Common questions I am being asked quite often when meeting someone new. Here are some of them along with my answers. Then I will explain later.
- Are you going to stay here? – I’m not sure.
- What are you doing for a living? – IT professional / Software Developer
- Where are you from? – Vietnam
For the first question. I’m not sure what is the intention. But people who are asking me this question are those who have already been living here for a long time (like beyond 5 years), and also they come from the same roots as mine (are all Vietnamese). If I have a chance to explain my plan, then the answer “I’m not sure” is quite easy to comprehend. There are 3 things that make me stay: marriages, jobs, and salaries. If both of these are satisfied then I am happy to stay. If I have to tell you do I need a third reason for wanting to be here? Is only if life in Canada is much better than in Vietnam then probably yes. By how much? I don’t know. I will give out some of the advantages and disadvantages of living here.
Advantages of living in Canada
- Good infrastructure: roads are wide, streets are clean, people drive a bit safer
- Food qualities: Somewhat better than Vietnam in terms of quality control
- I am not sure about health care and the education system stuff, but I did some research, and it’s having better equipment and a better workforce (more qualified professionals and doctors) in my viewing.
- More natural and better air quality: more parks, lakes, tennis clubs, trees, etc.
Advantages of living in Vietnam
- Better connection with people: having more friends
- Girls are literally more beautiful in my standard
- More young people in the cities, where I can easily make connections and probably easier to have a partner (girlfriend)
- Much cheaper than in Canada to buy a house. However, if I am hired in Canada then my savings is slightly better than in Vietnam.
- I have my own flat, so I do not need to rent, unlike here in Canada.
- More convenient and modern: it depends to the place, for my flat I built it is smart home, convenient parking lot, good view, supermarket and gym right under my flat, huge TV, beautiful kitchen, and I am having my own server rack which I can do research and play with it.
So I say if I like to have fun, like hooking up with girls, live an easy life, then I would stay in Vietnam. But because I cannot find any girl, I drift here for my career and personal development. But in the long term, if I am somehow able to connect with the love of my life, I will do things for that person; I will go back to Vietnam for her. But if I am able to find my love here, I will stay. It’s coming to the age where I need to settle down already. I was planning to have my marriage around 25, but now I am already 28.
But beside having an easy life in Vietnam.I would say it’s boring. Why? It’s repetitive, I am having no challenges at all. Here in Canada I don’t have a car and I have to ride my bike to get around, which is already a good challenge (I can do that in Vietnam too, but why if I already have a motorbike?). I cannot overspend like in Vietnam because here everything are much more expensive, so I have to count every dollars. I feel like when I come here I am changing for good: I am more healthy, I eat less ordered foods, I spend more time in the desk for working and studying, I go to gym and bike more often. In Vietnam, I can pay a guy to play tennis with me, but here no one would do that. And even if I find one, it’s not a profesisonal one. In Vietnam I can practice my backhand and forehand for 20 bucks in 2 hours, which is a good deal, it keeps me stay in good shape and it is my cardio workout with lots of fun.
For the second question, I guess people want to know my education level and my salary, but whatever, it doesn’t change the game too much since I won’t speak with them twice or even think about having a close connection with them. Unless they have something that too common with me that make me want to be close with them.
For the third question, it is probably about cultural and identity interests. If you know where the guy is coming from, you probably have more to talk about. There was once a guy in the gym who asked me where I am from, and then he spoke about fish sauce, Pho, and stuff. You know, he is definitely a friendly guy, he is the manager of the gym he is pretty nice, I like him. The thing that for any gosshipping I feel it is difficult for me to have a longer conversation, unless we have something really in common: like we are working in the same software project or we are doing something together for a long period of time, then I might feel I can talk more. Even my ex colleagues having difficulty speaking with me, I think it is me the reason I simply cannot easily find something in common with them to talk about. Or I just built different, am I?