go on a shopping spree at the toy store. Despite these brief moments of profligacy, the family struggles with money. Anh gets by in school borrowing textbooks from his good friend Phil Keenan, but that does not always work and he has to take incompletes in class when he does not have a book. In tenth grade, he tells his mother he wants to stop going to St. Aloysius and attend the local public school. Although he tells his mother he hates the school, he’s actually trying to make things easier for her financially. However, she refuses and continues to work herself half to death, even while sick, to provide for Anh’s education.

Anh’s mother was always wildly generous, and at one point while the family is struggling, she invites a poor refugee family to live with them. Anh gains a new appreciation for his own life in the process. In school, Anh’s friendship with Phil leads him to basketball and cricket, where he struggles to find his footing but still has fun. He keeps up with homework by doing it on his long train ride. One day, he’s robbed by a group of local punks, but does not have any money on him. They do not take his train pass because of his unusual, hard-to-pronounce name. He later sees the punks jumping another guy for his Reebok shoes, the same shoes he wanted but was unable to afford.

When he’s fourteen, Anh persuades his mother to let him get a part-time job delivering pamphlets. Even with his mother’s help, he struggles and cannot complete the assignment. He leaves his job, agreeing to let his mother focus on the money. His attempt to start a Siamese fighting fish ring turns into a fish breeding operation, and he winds up making money selling hundreds of fish until one night, the fish tank bursts, creates an electrical short, and Anh is nearly electrocuted in the process. As he proceeds through high school, he dabbles briefly in chess and volunteers at a homeless shelter. He credits seeing the junkies there with keeping him far away from drugs his whole life. Surprisingly, Anh never experiences racism except from a teacher who uses old, racist World War II posters in class and assigns students to create modern-day versions. Anh works all year to try to win the teacher’s approval, but looks back today and wishes he had stood up for himself. In his final year of high school, Anh chooses to sign up for the army reserves, which pays $15,000 a year. Although his mother strongly disapproves, Anh forges her signature to try out, but is dismissed from the interview due to his asthma. His mother is relieved, and Anh is left to figure out another path. Wanting a job that will make a lot of money, he chooses to go into law at the University of Technology in Sydney.

hapter eight begins on Anh’s first day of university, where a tall, pretty, blonde girl catches his eye. Anh—who has spent the last six years at an all-boys’ school—tries to talk to her. He describes time as standing still, as he talks to Suzie, and they soon become fast friends, talking for hours each day. After six months, he gets up the courage to ask her on a date, but she says she sees him more as a friend. Anh struggles in his law courses, hating the competitive element and wishing there were more focus on defending right over wrong. He enrolls in a visual arts course at a nearby college, studying art and law at the same time. His passion for art gets him through law school. He dates plenty of girls, but never quite gets over Suzie, whom he continues to see around law school. They remain close friends, but she has no interest in dating him.

One day, back home visiting Khoa and Tram, his car is totaled in a collision with a bus. Thankfully, he is unscathed, and the money from the insurance payout allows the family to buy its first computer. Khoa and Anh write use it to write their first screenplays together. Anh continues to carry course loads at two universities, while working various odd jobs, including as a mail sorter. He befriends Minh, an old Vietnamese man and a fellow refugee, who becomes his mentor on the job, teaching him to appreciate the quiet beauty of the night shift. With the additional money, his mother buys new, state-of-the-art sewing machines, but they’re stolen a few months later. Anh is filled with rage and blames his father for not being there to protect the family. He decides to seek him out and make him pay. He gets his father’s contact information from Uncle Eight, and attempts to call him. He gets the wrong number and decides to table the conversation for another day.

At art school, he starts dating a red-haired girl named Rachel. They go into business together selling crystals. The business takes off because people’s assumption Anh is Native American make the crystals are more “authentic.” Although the business is successful, Anh and Rachel find they don’t have that much in common. They eventually break up, folding the business. Anh is still infatuated with Suzie, who has a boyfriend. Anh decides to move on. His art pastime leads him to delve into alternative lifestyles. He moves to a village in the Blue Mountains, embracing the hippy lifestyle. At Comfest, a hippy festival, he meets Amanda, a beautiful woman and a fellow hippy. She convinces him to go vegan, which he tries for six months before they break up. Through all his relationships, he continues to rely on Suzie for relationship advice. She and her family are amused by his hippy phase as the chapter ends.

In Chapter 9, Anh continues to attend university, and he and Suzie remain close friends. He and his friend Steve nearly freeze to death on a camping trip, and the shared experience makes their friendship tighter. Steve takes Anh to his first stand-up comedy show and encourages him to sign up for an open-mic night. That night leads to Anh being booked for his first night as a stand-up comic. As he gets close to finishing his degree, he interviews for jobs with top firms and gets a job that will require him to work fifty-plus hours a week. He realizes he would hate working in law, and makes the decision to switch to comedy, attempting to become a stand-up comic. He is surprised when his mother is encouraging, having enough faith in her son that she believes he can do anything. He struggles, doing six or seven gigs a week, often more than one a night. It begins to pay off, and a year after he starts doing comedy, Anh becomes one of the youngest comedians ever to win the Harold Park Hotel’s Comedian of the Year award. He enters comedy competitions, using the money he wins to pay for braces for his sister, Tram, who is self-conscious about her teeth.

He calls Suzie and finds out that she has broken up with her boyfriend recently. Over dinner, Anh gets up the courage to confess his love for her one last time. She admits she has no idea why they are not together, and Anh’s long wait for her finally pays off. Anh’s career success grows, as he becomes the host of a variety show called Rush TV. With a TV contract, he is able to buy his mother a house, although the effort to get the letter from the network certifying his income is more nerve-wracking than expected. Three months after he and Suzie begin dating, Anh proposes marriage, and she accepts.

Anh feels the desire to reach out to his father to let him know that he is engaged, and Suzie encourages him to do. He pulls out the old number he’s kept in his pocket, and soon he’s driving to Melbourne to see the father he has not seen for years. The events of the prologue play out, and soon Anh and his father are discussing their lives, including Anh’s young half-brother, who is the spitting image of Khoa. After that conversation, Anh gives his father a fake phone number, still afraid to fully let the man back into his life. He tells no one about the meeting. When he calls him back a week later, it’s obvious something is wrong with his voice. He drives down again to meet him, this time with Suzie, and his father charms her with a massive seafood feast. He seems completely normal and healthy this time, and Anh is reminded of the father he loved as a child, before his descent into alcohol and abuse. Anh stays with his father a few days, and when they are alone, he can see the clear signs again that his father is very sick.

Anh and Suzie’s engagement goes forward, with Anh buying her a ring at a discount thanks to his fame, and throwing a huge engagement party for all his extended family. He’s surprised when he arrives at Suzie’s house to see how rich her family is. Although his mother still speaks in broken English, her greeting to her future in-laws wins their hearts quickly. There are cultural clashes between the families over food and traditions, but each side is won over by the other, and the blending of the families goes well. Suzie proves herself game, trying all the strange delicacies Uncle Dung and other relatives offer her. Anh struggles to fit into Suzie’s world as well, trying to get the hang of fancy cutlery and formal dinners, but the family is encouraging. It turns out that Suzie’s father was also raised by a single mother and grew up in a middle-class suburb. They plan for the wedding, with Anh volunteering to help with the expense and being stunned by how much everything costs. The wedding is held in Anh’s old school chapel at St. Aloysius, with Uncle Huy performing the ceremony.

As Anh gets married, he thinks about his father, who chose not to attend, but Anh is grateful to be surrounded by his huge loving family. After a joyride on a rickshaw, Anh and Suzie leave for their honeymoon to Thailand. Afterwards, Suzie works as a lawyer while Anh continues to build his comedy career. His father helps him out as his roadie when he is in Melbourne, and the two men take it as an opportunity to bond. Eventually Anh’s father admits that he’s sick from a brain tumor. Anh is shocked to find out that his father had not been to see a doctor until a few weeks ago. Anh sees a lot of his own stubbornness in his father. His father confesses the self-hatred he’s been harboring since Loc’s death in the boat all those years ago. Anh’s father asks his son to convince his siblings to come see him before he dies, but Khoa is furious at the idea and refuses. While this is going on, Suzie admits she’s not happy being a lawyer. Anh convinces her to walk away and go back to her true loves of writing and photography. They move back to the house Anh bought for his mother temporarily. Anh tells stories relating to his mother’s pet pugs, and a budgie he owned named Pacino who did not get along with Suzie so had to go. Anh’s married life is going well, but his father’s situation still hangs over his head.