Tet with generation 8X in Paris
(Baonghean.vn) - Former student of Phan Boi Chau school, Nguyen Thi Minh Tam told the story: "This year is the second year my husband and I decided to go to Paris to celebrate Tet, where my 8X generation lives and works. Meeting them, my soul feels young again, and I wish I could have a youth with such a wide intellectual horizon."
The couple Tri - Tam is a model of a young Vietnamese intellectual family living abroad. Having received general education in Vietnam, Tri is a former student majoring in mathematics at Vinh Pedagogical University and Tam is a French majoring student at Phan Boi Chau School. Both of them grew up in Doi Cung Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An. They studied abroad from the age of 17 - 18, being independent from a young age has made them mature a lot and know how to appreciate human relationships. Since their second year of university, they have been able to support themselves somewhat by working part-time during the holidays and after school hours. When asked about their part-time jobs, they did not hesitate to share: We can work as pizza delivery men, babysitters, and if we are a little luckier, we can find a job teaching Vietnamese to the children of overseas Vietnamese.
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| New Year's smiles of children from Nghe An in Paris |
Currently, Minh Tam, a small girl who has a strong Nghe accent despite living abroad for 7 years, is an employee of BNP Paribas Fortis Bank - one of the largest banks in France. Tri, a young man famous for being the striker of the Vietnamese student football team in France - a passion that is a specialty of Nghe An boys, is actively completing his PhD program at the Institute for Research on Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy. When I asked: "Will you be able to complete your thesis on time?", with a confident look on his face, he replied: "Yes, I have to finish my PhD so I can find a job and help my parents!".
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| During the Lunar New Year of the Goat, in Belgium, the roads are covered in thick white snow. In the photo is Nguyen Thi Khanh Hong - Customs Counselor in the Republic of Belgium with her son. |
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| On the roads of your land (Belgium) |
In the 20m2 room of Tri and Tam in the town of Bagneux in the north of France, filled with books, a guitar and many football medals, the children still prepared a cozy meal to welcome the Year of the Goat. The New Year's meal cooked by Tam was truly rich in the flavor of the homeland, with homemade banh chung, beef stewed in honey, bamboo shoot soup with pig's feet...
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| Happy New Year's Day in Paris |
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| Happy New Year's Day in Paris |
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| Happy New Year's Day in Paris |
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| New Year's Eve feast of young people in Paris |
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| New Year's Day in Paris |
The second 8X couple Nam - Ngan that I want to talk about is a model of a Vietnamese global citizen family of the 8X generation. The boy studied abroad in the US under a Cultural Exchange scholarship program. At the end of his university year, he visited his sister who was studying abroad in the UK. Love at first sight with Ngan urged him to find a postgraduate scholarship in Europe to be close to his lover. Ngan is working for the PAM NGO - the United Nations humanitarian organization against poverty and food safety. After a year of studying abroad in Barcelona, Nam was extremely happy to receive an invitation to work as a staff member of the Development Center of the OECD - the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. So the fairy tale dream of the boy and girl came true: they stood side by side to overcome all difficulties in life, to be both global citizens and to spread Vietnamese knowledge far and wide.
The third 8X couple Huy - Hoa are from Hanoi but originally from Ha Tinh and Quang Binh. Huy - who was a ranked swimmer in the Hanoi Youth Swimming Tournament, but was guided by his mother, a French teacher, he was independent since the age of 13 - studying in grade 8 in Paris with the sponsorship of a family friend of his mother. Having received a French education since childhood, his knowledge of painting is admirable if you hear him talk about the origin of paintings in the Louvre Museum or in the Versailles Palace. However, he still reads a lot of books about feng shui and Eastern culture. In particular, he is still updated accurately about career trends in Hanoi and Saigon.
She said that although she had found a good job at the Ecovis France Financial Consulting and Auditing Company, after a few years of gaining practical experience, she might return to Vietnam to work, because her profession would have great opportunities. Her lover - Hoa is a Hanoi girl but very simple and sincere. She is a final year student at Paris 11. She said that she has not received financial support from her parents for several years now thanks to her regular part-time job and summer vacation working in the vineyards in Pauillac France, which has brought her enough money to cover the not-too-expensive tuition fees in Paris.
Talking to these 8X boys and girls brings me pride and emotion. Vietnamese children, although influenced by Western education, deep in their souls they still seek each other, with their roots as descendants of Lac Hong.
Life in your land is full of chaos, but you still find a solid foothold in your work, with high-level requirements, and love has given you wings to move forward in a new requirement. The song from Nghe An dedicated to that homeland is "The Hong Son is so high, the Lam Giang is so long, the heart is so full".
Cong Manh