Vietnam, My Country and People

Chao! That's the Vietnamese word for hello. I am half Northern and half Southern Vietnamese. I am happy to be a Vietnamese, and even though it can be hard to live up to the expectations that are set for me, I wouldn't want any other pair of parents. I love my family dearly, and I'm going to tell about our culture. Vietnam is a Buddist country, but since my parents moved here, they aren't Buddists. We grow much rice in our country though we hand pick it, and we use water buffalo to plow the rice paddies. Our entire country isn't like that though. There are many cities that are much like the ones in the United States. We never get snow in Southern Vietnam, but in the North there is some snow in the mountains during winter. The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi which is in the Northern part. My parents lived in Saigon, the largest city in South Vietnam, when they grew up. Saigon is what they used to call the city back when it was the capital of independent South Vietnam. Its name was changed by the Northerns when they took over and sent up a Communist government. It is now called Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam used to be a French colony so we are SUPPOSED to be good at French. Try telling that to my cousin, Kenny. He hates French. Well, he hates spelling French. He thinks it sound pretty cool though. That boy needs to make up his mind whether to like or hate French. Sigh, anyway, Vietnam has forests that you can go through and visit, or if you're a seaman, you can go on a boat to Halong Bay. I am NOT a seaman. I got seasick on the way there. :o( In Vietnam you find a lot of scooters. I'm not sure way we prefer scooters. I need to ask my mom that. We have cars and boats and things like that, but in order to leave the counrty, you have to get permission from the government which could take a long time. My family left legally, but I've heard to some family leaving illengally by boat to HongKong and then off to other countries. Well, I won't bore you any longer. I thank you for putting up with my long posts and I also promise to keep my posts short next time. See ya! Chao!