Russians in Vietnam: 4 heroines about a new life in a new place
Go to Asia for the winter - an increasingly common practice that is no longer perceived as a downshifting or escape from reality. Many who exchanged Russian weather, economic and political conditions for postcard views and the human pace of life do not sit at the beach at all while waiting for the dollar to fall. We talked with four different residents of the Vietnamese resort of Muine, inhabited by Russians, about what the South China Sea coast is dear to them and what they do in times of crisis far from home.
Nina Scriabina
56 years old, cook
The idea to leave Russia for a long time - I can’t say that I was sharpening, but I visited: “I’ll retire and go somewhere ...” And that’s what happened. I did not choose the country for long - my sons have lived here for about four years. Two years ago I conducted reconnaissance in force, I liked everything. And last year, flying to the wedding of one of the sons, decided to stay. So I arrived, one might say, on the prepared ground of blessed Vietnam. Why the "blessed"? Because he is kind, open, unobtrusive, does not ring the doorbell, does not ask: "What are you doing here?"
I worked as a cook for over thirty years. I fed the whole country and still half the world, as I worked at Intourist - there was such an organization in the USSR. When I was in my forties, I decided to fulfill the dream of my youth and enrolled in theater courses. Five amazing years of study, friendship, travel, discovery. All this helped me to change my life. For a year and a half she studied ballet. I began to think seriously about the philosophy of the body.
All my life I dreamed of traveling. And traveled, but very little. I saw a little of Europe, a little bit of Russia, much less than we would like. Saigon was the first strong impression, after which I realized that I love this country. I remember well the first evening in Saigon, these Asian streets with all sorts of smells and at the same time high-rises. Buses, bicycles, scooters. At every corner they sell, buy, drink, eat something. Right on the sidewalks in the basins wash the dishes. Half wilderness. You are drinking a cocktail on the 50th floor of the Tower of Saigon, and after five minutes you are walking through real country life below.
For the first six months after my arrival, I spent whole days in a hammock on the terrace of our “guest house”. I read, painted, just looked at the sky. I waited until all the cockroaches that arrived with me left my head. Not all ran away, but it became easier. There is summer all the time here, you go barefoot all year round - very useful. You begin to feel nature, the lunar phases. Yoga naturally built into my life, and there were many friends with knowledge of interesting practices. They divide - I absorb. I like evening meditations under the starry sky, especially since it gets dark early here, around six in the evening.
At first, like many who had just arrived, I began my day with a huge mug of Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk and croissants or baguettes. Then she switched to rice and all Vietnamese food - and recovered. I wanted to switch to fruits and vegetables, since there are many of them. I began to eat a little raw food. Here, the general attitude to nutrition has changed dramatically. Favorite fruits change. There was a wave of papaya, a wave of mango, there was a period of "dragon" and a period of mangosteen. Voraciously ate rambutans for a month and a half. These waves will return, but now I eat watermelon every day. From the national cuisine I like Vietnamese pancakes with sprouted soybeans, mushrooms and greens.
To live in Mui Ne is cheap if you don’t spend a lot and do not eat in restaurants. It would be nice to have a steady income here. But this is a separate story. I have a pension and a small rent. So far enough. I found lessons for the soul that give material support: I make and sell "dream catchers", draw pictures, participate in organizing children's parties.
I'm going to master the bike. All the Vietnamese old women shake on them - it means that I can
In Russia, I still have a mother, an older brother, a cat that lives with friends, friends. I am aware of their life - after all, there is a social network, Skype, phone, in the end. Yes, I miss the autumn forest when you go for mushrooms, and with a thermos of hot coffee and sandwiches. Or when you walk on squeaky snow and your nose sticks together from the cold. From Russia, I usually ask you to bring buckwheat and our “Soviet” oatmeal, which you need to cook for a long time and which dogs are usually fed. There is only quick-to-get.
Now we are with two girls, one of whom is a first-grader son, renting a house on the very outskirts of the village and on the very seashore. This is the third place where I live in Mui Ne. Before that there were two guesthouses. We are three women and one child. We jokingly call our company "Darth Vader family". The space is pleasant and soft. Even neighboring karaoke does not interfere, although the Vietnamese love to sing. But I realized that if something doesn’t like something, you just take a suitcase and go to look for what suits you. Attachment to the place I have not.
We were received in this country and glad that we live here. Of course, there are subtleties of being everywhere. Vietnamese with pleasure look into our bag, lift the lids of all pots, open the refrigerator when they come to visit. But they live like that. And I came to visit them and should take this space. For example, yesterday my electric bike whistled from the yard of the house. Well whistled and whistled. This is their problem, and for me the lesson and motivation is to be philosophical about life. Now I am going to master the bike. All the Vietnamese old women shake on them - so I can.
Also, coming to Vietnam, do not pay special attention to the dirt. Besides, it's not so messy here. Do not look at how the dishes are washed in the "side". This is Asia, you came to a fishing village. This is MUI ne, not a French restaurant. And do not count every thousand dong. This is very difficult to relax and poisons life.
Not far from Nha Trang, there is Mount Hon Ba, where I strongly advise you to take a bike ride - on the summit stands the house of the French bacteriologist Alexander Yersen, a student of Louis Pasteur. At the end of the XIX century, he discovered the causative agent of plague. At that time almost every third person in Vietnam was sick with plague, so his help in fighting this danger was invaluable. One of the most respected "colonists" in Vietnam, practically a national hero, Jersen loved Vietnam. He even asked to bury himself face to the ground and with outstretched hands, as if, after death, he embraces this earth.
What am I doing here? I just live here. I look at the sunsets every day, listen to the roar of the sea, learn English, do dream catchers, eat watermelons and try to get to know myself. One of my dreams came true - a house by the sea. And now I dream to find a friend, associate and life partner, to sit down with him on a bike and go where we have not been.
Maria Vikhareva
38 years old, Thai massage teacher and spa owner
I lived and worked in Moscow, my first daughter was recently born, and suddenly my friend, one of the first Moscow kite surfers, invited my family to spend three months in Vietnam. We already had experience of wintering in Egypt, so we thought and decided to arrange another one for ourselves. In Mui Ne we liked it so much that we changed the tickets and stayed until May, and then returned to Russia. At that moment, we already knew that we were waiting for the second daughter, and realized that we would like to move to Vietnam for a little longer.
I remember my first impressions of the country very well: "Well, and a bath. Well, and a sauna. Well, and dirt. It gets dark at 5:30 in the evening. Horror!" But gradually the body has adapted. And later, in the second visit, I started toxicosis - and it became really bad: the 17-kilometer-long main street of Mui Ne with fish restaurants, that is, everywhere this smell of fish and sauces. Two months of nausea. And the general feeling that you are in a corner of the world forgotten by everyone outside the cultural space. And also I couldn’t ride a kite - and that was completely sad. Toxicosis passed, and it became easier. And I realized that here it is - SEA. And how beautiful it is. But still, with all the comfort of living here, some of the cons have not turned into pluses. These "resort" 17 kilometers remained. Museums, galleries, cinemas have not appeared. If you are not kayaking and pregnant, then your main entertainment is the Internet.
On the second trip, I realized that I wanted to do massage and work in this area. In Moscow, I worked in an advertising agency and had nothing to do with a massage / spa salon. For seven years here we have built our business from scratch. I not only wanted to create a network of spas, but above all personally become a professional in Thai massage. I went to study in northern Thailand, in Chiang Mai. It is believed that there are the coolest massage schools, the best masters and teachers. My friend Julia, the owner of Yoga House, a famous and popular place, went with me. Her son Nazar was then 4 months old, and my Sasha was 8 months old. We took the children under our arms and flew to Chingmai for a month and a half to study Thai massage. It was difficult and fun: as we were looking for babysitters there, how we were running at recess to feed the children.
The first spa appeared by chance. I learned that some Vietnamese are selling a part in a building for a salon and are looking for partners (Russians can buy property in Vietnam, but not land). I arrived, and we agreed. The rhythm of life was then: half a year I worked here, half a year lived in Russia. And earlier, the children traveled with me, but now they are already schoolgirls, so for the last few years they have been spending these “Vietnamese half-years” in Moscow without me.
Before the crisis, there were happy times. We had seven salons - here, in Nha Trang, Cam Ranh. About 60 personnel worked, in each salon there were two Russian-speaking managers, a financial director. There was a big company whose management took a little time. Now I have one salon left, my home business. And all life revolves around it.
Rare weekends I spend alone. I leave sometimes to the Keg lighthouse, sit and look at the emptiness
They say a good captain is the one that sank the ship. In this crisis, I almost lost my business. After the bankruptcy of Transaero, I was ready to close this and the last salon and leave for Russia. All my friends, to whose advice I would listen, told me that this was the way to be done: there would be no season, because a dollar, because oil. And I had a feeling that I could not abandon my sunken ship. I settled here, in the salon, and did almost everything myself: I washed and washed and massaged, and at the same time collected a new team. The first month was hard. But in the end we realized that we can do it and we can hire staff, and, finally, a cleaning woman appeared. Season "went."
The last three months I work almost every day. I get up at seven in the morning on the alarm clock and immediately begin to do some things in the salon, or go to the sea to swim and "live up to it", or wait for students in Thai massage courses that I teach in the salon. In general, the owner of the business is a universal and unique employee. I meet guests, keep a record of the procedures, do the massages myself, teach. The whole day is spent in communication with people on a variety of occasions and usually ends at 11 pm. After that I go to a cafe, eat hummus and Greek salad, come home and go to bed. Very tired, to be honest. Rare weekends I spend alone. I leave sometimes to the Keg lighthouse, sit and look at the emptiness.
In Vietnamese, I like good nature, cheerfulness, good attitude towards foreigners, unshakable love of money. They pray in temples and ask God to have a lot of money. This, of course, from poverty. Often, Vietnamese’s first major purchase is a satellite dish. Driving through the province, you see these literally cardboard boxes in which people live - but with a satellite dish. People look at the world through the window of the TV.
I became a vegetarian back in Moscow. And here it is easy to be. I love all fruits, especially sapodilla, sausep (if you throw this fruit in a blender, you get pure yogurt), red papaya and durian. And I love sugar in any form - buns, buns, sweets. I can buy a bag of various pastries in my favorite French bakery My Wu Bakery in Fantet and eat in a day.
Awful lack of culture, cultural society. You can, of course, go somewhere to sunbathe, but this is different. In general, if you ride a kite, you don’t need anything else, but if not, then you miss the social and cultural spheres of ordinary city life madly. And more on Italian coffee.
Lena Akulovich
32 years old, artist
I was born in the Far East, in the city of Svobodny, I studied at an art school. At the age of 14, she moved to Petersburg, where she graduated from the Lyceum at the Stieglitz Academy and met a brilliant teacher, artist, art critic Alexander Borisovich Simuni there - he helped me to open up.
My academic specialty is "textile artist". It so happened that I studied at three universities: I was expelled from the Stieglitz Academy for manifesting freethinking, as I say. In the second institute, BIEPP, I entered the department of "Costume Design", there were amazing teachers: the head of the department and the master of her craft Sofia Azarkhi, Anatoly Savelevich Zaslavsky, the teacher of painting and my favorite artist. After a year and a half, my course was disbanded, and I got into the third institute, IDPI, the department of textiles. Then I thought that my vocation was painting, and not batiks and tapestries, but now I’m doing what I create clothes and paint them.
In Mui Ne, I was by chance. I am dark, black-haired, brown-eyed, maybe that's why I was always drawn to the sea and southern landscapes. My friend helped realize this - he is a man of art himself, and he is familiar with the difficulties of becoming a young artist. At first, I wanted to go to Brazil, it was warm, exotic and did not need a visa, but he advised me to go here in Mui Ne, where he had friends, helped me with a ticket and money for the first time.
Most of my things remained in St. Petersburg: paintings, a sewing machine, a huge wardrobe. My St. Petersburg paintings now live their lives, go around the apartments of friends, sometimes exhibited. This winter my grandmother died. I did not have time to say goodbye, but for some reason I do not feel that something has changed. I know that she is somewhere nearby. Relatives have not come to visit me yet, everyone is going. I also left Svobodny, so I have never been there since. I do not like to return. Sometimes I think I have a gypsy soul.
I live in a house in a palm grove as close to nature as possible. I love everything to be open and purged. In my room, butterflies fly, spiders crawl on the walls, and geckos catch mosquitoes and flies. Here you can always hear birds, and at night, grasshoppers and toads. The sand, however, blows with the wind, which is not the most pleasant thing, and there are many ants. Gradually turn on raw foods. I love watermelons and almost all greens, except cilantro. In the morning I practice qigong. In Mui Ne, there are many kiters and many tourists. And there are few spiritual people who have something to learn, to whom they want to reach out.
When I drive on the highway and see green fields under the endlessly blue sky, there is a complete sense of scenery
I came here with my beloved cat Timothy, who disappeared two years ago. In Vietnam, they eat everything, including cats and dogs. Animals are stolen, and thugs drive from Phan Thiet (the Vietnamese themselves call them "Ali Babs") with cages and strangles and catch cats and dogs for their cafes, sometimes they steal for ransom. When I was looking for Timothy, I found a street in Phan Thiet where these “Ali Babs” live. One showed me a cage with cats, there were 7-10 cats of different sizes, trembling with fear, blinded into one lump, with huge eyes full of fear. I will never forget this picture: he put a stick in a cage and began to jerk the doomed heap, as if inside there were not living beings, but a pile of garbage. It's very scary.
Civilization abruptly came to Vietnam, and as the Vietnamese used to throw banana skins under their feet, industrial garbage and packaging are being thrown away. People do not think about what they are doing. An old grandmother throws a bag of fish heads into the sea - what is it, a tribute to the sea? When I drive along the highway and see green fields planted with coffee groves under the endlessly blue sky, there is a complete sense of scenery. As if you see a perfectly made layout of a country called Vietnam. And inside something is different.
In Mui Ne there are many objects painted by me: walls, bars, restaurants, gyms. One of the coolest walls of mine was at the local rock club Hell's Bells, which, however, no longer exists. I didn’t really like the atmosphere of this place because of the owner, something in him was damn - although then he turned out to be a very nice person. They gave me a blank check - and I decided to draw. As a result, a sketch was born on a 12-meter surface, with devils, with a five-breast woman, with a devil-merry fellow, with purple hair rivers. The painted wall lived for three days: the Vietnamese came from a neighboring guesthouse, to the wall of which the bar was attached, and painted it. They were chased away, but they returned three times - they could not live alongside such "hellish beauty." In general, I like to paint large surfaces, I want to do something global once, for example, to paint a cathedral.
Now I am working on the project "Beautiful Planet" about animals and nature, where I will talk about culture and traditions, about the relationship between man and nature. And the first topic is, of course, cats. Во многих культурах кошка - священное, мистическое животное. Хочется дать людям хотя бы возможность задуматься об этом. Меня часто воспринимают как странную девушку, и мне это нравится. Живопись, одежда, объекты у меня тоже необычные, так как я не стремлюсь сделать что-то модное, а работаю со своим подсознанием. Мне приятно, когда мои картины и одежду покупают, я ценю это.
Лена Камочкина
37 лет, кастинг-директор в кино и рекламе
Я родилась на Урале, в Оренбурге. В раннем детстве мы с мамой уехали жить в Казахстан, в город космонавтов Джезказган, а во времена перестройки переехали в Россию. I graduated from the Belgorod Institute of Culture and Arts with a degree in film director-teacher and got a job at the Starooskolsky Theater for Children and Youth, then became a radio host on the local radio station Hit Fm. I wanted to develop in the direction of radio journalism, and I entered the Voronezh State University. After studying, I ended up in Moscow, where I lived for 12 years.
As a child, I dreamed of getting into a movie, since my birthday is August 27, and this is Russian Film Day. Fate didn’t bring me to the movies, where I worked for 12 years, from death to the casting director. The works became more and more, the level of projects grew: I, for example, made castings for "Love-Carrot-2", then the directors began to call me for game advertising.
In between projects, I usually went on small trips around Europe and Asia. In the next year, having done a fair amount of work, I decided to pause and planned a big three-month trip around Asia: to India (where I went every year), Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. When I left, I planned to have a rest, return from my soul, and earn "an apartment in Moscow." But the journey was so incredible that it changed all my plans for the future. On the way, I realized that I truly feel happy, because there is a lot of beauty around that I want to live in - by this time I was already in Vietnam. Two days before my departure, I firmly decided that I was flying to Moscow, collecting things and flying to Vietnam for half a year - I make a creative pause, so to speak. So I was here.
Why Mui Ne? There are a lot of Russians here, and it also helped me to decide to live far from my homeland with a poor knowledge of English. In addition, I had a friend here who showed all the beautiful places in the first month of his stay as a "tourist". Ebb and flow, sunrises and sunsets - here every time everything is new. If you travel outside Müyne, you can see many beautiful places. Neighboring cities: Dalat, Fanrang, Nha Trang, Vung Tau, Baolok. Just sit on the bike - and the road along the sea and mountains in any direction will reveal all the beauty of the local nature.
I continue to work on castings, but already remotely, periodically returning to Moscow for 2-3 months - this is great material support for me and allows me to remain in the profession. In Vietnam, life is three times calmer. Here I feel myself. I fill myself useful and useless: I read, I study English, I work, I travel, I photograph. In short, I live.
I realized that I truly feel happy because there is so much beauty around that I want to live in.
I love the sea, I love to look for shells. At first, I spent hours wandering around empty beaches in search of beautiful shells, it was my meditation. I would like to learn how to make beautiful things from them and do it in my free time. While I only try - I make candles, I recently finished a coffee table with a tabletop, completely covered with shells, made the first earrings and pendants from shells. Completely different feelings - do something beautiful with your own hands. 140 kilometers from Mui Ne is the city of Fanrang and the reserve of the same name. Fantastic places - nature, beaches. There even seashells are completely different than here. If you are in Vietnam, I strongly advise you to devote a couple of days to this place.
The last six months, I wake up late, at nine o'clock. But happy is my day - when I manage to get up at six in the morning and go to the sea. I sunbathe, swim, return home for a couple of hours of my beauty rituals - masks, care. At the same time I read, listen and search for music, I sit on the Internet - this is the time of new streams of information. Closer to dinner, I usually sit down on a bike and go somewhere to eat - scout a new beach, meet friends. In general, morning begins at the Vietnamese lunchtime in Moscow, so the second half of the day may be fully working — calls, emails. Because of the time difference, I can go to bed at 3-4 am, but when there is no urgent business, I try to fall asleep by one or two nights.
Now I am trying to understand how I can be useful in Mui Ne. I have already tried myself as a guide. There is an idea to make a "Dzhus-center" and a children's drama school. Yes, and with the movie I want to think of something, because sometimes they come here to shoot. In general, there is something to do here, but I still have one foot in Moscow, so now I'm just looking at it.
I am amazed at the attitude of the Vietnamese to the land. Wherever you go - the land is well-groomed, flowers are blooming, coffee is growing. The nature of Vietnam is colossal. Many complain about the garbage, but I have something to compare. In India, for example, is dirtier. Nevertheless, there is a problem of garbage. In the low season, the wind changes and everything that the fishermen and tourists have thrown into the sea comes to the coast of Mui Ne. The water is full of polyethylene, and this is a sad sight. Selfless people several times organized beach cleaning activities, and caring residents came and cleaned the beach, but so far this has not turned into a regular action so that you can connect the Vietnamese or have them notice and join.
My favorite Vietnamese food is scallops and fried crocodile at Bio Hoi Cafe. The rest of the meat dishes I do not eat. If I once get on a crocodile farm, perhaps I will refuse a crocodile. Fruits and vegetables are like water for me here, the basis of the diet. Friends bring tobacco from Russia - here a good one is expensive. And chocolate - "Alenka" any. But without this, I can safely do. It is rarely possible to live on less than $ 700 a month.
As soon as I decide where my two legs will be - here or in Moscow - I will reunite with my cats, the 10-year-old Briton Oscar and the cat Dasha, which I picked up during the shooting in Ossetia. All last year they were here with me, but I lived in constant worries - in Vietnam they steal animals. Now cats live with friends in Moscow.
I always wanted to live by the sea - and this came true. For complete happiness, I think it's good to have your own home. Not sure what it is here. Soon I am going to the Philippines and Bali. I want to see new places, explore what the atmosphere is, what kind of nature, how people live and what. In the meantime, I'm in search and ready to change the scenery.