1. Text I
My hoMetown
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Last Tet holiday, my
family went to my hometown.
We live in Ho Chi Minh City –
Southern Vietnam, and my
hometown is in Ninh Binh,
it’s in Northern Vietnam, so I
went there by plane.
The plane was very large.
It was a Boing 777-200. It
was large, comfortable, and
beautiful, the food was
delicious and the flight
attendant was polite. My
flight departed at 6:00 pm, so
it was dark and I didn’t see
anything. Ninh Binh – my
hometown – doesn’t have any
airport, so I had to go to Noi
Bai airport - Ha Noi, and
then I went to Ninh Binh.
The plane took me about two
hours from Ho Chi Minh City
to Ha Noi. At 8:00 pm, the
plane landed.
It was winter in Ha Noi,
so it was very cold. It was only
13 degree Celsius at this time.
And it was the coldest
weather in Southern Vietnam.
I wore a lot of clothes, but I
was still being cold. I haven’t
been in the cold weather like
this before. At Noi Bai
airport, I met and made a
short conversation with an
Italian. Then I went to Mr.
Cuong’s house – my
grandmother’s younger
brother’s house at over 10:00
pm.
Mr. Cuong’s house was
very warm. It was a
multistoried house. Mr.
Cuong is a geomancer, so it
accorded the Feng Shui
Principle. It was beautiful
and large. Every morning in
Ha Noi, I always got up over
6:00 am and had breakfast
over 9:00 am because it was
very cold, I slept very well. I
traveled in Ha Noi in a week.
During this week, I visited
Mrs. Phuong, Mrs. Tuong,
Mrs. Huan, Mr. Cong, Mrs.
Lam,… - my maternal
grandparents’ brothers and
sisters; and my parents’
friends live there. Everyday I
live there, the weathers are
alike. The weather at noon
was like the weather at 6:00
am and the weather at 3:00
pm was like the weather at
6:00 pm. The sky was gray,
many cloud and I couldn’t
see the sun. What a no
sunny day! Sometimes, I also
forgot that time is morning
or afternoon. I had to wear
one T-shirt, one pajamas,
one sweater, one coat, two
pants, two wool gloves, one
wool scarf, one wool hat, one
sneakers and four socks, but
when I slept, I still be a little
cold. On Friday, my family
went to Giap Bat bus station
to take a bus to left Ha Noi
and went to Ninh Binh.

2. The bus was awful. It was
terrible, many people and the
bus driver drove the bus
quickly. My trip departed at
10:00 am and left for Ninh
Binh at 1:00 pm. Then, I
went to my father’s eldest
brother’s house by taxi. The
bus was awful, so I felt dizzy;
I didn’t want to take a taxi.
But if I had wanted to go to
my father’s eldest brother’s
house, I will have taken a
taxi. Finally, I had to go there
by a taxi.
When I leave for his
house, I was dizzier. I met my
cousins and my uncle, aunt.
Then, I ate candy. After that,
I felt healthier. The
more days, it was colder. In
his house, there was a warm
conditioner. So, when we
sleep, we turned on this warm
conditioner, and it was warm,
I didn’t feel cold. In the
morning in his house, I got up
earlier than another morning
before because it was warm. I
lived there one day. In the
second day I live in Ninh
Binh, I took a taxi to my
hometown in Yen Khanh
town.
This taxi was very good.
It was cleanly, the taxi driver
drive the taxi didn’t too
quickly and the weather was
wonderful. In the afternoon,
we left for Yen Khanh town
and came to my paternal
grandparents’ house. I was
happy to saw them and they
were happy to saw me, too.
The view of the village was
friendly, wonderful and
peaceful.
The houses in the
country aren’t like the
houses in the city. In the city,
the houses very close
together. But, in the country,
the houses don’t close
together. Two houses nearest
together stand one paddy –
field apart. Around a house,
there were rice – paddies
many trees – fruit-tree,
shade tree, agricultural
plants - and stack of straws.
The rice – paddies flood with
water, the soil was fat and
some small fish. Since the
period beginning the winter,
farmers have been
harvesting rice. My paternal
grandparents are very
friendly and jovial. My
paternal grandmother was a
farmer but she retired some
years ago. And my paternal
grandfather was a soldier,
and he retired, too. They
have been keeping chickens,
so when I went there, there
was chicken in all the meals
in a day.
The weather at that
time was colder than one
when I live in Ha Noi. It was
only 5 degree Celsius, so I
had to wear more clothes.
Additional, I had to cover
with a lot of blanket, but I
still being cold. But, the
children live there wasn’t
cold. In the morning, when I
was very cold, but they just
wore two T-shirt, one pants
and they didn’t wear shoes,
but they didn’t feel cold.
They can go anywhere to
play and they wasn’t cold,
they so healthy.

3. On Monday, I came back
to my father’s eldest brother’s
house and on Tuesday my
family went to Noi Bai
airport and came back to my
home by the plane Airbus
320. I went home at 1:00 am
but next day me still going to
school. I very love this trip
because I could meet my
family.