Looking for adventures I ended up in Ha Noi, the soaring dragon and the first university of teaching Confucius

Curiosity is the compass of my life. Hi, I am Andrea and I blog about my numerous ideas and visions, some of them I had been able to realize and have integrated into my life. true to the quote of Albert Einstein "if an idea doesn´t appear ridiculous at first sight, it isn´t successful", I always follow up the making of the impossible possible.

With a new job and a challenge as a teacher of German as a foreign language, I ended up in Ha Noi, the booming capital of Vietnam on the Red River. The 6 millions metropolis Ha Noi is famous for its contrasts, which defines the charm of the city and which isdefinitly comparable to Paris. Today Ha Noi means "in the bend of a river", but in the past the city had been called "Thang Long" which means the soaring dragon.
Millions of moped and Vespa drivers pushes trough the streets, besides them scattered cars of all ages and prices, which are also pusing themselves in columns through the traffic jam. A post-war jeep seems to be an equal part of the street scene like a Bentley, Rolls Royce or Porsche. If you escape this hustle and go two blocks further, you will discover idyllic cafés, smaller shops, restaurants and parks that open your heart and start a feel-good program.
Peace and movement, chaos and control and a wonderful combination of modern lifstyle and Asian traditions. As a Francophile European you can´t escape this attitude towards life.

In the west of the French Quarter is located the Temple of Literature Van Mieu, one of the most famous temples and at the same time Ha Noi´s first university.
The Academy of the Sons of the Nation was founded in the early 11th century. Initially only members of the royal families studied here, later on the sons of the noble families and in the 14th century sivil servant examinations could already be taken there. The last exams were taken in 1915. In the center of the complex are temples dedicated to the worship of disciples of Confucius.
The teaching of Confucius has been introduced to Vietnam in the 2nd century by Chinese administrative officials, which has been called Nho Giao and is firmly anchored in the Vietnamese society of everyday life, social order and to secure power structures.

Legend about the teaching of Confucius:

Confucius asked his students two questions: What is knowledge? What is goodness?
The first student said:, "knowledge is able to make yourself understood to other people, and kindness is to act in a way that others will love you." "Good.", said Confucius. The second student said, "knowledge is to understand other people, and goodness is to love other peolpe." "Good", said Confucius again. The third student replied, "knowledge is to understand youself, and goodness is to love yourself!"
Confucius very much liked the third answer.

Scuplture of Confucius

entrance of the university, beginning studying is symbolised as a fish, and passing the exams at the end is symbolised as a dragon

driving around Ha Noi