Anh Ngoc Truong

The First Winter

During the winter in Boston in 2018, I felt very happy and excited because I saw snow for the first time.

In the morning, I woke up and looked out the windows. Snow had fallen and covered all the trees, roads, cars, house, and everywhere, snow, snow, snow .... only white color so beautiful. I had been never seen it before. My kids and I expected and welcomed the Wintertime. After breakfast, we wore snowsuits and went outside. We touched the snow. It was soft and cold. The kids were very excited. They made smiling snowmen, snowballs, snow angels, and they threw snow far away, lay on the snow, rolled around on the snow, or they attacked together by snow. We walked with our feet pointing.

After the day, the sun had melted the snow away but some snow still became ice. It was hard and slippery. It made me fall down when I stepped on it.

We had a fun in the first Winter.

The Animals

There are many kinds of animals in the world. They live in different weather, temperature, geography, so they have different size, color. Some kinds are only living at the North Pole such as polar bears, snowshoe hares, snowy owls, Bald Eagle, water seal...and the other animals are living in the tropics such as elephant, snake, monkey…

I am from Viet Nam. It is tropical. I live in a small countryside and only see the animals around my house such as cat, dog, pig, snake, rat, chicken, fish, crab, shrimp, but they are small. The dog and cat lived in my house, and the chickens and pigs were raised by my parents. Snakes and rats lived around my house. Fish, crabs, and shrimp lived in the pond in my backyard.

One day, when I was a kid, my father took me to the zoo in the big City where I saw elephants, peacocks, horses, lions, and tigers… I felt so happy. At the time, I was so curious. I was thinking about the animals. “Why are they so big? where are they from? How do they live ? What do they eat ? Why do they have many different colors? …” After that, I watched animal programs on television, and I knew there were many kinds of animals in the world.

When I came to Boston, I took my kids and went to the zoo & aquariums. In here, I saw penguins, beavers, starfish,... In my country, we did not see them. Another surprise for me is king-crab and lobster because my country doesn't have them. They are so big and delicious. We got on the boat and went to the sea. We saw the whale, and my kids were very happy .We were very excited, because it was the first time we saw the real whales. But I don't know that my kids are thinking about questions like me, when I was child.

Animals have many kinds and many different colors, sizes, and they live everywhere in the world. They also adapt to the climatic, environmental, and geographical conditions of each place. They make a wonderful animal world.

Vietnamese Ao Dai

Every country has traditional costumes such as Japan's kimono, Korea’s hanbok, and Vietnam's ao dai. Ao dai has a long history and changed over time. It is worn in many different events.

In the past, Ao dai was very simple. It was white and black. Its collar stood up high and tight. The body part hugged close to the waist. It was made of two long skirts to the ankle and two long sleeves. It was worn with long wide leg pants. It changed over time to be appropriate for the situations and style. Today it suits each event and is created with several designs and colors, such as its collar can be a circle, square, or oval shape. Sometimes it has shorter sleeves, shorter skirts. The skirt has pictures, landscape, flowers… And it has many colors. It is worn with tight leg pants.

Nowadays, ao dai is worn at many events. At weddings, the bride wears red ao dai, the groom wears blue ao dai. At New Year, you can wear your favorite style ao dai. At school only white is an option for girls. Women teachers can choose many colors and flowers. At the bank, airport, employees wear ao dai for uniform the same color and the same style.

Ao dai is a traditional costume because it is present in Vietnamese life. Vietnamese women wear it every day, and men wear it for special events. When you go anywhere in the world that has Vietnamese people, you see ao dai.