Synopsis
The young Vietnamese girl, Thuy Linh, is forced to assume responsibility for herself and her little sister much too soon. She has taken on board such German virtues as diligence, order and punctuality, as she knows that only with a good school-leaving certificate will she really have a chance to succeed in Germany. No one outside the Vietnamese community should be allowed to know that she and her sister have been left alone whilst her mother is in Vietnam. But her teacher, her recalcitrant little sister, and the youth welfare office in particular all threaten to bring down her construct of lies. Pauline, a German girl, is impressed by Thuy Linh's independent way of life in stark contrast to the "ordinary" life. Thuy Linh, on the other hand, sees just this unexcited normality as an ideal of security and dependability. Only as her friendship with Pauline develops does Thuy Linh see that growing up can also mean being a perfectly normal child. And Pauline finally understands that the Thuy's life is much harder than her espionage adventure makes out.