Quit high-paying job, move to Vietnam to 'find meaning in life'

At 8 o'clock, Choi Won Jun rode his motorbike to the market to buy food, chatting with a few acquaintances before carrying 20 kg of vegetables home.

The "owner" of a barbecue restaurant on Phan Van Tri Street, Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City hurriedly washed vegetables, cut meat, mixed sauce, and packed it to take to a restaurant 500 meters away. Around 10 o'clock, the first three customers opened the restaurant. From then until past midnight, Jun was almost never off.

"I lost 7 kg after nearly half a year in Vietnam because I was so busy," Jun said. "But I feel much happier."

Choi Won Jun, 33 years old, is from Jeju, South Korea. In 2009, his father went to Vietnam for work and brought his son along. Jun studied in grades 11 and 12 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The 17-year-old boy's memories at that time were of hundreds of motorbikes, some people casually littering in public places and children his age smoking or wandering around begging for money on the streets.

But by the third week, Jun began to appreciate the humanity of Vietnam. His father was busy at work, so he was taken to school by a motorbike taxi driver. Although this man did not speak any foreign language, he always tried to talk to him and bought him breakfast.

The first time Jun tried fish sauce, he felt the salty taste stick but the strange aroma lingered for a long time, very enjoyable. In the park, Vietnamese people always approached him to talk and get to know him - something that would be considered "strange" in Korea.

After finishing high school, Jun returned to Korea to do military service, attended university and worked at a real estate company in Seoul. After 6 years, he became a department head with a salary that many people dream of.

"But I don't feel happy, every day is like a boring loop," he said.

In Korea, people take the Bali Bali culture very seriously – doing everything quickly. You constantly have to maintain everything at a high intensity, following rules, order and speed.

After 9 hours at the company, Jun just wanted to go home and sleep, no longer having energy for anything else.

Amidst that stressful life, sometimes, he remembers the days in Vietnam, remembers the sidewalk banh mi carts where people drank coffee, chatted before going to work.

He had been to Australia and Malaysia but realized that only in Vietnam could he find that peace and leisure. Won Jun wanted to quit his job to live in Ho Chi Minh City but his family advised him to think carefully because "it's not easy to get this position".

One day, while driving, Jun noticed that the radio program in his car always matched the time he entered the tunnel, without a minute off. "I wondered if I was like a robot? What was the meaning of my life?", he said.

The young man decided to learn cooking for 6 months and then submitted his resignation in early 2024. 3 months later, he set foot in Ho Chi Minh City, starting a new life. He rented an apartment in a residential area in Go Vap District, instead of choosing Phu My Hung, District 7, which has the largest Korean community in Ho Chi Minh City.

Jun likes to talk to Vietnamese people, which is also a way for him to understand more about the culture. His friends are the vendors at Phan Van Tri market and the security guard nearby.

He was taken by Vietnamese people to eat vermicelli with fermented shrimp paste, and shown how to mix cooking oil and sugar to reduce the strong smell. On his motorbike trip to Da Lat, he stopped along the way and tried dozens of delicious dishes.

“All my stress went away,” he said. “Vietnamese people introduced me to their cuisine, and I wanted to do the same with my own food.”

At the end of last year, he used his savings to open a barbecue restaurant. At first, Won Jun wrote Vietnamese on paper to decorate, framed pictures, and prepared food. When he was struggling, everyone helped him without asking.

A friend who had worked with his father for more than 20 years helped with operations. The market guard volunteered to hand out flyers on opening day and was also the first customer. The ladies showed him how to choose vegetables, bargain at the market, and "attract" customers to the shop.

“I see help everywhere, even from strangers,” he said. Since opening his restaurant, Jun has been working more than 12 hours a day, going to bed at 2 a.m., more than he did in Korea.

"But I feel much more comfortable," Jun said. "I control my time and enjoy what I do, each day is an experience, even when facing difficulties."

At first, he thought he understood Vietnamese culture until he noticed the way they eat while grilling meat for them. Vietnamese people usually eat soup last, while in Korea, kimchi soup comes with grilled meat and rice. This makes people feel the soup is salty and spicy.

At the same time, Koreans have a culture of drinking alcohol while eating. Therefore, when eating grilled meat, soju and beer are almost indispensable, but Vietnamese people do not do that - they focus on enjoying the delicious taste of the meat.

"Vietnamese customers are not irritable or hot-tempered. They will talk slowly so I can improve," he said. This also helps Jun, who has never attended a Vietnamese class, to speak the language fluently.

In mid-March, Jun’s mother called from Seoul, surprised to see how much thinner he had become. But when he showed her the receipt from the security guard who came to support the restaurant that he kept as a souvenir, heard him tell her about what Vietnamese people had done for him, and saw his son’s radiant face filled with happiness, she understood why he wanted to stay in Vietnam.

"I have never regretted leaving," he said.