hi everyone so today marks a year since i posted my first video about the life in a quarantine camp
in vietnam since that video's gone viral people asked me why did you leave the us the land of
opportunities and freedom are you crazy what's wrong with you so today i'm going to explain why
and i even wear the shirt that has the state of Michigan on it because i know that we're going
to talk about America today the purpose of this video is not to offend anyone or to compare which
country is better everything i'm about to say is based on my opinions and my personal experiences
so if you are disagree or agree with it just leave a kind non-political comments down below so i'm
happy to learn from your different perspectives alright so without further ado let's get started
a little bit about my background my name is van i was born and raised in hanoi vietnam
at the age of 17 i went to the us to study abroad and work for seven years and now i'm back in
vietnam and i'm a full-time youtuber who creates content about vietnam especially vietnamese
culture before answering you why i left the u.s i wanted to tell you why i decided to go to the u.s
when i was in vietnam i was just a typical asian kid trying to study hard getting all a so
my parents wouldn't be ashamed of me and really i was just trying to meet others expectations and i
wasn't living my own life i didn't know who i was and i didn't know what i was doing until 11th
grade that was the first time i got exposed to the american culture by an american english teacher
and he was so passionate talking about american dream the freedom of speech the higher educational
system and i was so fascinated about his stories so 10 months later i decided to go to america to
seek freedom and opportunities ironically that's the same reason why i left the u.s america lacks
of job opportunities for international students as an international student i was not allowed to work
more than 20 hours during the school year and i couldn't work outside of the campus if the job
didn't correlate with my major so that's the reason why i double major in marketing and finance
so that i could get an internship in marketing i had to fill out so many paperworks sent my resumes
to hundreds of companies and got rejected because i'm an international student whereas in vietnam
is less competitive and there are actually more job opportunities for people with higher skills
both foreigners and vietnamese citizens when i went back to vietnam in 2017 i was so impressed
by how developed vietnam was i saw skyscrapers and people using higher technologies
and vietnamese people are so young very energetic very smart and especially they are very studious
and i also realize that it's easier to become an entrepreneur in vietnam for example if you have
a bicycle and you know how to make sandwiches you can open your own mobile subway business
and you don't have to worry about getting sued if your sandwich is not one foot long
besides that i feel like vietnam as a developing country will have more room for me to shine and
there will be more people for me to help and inspire i feel like i can contribute more in
vietnam than in the us working a 9 to 5 job ok so you might argue with me that america provides
opportunities for everyone who pursues their dream and works hard for what they aim for right i agree
and i did that i worked my ass off and finally got a job as a marketing manager but i wasn't feeling
happy the work-life integration in america is too stressful and competitive i remember when
i first came to america i was so shocked seeing american people work so hard and rush through life
they eat fast they have to-go coffee everywhere they walk fast like somebody is chasing them and
they just overwork themselves actually there's a study show that half of the american people don't
take vocations because they either feel guilty or they are afraid of being replaced and i was in
that situation as well i remember having meetings after meetings trying to work extra hours coming
home all exhausted and repeating i was trapped in a rat race and didn't know how to escape
then covet hit i took a step back and really asked myself what i wanted to do in life so
i decided to make a leap and move back to vietnam and start my new life here and it
was the best decision of my life the life here is so chill and so relaxing people wake up early
and you can see they enjoy their coffee and talk to their colleagues before going to work
not like me in america i was eating lunch and writing proposals at my desk
people here have lunch with their friends and they even have one and a half hour nap
vietnamese people work hard as well especially in the big cities like hanoi or saigon you know
you can see the hustle and bustle in the big cities but people know how to enjoy their life
they love yo meaning drinking talking eating with their friends every day they don't just do it in
the weekends they do it literally every day after work it's very hard to feel depressed here when
you're surrounded by smiles friendly people and different activities and things to do every day
literally you just walk out of your house and you see the full restaurant right in front of
your house you have so many choices for breakfast and every day you wake up you see a new food stall
or a new business open the life here is always busy but somehow it's all connected and very
harmonical i always compare the life in vietnam is like vietnamese traffic it's chaotic but somehow
people manage to blend in and still go with the flow vietnamese people are real curious kind
and friendly they're not gonna ask you how are you and then ignore your answers they actually want to
get to know you they asked about your name where you're from your age your income and your marital
status that's how you know people are so real right and that's why the personal uh space is not
that big it makes the community so close together and it's very easy to make friends here in vietnam
last but not least the high cost of living in the u.s was a factor that made me leave this beautiful
country above all is ridiculously expensive it's like twelve dollars while in vietnam you
can get six bowls of pho with the same price you might say i made more money in the u.s so it's
understandable that the cost of living is higher in america right as an international student i had
to pay double my tuition and on top of that there are high taxes high insurance utilities rents
everything i was literally living paycheck to paycheck i also realized that because i was living
in such a stressful environment i spent more money on the things that helped me release the stress
such as food shopping and traveling and those are very expensive as well so yeah those are the three
main reasons why i decided to leave the us and move back to vietnam and some of you guys asked me
if i live permanently in vietnam and the answer is i don't know yet but i do know at the end of the
day if i don't feel happy and i don't feel like i'm growing in one environment i'm just gonna
step out my comfort zone change that environment and live in a place that i feel happy the most so
i hope this video is somewhat inspiring and helpful for you guys and don't forget to
subscribe to my channel because in the next couple videos i will talk more about america and vietnam
and the life here in vietnam so i'll see you guys in the next vietnam adventure videos alright bye