Spring Break
Hanoi, Vietnam in my heart
Hoa Nyugen & Phuong Nyugen, ISOSU
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Forum
Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. It is also the place I grew up and lived since I was very small. I was not born there, but it has become a part of me with a ton of memories of childhood, of sadness and of happiness.
Now, when living millions of miles away from Hanoi, I miss it more than ever. Sitting alone in my room, I feel so lonely. I wish to have my friends, "naughty girls" (the nickname, which my neighbors often call them) here to talk and laugh together.
Sometimes, I do not have to talk - they sometimes were just able to understand me. Sitting silently together in a café beside the West Lake, we can leave our thoughts to flow with the water waves and think about our dream lands. I wish to have my mom here, so I can feel safe and protected. I would like to cry with my sadness and fear, however, I could not.
Looking through the window into the blue sky, I start thinking about my homeland, where all my relatives and friends live. I can see the flow of motorbikes moving slowly in crowded roads, images of women who carry bread baskets walking through many long streets with a hope they can sell all of their bread today, so that their children can have a delicious meal instead of having leftover bread.
I can smell flowers from the "bicycle flower shops," which move around the city. It is starting to rain now, and the images of Hanoi during raining season come back in my mind.
It is also the winter now in Hanoi. The weather is very cold and raining a lot. I can still feel frozen down to my bones when the winter comes in Hanoi.
It is quite different from here, as we have higher humidity. Even though the temperature is 10 degrees Celsius (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit), I still feel it is much colder than here.
No clothes can prevent that cold from going into your body, through to your bones. However, I love that cold; I love to sit on the pavement enjoying a hot and spicy broiled chicken leg in the cold. The heat of the chicken goes into my throat and rolls back all the coldness caused by the weather. I love to sit on the pavement drinking a cup of hot tea and chatting with friends, looking at people passing.
Now, when living millions of miles away from Hanoi, I miss it more than ever. Sitting alone in my room, I feel so lonely. I wish to have my friends, "naughty girls" (the nickname, which my neighbors often call them) here to talk and laugh together.
Sometimes, I do not have to talk - they sometimes were just able to understand me. Sitting silently together in a café beside the West Lake, we can leave our thoughts to flow with the water waves and think about our dream lands. I wish to have my mom here, so I can feel safe and protected. I would like to cry with my sadness and fear, however, I could not.
Looking through the window into the blue sky, I start thinking about my homeland, where all my relatives and friends live. I can see the flow of motorbikes moving slowly in crowded roads, images of women who carry bread baskets walking through many long streets with a hope they can sell all of their bread today, so that their children can have a delicious meal instead of having leftover bread.
I can smell flowers from the "bicycle flower shops," which move around the city. It is starting to rain now, and the images of Hanoi during raining season come back in my mind.
It is also the winter now in Hanoi. The weather is very cold and raining a lot. I can still feel frozen down to my bones when the winter comes in Hanoi.
It is quite different from here, as we have higher humidity. Even though the temperature is 10 degrees Celsius (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit), I still feel it is much colder than here.
No clothes can prevent that cold from going into your body, through to your bones. However, I love that cold; I love to sit on the pavement enjoying a hot and spicy broiled chicken leg in the cold. The heat of the chicken goes into my throat and rolls back all the coldness caused by the weather. I love to sit on the pavement drinking a cup of hot tea and chatting with friends, looking at people passing.
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