Beautiful country, people, and the spirit

The breakfast is on the hotel’s 12^th floor with a panoramic view of the Hue, a city with historical importance in Vietnam.  Hue has many attractions such as the Forbidden City, the Ming tomb.  The best is the Houng River that cuts through the city, takes you all the way to the layered mountains.  The scenery is the most beautiful on earth with mountains in the background, curved river in the front. 

But even more beautiful is the spirit of the Vietnamese people.  From our talks with Vietnamese educators, you can tell the eagerness and the motivation to modernize and move into 21^st century.  They want to learn from other countries, often approach different collaborating partners, compare and choose what is the best to suit their needs.

US is viewed as a great source of technology and finance.  Americans are welcomed here as tourists, English teachers, and friends.  Not a single time they mentioned of the war.  Vietnam war is a topic they would rather forget.  We in the states seems like talked more about the war and the wounds.  In practice, only when we learn to forget and forgive, then we can lift the burden, for ourselves and for others.  The purpose and value of our living is not to remember and revenge bad things from past, but to see and seek positive moments in the future.  Vietnamese understand this very well.

I want to know more about what Vietnamese people think of this process of modernization.  Unfortunately, the language barrier is a great challenge for me to have a communication with local people.  Even though Hue is a tourist city, most local people’s English is limited to the very basic.  Students in colleges and universities could be good sources, as we experienced. The students in the Foreign Language College at Hue University are funny, energetic.  During one hour visit, we enjoyed various activities together.  They taught us a lot about their city, language, and art.  The final “Morning Exercise” was funny and very lively. This group of students just finished their four years study.  Some of them are looking for employment as teachers and travel guides, some plan to move to other cities, one student is coming to US to study.  Again, everyone has a purpose and actively working on something. With this kind of purpose, dedication and hard working, I have no doubt that Vietnam is moving fast into 21^st century.  If anyone has doubt, just wait to come back in 5 years.