Vietnamese people everywhere always love and are proud of their country.
So I have been away from Lan, my close friend in the same neighborhood, for almost 2 years. Lan's father is a senior engineer who was sent to work at a company in Japan, so she had to follow her family there to study. Although we live far away, thanks to cell phones and the internet, we often keep in touch.
This year, on the National Day holiday of September 2nd, my family will have a trip to visit Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province, a World Natural Heritage. I want to tell Lan about that plan. I also borrowed a camera from my neighbor Ha to take many beautiful pictures of Ha Long to show Lan.
I wonder if Lan remembers the memories when we went back to her hometown together during the National Day holiday a few years ago? Lan's grandparents both live in the city, so she rarely gets to go back to her hometown like me. Every time she gets to go back to her hometown with me, Lan loves it. Every year, when September 2nd is approaching, Lan always begs her mother to let her go back to her hometown with me. My hometown is so beautiful! There are rice fields stretching as far as the eye can see, lotus ponds filled with fragrant flowers, and every time we go back, Lan and I often pick leaves to put on our heads, inhaling the scent of the fields and the countryside breeze. The happiest thing is that my grandmother takes us to see the summer camp organized by the commune every year on the occasion of Independence Day September 2nd.
The commune has 6 villages, each of which has a summer camp. Each summer camp is named after national heroes such as Vo Thi Sau, Ly Tu Trong, Nguyen Viet Xuan... The camp gate is skillfully assembled by the leaders and the young people in the countryside from bamboo trees and pasted on with all kinds of colorful papers. Some camp gates are even woven from coconut leaves and decorated with many animal figures made from bamboo and pandan leaves. Each camp has many red flags, yellow stars and a picture of Uncle Ho is placed solemnly inside.
The National Anthem was sung loudly by the teenagers and children in the ceremonial contest. Under the red flag with yellow star fluttering, I felt lucky to be born in a peaceful country. My grandfather often talked about the war and told us to study hard so that we could build our country into a rich and developed country.
When I told her that this year we would not be going back to our hometown but would be traveling with our family on September 2nd, Lan said that in Japan, the Vietnamese community also organized many activities to celebrate the nation's National Day. Some Vietnamese workers near where Lan lived also hung the national flag on this day. Lan's father did not forget to bring the red flag with the yellow star when he went to Japan. Lan also said that her father's company had many Vietnamese workers, so on September 2nd, the Vietnamese national flag was also hung. Because they did not have time off from work, in the evenings, the Vietnamese workers often gathered at Lan's house and held a small party.
Even though he is far from his homeland, he always feels familiar because Vietnamese people everywhere are united, love each other and are proud of their country.
LE HUONG GIANG, GRADE 8A, TAN BINH SECONDARY SCHOOL (HAI DUONG CITY)