About Adventure

ABOUT ADVENTURE
For FSOFT people going onsite

(Đăng The Cucumber 11/2005)

Prologue. The number of FSOFT people going onsite (both abroad and in Viet Nam) is increasing dramatically. These people can be divided into 2 groups: those who are keen to go and those who are not, or hesitating to, because of many reasons. In this paper, I’d like to share with 2nd group my experience of adventure.

As said once by a fortuneteller, I have “abroad going destiny” (số xuất ngoại). Honestly, this destiny was highly appreciated only in the past, when going abroad was the pink dream of many Vietnamese, especially the young. Nowadays, an average person can spare 2 months of salary and ready to take a tour to, at least, an SEA country such as Thailand or Singapore. It’s even easier for FSOFT guys.

Back to my adventure destiny, I have been in 14 foreign countries in almost all continents, with the first trip was in the age of 16. As everyone, I sometimes asked myself 2 questions: “what can I gain from such adventure?” and “how can I make it a pleasure?”. Only recently I found the answers that I want to share here with Cucumber readers. Note that the answers are not mine own (so be more confident :-)).

Purpose of adventure. I found it while watching a TV program (don’t remember exactly Discovery or CNN): Adventure is not about seeing new places, but about having a new eye. Just think over it. What do we want, going abroad the first time? Seeing places, of course. But what we do if we have no free (or very little) time? I heard many people, including myself, complained about not having enough time to go around, due to hard schedule. Even in this situation, we can still have a touch with new culture, new atmosphere which will change our eye - our way of thinking. Poor are the people who keep comparing “theirs” and “ours”, trying to see only the familiar things they have at home, ignoring everything new. Remember the magic of the new eye: it will help us to see more new places at home.

How to make it a pleasure. Answer comes from a short tale: [begin] A tourist comes to a new town, and sees an old man sitting at the town’s gate. He asked: “What is interesting in this town? What can I expect to see? Are there annoying things that I sometimes met in previous places?”. The old man answer: “It depends on your expectation. If you expect to see bad things, you’ll see them. If you expect to see good things, you will also.” [end] I experienced it myself, and strongly recommend you to try.

Epilogue. The next day a terrible thing happens: you are assigned to go onsite for a hard work. Accept it, the awful reality (is it really bad? Or rather a good chance for both your work and life?). Open the mind, open the eyes, and expect for the good. It will come.