Interview with Hang (14.01.2022)

Here is my interview with Hang - a vietnamise person who currently is 20 years old and studies in Berlin
I: Hi! I’m Alex, and I am working on project “Foreigners’ view of Russia”, so I’d like to ask you some questions about your view of Russia, if you don’t mind.
Hang: Okay.
I: So, could you introduce yourself?
Hang: So, hi! My name is Hang; I’m from Vietnam, and I’m currently studying in Berlin. I am twenty years old.
I: Have you ever been to Russia?
Hang: No, I haven’t
I: And if you ever visit Russia, which places would you go to first?
Hang: Probably, Moscow and then Saints-Petersburg, because that are two places that I know.
I: Can you tell me some basic stereotypes about Russia that are present in Vietnam?
Hang: Em.. stereotypes about Russia… Probably, that people are really cold, and also something to do with like there is like a friendly relation, I don’t know if it is a stereotype, but we are like: “Oh, we are friends with Russia”, because of like the war. And also that they wenre socialists, communists. And probably, they drank a lot of vodka.
I: Are there any stereotypes about Russia that you find like really ridiculous?
Hang: Eem… Hm.. I don’t know. Maybe the drinking vodka one, and maybe like the one about the people being cold. I don’t know, like. I found that like, you know, like, some people are like that, so I think like all stereotypes are kind of ridiculous. I don’t know.. I guess the one with drinking vodka.
I: Okay. Then the next question: I know it’s really hard to answer, but how do you think an average Russian person differs from an average Vietnamese person?
Hang: I think, I would say that Vietnamese is much more conservative and traditional. Whereas, for me Russia is sort of the West, even though sometimes it is not considered. I would think that an average Russian is more open-minded or more Western, I guess, I don’t know. Yeah, and maybe in terms of teenagers or young people of my age I would say like an average Russian teenager is probably more up-going. I think that the lifestyle is just different. I would imagine that, from stories that my friend told me, there are more parties going on or people are wilder. yeah...
I: Were there any poets, writers, composers and et cetera in your school program?
Hang: Yeah, we had Tolstoy and a few others, but I just remember Tolstoy. And for piano was like Tchaikovsky. Was he Russian?
I: Yes, yes, he was.
Hang: I saw those two. But I think it was more prominent during my parents’ time. Now it’s not so much anymore.
I: So, you’ve read Tolstoy, right?
Hang: Yeah, I don’t remember though. I just remember learning about him briefly. Maybe, I think I remember one book. I don’t know if it was Tolstoy, but it was a book about a rose, and the rose was in a book or something. O don’t know, maybe it was his. I: I am not sure. I don’t know all Tolstoy’s works. Do you remember like the impression that you got from reading Tolstoy?
Hang: I remember it was like kind of weird, or like sad. He was a kind of sad person. I remember reading it and like: oh, what’s going on with this guy? And I was like really, because I read translated version, weird the phrasing just how he describes thing was kind of different from how would, I don’t know, average Vietnamize see the world. I: Is Russian literature popular in Vietnam?
Hang: Yeah, I think it’s pretty popular. Like it really depends on a kind of classes you take, because in normal Vietnamese public school you have specialized area of study, so for some people it would be Russian specialized. Even in high school. They would like study Russian, and then they would know more about Russian literature. It is popular, but I think more during my parents time than right now. Right now it’s shifting towards more American or British. Before that definitely during my parents time Russian literature was really popular.
I: So, did I get it right than one of the most popular Russian writers in Vietnam is Tolstoy?
Hang: Yeah.
I: Have you ever tried to learn Russian and how hard of a language do you think it is?
Hang: Yeah, I actually tried learning Russian when I was 13. 14 maybe. It was like pretty hard because the alphabet is pretty different, so I have to like memorize the alphabet. And then like I remember that the words were really long and I struggle with some of the pronunciation. But I don’t think I’ve ever got to the actual hard part. I was just at really beginners age. Like “hi, how are you” this type of things, but I remember it was hard learning like the alphabet and the numbers for some reason, I don’t know.
I: What’s you view on Russian curse words?
Hang: I probably know two, which are probably the most popular ones on Tiktok. I am friends with this Russian girl, and she uses it a lot, and it’s really aggressive, but also funny, cause I don’t understand it, you know. Then she starts swearing a lot in Russian like “bubububa” , and I’m like: “Oh, cool!”. Yeah… I guess it’s like a bit of aggressive and funny.
I: Do you know any Russian songs, or do you listen to any Russian singers?
Hang: Yeah, I know two songs. One is, okay, I know I won’t pronounce it right, but “Ya shvoboden” ( “Я свободен” ) I can type it for you.
I: Yeah, could you type it.
Hang: And the other one is called like “Vozmoshno” or...
I: Yeah, that’s right – “Возможно”
Hang: Yeah, that one I know, and the other one is “I’m free” or something.
I: “Я свободен” , maybe?
Hang: I’ll just send you with the other song. Did you receive it?
I: Wait a minute… “Я свободен” , yeah, yeah, that’s right.
Hang: Yeah
I: Is Russian music popular in Vietnam?
Hang: Mm… No, I don’t think so. Not that popular, no.
I: Okay, and have you watched any Russian movies, and if you have what do you think of Russian cinema?
Hang: No, I don’t think so. Maybe I’ve watched like once. I don’t know, I don’t remember. Maybe I’ve watched like once, it was like really weird one, like silent. So no, not really.
I: I want to change the topic a little bit to more serious one.
Hang: Yeah, okay
I: So I want to talk about politics. So do you follow Russian politics and what’s your opinion about it?
Hang: I don’t follow Russian politics. I follow it a little bit in relation to my country’s politic, like if there were any changes in like the relation between Vietnam and Russia, I would like to keep up, but in general I don’t really follow it. I think the most sources about Russian politics I saw in Tiktok. Memes about Putin or something.
I: Based on what you’ve heard what can you say about the situation in Russia right now?
Hang: Okay, based on what I’ve heard, is that people don’t really like Putin, but there isn’t anyone else to replace it. And that a lot of people are dissatisfied. And that it, I don’t know, very authoritative, but it probably is. Yeah, that’s probably all I can say.
I: As I’ve understood, you’ve seen some Russian memes
Hang: yep.
I: So what were they about in general?
Hang: It was just like about Putin, or like Russian literature. But mostly like Putin, and like him on a bear or something. Yeah that’s it. Or about nucs and nuclear wars, and race between Russia and America. This type of things I: So what do you think of Russian humor based on TikTok and memes?
Hang: Em…Cause it’s like different to see depiction of Russia from like other people’s view< you know on TikTok. and then like the Russian humor from my friend, who is Russian. So then I guess like the one of other people feelings or Tiktok depiction on Russia is kind of like setting into stereotypes a little bit, you know. Old cold country, depressive literature, Putin on the bear. And then from my Russian friend it would be kind of like really dark humor, a lot of the time and really like the stuff like that would be considered politically incorrect in at least a part of the world, I don’t know. Yeah, that would be my take on it. I: That was the last question, thank you a lot for helping me in this project, it was nice to talk to you.
Hang: It was nice talking to you! Thank you! Good luck with you project!