​            Over the course of more than 25 years, my sentiments and good memories of the former Soviet Union – Russian Federation (Russia) today has been still intact. For me, Russia is referred to a vast country with a great history, and sincere and kind people.

At that time, I was delighted to be selected to study at Vladimir State University located in Vladimir city of Russia, which is 180 km away from Moscow capital. I had lots of memories of youth there. At the dormitory, the supervisors were assigned to take turns to help us every day. They were very dedicated and thoughtful and always enthusiastically supported us when we were in trouble. Even, they took care of us when we were ill and shared us their good food. Those sentiments made us – the international students feel warm and intimate as if we were living in a big family with our beloved relatives, thereby helping us much relieve our homesick.

Whenever we went for a walk or shopping, we were warmly received by local people. They expressed their love and admiration for the heroic Vietnam. Once, I and some of my friends were standing in front of a subway station and chatting in Vietnamese, an old woman approached and asked us about our nationality. As soon as we answered that we were Vietnamese, she was very excited to shake hands, ask questions and talk about her Vietnamese friends. She said that she loved the people as well as the country of Vietnam. Before leaving, she did not forget to present us some chocolate bars that she just bought. Those friendly and warm feelings have always reminded us to preserve and nurture the special traditional relationship between Vietnam and Russia.

Saint Basil's Cathedral, located at the Southern end of Red Square, Moscow, Russian Federation

Besides the warm feelings that Russians have for Vietnamese people, I am particularly interested in the natural landscapes of Russia. It is Spring filled with colors of clusters of Tulips, Sirens, Dandelions, trees of Cherry, Pear, Apple laden with fruits by the roadside; or Summer with splendid white nights, immersed in the sound of musical instruments performed by street artists; or Autumn of the forests of Maple, Poplar covered with sun flower-colored leaves, standing on both sides of the road; or a typical long and cold Winter of minus 30 Celsius degrees. The roads and forests are deeply covered with white snow. I still remembered that the thick frozen lake was an ideal place for the students like us to go ice skating, or some people drilled small holes on the frozen lake to catch fish. These activities were very interesting. For students in the dormitory like us, the window was the refrigerator compartment: space outside the window was the freezer, the one inside the window sill was the cooler. We used to hang meat and fish outside of the window for frozen storage, even water bags outside to make ice drinks. We left fruit, juice, etc… on the window sill to keep them cool … And more happy memories with the Russian weather…

Over the course of more than 25 years, my sentiments and good memories of the former Soviet Union – Russian Federation today has been still intact.

Annually, during on summer and winter vacation, the University often organized the camping trips in beautiful cities such as Saint-Peterburg (Leningrad), Sochi for the students to interact with those from the countries; or visit famous landscapes such as: Winter Palace, Summer Palace of ancient Kings; or have fun and swim in the Black Sea, watch wonderful white nights …During the period of schooling in Russia, we could implement exciting things that we only heard and watched in movies when we were young…

It has been more than 25 years since I left Russia. The participation in the Vietnam - Russia Friendship Association in Dong Nai province has given me the contact with Russia and cultivated more my sentiments for this country, recalled the good memories in Russia. I expect that everyone will learn more about Russia sothat they love this beautiful country more and visit Russia someday.

I hope that Dong Nai Provincial Government, the Provincial Union of Friendship Organizations as well as the Vietnam - Russia Friendship Association of the province will have more friendship exchange activities to promote understanding towards Russia of the people of Vietnam in general, those of Dong Nai province in particular, thereby preserving and developing this special traditional friendship.

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Autumn in Russia