After the beating, Nguyen saw a doctor, who gave her a document certifying that she had been injured in a manner which strongly suggested abuse.
Armed with the certificate, Nguyen was ready to file a lawsuit against her husband, but was dissuaded from doing so because he said he would pay her NT$120,000 to settle the matter out of court.
With the money now in her hands, Nguyen said she would use it to help her family pay off its debt.
"One thing I'm reluctant to let go of here is my father-in-law," she said. "A few days ago, he was telling me over the phone how much he missed me. I'd really hate to tell him that our marriage didn't work." (Nguyen's father-in-law did not live in the building with her husband's family.)
Love at first sight
It was love at first sight when Fang Tse (方策) was introduced to Nguyen Thi Diem (no relation to Nguyen Thi Leu), during his vacation in Vietnam in the summer of 1993.
After corresponding for a year, the two finally tied the knot.
Now happily married with a four-year-old boy, Fang, 35, said that he was attracted to Vietnamese women because they are beautiful and share similar culture and customs.
"Although my wife didn't speak Chinese when we met, she took the time to learn and asked her Chinese friends to read my letters to her in Vietnamese and to write me back in Chinese," Fang said at the kitchen table of his Tamsui home on Tuesday evening.
Although his parents at first disapproved of his decision to marry a foreigner, Fang said that they eventually gave in.
When Nguyen first came to Taiwan, the food was one of the many things that she had trouble adjusting to.
"It took her six months to get used to the food and about a year to adapt to the environment," Fang said.
Now looking more Taiwanese than her husband, who is a native of the Paiwan tribe, Yguyen is a volunteer interpreter and counselor at the foreign brides training camps sponsored by Taipei City's civil affairs bureau.
"I know how hard it is to marry a foreign husband and live in a foreign country. My heart sinks when I think of those who are not as lucky as I am to have such a loving husband and such caring in-laws," she said.
Nguyen did not encounter much opposition from her family and friends when she decided to marry Fang.
"My parents adore him because they think he's an honest man although he's not rich," Nguyen said.
"Besides, it doesn't bother me much to live in a foreign country as long as I'm with the one I love."
One piece of advice Nguyen said she would give to foreign brides is to reach out for help.
"Over the past few months as a counselor, I've seen many foreign brides withdraw from society because of their limited communication skills. My advice to them is to speak out because no one will know your problems and come to your rescue if you keep it to yourself," she said.
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