The whole summer I stayed at home playing around with my family and relaxed totally since my mother was in a biz trip. Then one day I saw the ad of U.C course at FMT's website, seeing that I could drop a subject to take it LOL I was not so much fond of it when I was afraid that it would be time consuming and bring no benefit. However, it's about Vietnam and I would study with the U.S students, who I know they're having quite an uneasy thought about the country since they were born. Then I applied for the course right in the due date. That's how "VN in transition" come to my life.
Two weeks ago, they came. All the American students of the course joined us in the 1st meeting starting the same week. I was quite surprised. Most of them are vietnamese american. They can speak some Vietnamese and the teacher does it so so well!!! But I was quite tired and stressed out when I hardly understood what they were talking about and why they were laughing, what's so funny??? Kinda lost, I didn't know anyone there except for my old classmates.
Then came the event Survivor Hanoi! It's so much fun! My team is so great haha I love all of them! I get to know them more, that's the most important thing. I like Vivian and I love to call her Vi as her original Vietnamese name. She is very cute and quite understanding, basically tender and laugh a lot just like me!!! Phat is such a dirtiness-hater lol He doesn't joke much hichic But he's handsome after all lol The other Vietnamese girl in my group is nice, too. But she has real trouble with car/bus sick and the heat of Hanoi. In the event, we were given a set of 15 tasks to fullfill in around 3 hours. Even though I was born here and has been living here for nearly 21 years, I've never done some of the things lol It was quite amazing such as riding a cyclo with the cyclo-driver as a passenger. During the game, I once thought we had to give up what I considered the most annoying task : recording the action of saying I love VN with an arm on a police officer's shoulder :-s The traffic police officers were all in duty thus we found it so hard doing such a thing! But then after all we still made it with a very nice policeman at one embassy.
The game ended. We spent most of the money, only 17,000 left (at first it was 150,000) since we hardly walked but taking taxis hahaha We came back fourth or something. It didn't matter much. We just had a lot of fun! Then it rained cats and dogs when we went for hotpot in the street nearby. 8 pm, exhausted, hungry, sleepy and a good dinner.
That's how the U.C course started. It was so much fun and relaxing. Then the first class came. The reading was 42-page long hichic I hate readings with so many new words :(( Fortunately the book has big font of letters. At class, we had discussions about Development and how it has been so far in Vietnam. Generally it was interesting that the U.C students see Hanoi in such a total different way compared to me. And basically what I learned is that the term "Development" is quite varied. And how people can say one country is developed? Indexes about income, education and all others can't tell exactly. Then, basically, every country is on its way to development, there's no stop for any one and the utmost utopia is kinda far and away but it's the destination of all. And finally the question is how Vietnamm would look like when it's developed?? ^^ That's my most favorite question in that class. Also, there's a point the teacher and some students said in class that I'm still wondering. One asked him how's the middle class in VN? In her book she draw something like there's very little middle class and so many rich and poor people in the two poles. Funnily enough for me, the teacher responded that he doesn't know if there's middle class in VN lol I don't know what to say right away at that time since all people there tend to agree with him. I kept thinking and asked my father when I backed home. Definitely he said the opposite thing lol There's no exact boundary for classes but if we had to put it, the illustration looked like a pyramid with a very large bottom and body but a quite high top. Then, after all, if there's no such thing like a middle class in VN, I wonder where my family and almost all people I know are, in poor class?? if you ever think like that. Rethink, and go see more people in the whole VN, and judge it relatively in the whole national range. I went to places and know what the poor looks like. We're no rich, my parents worked hard everyday for 30 years for the government with a just-enough-for-everyday-life salary. But what's so important? We are happy and content with such a life, though so envious and sad when we look at how the rich buy cars and shop with piles of super-expensive stuffs. We have love. I lived in the 4th floor of an old block of flats but I'm happy when I could say and hear neighbors saying Hello every morning, I'm happy when we hardly had to rush for so all things like in rich countries, I'm happy when I could see smiles and hear laughters everywhere on the streets (there's people telling me that in VN people smile a lot lol). There's something that money can't buy. And I have it here :D in vietnam :D I'm proud of it.
Last, in week 1, we had a field trip to Friendship village to meet the victims of Agent Orange that U.S army spread all over the South and half Middle areas of VN. When I first heard about the trip, I felt like there's something aches in my head and heart. I had such a feeling every time I heard about that toxic and how the U.S army did that to this beautiful country. Actually my grandpa died for cancer and my father doubted if it was because of the time he was in the VN army and suffered from Agent Orange. Until now we're very carefully watching out for any strange things that might happen to the kids of my father's last two siblings who were born after my grandpa left the battle field. The victim of such toxic spread from the 1st generation who conceived it first and directly to their third generation. if anyone reading this does not know what Agent Orange is and how it destroys human's gene and lives, please google it. I wonder why overseas papers and organisations which always protest against and curse on this government, the VN army, etc. never mention such serious issues relating directly to the war they're for???? LOL
Back to the trip. It was a fun and meaningful trip. Prior to that, I knew there's millions of more serious cases ut there and the ones who stayed at the Friendship village are the less affected cases. But I only watched on TV, and in some part of those documentary films and reports on News I even can't bare it and stop watching. It was too much to say anything... Tears are not enough. I sometimes wonder what have they or their parents do to deserve such a misery(like the Cause - Consiquence theory in Buddism). Thus I never had a chance to meet the victims for real. It was around 3 in the afternoon. We arrived when the kids were on class. I'd talk in detail about class 1. Basically they just studied day by day the same lesson of distinguish which is blue, green, yellow or red due to their dysfuntional mental condition. I know, for sure, they'll forget me right the time I walked out of their classroom but I stayed there all the time, not wondering to the upper classes. I really don't know what I should do. I just played with them, sing and talk to them. They had a blank mind, but a beautiful heart. I felt hurt everytime a big girl in the class kept rubbing her head into my hold. Poor their parents. They're old soldiers devoted all their young days for the country and coming back receiving such a miserable life... If only there's real almight god who could keep the world in real fairness. Moreover, thinking about the others who are much more seriously toxicated, I really don't know what to say. If there's more hands out there helping out... And foremost, if there's real fairness in life... No way. That's life.
Two weeks ago, they came. All the American students of the course joined us in the 1st meeting starting the same week. I was quite surprised. Most of them are vietnamese american. They can speak some Vietnamese and the teacher does it so so well!!! But I was quite tired and stressed out when I hardly understood what they were talking about and why they were laughing, what's so funny??? Kinda lost, I didn't know anyone there except for my old classmates.
Then came the event Survivor Hanoi! It's so much fun! My team is so great haha I love all of them! I get to know them more, that's the most important thing. I like Vivian and I love to call her Vi as her original Vietnamese name. She is very cute and quite understanding, basically tender and laugh a lot just like me!!! Phat is such a dirtiness-hater lol He doesn't joke much hichic But he's handsome after all lol The other Vietnamese girl in my group is nice, too. But she has real trouble with car/bus sick and the heat of Hanoi. In the event, we were given a set of 15 tasks to fullfill in around 3 hours. Even though I was born here and has been living here for nearly 21 years, I've never done some of the things lol It was quite amazing such as riding a cyclo with the cyclo-driver as a passenger. During the game, I once thought we had to give up what I considered the most annoying task : recording the action of saying I love VN with an arm on a police officer's shoulder :-s The traffic police officers were all in duty thus we found it so hard doing such a thing! But then after all we still made it with a very nice policeman at one embassy.
The game ended. We spent most of the money, only 17,000 left (at first it was 150,000) since we hardly walked but taking taxis hahaha We came back fourth or something. It didn't matter much. We just had a lot of fun! Then it rained cats and dogs when we went for hotpot in the street nearby. 8 pm, exhausted, hungry, sleepy and a good dinner.
That's how the U.C course started. It was so much fun and relaxing. Then the first class came. The reading was 42-page long hichic I hate readings with so many new words :(( Fortunately the book has big font of letters. At class, we had discussions about Development and how it has been so far in Vietnam. Generally it was interesting that the U.C students see Hanoi in such a total different way compared to me. And basically what I learned is that the term "Development" is quite varied. And how people can say one country is developed? Indexes about income, education and all others can't tell exactly. Then, basically, every country is on its way to development, there's no stop for any one and the utmost utopia is kinda far and away but it's the destination of all. And finally the question is how Vietnamm would look like when it's developed?? ^^ That's my most favorite question in that class. Also, there's a point the teacher and some students said in class that I'm still wondering. One asked him how's the middle class in VN? In her book she draw something like there's very little middle class and so many rich and poor people in the two poles. Funnily enough for me, the teacher responded that he doesn't know if there's middle class in VN lol I don't know what to say right away at that time since all people there tend to agree with him. I kept thinking and asked my father when I backed home. Definitely he said the opposite thing lol There's no exact boundary for classes but if we had to put it, the illustration looked like a pyramid with a very large bottom and body but a quite high top. Then, after all, if there's no such thing like a middle class in VN, I wonder where my family and almost all people I know are, in poor class?? if you ever think like that. Rethink, and go see more people in the whole VN, and judge it relatively in the whole national range. I went to places and know what the poor looks like. We're no rich, my parents worked hard everyday for 30 years for the government with a just-enough-for-everyday-life salary. But what's so important? We are happy and content with such a life, though so envious and sad when we look at how the rich buy cars and shop with piles of super-expensive stuffs. We have love. I lived in the 4th floor of an old block of flats but I'm happy when I could say and hear neighbors saying Hello every morning, I'm happy when we hardly had to rush for so all things like in rich countries, I'm happy when I could see smiles and hear laughters everywhere on the streets (there's people telling me that in VN people smile a lot lol). There's something that money can't buy. And I have it here :D in vietnam :D I'm proud of it.
Last, in week 1, we had a field trip to Friendship village to meet the victims of Agent Orange that U.S army spread all over the South and half Middle areas of VN. When I first heard about the trip, I felt like there's something aches in my head and heart. I had such a feeling every time I heard about that toxic and how the U.S army did that to this beautiful country. Actually my grandpa died for cancer and my father doubted if it was because of the time he was in the VN army and suffered from Agent Orange. Until now we're very carefully watching out for any strange things that might happen to the kids of my father's last two siblings who were born after my grandpa left the battle field. The victim of such toxic spread from the 1st generation who conceived it first and directly to their third generation. if anyone reading this does not know what Agent Orange is and how it destroys human's gene and lives, please google it. I wonder why overseas papers and organisations which always protest against and curse on this government, the VN army, etc. never mention such serious issues relating directly to the war they're for???? LOL
Back to the trip. It was a fun and meaningful trip. Prior to that, I knew there's millions of more serious cases ut there and the ones who stayed at the Friendship village are the less affected cases. But I only watched on TV, and in some part of those documentary films and reports on News I even can't bare it and stop watching. It was too much to say anything... Tears are not enough. I sometimes wonder what have they or their parents do to deserve such a misery(like the Cause - Consiquence theory in Buddism). Thus I never had a chance to meet the victims for real. It was around 3 in the afternoon. We arrived when the kids were on class. I'd talk in detail about class 1. Basically they just studied day by day the same lesson of distinguish which is blue, green, yellow or red due to their dysfuntional mental condition. I know, for sure, they'll forget me right the time I walked out of their classroom but I stayed there all the time, not wondering to the upper classes. I really don't know what I should do. I just played with them, sing and talk to them. They had a blank mind, but a beautiful heart. I felt hurt everytime a big girl in the class kept rubbing her head into my hold. Poor their parents. They're old soldiers devoted all their young days for the country and coming back receiving such a miserable life... If only there's real almight god who could keep the world in real fairness. Moreover, thinking about the others who are much more seriously toxicated, I really don't know what to say. If there's more hands out there helping out... And foremost, if there's real fairness in life... No way. That's life.
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