Vietnam: My Heart

Sept 19, 2010


Who would want to go to Vietnam?  Some wouldn’t bother because they think Vietnam isn’t so popular and quite dangerous.  But then, when I was sent to Vietnam for a teaching job – I could not cut off something in me that is part Vietnamese: my heart.

The country of Vietnam is rich in natural resources, and people with simple hearts and of great courage.  If you are their friends, they will not abandon you in your need.  I perceive the Vietnamese as always ready to defend a cause. 

Catholic lay, support catholic groups though in small communities and work together as one family.  Churches in most part are built in French architecture with strong temples and huge statues.  People solemnly pray.

Vietnamese children are adorable.  At first they seem to be quiet, but later they are merry and full of energy.  They are so curious and with stories showing a rich culture of their origins.

Food

Succulent fruits and vegetables like strawberry, dragon fruit, water melon, potato, carrot and more, are abundantly served by the Vietnamese.  They cook a varied recipe of healthy and luscious meals.  Freshly cooked noodles and bread are available around. 

Culture

Churches in most parts are built in French architecture with strong temples and huge images/statues.  In Dalat, a huge “Sacred Heart of Jesus” is on a junction.

The “Tet,” a festival of bounty and union remembers rhythm of seasons and labor of farmers.  It is celebrated with togetherness for the members of the same family and village.  In former times, villagers hardly went outside their bamboo fences; those who could not return to their families for the first three days of the year felt deeply homesick, more than at any other time of the year.

Family members gather together to eat in one house.  Friends and relatives visit one another to exchange greetings and good wishes.  Schools and children join in festivities with tokens, dances, and moon cakes.


Truly, Vietnam still matters, and everything that it wrote in history.  Lessons are learned from war like love. 

Wars are fought by some of the bravest soldiers ever to go in a battle, Americans and Vietnamese, alike; or any country or part of the world.  With all those experiences – and with Vietnamese martyrs, peoples of every nation take part in every human struggle, for all of us to build a  common home, that is the world. 

“Toi yeu ban” (I love you),
RfVietnamrose
9.29.2010









My blood is Filipino by birth mixed from Filipino, Spanish and Chinese grandparents – and if there are other molecules in my blood; they’re the cells of my students


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