7 Facts about Me, Myself and I

My quick ‘interview’ to introduce myself to ILLUMINATION.

Who am I?

Trung is my name. It seems difficult for foreigners to call my name correctly. I have many international friends, and I think just 1% of them can do that. I am a Vietnamese guy, staying in the Netherlands to pursue a graduate program. I came to the Netherlands from August 2019, and I almost finish my study.

I got married in 2018, and my wife moved to the Netherlands last February to stay with me. We had many plans to travel around Europe before she came here. Then, boom! Coronavirus comes to the world. Now we have to think of changing our travelling plan and wait for miracles that we can still travel.

What do I study?

I obtained my Bachelor of Laws in Vietnam five years ago. In between my Bachelor, I was lucky to have chances to participate in a summer school in Germany and an exchange program between my home university and National Taiwan University.

Now, I am participating in a Master’s in international business law in the Netherlands. If nothing changes, I will graduate this July.

What do I do?

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, I am a dishwasher (smile). I work part-time for a restaurant in my current city. It is one or two times a week because Dutch law does not allow me to work for more than 16 hours per week with my student-type resident permit. In fact, I am still a dishwasher, and my wife is my ‘boss’.

My main job before coming to the Netherlands is a legal practitioner/lawyer. I worked for an international law firm in four years. I was qualified to practice law in Vietnam last year. But in the global sphere, I will call me a legal practitioner.

What are my hobbies?

In the past, I used to play football for two or three times a week. I love football. But I got a severe knee injury in 2016, and last year, when I almost recovered, I got another injury at the same spot. So, I decided to quit football and just express my love with this sport through the screen of television, or laptop, or mobile.

I discover how much I like reading and writing when I moved to the Netherlands. Because I still have to complete my study, I do not spend much time a day on these two hobbies. But, when I finish my study, I will spend more time to read and write. I had one book reviewed in my blog here (take a look if you are interested and let me know how I can improve my book review).

When do I start writing blogs?

It is not until when I moved to the Netherlands that I start writing blogs. I started quite early after I graduated five years ago. But I did not publish any, and I stopped after one or two pieces.

When I start my program, my professor is the inspiration for me to start writing again. I start with a blog post published in my blog and have several unpublished drafts. I did not release any new post until April when I decide to write a review of books. I am completing some of my ongoing posts and hope I can publish them soon.

Why do I write blogs?

I want to express my opinions on how I see the world around me. I want to tell my stories to people and hope that readers can find something for themselves in my articles.

I realize that I have a lot of things and ideas in my mind. Write them down is a way for me not to forget them after few hours. Writing is a good way for me to improve my language level. I am not a native speaker, and I find that writing is a good practice for me.

What is my plan?

I still want to find a 9–5 job to keep practicing law which is my main expertise. At least, the law is still the subject I like the most, and that’s why I chose law as the one and the only area I want to study. It is hard to find jobs due to the impact of the pandemic, but I don’t want to stop my dream. Working in the legal field has a positive effect on how I see the world, gives me the ability to see things in different angles. That will be useful for my writing as well.

For writing, I want to expand the topics I can write. My posts will be mostly about Business, Law, Book Reviews, Travels and Start-up. They are my main interests when I start writing. But I want to write more, even about topics I don’t know much. That will be an excellent way to express my opinion and learn from others who know those topics.

In the short-term plan, I would like to be a blogger. It will not be easy, but I am trying and practicing reaching that goal.

Peace!