So, I’m Alain. My name, my surname Fiorucci. I’m from France. My parents are Italian, so I’m French-Italian. And I’m living in Vietnam since 21 years, since ’95. At the beginning, my girlfriend was Vietnamese overseas, born in France, so I met her at high school, 16, 17 years old. We are together at 18 and she’s from Vietnam, so I have a chance to came for holiday with her, ’91. I’m working as independent, mainly in tourism activity. I run with a friend a hostel, Montanes Hostel. It’s an old Hmong traditional house in Ha Giang province, extreme north of Vietnam. So it’s one part of my income. I also doing guide, translator. I’m selling honey in Hanoi, and also sometimes I give some French lesson to children.

When I came in Vietnam for a long period in the first time was ’95, and it was my first ever Mobylette in France without, how you say, clutch? Without gear. My first motorbike with the gear was in Vietnam, and it is the beginning of a passion. Because the north Vietnam was the paradise of the biker at that time, and I think it remain a good, good, good place, very beautiful landscape, scenery. Real life, real farmer life with very rich culture, very different culture. In the smaller area you have different kind of building construction, traditional construction: stilt house, mud house, bamboo house, and lots of kind of language. And by bike you can discover all that on your own. You’re independent, you stop when you want. Mountainous road is also the paradise for the biker.

As I told you before, I met my–actually–partner at the hostel, the Hmong hostel. We are looking at the very beautiful scenery, and two Vietnamese, two local men, coming up with the bike. And we share together a few words, because we are all Vietnamese speaker. We have some cup of, not tea, but corn alcohol with honey inside. And the people are going to control, how do you say in English? La ruche, in France. So the place where you put hives. And so we have an appointment that night, at the … We have a restaurant. And after the guy bring me to taste his honey. I bring two liters in Hanoi. And this story began like that, I like this honey and I come back next year and buy some more. And we work together to have all paper, and also food safety control. And I began to sell this honey because it’s a good product. I need also some income.

I have my friend in the mountains, so I have one day biking, and after I bring back a little bit of honey, so 20, 40, 60, 80 liters. And he paid my ride. So I had free ride. So it is the beginning of story, and it’s a good product. It’s a special product because in Vietnam you have almost 60 provinces, and you have only one province, that province, Ha Giang province, where you can find wild mint honey. The leaves look like mint, so food-mint, and the flowering looks like lavender. It’s blue, purple. And the smell of the honey, it’s very … The color is very characteristic. Yellow-green. The taste is very fresh.

So when I came the first time in Vietnam in ’91, as tourism, ’93 also as tourism. I graduate in ’93 of political science.

My girlfriend is Vietnamese, obviously. I did two already, two tourism trip in Vietnam. So I try to … I did the inscription in Master of Anthropology Development, that specialized in Vietnam. And I have to do my military service, because I’m [was] 24 years old, and in France, so you have to do it. And through my professor I find a place to do civil service in Vietnam. So it was a paradise, a dream for me. So I did my Master, so I began a long, long, long story PhD.

And it was so beautiful experience. In ’95 I was 24 years old and I’m a French guy in a Vietnamese village, Communist Party and all that thing. And the people are beautiful.

I follow my heart, and despite my conscience telling me, no, no, no, you don’t have to do that, you will break your life, you will break your future. I follow my heart, and I don’t regret … [French] Nothing better than following his heart, I think. You will be never disappointed, I think.

My children. It is the simplest way of happiness, giving birth, giving life. You don’t have to think lots. You have to feed them. And we are all in the same situation. Vietnamese, Bangladeshi, Arab, Quaker, Israeli, poor, rich. We have to take care of our children and feed them and give them love. After that I think I don’t need to create anymore. It’s the act of creation. It’s really simple, but it’s fundamental.

I don’t say the phrase, “my children is all.” I will never say that. Because I have my children but I have my life, also. It’s a lot of my life. It’s very important. It helps you to build the structure in you. Very strange English!

So, follow your heart. It’s easier to work with your passion than working for your wife or for your salary or for your future house or for your future car. It’s simple to work because you like your job, and it’s not important what the other people are thinking about you.

But finding who you are, and what kind of thing you need to be happy. All the people have to find their own mix, I think. •