Cát bụi...

Kỉ niệm 8 năm ngày mất của nhạc sĩ Trịnh Công Sơn.

Tôi nghe Trịnh mới được khoảng hơn 2 năm, từ khi đi du học. Mới nghe, nhưng nhạc Trịnh có ảnh hưởng lớn đến nhân tính, cũng như tư tưởng của tôi hiện tại. Bênh cạnh Rock, nhạc Trịnh nói riêng, và tân nhạc Việt Nam nói chung đều là những dòng nhạc tôi định theo đuổi cả đời. Hai năm trước, nhạc Trịnh âm thầm xoa dịu cái nhớ nhung của gã trai tha phương ngoài hai mươi tuổi. Năm nay, vẫn là gã trai ấy, và vẫn là hoàn cảnh ấy, nhưng cách nghe Trịnh của tôi có hơi khác. Ôn nhu và lặng lẽ hơn. Nói một cách đơn giản thì hồi xưa ai hỏi tôi thích bài nào nhất của ông, tôi sẽ trả lời "Ru em từng ngón xuân nồng", còn bây giờ sẽ là "Phôi pha". Sắc thái tình cảm và ý nghĩa của chúng khác nhau ở đâu, hẳn người nghe Trịnh cũng sẽ hiểu được.

Chén rượu cay, một đời tôi uống hoài...

Hồi tôi còn rất nhỏ, cỡ dăm tuổi, nhạc Trịnh phổ biến hơn bây giờ, lũ trẻ con hồi đó cũng thường nghe người lớn nhắc về ông, tivi và đài cũng hay bật nhạc của ông. Mấy người chị của tôi hình như cũng nghe, nhưng tôi thì không. Con nít con nôi, hiểu gì đâu mà nghe nổi. Chỉ có về sau khi đã trải nghiệm, bất chợt nghe và cảm thấy nhạc Trịnh cơ hồ nói hộ cõi lòng mình, đâm mê mẩn và say lúc nào không hay.

Nói về Trịnh, tôi có một kỉ niệm đáng nhớ mà nếu nhắc ra ở đây, những người bạn chung lớp cấp II có thể sẽ à lên, hoặc nhớ hoặc không. Năm 2001, tức là năm nhạc sĩ trở về cát bụi, tôi đang ở độ lớp 7 hay 8 gì đó, quả thực là một chấn động trong lòng giới thưởng thức. Nhà nhà bàn về ông, người người thương tiếc ông. Cô giáo dạy tiếng Anh của chúng tôi có lẽ là một "big fan" đến độ dành nguyên một tuần, tức là vài tiết dạy trên trường, chỉ để kể cho lũ học sinh của mình tiểu sử, cuộc đời và âm nhạc của Trịnh. Nghĩ cũng buồn cười, thủa đó lời cô tâm sự như một câu truyện hấp dẫn, ai cũng lắng nghe nhưng hình như chẳng ai hiểu. Bởi chúng tôi, theo tôi được biết, thì không có bạn nào nghe Trịnh vào thời điểm đó. Nghe cô kể, nhưng là nghe để đó, xong rồi thôi, rồi quên. Đến độ tuổi này, khi đã tập tành nghe Trịnh, bất chợt nhớ lại kỉ niệm nhỏ đó và cười một mình.

Cô giáo trẻ chưa chồng năm trước, giờ chắc đã là một người đàn bà sớm tối chồng, con. Chẳng biết tình cảm cô dành cho nhạc Trịnh có còn như trước không nhỉ? Tám năm. Thoáng chốc đã tám năm đời người về lại với cát bụi, chỉ còn cái Tình là ở lại cho hậu thế. Nhiều khi tôi nghĩ, giá mà những ân tình cô gửi theo lời tâm sự vào lũ học trò lùi lại tám năm, tức là bây giờ, có lẽ trong số chúng tôi sẽ có nhiều những đồng cảm với cô hơn. Cuộc đời, nếu sau này có một lần gặp lại, có lẽ món quà tôi tặng cô trong ngày 20-11 sẽ là một đĩa nhạc Trịnh, và một bó hoa, tất nhiên; dành tri ân cho những nhiệt thành về nhạc Trịnh cô đã tình cờ gieo vào tâm trí đứa trai mới lớn năm nào, trở thành những ấn tượng luẩn khuất đâu đây, chỉ chờ dịp là ngưng tụ thành niềm say mê mãnh liệt. Nơi góc nhỏ tâm linh, tôi tìm về cội nguồn...

Tám năm. Xin tạ ơn ông, người du mục, cho những chất chứa và đau thương ông đã xoa dịu giùm tôi, giữa cuộc đời này.

Ôm lòng đêm
Nhìn vầng trăng mới về
Nhớ chân giang hồ
Ôi phù du
Từng tuổi xuân đã già
Một ngày kia đến bờ
Đời người như gió qua

Và, để tưởng niệm ông, không gì bằng lời thơ của Bùi Giáng:

Gió mưa đưa tiễn mây ngàn
Giọt chuông tang lễ khúc bàng hoàng ca
Em về vô tận em xa
Âm thanh tuyết lệ thiết tha gọi hồn
Tầm sưu sử lịch Sương Môn
Tao phùng tri ngộ sinh tồn bể dâu
Ướt mi tinh thể mộng dần
Đa mang nhật nguyệt tinh cầu đã rơi
Em Hoàng Tử bé rong chơi
Biết đâu nguồn cội là nơi em về
Em người em là em mê
Em về vô tận Em chê sinh tồn

Kính.

01:07 am 01.04.09

Elegy II

When the agony reaches its utmost, you feel affectless to hurt then.

He, the vagrom of this sublunary world, had written elegies to tribute agonies in his life. Therefore, his agonies were admitted their existence and even become everlasting. He had realized, agonies were irresistible. By denying their existence, they were just ignited to hurt him even more furious. Contrarily, by creating elegies, he let these agonies gradually flow away out of mind and drop down the stave. As long as the spiritual agonies were symbolized tangibly, he was serene simultaneously. Facing the agonies, is the only way to gain sereneness in stead of taking effort to escape from them.

I learn to face the agony.

He, with his agonies, had passed away for long. They're quietly sleeping yet the elegies are still tuneful. Whenever I concentratedly listen to those elegies of antiquity, I fell my own agony empathizes his, and eventually they fade away. His elegies are elixir to heal my broken heart. Today, as many other times, the "tsunami" inside me has been extinguished...

Ôm lòng đêm
Nhìn vầng trăng mới về
Nhớ chân giang hồ
Ôi phù du
Từng tuổi xuân đã già
Một ngày kia đến bờ
Đời người như gió qua

Không còn ai
Đường về ôi quá dài
Những đêm xa người
Chén rượu cay
Một đời tôi uống hoài
Trả lại từng tin vui
Cho nhân gian chờ đợi

12:28am 31.03.09

Baileys

I usually don't drink wine because my throat is unbearable to the alcohol. Even though, since I've been inspired by romantic novel of Haruki Murakami Japanese writer, South of the border North of the Sun, I just fell in love with Cocktail. After trying some different tastes I apparently fancied Baileys. You know Baileys? No? Just look it up here: Baileys (wikipedia) and Baileys.com



Yesterday I bought a bottle of Baileys as a gift for myself to enjoy the weekend. Wow, it's just sweet. On the above picture, my Baileys is on the left which has label says "Mint Chocolate". You know, it's such an unbelievable invention ever that they mix chocolate, cream-based liqueur and whiskey. When you drink this intertexture, the first taste touching your tongue is sweet of chocolate and cream, just like you're having a scrumptious milk chocolate. Shortly, you can feel the typical alcoholic savor of whiskey. And it's just great and passionate! Ahh, don't ever forget to drink Baileys with some additional icecubes. It's just extra feeling to enjoy that cool taste, that's why people say Baileys is just perfectly suitable for the summer.

I just love the idle feeling tasting that sweet while reading a romantic novel, or listening to a melancholic song at night. That's what I call "the enjoyment of laziness".

Have you ever tried Baileys yet?

04: 25 pm 29.03.09

Elegy

After years suffering through ups and downs in life, I just simply realize the most touching genre of music, which could elegize my losses, is just Rock. Yet I'm re-listening to The Wall band. Their songs, eternally and agelessly, alleviate my agony better than any anything, anyone else could do (at least, for this time and this mood).

Nếu... nếu em hiểu, thời gian ai cũng có khi ngược xuôi
Nuối tiếc cũng thế thôi, hoàng hôn xưa tắt nắng lâu rồi
Ký ức nào còn thoáng trong đời đôi khi ?
Nếu, nếu em hiểu thời gian ai cũng có khi ngược xuôi
Thì nén sâu chỉ thế thôi, hoàng hôn xưa ta có trong đời
Ký ức nào còn giữa đâu đây đôi khi?
Hãy cho quên!

You know, Love, this song is simply suitable to us. I do love it. It brings me back to the early days of youth when I was still in the intensive mood for Love. That faded time, archives everlasting memories I used to have with you, and they were just beautiful and sweet. Those recallable aftertastes still allure me until now when I look back. I treasure the mutual affection we used to cherish, the common tearful grief we used to share and the purely tender Love we together captivated as well. I just wanna say, I'm grateful to everything you have given, that really made up my life that great.

Life is hectic, Love is transient and I'm ever-changing. I'm unbearable of the fact that's I losing the zeal for Love, but it's the truth. On my ahead itinerary, I know I just should step alone in order to avoid scathing anyone else. I'm following many certain targets, you know, for that I am impossible to let myself lose concentration and spirit for sentimental matters any more. I'm lonely and enjoying the loneliness just well. Solitude hurts much but I familiarize with it, and gradually it becomes my joy, and eventually my natural need. Therefore, you understand, Love.

That's all I wanna say. What will be, will be. Just live fine and you get what you deserve. Don't perish the youth in tristesse yet someday you will regret.

I'm still ever-present around you.

04:03 28.03.09

Poisonous weekend

At the moment while I'm writing this entry, it is about 9:00am, Friday. What does Friday mean? It means that after 8-hour-working onward then I enjoy my weekend! Sounds great huh? Of course it is. Currently I'm at my office and because my boss's having his meeting while not telling me about tasks need to be taken care yet I'm kind of free.

Hey wait, is it really that I'm gotta have a dreaming weekend ahead? Hmm... after introspecting for just one minute, I'm afraid not. Oh gosh!

You know, I really be weary of this week, many unexpected things happened that were really annoying to me. Cool, they're over and I'm on the way to weekend, but it seems that I must do quite much plans so far in stead. My damn beloved laptop has been working really strange recently. Its connection to the Internet downs unreasonably very very often. It works more and more slower and so does the Internet connection. Insanely, whenever I'm downloading something, the speed of download process increases crazily to reach its peak. I'm so surprised viewing that speed even doubles itself. But simultaneously, the connection works fine only for the download process while it blocks every other in-coming and out-going connections. I mean, I even couldn't open a simplest web-page when downloading something, even couldn't check email services, couldn't log into Yahoo Messenger, couldn't do anything except watching the IDM with its panel of download processes listed.

It's really strange. Theoretically, I know when you are in the progress of downloading something that your connection will set top-priority to that download connection's speed. But it doesn't mean that you won't be able to surf through the webs during that time. I don't think your connection function is programmed to use its utmost source to do only one task at the same time. Additional, my laptop didn't work like that before. It used to work fine, I can even did whatever I wished in the net though downloading quite much different files. Strange. Really strange. Damn, the problem probably comes from my laptop itself. It means I really need to do a clean-uninstallation then to reinstall its operating system to have a pure refresh otherwise it keeps working like that. Oh gosh, it will kill my valuable time doing that stuff. I will poison my weekend just to fix the laptop then make a new self-configured setting for the whole system! Hey, it isn't funny, mate. I'm dizzy of working with Vista because there are quite unnecessary functions and features installed that I must manually disable most of those afterward. Whatever, to renew my laptop and customize it will spend one day.

Then, another day I will be busy also. You know, I'm gotta change my house and it spends, at least, one day packing stuffs. Then changing stuffs to another apartment, then cleaning up the room, then arranging and adapting a new living ambiance, then cooking, then washing clothes, then whatever.

After all, seemingly I'm having no relaxing days this week. Sign, what should I do?

Feudal prejudice

Mates, spend three minutes (not long, right?) to read this article, please: 7x Generation's sex story (in Vietnamese). It's just awesome.

The author, that lady's words are just simple but powerful. Her point of view is objective, little ironic, rational and just experienced. I myself be sympathetic much to Vietnamese ladies those living under not only much work-related pressure, affection matters, relationship problems, but also the hysterically unequal prejudice of this backward society towards them. Patriarchal men, who think themselves as tyrants, spontaneously pointed out harsh regulations for the whole society as criteria of morality, to which one who didn't follow that damn ridiculous rules would be treated and considered as rebel and poor-educated style. Vietnamese women, as no doubt to be the protagonist, have always been imprisoned onto those absurd rules for centuries yet they have never enjoyed a real freedom. They are in detention all the time!

So, what is criteria of morality? How can we define it? Well, I think you know better than me, in case you are Vietnamese. Feudalism, with its tremendous disadvantages, have been criticized quite much through newspapers or Internet. Just read and you understand.

It has been 21th century already, thus methinks, it still would be too late if the women are still under unfairness. That author of the article impersonates herself, and her generation as well, as witnesses of "lost generation". I assume you all already know what the meaning of this term is, ain't you? In case you don't, research yourself here: Lost Generation (wikipedia). In general, I support her pessimistic idea much though the original meaning of the term didn't refer something related to this issue, yet it is accurately used to illustrate what she is really implying about.

To be agitated by the article, as a skepticist to our society, I myself find no time more suitable than present to declare my own point of view towards the hottest topic that people are all paying attention to: Women's sex rights. Limited to this extent, the essay will not be responsible for any other unexpectedly marginal issues analyzed through its content.

I. Consequence of long-last prejudices

In my opinion, Vietnam still has been being backward now and then for many reasons. One of those is just unreasonable prejudices we made ourselves, to deceive ourselves as well. The prevailing lifestyle of almost Vietnamese, from past to present, is reluctant living!

Why? Because our previous generations had been extravagantly influenced the feudal spirit by the older ones. As a consecutively consequence, our current generation, yet the next generations as well, are directly or indirectly inheriting the previous generations' infantility. Obviously the backward of Vietnamese is alternatively hereditable from the ancestor to the posterity. Undoubtfully, we have been superfluously preserving a constant way of thinking for ages while it was out-dated already for long! That's why I said most of us are living reluctantly while we are too weary of the feudalism but none of us aim to change our lifestyle, because of the lack of determination. And we are fear of the changes as well. Of course there still have some isolated people who are bravely breaking "moral barriers" to live their own way (I just wanna describe of positive manners, negative sides will be analyzed another time), but let's see how people evaluate them? Just as class of eccentric only. How do you think?

Yes, people of living-your-own-way style that differ from others, or even retrograde (opposite direction) the rest often be target of conservative criticism. I'm not gonna point out any example because examples can be seen ubiquitous, and it's waste of time. My argument is, how should we deal with those out-dated criteria of morality? With the time passes by, and perception of human has reached to such a high level, is it time to eradicate all things unnecessary? Your turn to answer.

Have you ever wondered of why Vietnam, after many years of development, still be a weak and humble country? Well, just because we haven't never been succeed in escaping from an old way brainstorming. We keep the prejudice! We can't do the new things with the old ways, that's paradoxical. We can't be better without modernizing our perception. Yet only after we are open-minded, could we be possible to develop. One of the top-priority prejudices should be emergently faded away is to emancipate the women from ridiculous ethics. Let the Women free!

Why should so? Because it just should be.

II. Moral or Immoral

A good example for above argument is the point I'm gonna talk: the women's rights. Here, is their sex right. Being explicit, I don't think there is any criteria of morality powerful and decent enough that can prevent women from having sex if they really wish. The berriers should come from inside themselves, not outside influence. We are all bystanders, how could we intervene into their personal things? That's nosy, men. Less seriously, women have the right themselves to live as true as they hope. They are just human, they have up and down periods in life so that they really need to be equally respected. They have human sentiment that usually leads them be involved into mistakes if they couldn't self control that well. But, who do we think we are to be able to blame them for what they've done? We are nothing. And we don't have that illusive right to judge, men. Wake up from the day-dream and be practical.

Now, there occurs two more important points to be debated: intimacy before marriage and sex limitation.

III.

IV.

----------

I'm sorry but I have spent time writing these things while I'm always under time limitation as well. So, I will continue this article very soon on the weekend. Is it a good stop? I think so. You have read all the things, now it's your turn to re-think what your opinion is. Haply we will have a nice conservation afterward.

Now, I'm kind of busy. I'm gotta go. Thanks for reading.

26.03.09

Descent

Oh, my work... You know, I really don't aim to complaint anything about work. I know, it is like dreaming work to all of you; student, trainee or whatever similar; it is kind of idle and easy while well-paid. Furthermore, my colleagues and bosses are quite nice and easy-going as well. Cool huh? Some will ask what the heck does stimulate me to complaint? Does it sound like paradoxical? Am I to much fastidious? Well, you are wrong my friends, I am not that gnarled!

The 3rd week working here onward, I keep dealing (or more accurate, to be told to do) with arranging documents. Boss has tons of folders of documents, I guess which include millions of miscellaneous things, that needed to be logically rearranged in order. There are agreements, contracts, student's study application forms, personal printed emails etc waiting for being category-based classified. I spent the whole time doing those stuffs plus some other various tasks. At first, with the well-paid salary, I for sure felt a lot of enthusiasm working here. But, life is not that easy. Hey, I've been trained in the field of Business Administration not in order to stay long consecutively arranging that messy files! Okay, you pay me and I work here. Fine. But please don't give me those boring tasks very often! I'm not that uselessly smugly style. I'm really willing to be given heavy work because I like challenging. I could be like workaholic if needed, I even can work from morning to early night, about 10 hours at the maximum, if being required. They are just totally fine to me because I'm young and motivated. The only suitable fettle I need is that the work flow should be more inspired, passionate and irresistible, otherwise I feel like gradually killing my motivation.

Anyway, this period of time is just a gateway to the futuristic job. Practical training is somehow like clichély compulsory duty that students are being given (sorry, I must be saying extravagantly, but it is still true, to some extent) without their own choices. And that's life. In case of graduation to be achieved, I must do it. So, just do it. I'm gonna get my real profession afterward. Things learnt from the current "draft" work don't relate to my past study at all, yet there will be no slogan like "applying knowledge into work" existing as every trainee candidates kept talking out loud to bosses when you are invited to a job interview. Apparently I must admit that the most beneficial positive side of this progress is that students could be able to get-to-know how a real organization's business operates. They would become familiar with handling office works. And, that's all. Maybe it was my fault to choose that office but it's quite hopeless seeking another one in this city. I'm getting stuck.

Two more working days then I enjoy my casual weekend again. Damn, now what I am most looking forward is just weekend.

Trustfully, I wish I could make time go anti-clockwise that I had choosen Design as my official study and my career as well. My big regret that is irreplaceable.

Sinh nhật Mẹ.

Sinh nhật Mẹ.

Hôm nay sinh nhật Mẹ mà mình quên bẵng mất. Thật ra cũng chẳng phải là quên hẳn, hôm trước kỉ niệm ngày cưới của Bố Mẹ mình cũng đã nhắc là sắp tới sinh nhật Mẹ rồi. Sáng ra dậy là hộc tốc ra ga tàu đi làm, về đến nhà thì cũng là gần hết ngày ở Việt Nam rồi, cũng chẳng nhớ ra nhắn tin chúc mừng Mẹ nữa. Bận nhiều việc, mà chủ yếu là vì tâm bây giờ chẳng lưu trí nhớ nữa rồi.

Năm nay Mẹ về hưu, làm việc cả đời cho cái nhà nước này rồi, nghỉ thôi. Mong hè này Mẹ được sang đây du lịch bình an. Chúc mừng sinh nhật Mẹ!

Nửa đời Mẹ đã qua lâu
Mà con chưa nói một câu chân tình
Tha phương, con dẫu một mình
Vẫn hay có Mẹ bóng hình trông theo...

25.03.2009

Boss

Okay, if you have read my previous entry entitled "1st working day" that you perhaps know I am working, and even in such a good environment. And now, I'm gonna tell about my boss.

You see the picture above? He is the only man on the right (of course), standing up besides him are other two lady-colleagues. He looks younger in real life and quite nicer. In fact, I have another "big boss" (boss of his, also) but unfortunately I did not have much chance communicating with him so I do not have much thing to say. Anyway, my big boss is really nice but today the protagonist is my Boss. The man I call "Boss" is an English teacher as well as be in charge of international coordinator in my working place. For security reason, I will not publicize his personal profile here because I have not asked him for permission yet. Anyway, the very first eye-catching impression of mine towards him is, somehow, let say a kind of strict and difficultly-talk-to person. It turned out to be biggest mistake I have ever made when thinking of someone since I started working with him, as an assistant I suppose. He was, surprisingly, too nice and too kind. Within several certain words can't help describe every sides of someone, but I think it is just ok to illustrate him by one word: courteous! Yes, he is so courteous by every single act and single speech! He is really enthusiasm to guide me from tiny to big working matters because I'm just a trainee there. You know what trainee means, yes it's me.

He is, can say, a typical Finnish style: easy-going, true-hearted, enthusiasm, responsible, charitable, gentlemen and so much more. Totally a delicate man! Especially, his English is just spontaneous with a great accent, which is very attractive to the listeners. Oh, his English is better than most of the Finns I have ever met, can say I really be impressed in his accent. He is not a native English speaker, Finnish instead, but seems that he is like ambidextrous, to the language extent. He speaks English even more harmonious than speaking Finnish because he speaks in slower and more easy-hearing way. I can learn so much from him, not only the working matters but also the language ones. And you know that's just great!

I forgot to say, he has good sense of humour as well. Yes, it is also typical characteristic according to the Finn. Sometime he says something that I just wanna laught out loud. During the work, we have some little chat sometime and I always smile talking to him. For example, today when I asked him that I should go to the class because the scheduled time had just been reached. He just smiled: "yes you should go now otherwise you will be late". Ha ha, what funny here was that he himself to be the lecturer of the course I was gonna attend! And it mustn't rush when the lecturer was still sitting in front of me. That is fun, isn't? Something like that really makes my working day less heartsick, you know.

Additional, because of being a teacher himself, he is good at his field as well. He teaches good and students like him, feel pleasant in class, I guess. Successful teacher, in general.

Few things about him. I wish I could co-operate with him for long but eventually the internship period will end this summer. I will be missing the time working here whenever I look back.

Thank you, Boss! One of my first two Bosses ever!

Catastrophe

Damn, I had such a day today. Oh yes, a perfect beginning for a new week, gosh!

Last weekend is stereotyped as any others I used to have. Means I spent fully valuable off-work days doing my own stuffs, to recover myself from damn weary working days. I was over-exhausted of sitting in my office for quite long that I need at least 2 days relaxing in order to retrieve my balance back. I slept much enough and felt good until Sunday, but it was bad that I could not sleep well last night. I did not remember clearly but it seemed that I had miserable nightmare thus the sleep was not flowing smoothly as it was supposed to be.

I got up much earlier than usual without noticing about that. Here come the catastrophe! It was Monday morning that I had to be back to daily hustle and bustle routine (work) by taking the early train to another city where I was working. The tragic was that I made a serious mistake when setting the alarm time in my mobile phone, one hour earlier, thus I pushed myself going to the train station just to recognize how crazy I was: not a single person there and I had to stood under, well let estimate, about minus 15 Celsius degree (-15*C) for a hour. I felt like being frozen to death. The train finally had come before I was about to die. Ridiculously, because I come so early that the building of my office was still closed. The second time, without any choices, I must walk around enjoying that damn temperature.

The work today was boring that knocked me down even more, mercilessly. I got home and felt like being tedious about everything though I was not that kind of pessimistic very often. Fortunately, I printed out some Design researches in the afternoon; by reading those stuffs, at least I can retain some piece of allure in stead of having completely poison Monday!

Oh damn! If you can notice good enough, you can see on my Blast that I am planning to do a research. I really want to do it! But now I am not in the mood for writing anything literately and sophisticated.

Another working day passes by. Another living day passes by. Awaiting next weekend.

Requiem

Dear all visitors,

For those who had visited my blog before, you guys could feel a little shock, or surprised, for its changes. I have deleted quite much entries since the last time you stepped by. There is no serious reason except that I simply want to refresh my-own-self; which includes my real life, my artificial life (through the Internet), my blog, my writing, my whatever. Why? To avoid being bored of the OLD that is covering myself. That's about it. In a certain time of your life, you should pause yourself from the daily routine, then think of the certain change that should be made in order to keep you living. Life is transient, man's lifestyle is vagarious, too.

There are many things written through entries of this blog have become out-dated since I changed my though and my mind. Thus, they should be exchanged with more trendy ones, no doubt. It was hard to be decisive enough to delete those old stuffs but I should, I need and I must do it. Of course I made a backup of those important entries but they will never be displayed here once again. I pay my highest appreciation to those who have paid his or her precious time writing comments to me via each entry. Let me say sorry to you.

I still keep some of the entries. They are survival not because they are more important than others but they are carrying "safe" contents which are unnecessary to be revoked. At least, they are able to show my never-be-changed passions in life.

For those have just been here for the first time, I do welcome you.

Since then, I will revise an used-to-be-dead habit of writing English here. I miss writing English. Daily, I speak English much more than Vietnamese, and I estimate about 30 percent of my total though are in English, too. Thus, it is normal if I use English as writing as well.

Thank you.

1st working day

Entry comes with personal content.



Today, 2nd March 2009, I go to work. The very very first day sitting in an office and doing the full-time job as a true officer. The first benefit gained since working is the voluntarily responsibility to be highest stimulated. There was not much thing to do yet I felt a little idle. My working environment is quite good, boss is quite nice and enthusiastic that the first feeling of anxiousness appeared but gradually be exchanged by eagerness.



Briefly describing my job, I have been doing the practical training in one faculty of my eight-faculty university, SEAMK, the School of Technology (since I have been studying in School of Business there). The working time lasts for eight hours per day, means it is equal to a normal job in Finland even an usual trainee works just six hours at the maximum per day. SEAMK- School of Technology has partnership with Hanoi Technical School thus I myself, on behalf of a Vietnamese student, will be responsible for co-operating with visiting Vietnamese professors during the time they are at Seinajoki. In general, my work will be kind of International Contacts Coordination and Marketing. It can be considered as an intermediary who is in charge of commnucation between two parties: SEAMK, School of Technology and Hanoi Technical School. Besides, I will be responsible for various office works as well as to be a "tutor" for some international exchange students coming to Finland, and SEAMK. Those stuffs are up-to-now what my boss has told me, it is clear that weight of work will be much increased in the future ahead.



Quite an idle work! And a dreaming salary which absolutely beyonds my expectation when I come to the interview. Methinks, I feel a little pleasure with that working condition. It will be a very first step in my futuristic career. At least, I can proudly write down something on my CV in the Working Experience part in stead of leaving a vacancy on it like I have always done before (ashamed). Because of some troubles yet the contact is still not be signed. But it will be done soon.



In general, the Finn itself has good impression towards Asian, especially Vietnamese. The national relationship between Finland and Vietnam is strongly promoted in the year of 2008 that can be marked by some business contacts. Working in such an international environment is a lot of fun but the thing I most appreciate is the democratic attitude of Finnish colleagues as well as the foreigners' to me. There is no sign of racism at all! Even I am totally in lack of working experience and ability compared to them. It is a huge fortune for me to work in that condition. With the time passes by, hopefully I can follow the work or even do it well.



It is a starting probation and there are many things need to be done so far. I will keep promoting.



A private journal to tribute and remember my first real working day.



I am enclosing few photographs of my working place taken by my mobile phone. The table, which is less messy, is mine. Other is my boss's. :D



PS: for those had seen this entry before might feel surprised cos I deleted the Vietnamese text already. Those typing sounds a little ingenuous that I dislike, so I converted all into English and made the old one fade away...







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