Write my life

A Beam of Light
Jul 24, 2017 · 6 min read

I was born on June 20th, 1998 in the lovely city of Hanoi, Vietnam.

Hanoi — the capital of Vietnam and a city that is famous for its rich history. The city was occupied by the Imperial Japanese in 1940 and liberated in 1945. However the French returned and occupied the city in 1946. After nine years of fighting, the city became the capital of an independent North Vietnam in 1954. Due to long history of colonialism, the city’s architect, infrastructure was built by the French, such as Grand Opera House, Presidential Palace and the famous Hotel Metropole (the hotel has welcomed Charlie Chaplin, Jane Fonda, George W. H. Bush and many more as its guest.

Hanoi Grand Opera House (image: diemthamquan.com)
Hotel Metropole Hanoi (image: alamy.com)

The city has core, periphery and semi-periphery area

An example of a core area (image: bestprice.com)

The centre of the city would be considered core area with various economic activities, mainly in tertiary sector such as sale and service and some small quaternary sector with many big universities and institutions. Further away would be semi-peripheral, these area are no longer near residential area therefore it is a great place to build factories, needless to say main economic activity of this region would be in secondary sector.

The cultural trait that I like the most here must be groceries shopping habit.

Market in Vietnam (image: Thuy)

Groceries shopping in Vietnam is quite different to shopping in the west. Vietnamese people prefer fresh meat and vegetable rather than frozen food, therefore, they do not visited supermarket very often, instead they buy groceries in the market. Most products in the market were grown organically and locally, the seller’s usually has a farm or a garden or a pond in the rural area — their hometown so the food they sell often from their own garden or pond.

Hanoi is combination of rich history, interesting cultural trait and wonderful people. I am proud to call this place home. This place teaches me to value our heritage, our sacrifice to take back the country’s independent

My neighbourhood: My parents had me not long after they got married, they were still young and weren’t as success as they are now. At the time we lived in a very small flat - a wedding gift of my grandparents. The flat was very close to my grandparent house so they can take care of me easily. Our neighbourhood was quite small. There were not many economic activities at first. Until some household open their own shop (in a small scale) that sell everything, and over time they gain decent amount of customer. The neighbourhood attracts more people and the need for product, education and food raises, ultimately lead to the appearance of kindergarten, high school. Around the school there are stationary shops, small diners that sell snack for student or street food.

Shops (image: Thuy)
Kindergarten (image: Thuy)

Residents in the neighbourhood know each other very well because people rarely move in or move out and some have live in same place for almost 10 years. We take care of each other and look out for each other back. This is a interesting culture trait in Vietnam. All of our cities were once villages and since the villages were small, the villagers were close. The living standard of that time was so everyone must rely on each other, we care for each other, we look out for each other, we value kinship and family. Generations after generations, we preserve that tradition and proudly passed it to the next generations. When villages were were urbanized, the people still keep their old habit. And since every families are so close their kids are close too. When I was small, whenever we had time, we gathered at the playground and hang out with each other.

I am so lucky to be raised in such warm, kindhearted home. This make me value family and relationship. Living in this neighbourhood give me a strong connection with my family and my hometown

All of the wonderful things that I received here motivate me to be a better person, to learn more to discover so can come back home and develop my country

My high school: In 2013 I was officially an student of Hanoi — Amsterdam High School, a high rank school in my country because of it amazing curriculum activity and academic performance. The school is different to other high school. The environment is very enjoyable, the students are open minded and energetic. The teachers are dedicated and kind.

My school moved from the original location to a new location in 2010. The new school is bigger and prettier. There were not too many economic activity around the new school. After the school construction, many new business appeared. There are parking service for student and teacher, there various small diners that sells street food and snack for student. Right next to the school, there are residential building and many of the residents are parent of Hanoi-Ams’ students.

Hanoi — Amsterdam High School (image: baoxaydung.com.vn)

My school’s design fit to the nearness principle. The campus contains classroom gym, pool and a soccer field. It also has basement which can you for parking or sometimes when the weather does not fit to do activities outside, we do it in the basement. The basement is also where all chemistry and physics lab are. The main hall of the school is long and spacious and it has multiple function: we can set up any indoor activities, stages, fair, gallery and so on. On the campus, there are two cafeterias as well as a stationary and photocopy station, and computer rooms for IT class.

“Multi-purpose hall” (image: kienviet.net)
An event that was held in the main hall (image: hn-ams.edu.vn)

This is where I felt like I grow the most. I learnt so much here not just knowledge but also about myself and my dream. I meet people that I know that we will be friend for life. These people inspired me to be a better version of myself. They gave me a great memories in high school that definitely will stay with me in the course of lifetime. We went through challenges together especially the stress that we must take in senior year to prepare for college. They make school more interesting and worth while. Here I discovered what i want to do with my life as well as give me a motivation to study abroad.

All of these experiences have shaped me, mad me different than other and these differences are the impact that I made. These impact are not something too great or too huge. I have effect on my family, i love and my parent and i take care of my siblings. At school I participated in extra curriculum activities to contribute a small part to the school. Luckily I have a happy life, keeping me not taking part in any harmful activities.

More than anything I am thankful of my family, my friends and my home who gave me such unique knowledge so I can share with the rest of the world.

Map: https://maphub.net/nhatda/map

    A Beam of Light

    Written by

    An unique combination of ambition and laziness.

    Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
    Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
    Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade