I grew up in a household with two older sisters. We didn't have any borthers and I certainly wished that I had had a brother. However, later in my growing up I realized that I actually liked being the youngest and my wish for a brother kinda faded away. However, from early January until last weekend, I got the experience of what it would kind of be like to have a brother.

His name is Thinh (pronounced like "ten") and he is from Vietnam, specifically Saigon (or what they now refer to as Ho Chi Minh City). He's about 25 years old and is studying Hotel and Restaurant Managment. He came to EMU actually because of my older sister, Katherine, who was studying in China at the time they met. Katherine travelled to Vietnam with one of her friends, who happened to be Thinh's sister, and Thinh decided that he'd look into EMU as a good transfer school. He had studied in Vietnam as well as in Canada for a few years, and his English was remarkably good. So, in the very beginning of January, he came to our house to stay for a while until he could get settled into an apartment around EMU.

What a joy he was to have in our house! He's easy to talk to, very bubbly, and picks up jokes and banter amazingly well. He enjoyed seeing the joking relationship that my mom and I have and easily fit right in. We'd spend many nights teaching him about popular American food and just teasing eachother about various things. Thinh soon discovered how wonderful s'mores are and how to effectively use the word "snotty" in a joking reference (I knew he understood it when he used it on me about 5 minutes later). It was great to have younger male influence in our house and to have someone who was just so happy and humorous.

He sadly decided to transfer to a school in Chicago after this semester, and last Saturday we all helped him cram his stuff into my sister's Honda Civic. Even until him leaving, we were still poking fun at each other and enjoying each other's quirks. He vehimently prohibited me from carrying his heavy suitcases, yet he still rolled me through the parking lot on his swivel chair. My mom also reassured him (as well as me) that we'd be down to visit as soon as he felt comfortable in his new apartment and college.

Never have a fully experienced what having a brother would be like, but I feel like I got closer with Thinh. However, the positives are that I have someone to make me great Vietnamese food, I have another reason to go into Chicago, and I will always have a buddy to help me with 500-piece puzzles.