Hi Hiver from "you-know-who" - become a Hiver, why not?

"The purpose of our lives is to be happy" - Dalai Lama XIV

Eventually, I am here to introduce myself to you after days delaying. No more hesitation, no more reason to say NO or NOT YET to start. Nice to meet you, my friends!

My real Vietnamese name is Nhung. You can call me by the name of Snow (Snow in Snow White). My mom must be a big fan of “Snow White and the Seven Drafts”, I guess. She revealed the truth that she wanted me to grow up as beautiful, strong, warm-hearted and to have a happy life as that princess. That’s what all moms in the world wish for their children.

I was born in the second largest province of Thanh Hoa, Vietnam in terms of area. My childhood was all about studying at school, helping parents on rice fields, attending tutorial classes to achieve better results at school. Dating back to the 1990s, my country was still so poor. In my early childhood, I did experience hunger, even not as much as my siblings did. My parents always told me that studying was the only way to escape from poverty. And I took that piece of advice seriously. I am the youngest in a poor family of seven. It meant I got more chances than my brothers and sisters to access education and I didn’t waste the fortune.

In 2012 I graduated from Hanoi University (HANU), English studies major. Being a collar worker - a translator for 1 year in Vietnam then came to New Zealand under a Working Holiday scheme. It was a turning point in my life, a journey full of colors and emotion. And now I am still in New Zealand, working as a pastry chef in a private business club in Auckland city. How come? Ah, I enrolled in a Culinary Art course for two years then I became a certified chef.

Being a chef is cool, seriously! Imagine you can cook the best fine-dining steak in the world at home; you can bake a fluffy, spongy souffle; or you can make a beautiful birthday cake for your lovers; or simply you know how to use knives with minimum opportunity to cut your fingers, etc… That’s so great, isn't it? Another good thing that comes along is you can read the menu when you are eating out, for example in a high-end restaurant. You’ll know what the dish is made from, how it is cooked, which one goes well with which, or the price is worth or too expensive… Moreover working as a chef you will be smarter in time management and anger control, absolutely haha.

If you are generous enough to ignore drawbacks such as early shift, late-night, split shift, time pressure, customer pressure, no break when it’s crazily busy, no appetite… chef is an amazing choice of career for sure.

Aside from work, I don’t forget to enjoy the beauty of nature which was the first and foremost reason when I decided to visit New Zealand. Every season has its romance. However, it’s a bit cold here to me – a girl from a tropical country. I also do some yoga at home, mostly to stretch after long hours standing at work. It helps balance my physical and mental health as well.

When I was a small child, I was inspired by a movie (sorry I don’t remember the name of that movie) to write the diary. I started at the age of eleven. Wow, it's been 20 years so far! Though writing is disconnected sometimes by laziness and business, I still keep writing as a habit. It’s sort of relief to confide in someone or something. I chose to write in Vietnamese, of course, I am more confident to express myself in my mother language than in English. I courage myself to write more in English as a way to learn and practice but there are always reasons holding me back. That’s why I hope by joining the Hive community I will be determined to improve my English, make it my strength, not my fear.

How do I know about Hive?
Months ago, while surfing on Facebook, I caught @trangbaby post about blogging on Hive. My curiosity drove me to dig for more information about Hive and PeakD. Spending hours reading and figuring out what it is and how it works, I don’t expect I can comprehend it by the first time reading.
Honestly, the more I read, the more I got confused.

So far as much as I have known, Hive is a blockchain. It has something to do with cryptocurrency. I’ve heard about cryptocurrency for years, but all I know about it is Bitcoin and now 1 bitcoin equals roughly $85 grand nzd. Well, inconceivable!

Back to the topic, PeakD is Hive’s social medial, a platform where users can share their posts and benefit in many ways. I’m not sure what I understand is right and enough. Perhaps you can kindly help me out.

At the moment I have a misty idea of what I may contribute to the Hive community but I am pretty sure there is a lot to learn from you. Looking forwards to hearing from you guys!

Thank you for being here reading my post. Hope to get to know many cool Hivers and can’t wait to read your sharing.
Last but not least, big thanks to @trangbaby for recommending this social media.
Have a good rest of your day!

Credit: all pictures above taken by NMT photography