The First Rain of the Season

While packing my suitcase for an upcoming trip, I wanted to pop out to buy a few things. The moment I stepped out of the door, my whole body was swallowed by sweltering heat. Yet less than half an hour later, a few drops began to fall, landing on my shoulders. Then came a downpour.

I took shelter in a café on a street corner. Sitting by the glass, watching the rain and listening to it pound the street, my mood suddenly lifted. The wind and thunder blended with the sound of the rain like a lively piece of music. The branches swayed as if they were dancing.

Suddenly, I realised what I had been waiting for all this time – a time when the sun blazed outside but my heart was parched by waves of sadness. Now, as the sky darkened, my heart felt soothed back into its true self – happy. Suddenly, I realised how endlessly I love the rain. I love the sunshine too, but only a cool rain can bring my heart peace.

Looking back, every important person in my life has shared memories with me in the rain. As a child, I sat between my parents on our old Honda, watching the streets appear and disappear through the raincoat. At school, countless times my best friends and I chased each other in the rain across the schoolyard, around Notre-Dame Cathedral, all over the city. Once, a high-school friend and I skipped class to ride a bus around just to watch the rain. Kisses and tightly held hands wet with rain, clumsy young loves that made my heart skip. The first time I met the love of my life, it was pouring, and he was humming the song “mưa rơi rơi trên đường phố đêm khuya…” (rain falling on the late-night streets) (*)

Oh, there are too many rain memories to count. Clearly, I had been waiting for something without knowing what, and only when the first rain of the season fell unannounced did the answer appear. I texted him about getting caught in the rain, adding: “How lãng xẹt!” He asked, “Why lãng xẹt? I thought you liked the rain?” I replied, “I do. Lãng xẹt things are usually the romantic ones.”

If you ever hear someone from Saigon say “Lãng xẹt ghê!” (how silly!), chances are they mean “Lãng mạn ghê!” (how romantic!). Just as when someone says “Thấy ghét ghê” (how annoying), it means they love you more than words can say.

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(*) The song “Mưa” (Rain) – composed by Tuấn Nghĩa