Lien moved to Fairbanks from Vietnam and shared some thoughts
about life in Fairbanks.
August 8, 2018:
My Nest
The nest that what I call my house, sound like but it’s how I feel about the place that I’m living now. It’s cozy, quiet, warm and the place that I want to come back every day. I used to live with my parents in the big house in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. That has six bed rooms, four bath rooms, big kitchen and big living room. I even had my own a king size bed room. But I still wanted to move out to find my own place. At first, I didn’t know I was going to find my new home at new country but suddenly I did. I came to Fairbanks, Alaska just wanted to see new things, new world then I feel I love this place a lot. It has really beautiful nature: a lot of trees, too many kinds but special one is bird tree, I think that is a creative tree that can be used to build the house, to make furniture or event kitchen supplies. . . ; mountain and river with a lot of salmons; and the most of best thing here is people, they’re so kind and help each other without expecting to get something in return. So I decided to stay and make a new home here. I rent a small studio such as a big room but included living room, bed room, bath room and kitchen. It’s a little far from town, about middle of the hill. I have a big yard with a lot of bird trees cover my house. I can enjoy fresh air through the summer and I can smell them when they are burning in my wood stone that keep me warm and relax through the winter. I like to make myself comfortable by sitting on my “lazy chair” (it looks like a big pillow), cover me with blanket and have a cup of tea. That’s one of my favorite things to do after a long day at work; I feel all the stresses from my work or from my life are gone in that moment. I like my house a lot; I make it my new home. Some time, my friends ask me where the best place for me; I said “my nest”. We were all laughing but for me I know it is the best word that I can describe my house, how about yours? I would like to know your home too.
August 1, 2018:
My New World
I was born in a small, crowded family but in the big and busy city in Vietnam. I have two older brothers and older sister, because I’m the youngest one that’s why my parents are a little spoiler me more than my siblings. My youth was cover really well by my family; I didn’t have to work hard to get whatever I wanted. Day by day, my life was similar the same as the movie that you replay again and again too many times. Then, I wanted to make a change, I designed to go out to see the world and I did. I was scared at first because I was covered too long by my family, and I was nervous to do everything myself. So I just wanted looking for a quiet place to start my new life and I found Alaska by watching a commercial on TV. Then I parked my stuffs and left my family. I cried as like as a baby when I checked in and waited for the fights. I felt so empty because I have never gone away from my family more than ten days before. It took a long time to fly; I got in Fairbanks, Alaska after two days. It’s was the first time in my life to see real snow, and a lot of snows, snows are everywhere over the places. I was so excited and wanted to jump in the big snow. After months, I found a place to live and a job so I can help to service myself. I started over everything, I learn how to take care of myself in the new country, I learn another language and how to deal with the weather that is the biggest different compare with my country. When I got to use it, I got to know a lot of new things: I can speak English better, I know how to ski, hike and prepare for winter really well. I met and made a lot of new friends who are always kind and great people. I’m happy with whatever I’m having and so glad that I made a big change of my life. I’m living my own life not the one that another said I should. Alaska is my new home, I like this place so much. I still have a lot of things to “discover” and really enjoy to do it. Life is “move”, I don’t know the future but right now Fairbanks, Alaska is the best place for me to live.
July 25, 2018:
Taste of Summer
I don’t know about you but for me Summer is the best time of the year. I’m living in Fairbanks, Alaska, which has a long winter. Of course we have fresh food all year long, but the tastes are so different when summer comes around. I don’t know if it's just because of the warmer weather, sunshine, fresh air, or what, but it's helping me feel good. Maybe that is why everything tastes better for me than in winter, even though I eat the same food.
For example: in summer all the fruits is juicer, sweeter and fresher. I can eat a whole bag of berries but still want to eat more and more. The smells of the BBQ always make me feel hungrier than usual. I have to do BBQ at least twice a week but never do any over winter time.
It’s not just about the food. Summer is also the best time for outdoor living too. I like hiking and fishing with my friends when I have free time. Sometimes, when my friends catch fish, they give me some and that is the best fresh fish I ever ate.
I enjoy summer in Fairbanks so much. I feel the whole place was changed and everything made nicer. I’d like to see your sharing about summer in your places, it’s really nice if you do that. Thanks and see you again!
July 18, 2018:
Hi, my name is Lien Tang, I came from Vietnam, the most beautiful country in the world. I have been living in Fairbanks, Alaska, for over four years and I love this place as much as my country. When I first came I couldn't speak English well, it was so hard to understand and explain what I tried to say to another person. Then I went to the Literacy Council to take an English class with hopes that my English will get better. I think that is the best way for me to communicate with other people and easy to make new friends who came from different countries like me. Since I have been working on my English, I sometimes still find it harder to explain whatever I want to say by talking than writing so I tried to write down a lot what I mean and people can understand me better. I found out that if I have a blog I can write down a lot of my experiences about living in different country to another foreign people who first came here, and it might help them to avoid a lot of bad things in life or maybe just give them some ideas how to start a new life in another country. It was interesting to know the Literacy Council would open class called Blogging, I was so excited and signed up right away. Now, I am here in the class and can't wait till I can post a lot of blogs to share my experiences of living in the U.S.A. to you and I would like to learn more experience from someone who lived here longer than me. I hope to see a lot of comments on my blogs so I can make them better. Thanks for taking your time and see you next time.