Students and trainees of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies welcome the new year with purely Vietnamese beauty
“I love Vietnam” – whether by chance or intention, this thought is always in the heart of every student and trainee of the Faculty of VIETNAMESE STUDIES, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City. They come from all over the world and share the same Love. The land and people of Vietnam have always fascinated them, like an interesting secret they long to discover through their own efforts. Learning Vietnamese to integrate into life with the Vietnamese people seems to be their burning desire. Over the past 20 years, the Faculty of VIETNAMESE STUDIES at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City has provided Vietnamese language and cultural training to countless foreigners coming to Vietnam, regardless of their age or nationality. The Faculty of VIETNAMESE STUDIES always opens its doors to welcome students and trainees from all over the world, igniting the fire in their hearts to live with Vietnam.
They cannot help but feel moved and happy when they all share a common dream, which may be very small to Vietnamese people but is a beautiful dream to them: to wear the traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai. And behind the dream of wearing the Ao Dai is a desire for connection: to stay and work in Vietnam after graduation.
Saigon in the last days of the year has intense heat and sudden rain. I arrived at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities later than promised due to traffic jams... 15 Ao Dai from designer Viet Hung were neatly packed in my bag, and 15 students sat in the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies office eagerly waiting. An older foreigner walked in and out... looking disappointed because they did not see the Ao Dai... But when the small bag opened, everyone cheered. Then each dress was hung up amid the admiration of the students. For them, wearing the Ao Dai is a form of happiness. I could not help but be moved when looking at every gaze and happy smile on their faces. To me, it is a truly beautiful mark of a photographer specializing in Ao Dai... An elderly Canadian student said to me in a very standard Vietnamese voice: I had to lose more than 5kg to be able to wear the Ao Dai...
Who are they...?
Adam Galazka is a 46-year-old Polish priest. Adam loves immersing himself in life in Vietnam. Adam arrived in Ho Chi Minh City a few years ago and learned Vietnamese very well. He cherishes the Vietnamese heart and loves the Vietnamese Ao Dai like a treasure.
Maria Gudoshnikova is a student at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Saint Petersburg State University in Russia, and is currently an exchange student at the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City. This girl loves Vietnamese traditional costumes, especially the Ao Dai, because “it can have any color, it can be vibrant, it can be gentle, it can be bright, it can be dark.” When wearing the jet-black velvet Ao Dai, she said she felt like “a black swan.”
Choi Hansol from South Korea always has a smile on his face when interacting with others. He considers Vietnam his second home; Vietnam is as attached to him as his own breath. He has finished the Vietnamese Language 3 curriculum but has already been able to work as a consultant in Vietnamese. Having graduated from the Department of Acting at Kyonggi University in Seoul, South Korea, Hansol dreams of becoming an actor in Vietnam.
Jack Foubton, a Canadian, is affectionately called "Uncle Jack" by everyone in the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies. Uncle Jack is a special student who loves the lecturers and the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies in a very unique way. Although he finished his studies a long time ago, on every holiday or Tet, he returns to the Faculty to wish everyone well, and on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Faculty's founding, Uncle Jack was very happy to return and participate, and happy to wear the Ao Dai.
Hong Anh has a Vietnamese mother and a Russian father. Prof. Dr. Kolotov Vladimir Nikolaevich, Head of the Far East History Department, Director of the Ho Chi Minh Institute at Saint Petersburg State University in Russia, was a student of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies in its early days. Memories of this likable student are still full in the minds of the previous generation of lecturers.
And amazingly, 20 years later, his daughter, Kolotova Nadeznda, whose Vietnamese name is Hong Anh, has also chosen the path of researching Vietnam and is currently a student at the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City.
Jong Hwan, a young, fun, and intelligent South Korean boy, is always the center of laughter in the Vietnamese language class. Jong Hwan is working as a manager for a Korean restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City and is trying every day to build a long-term career in Vietnam.
That is how it is... people from all over the earth whose surnames and names are not Vietnamese, but their hearts are always Vietnamese.
December 20, 2018... 20th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of VIETNAMESE STUDIES... confident steps on the school stage, smiles of foreign students in Vietnamese Ao Dai... No one knew how emotional I was when my eyes looked through the lens to capture images with the radiant smiles of the foreign friends... In my heart, I shouted: I love you so much, Ao Dai... I love you so much, Vietnam!
Photo: Thai Nhan
Ao Dai: Designer Viet Hung
