Traveller in Vietnam

leanincluj
Jul 25, 2017 · 7 min read

We continue our #you #cannot #be #what #you #cannot #see series with Florina Neamtiu. She is a traveller and life lover currently living in Vietnam, making an impact by teaching English. Her goal is to set foot on every continent in the world.

Could you tell our readers who Florina Neamtiu is?

I’m Florina but my friends call me Flo.

I am a daughter and a sister who studied Psychology in Cluj. While doing that I also got involved in volunteering activities for different student organisations such as AIESEC and the Psychology Students Association, and writing for the Students’ newspaper, as well.

Further on I continued my studies in the HR field where I studied the decision making process on entrepreneurs for my master thesis. After graduating, I couldn’t resist the urge of continuing my travels as well, so I set off to fulfil one of my dreams and see Asia with my own eyes. That’s how I landed in Vietnam.

What do you think are the characteristics that represent you best and that helped you achieve everything you have so far?

What comes into my mind is adaptability. Even if there are major changes in my life, I manage them accordingly, because I’m adaptable and I get to feel like home wherever I am. At this moment, living in Vietnam, not having a proper bed and sleeping on a mattress makes me feel comfortable.

I tested it on my own skin, on several occasions. I travelled to countries not so far from home, countries not that different, and saw that oh, I can adapt! So I got the courage to try more extreme things — like what I’m doing now, being at the end of the world. I think this is one thing that really fuels my dreams and aspirations and helps me to set them high, because I know that even in different environments, I’ll be able to adapt. I didn’t stay in my comfort zone, I knew I could step outside because I have this, I have it in my blood.

“Two people can look differently at one thing, and this can be correct as well.”

Another characteristic that defines me and helped me in life is open-mindedness. We have our own setup and we know what is good and what is bad. I see this all the time, people use to say “my culture does this” “my people do this” “this is the right way”. This starts conflicts and misunderstandings. I try to have an open mind and accept different mindsets.

I think it also goes hand in hand with adaptability, having in mind that how I think might not be the right way. Two people can look differently at one thing, and this can be correct as well.

Who were the models that inspired your path in life?

There are different models for different things. I have models for courage, models for kindness, help or inspiration.
I have a therapist, a coach, a mentor — three different people. I am not afraid to look for models and get inspiration. I would say these three people are my source of inspiration. And then… it sounds cheesy, but: my mom. She is my inspiration for kindness. I would also mention my best friend,Vio, but I’m not sure who inspires whom, we inspire each other to travel and be more spontaneous.

Have you noticed different treatment of women in your past experiences?

Back in Romania I used to work for Risky Business, a start-up accelerator (and much more) founded in Cluj-Napoca. And I’ll tell you an example I just remembered, that happened while we were part of an event where entrepreneurs pitched their ideas.

As any other conference, it had a presenter who was introducing the next participant who was going to pitch. It was the time for a woman to start pitching in front of the audience and the presenter had this strange way of emphasizing that she is a woman, pitching for a startup in tech. And I remember perfectly Jennifer, the Managing Director, saying:

“Why do you even mention that she is a woman? It’s like you’re implying that she has a special opportunity to be doing this because she is a woman. You shouldn’t even mention this..people can see that she is a woman.”

He made it seem like it is not normal and she shouldn’t be there on the stage, as a woman.

And personally I’ve felt that there might have been some differences even in the questions that were asked.The men were being asked more technical, financial, business-related questions while the questions for women were silly and childish.

Have you seen biases between boys and girls in Vietnam as well? How does the educational system contribute to this?

Not many. From my perspective, Vietnam is a very entrepreneurial country. It is a poor country, so you need to survive. I think that almost every family has a business. You just walk around the street and you’ll see a house that has bananas and oranges in the backyard and the family sells juice. The next house fixes bikes, the next one might have a small corner store. They equally involve man and women and I really like that.

The stories we share have the power to change how we see the world — and how we see ourselves. Education and media play an important role in this. And I think you have a lot to say about it, knowing that you teach English to children in Vietnam. Tell us more about the educational system there.

The system here is still communist, and our Romanian system evolved as well from communism, so there are plenty of similarities.

The school starts at 6 in the morning. When the kids told me they wake up at 5–5:30 in the morning to go to school at 6, I couldn’t believe it. They have to stay at school until noon — they have a little break, they go for lunch for a couple of hours and then return to school until 5 PM. It’s insane if you ask me. Sometimes they have school on Saturday as well and English hours in the evening. My English classes start at 5:30 in the afternoon. I admire my students so much for being able to follow this schedule.

What changed in your way of perceiving opportunities from living in another country?

I realized that there are a lot of opportunities available and a lot of things that I can do, things I haven’t thought were possible before. Being able to live in Vietnam makes me feel confident that I am capable of many other things. My experiences made me feel less constrained and more confident.

What did you learn by being on your own in a different country?

I learned almost everything I know by traveling and by being alone in another country — from learning to manage myself, my time and my finances to experiencing living and working with people from different cultures.

What changes would you say the modern women could benefit from in their lives?

One change that had a really big impact on my life recently was letting go on certain ‘brules’ (how Vishen Lakiani calls the ‘bullsh*t rules’ of society). And a big one for me was the idea that I should have my whole life figured out already. I really felt pressured and stressed out by striving to achieve this.

Now, even if I always have a general idea, I came to terms with the fact that I don’t have my entire life’s plan all figured out. And that made me more open towards different opportunities, different ideas, different challenges. And more calm.

Let us know who inspires you! “You can’t be what you can’t see” is all about turning the lights on the great women around us. If you have a friend, a colleague, a neighbour, a boss, a mentor or someone else that has a story worth sharing, drop us a message on Facebook or write us here.

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We bring together women entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, employees and freelancers from the area of Cluj to stirr meaningful conversations

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