I am from the Third World, but I find myself lucky!

True affection: From the age of 18, I felt really sad and tiny because I was born in an underdeveloped country.

I have to admit that such dissatisfaction has never been reduced to "heat", but over time more and more intense. Until I went to study in Spain, then began to hit the expensive travel hobby, that is to have arrived and witness life in the capitalist world, the dissatisfaction is transformed into a Determined: at least find a way to explore and enjoy life in a developed and civilized country for a while. Concretized, here is the goal is to study abroad and travel a lot.

Then, I made it. In the second year of studying in NEU, I have got a scholarship for Erasmus Exchange Program in Spain. I felt great happy!!! My dream has come true!

But!

I am on the verge of saying that I am in the category of people who are relatively negative in my perception of my country. I see my country a lot of evils, from corruption, from the poor, but when I reached my goal of traveling and studying abroad, there were many new things that made me want to change my view. negative self. Although I still think that Vietnam is an underdeveloped country, and that the quality of life in Vietnam is low, I realize: Vietnamese citizens are not as bad as many complainants. Because the important thing that I understand when living abroad is that no matter what country you are from and from which culture, the depths of that culture still follow you. In other words, the original source and whole of my life and experience in Vietnam make up my human identity, make my difference and distinguish me from countless other people.

When I went out with a Spanish friend, his name is Biel, I was a little jealous at first. He is a graduate of URV, who has enjoyed the most spontaneous experience of Spanish culture, has built up a rich spiritual life full of recreational activities and festivals  in Tarragona. He is a typical Spanish: very proud of Spain and its cultural and artistic heritage. After all, being born in a country like Spain, the first sun never goes down, he has the right to be proud of Spain. I am also proud of Spain and Catalonia.

Santa Tecla in Tarragona _ my photo all right reserved.

But one thing to keep in mind: he did not create those legacies, but heirs. Moreover, he has a "downside": just interested in Spain and the EU, do not know much about the rest of the world (and no need to learn).

I with my Western friends!!! 

When I compared myself to him, I realized: Well, I have good luck. Of course I admire your skill, but I also realize his passion, his knowledge is limited to only one area. I feel confident knowing that my life experience is richer than he is. Because I was born in Vietnam, what belongs to Vietnam seems to have infiltrated my blood, and made me human. But also because I longed to discover the world of civilized capital, I spent countless hours (more than a decade) teaching myself to master another language, English , and feel, learn about Western cultures. By traveling in different places, I have a certain understanding of the world - of course not a completely correct and complete understanding - but a more comprehensive view of some of the issues from Asia to Europe. In me there are two people: an East Asian identity that has eaten in the blood, and an open, curious and receptive person (actually, I have 50% lifestyle is lost.) The Asian identity that I said, actually is difficult to describe. You want to understand how your roots mean to you, so you have to leave your hometown for some time. Then, gradually you will realize: well, in this situation, I prefer Asian style; I like Vietnamese food more than anything in the world; Turns out that the west coast is no better than the coast in Vietnam; It turns out that the XYZ cultural heritage does not look better than its Ha Long Bay, or simply the way it is spoken, the Vietnamese stories give a completely different sense than when communicating with foreign friends. . It's a feeling of intimacy that cannot be explained.

Ha Long Bay

http://www.sindbadi.ru/2015/09/12/gde-otdohnut-etoj-osenyu-luchshie-plyazhnye-napravleniya/

Saying that does not mean you have to be particularly proud of being Vietnamese (I find it normal to have nothing to be ashamed or proud of: 3), but to feel what I have enjoyed. when being a Vietnamese citizen. And I myself am aware that many foreigners like to play with me not only because I like them at many points, but also because I am very different from them.

And one more thing, it's very important: because I was born and raised in the Third World, and I have the dissatisfaction as originally stated, I have to work hard for my dream. I, and when I achieve it, I feel very grateful and grateful. It is very different from when you were born and raised, you have inherited all the privileges that life offers, and so you take what you have is natural.

Then I realized: the difficulties in my life have a certain meaning. They make me more determined, more resilient, and give me a rich experience. After all, your background may be worse than others, but efforts can still help you change that. In that sense, though I have no precious property or status in my life, I am still "rich" in my own way.

When thinking about that, I was grateful for the first time because I was Vietnamese.

P / s: After this, no matter how much I am dissatisfied with my country, whenever I go out with international friends, I try to introduce the best (unless there is a main discussion treatment, in which case I will be honest). I do not want my negative feelings, but sometimes it is just a personal feeling that does not represent anyone, maybe even a lack of objectivity, affecting the country image in the eyes of friends. They have certainly read, heard all the bad things about my country, so I wanted to show them something different from what they already knew. I introduce those Vietnamese movies worth looking at in beautiful pictures of Vietnam, describing the cultural features of Vietnam. I asked them to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant, I told them how much the weather in Vietnam was from the South to the North to create different terrains and landmarks. I want myself to be a good representative image of the country.

* As far as I know, from the time Vietnam was recognized as a low middle-income country, people started to rank Vietnam as a second world group (whatever it means), but in my opinion Vietnam is still backward, worthy of being called the Third World.)