Phuong was born in 1991 and grew up in the rural north of
Vietnam with her parents, younger sister, and three brothers. She helped her
parents on their farm, which had cows, corn, sugar, melon, and rice. Her family
did not have much money and life in the north was simple. One fun memory she
has of growing up was using cars to herd their buffalo. She left her family at
18 years old to work at a hotel and study tourism in Da Lat. Four months ago
she got a job working at Da Lat Family Hostel where she works from 7:30am until
10:30pm six days a week. She is almost done with her degree in tourism with
only a few essays left to write, however her long hours make it hard for her to
find time to write them. She makes 3 million dong a month (just under 150USD)
which is above average income in Vietnam especially given that she stays at the
hostel for free and is fed by “Mama” (the owner of the hostel who treats Phuong
as a daughter). Phuong sends all the money she can to her mom in the north. The
amount of energy she has while entertaining all the guests is remarkable given
the long hours she works. She is very playful and happy along with mama’s
daughter Anni. This energy has led to people recommending the hostel and is why
the hostel is fully booked almost every night. Her dream is to buy a house for
her family to live here in Da Lat and to travel the world. She said she want’s
to go to Canada and see snow.
