My City and I

I read somewhere, two Chinese girls feel so proud about the beautiful of China. I used to live in China 3 months, in 2001, and also went there many times recently for business trips. I have to admit that China is beautiful and Chinese, in general, are quite nice and friendly, OR, maybe because I’m so nice and friendly, that why they are also nice and friendly to me?? lol

Anyway, I’m thinking about my city, honestly, I don’t feel proud about its! especially after I had chances to put my feet on Zurich, Lausanne, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore, Hong Hong, Shanghai, etc… BUT, I BELIEVE and HOPE that one day, my city will be, not only beauty but also more convenience than the current status. The most inconvenience for me now is about traffic. Crazy traffic! Roads are under repairing everywhere! No MTR, no Express Train, Taxi is expensive and the bus is also not so convenience, plus, very difficult to find car-park (if using car). Here, I mean in Vietnam, almost people use Honda. Honda is convenience to move around in the city, but, it becomes dangerous in rainy season because people normally drives careless and there were many accidents occurred. Anyway, I know that my city is developing, and it will better in one day in future. Evident, I look back the city from 10 or let say 5 years ago, there are A LOT of differences, much more convenience, much more model and much more clean. Government policy is also much better after the date we joined WTO.

So far as I know in real (not from the public media), there are many foreigners (American, French, German, Suisse, Chinese, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Thai Lan, etc…) came to work at my city and they said they LOVE my city! Some of them married with Vietnamese girl and living in Vietnam, some of them bring their wife and kids from their country to Vietnam and living here, they said don’t want to leave Vietnam! I admire them so much. I call that is REAL LOVE. I don’t really know exactly what is the reason for them to love my city, because I also went to their cities and I know in real what is the life there, if talking about convenience, beauty and model, honestly, my city is not up to that level to compare, as the result, I admire them that much and I think their love is deserved for my respect. Somebody said, the foreigners who come from America and Europe to work in my country is actually because they don’t have better chances to work in their local cites! This reason may also correct, BUT, I also know a lot of foreigners, I mean not only American, European but also from others developed cities, came here not only because of this reason. Seem to me they think that… convenience, beauty and model cities are not worth than people friendly, care for family, honesty and warm heart.

In conclusion, yes, I know that my city is not so convenience, BUT, if I were asked where I WANT to live, the answer is still, MY CITY. Reasons? Very simple, I’m local here, I can communicate with people in my native language and understand them according to my culture. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that I’m in love with my mother language, lol, language to me is just to communicate with each other finally, but, this is just because I feel easier to understand people around and feel warmer than when I live or talk around with people in the other cities. BUT, its DOESN’T mean that I insist HAVE TO live forever in my city. If one day in future I fall in love with a foreigner and if he doesn’t want to live in my city, I may follow him, I guess, no problem to me with this. The "only" thing is, he has to make me feel LOVE, at my definitions! Without love, I don’t think there is any reason for me to move. batting

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16 October 2010
A rainy day…
Mimi
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Comments (19)

well... Mimi...I reckon you do not need an umbrella! or..yes? confused yeah...warm city...and wonderful feeling...it moves mountains! wine
Dear Mimi,
Doing fine?
I enjoying to read your blog.
You are flying to many countries. wow
I love travel,visited or lived some counties but not so many.
on my business trip is domestic only.
I've never been China yet.
my friends said that China is beatiful country,people are so kind,and foods too.
I agree with your comment you are so nice and friendly, that why they are also nice and friendly to you Mimi. cheers
I would like to visit your country one day.
it't a little bit windy,and getting cool here.
Have A nice weekend my friend.
hug teddybear teddybear
Pink
Hi,hugh
doing fine my friend?
wave teddybear
And have a nice weekend to Hugh too! wave
you, too Mimi! hug You know...we are in the same boat!..that means...you got me...and me, too! good girls!wink
and...just warm without "..." handshake
hi mimi..
even though it is the poorest and dirtiest place, as long as it is your home, you will love it and be willing to die for it.

hi hugh1. sorry in that blog i was so exhausted that i didn't reply to you. sorry..uh oh hug

have a good weekend.!!
We all love our home...our native place..it is normal.
May I say that I don't agree with you when you say that your mother tongue it is just to comunicate???
just because we have feelings..in our mother tongue...and dream also..Did you ever dream in other language???..our mother tongue it is our identity..and cannot deny it.
If LOVE will bring you far away from your country...where you have to speak an other language, you will see how you feel when hearing your language on the street...and how much you love it and didn't know.

Nice blog...Have a nice weekend!!!hug
no worries Jan! hug
just want to say hi mimi
Mimi, I think the reason why foreigners love your city even more than your do is because of the "differences" compared to their countries? The differences of culture, surroundings, food, buildings and all lead to curiosity and make them interesting.

Like me, my hometown locates in a southern city while the city I study in sits very far away in the north China. Before coming to my Uni, I was always very curious about how the north was like. When I came here, I absolutely loved it, different food, different accents, different natural scenes and wonderful historical sites. But after awhile I started to miss home. Even though there are some things in this city that my home city cannot compare to, but "East, west, home is the best". I guess this sentence explains why people don't want to leave a city where they have a sweet and happy family. happy place

Also, I don't care too much about how economically developed a city is, only how much it interests me that count for more...I wish I could go to Africa to observe wild animals one day!!! crazy bunny
i think HCM City is a lovely city, very safe and people are very friendly, you can find anything you like to buy will be available in our city, you can enjoy many vietnamese foods, they are very delicious and diversified, it is the modern & business city in which u can find many jobs easily with suitable income in comply with your experiences & educations,..., it is also a convenient city that you can find many beautiful places for relax and entertainment after finishing work,...
i think many foreigners who work and live in vietnam for long time, will hv the same thoughts with me or hv more beautiful compliments than that,...
For the mother language, i can say i like vietnamese language the best as i can understand them naturally without many efforts to study like english to understand it, very headaches,...lol.... through my mother language i can understand the beauty of other languages, and other civilized cultures of other countries, then there is no reason for me not to like my mother language the best.
If i hv a chance to live in another country for many different reasons, in my heart i always love and miss my country as part of my body and my life and always like to go back when finish all my targets, and finally i will feel very hurted if s.o look down on my country...
If in the wars for my country's liberation, i can be a very brave soilder to sacrifice all my life for beautiful ideals, that are the mandatory obligations that i never refuse,...
sorry for different thoughts with you Mimi, but i always be your kind friend at anytime, hv a good weekend, ...bouquet hug wine


teddybear
hugh..kiss hug

mimi. my hometown is much poorer than shenzhen. but whenever i came back, i would feel warm and safe though robbery, fighting and so on are very common there.

as to language, well i wouldn't say that i am in love with my mother language, i just think that it is more familiar to talk in my mother language. actually my mother language is not mandarin. my mother language is one dialect belonging to Cantonese. so my first mother language is my hometown dialect, then it is cantonese, and then it is mandarin. to talk in my hometown dialect, i will feel most comfortable, not because it is the best, but because when i talk in it, i am talking to my hometown people... familiar... kind.. warm blushing
Nei hou a, Jan! laugh I can speak a little Cantonese too! My mother taught me some, but I just don't know how to spell it right. I like learning different dialects too. Over here, in Xi'an...they called girls "wa2" similar to "baby" or a pretty girl "mei3 nv4"! quite funny accents though...
And have a nice weekend to everybody too bouquet bouquet bouquet
@ Mimi, LOL, definitely i will not report you Mimi, and will never be upset with you sweetie, as you are brave to talk out all your thoughts, yes i read again your posting, it is a lovely blog, ... and very true about our city,...laugh laugh i very admire that you hv gone to many beautiful countries in the world, and definitely you will hv different point view about HCMC, anyway, i just like to say although our city is just an average city comparing with many other beautiful cities in the world, i will always love it the best for no reason, and always feel grateful to and proud of being born to live in this city in the way it is,laugh laugh bouquet lips heart wings

Hv a nice weekend to Mimi and all of you in cs website, wine

teddybear
Hehe, thanks sis, for your understanding and do not report me! lol
Sis, your love to our city, I call, "unconditional love" lol
I was a bit busy today and tired now, need to sleep.
Goodnight sis, and have a nice Sunday tomorrow, bouquet
Musicman,

You are right.

Population in my country currently is around 82-83 million. And so far as I know, Ho Chi Minh, the city was initially designed for about 1 million people to live, population now is up to 8 – 11 million, and I believe that these numbers are just the figures on some official media reports, in fact, I think its should be more than that because Ho Chi Minh City is the biggest city and is considered as economy center of Vietnam, most of famous Universities and Office Buildings, trade center are here… students from other provinces/cities come here for studying and don’t want to return hometown. People from over mall to town want to move to here as they think that Ho Chi Minh city is easier to live, easier to earn money than the other cities.

Anyway, I also know that traffic problem, in general, is a big headage for NOT only my city. I also haven’t been to NY or LA. BUT, I had been in Paris, traffic jam for 6 hours, no way to move out, as the result I did miss my flight back home from one business trip years ago! :-( - And Thai Lan the same, big problem with traffic, sorry Moonlove, just my real experience about 4 years ago there, but I heard it’s much better now, right? I don’t know, I don’t have chances to go there recently.

And yes, the same to me, home is where my heart will always be heart wings. And maybe there is a bit different from me on my definition about “home”, my home actually is not just a house or a place where it is located, it is a place where I always feel warm when I'm there, where I have my family, my parents, my sister, my relative, my friends, my colleagues, etc… and I think also my husband (in future) and his friends and his family member too. Maybe because of this, I sometimes feel like I'm home somewhere even it is neither my country nor my city at all. I mean, when I'm on business trips, sometimes my colleagues are VERY nice, they make me feel "home" there.

Regarding to the travel around the world, lol, you are very corrected to say “somebody do it for work and has no choice, lol). Honestly, I don’t have that much money to travel. All were business trips, some short (3-7days) some long (15 days to about 1 month), only one time I was in China for such a long time, 3 months, in 2001, that was for a training course when I was still work for a Hong Group.
Musicman,
I review your post and have a feeling that your writing style is similar to MoonLove, is there any person told you that? hmmm
Well you're the first person to tell me my writing style is like mooolove's blushing but thanks beer blushing blushing
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