Story #16 - “What’s your name?”
Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi, Vietnam
The Hoàn Kiếm is a small lake near Hanoi's old town and is surrounded by some of Hanoi's quietest streets that are closed to traffic during weekends. This mirror of water is exceptional: inside, there are a couple of small islands, the smallest of which has a tower known as Tháp Rùal (The Turtle Tower), while the largest is occupied by the numerous pavilions of the Confucian temple of the Jade Mountain.
For locals, this is the soul of the city.
If you are a tourist visiting Hanoi, chances are that, walking by the lake, kids and teenagers approach you and ask you to exchange a few words with them. Don't worry, they do not want to sell you anything.
“What’s your name?”
They just want to practise their English. Most of them make a journey from outside Hanoi hoping to cross a tourist and spend just a few minutes in English.
“I can’t afford English private lessons. I come here at weekends and stop tourists”.
They would offer you a coffee, walk beside you for a while, and even invite you for lunch. The youngest comes with a small notebook with the 'entry questions' we all learned when starting English: "What's your name?" "Where are you from?" "Is this your first time in Vietnam?".
“Do you have time to come to our place for lunch?”'
The new generation's kindness, joy, spontaneity, and hope for a better future were lessons for me.
By the way, legend has it that beneath the waters of Hoan Kiem Lake in the Hanoi Old Quarter, a turtle god guards a magic sword. A stone structure now rises from a small islet in the lake. Known as Thap Ruá, or Turtle Tower, it was built to honor Kim Qui, the magical aquatic guardian of the sword.
STORIES of HOPE. Simple stories of ordinary people that carry a message of hope, a fragment of future. I have been meeting incredible people, that transmit energy, passion, engagement. I talk to them and try to find their message of hope.
