Hello everyone! Xin chào ^^

My name is … you can call me Wind because it kinda sounds like my real name ^^

I guess you are wondering why I’m writing this post, right? Well, it’s simply because I’m in my summer vacation at the moment and my super awesome English teacher, Mr. Ethan, wants me to use this free time to practice my writing skill. Of course I’m really excited because I’ve never written any blog post before.

So, for my FIRST EVER post, I think I’ll tell you a little bit about ‘The changes of Saigon’ (a.k.a Ho Chi Minh city) through my eyes! The reason why I choose this subject is that I’m a 99% ‘Saigonese’ (I first saw this word as a hashtag on Instagram. Sounds cool!). I’ve been living here (In Saigon) for 19 years. I’m 20 years old now haha. 1 year for that 1% left! so in some respects I can feel the changes of this place.

OK, no more words, let’s start!!!

1. ÁO DÀI

I guess most of you know that ‘ao dai’ is Vietnamese traditional costumes, right? It is usually worn on some special occasions or used as uniform at work and school (mostly for girls in high school). When I was a kid, I always wanted to wear an ‘ao dai’ like those girls that I saw on the road, riding their bicycles to school. But, as time passes by, not many schools choose the ‘ao dai’ as their uniforms anymore. Instead of that, high school girls prefer to wear shirts and skirts like Korean or Japanese students because, as they say, it is more comfortable and convenient. However, I still chose a school where I had to wear an ‘ao dai’ six days a week, and I’m happy with it. Well maybe sometimes I do find it so annoying; but most of the time, I think I’m more mature, elegant and beautiful in the white ‘ao dai’.

So, in my opinion, it’s such a pity if the traditional ‘ao dai’ is no longer a school uniform. I see that at some schools, students just have to wear it 1 or 2 days/ a week. And for me that’s a good idea, better than nothing!

How about you? If you were a Vietnamese student, would you prefer the ‘ao dai’ or another uniform?

This is my high school class^^

And this is the uniform of another school.

     2. AIR CONDITIONER:

After 19 years living with this super freaking hot weather of Saigon, I can finally have an air conditioner at home to survive through the scorching days. Back in the old days (actually not really that ‘old’), not many people in Vietnam could afford an air conditioner. Even if they could buy it, the electric bills would be a big problem. In my mind, when I was a kid, an air conditioner is only for ‘the rich’. So I’m very happy to see that now, as the living conditions are so much better, an air conditioner is not something that too luxurious anymore! Not only at home but also in coffee shops, convenience stores, at school (yes finally my university installed the air conditioning in all classes, after increased the tuition fee -_-)… that we can avoid the ‘scorching heat’!

By the way, I want to tell you some funny stories that happened during the hot weather a few months ago. On Facebook, there used to be a trend like changing the avatar and cover to a picture of an air conditioner (check the picture below). They said it made them feel cooler! And a popular love confession at that time is ‘Please love me because I have air conditioning at home!’ All these trends usually come from college students because most of them have to live in dorm or accommodations. So having an air conditioner is almost like their ‘dream’ during those days! I know it sounds funny but for me it’s actually sad somehow!

 

The bio of this account means: ‘I’m turning on the air conditioner now! Do you feel cool when visiting my wall? J ‘

The main vehicle in Vietnam is the motorbike. So this is what happens when you stop at  the red lights!

Very lightly edited by the “super awesome teacher”.