After returning to their hometowns to celebrate Tet with families, thousands of workers from all regions of the country have “packed up” to continue their journey to leave their homeland by trains to the "Industrial Capitals" to continue their daily livelihood. Those trains are filled with wishes for a better and more adequate new year.
Going far to return
When Tet comes, everyone wishes to return to their hometowns for Tet with relatives, gather around a tray full of members with lots of joy and wish each other a new year with peace, success…Then after the Tet holiday with family, everyone "packs up" on the road to start a new year with busyness for making livelihood. On the train stations, greeting each other with waves or good-bye said hastily with many emotions made us, the witnesses, very touched.
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Di An train station in Di An city these days is always bustling to welcome workers back to continue their livelihood journey with the hope of a better new year
On the early days of the year, most guests on the trains running from the North to the South were those living away from home to return their hometowns for Tet and then come back to work in the southern provinces, mainly Ho Chi Minh city, Binh Duong and Dong Nai. On the SE13 train running from Nghe An province’s Vinh city to Ho Chi Minh city, we felt the spirit of those living away from home on the early days of the year. Being different from the atmosphere of joy, excitement and anticipation on the trains returning home to celebrate Tet with family, the first train back to the town had a somewhat quiet atmosphere. On the faces of many people, there was still nostalgia mixed with anxiety about home, relatives and friends because their time for family was very short. They had no time to feel the atmosphere of the spring, but had to come back to work…
Holding his 4-year-old son, saying goodbye to relatives by waves at the Dong Hoi train station in Quang Binh province, Nguyen Duc Anh, a native of Quang Binh province said that his family has left his hometown for Dong Nai to work for more than 10 years. After a few years of being unable to return hometown, due to Covid-19 pandemic, this year, he and his wife still decided to bring their children home to celebrate Tet with their family, despite facing few difficulties in finance. “I haven't been home for a long time. Now, I'm happy to see that my hometown has changed a lot. After returning home for a few days, he was busy to come back to work. Although there was a bit regretful, he had to accept it. Now, I am healthy, so I try to work away from home in order to earn a little capital, and then return to my hometown to help my parents and children for a more stable life. For laborers living away from home, this is the only desire”, said Mr. Duc Anh.
Wiping her tears quickly while reviewing the photos taken with her mother during the Tet holiday, Tran Thi Tuyet, a native of Nghe An province’s Nghi Loc district confided: "It is quite expensive for the whole family of 5 members to return to hometown on Tet holiday. Therefore, the train is the mean of transport that my family has chosen to return hometown for Tet. I came to Binh Duong to work as a worker when I was young. So far, I have got married and had 3 children. Living away from home for such a long time, every time I return to my hometown, I don't have the heart to say goodbye to everyone before coming back to work. I just hope that our grandparents and parents at home are always healthy so that we can return to our hometown for many cozy reunions together."
Filled with desires
Sitting on the train to enjoy the natural scenery of the country, Mai Xuan Tu from Quang Binh smiled and said: "After short days of celebrating Tet with my family, now I have to rush back to work. That's the life of workers living away from home. After a year of working hard, accumulating money, they just hope to return to hometown for Tet with their families. Every year, there are only a few occasions when the whole family lives together, so when leaving home to work, I still miss those moments. Hopefully, this year, the company has many orders so that we have more income, stabilizing our lives and helping our families in homeland".
Similarly, Ha Thi Hanh from Quang Tri said that she had to send her children back to her parents to take care of them, due to difficult conditions. Since sending their children home, she and her husband have annually taken advantage of returning to their hometown to celebrate Tet with relatives. Knowing that it is expensive, but the couple also has to try to return their homtown to celebrate Tet with their children, parents. “…After Tet, my wife and I packed up and lelf hometown to come back to work. Hopefully, the new year will have a lot of luck with stable and convenient work so that in the next year, we can go back to our hometown to celebrate Tet with our family more fully", Mrs. Hanh confided.
This is the general mood of those who have to leave their hometowns for work on the first days of the New Year. In the line of people picking up buses, trains to leave their hometowns and those sending them off, most of their faces were full of sadness because no one wanted to be away from their families and loved ones. But because of economic conditions, they were forced to leave their hometowns with the desire of stabilizing lives and help their families reduce difficulties.
A long whistle sounded and iron wheels chugged along the track. Train carriages one after the other left the station, bringing smiles and tears, bringing the joy and confidence of those living away from home in a new year with new victories. The trains in early spring rushed in the dark like thousands of trains on other days of the year. At each stop, passengers boarded the train in turn and the train was still working hard to the last point of the journey, carrying the feelings and aspirations of those living away from home. Every train always has the colorful pieces of life.
Reported by Hong Phuong-Translated by Kim Tin
