What carries the most is homesickness.
Behind the smiles after work is the longing for family meals, the strangeness between the new living environment and sleepless nights in the cramped rented room. But it was also from those days that they learned to be independent, adapt and grow up.
Having just left Thanh Hoa for Hanoi for two weeks, 20-year-old Le Thi Ngoc Anh is still not used to the feeling of living alone in a foreign land.
The rented room of about 15m2 that Anh rents for 400,000 VND per month has almost nothing but a bed, a suitcase for clothes and a folding chair.
The only light bulb in the room emitted weak light, making the space even colder. The wallpaper had peeling patches, but the young girl just smiled and said: "Waiting for my salary, I will buy wallpaper, then buy a cabinet to store clothes, and gradually everything will be stable.
The family has three sisters, Anh is the second child. Her father is a construction worker, her mother is a worker, and her youngest sister is only in 10th grade. This is the first time she has left her family, so homesickness is always present.
My parents call every day. Every time I hear my parents' voice, I want to cry. My parents only told me to try to eat and drink fully, cook rice myself to maintain my health," Anh recounted.
To save costs, she only cooks one meal a day, and for breakfast she usually buys a loaf of bread to eat quickly before going to work.
The job at the factory is still new. With a basic salary of 6.3 million VND/month, Anh hopes that when she gets overtime, her total income will reach about 10-11 million VND. However, because she is new to work, she has not been assigned to work overtime like long-term workers.
In the first nights in Hanoi, the little girl repeatedly wandered because she missed home. In the room, there was only the sound of fans turning evenly and the faint yellow light, the distance from home to Hanoi was nearly 200km, seemingly longer than ever.
However, behind her petite, carefree appearance is a very strong determination. Anh believes that just by being persistent for a while, she will get used to the new life and be able to help her family.
Starting with no less unfamiliarity but also full of determination
Also leaving Thanh Hoa to Hanoi two weeks ago, Nguyen Si Hiep (born in 2007) is starting his first journey of adulthood at an electronic component assembly company in Thang Long Industrial Park.
Because he studied one year late, Hiep just graduated from high school. Instead of continuing to study, the young man chose to work as a worker because he wanted to have a stable job and a steady income.
I am determined to stick with this job for a long time," Hiep shared.
Currently, Hiep works the night shift from 10 pm to 6 am. During the working shift, there is one hour of rest and the company arranges night meals for workers. Outside of working hours, he still cooks himself every day to ensure health.
Cooking is both palatable and more proactive. The cost may not be much cheaper than buying outside, but I am assured of the quality," Hiep said.
Like Anh, Hiep just started working, so he has not been allowed to work overtime. With a basic salary of 6.3 million VND and bonuses for new employees of more than 1 million VND, he calculated that when his job stabilized and he had extra working hours, his monthly income would reach nearly 10 million VND.
To get this job, Hiep also had to go through a fairly strict recruitment process.
After submitting the application, the human resources department guides review before entering the recruitment test. The exam includes addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and multiple-choice questions related to operations and thinking in the job.
When I first applied for a job, many people said it was very difficult to work for a company, and the hours were very disciplined. But after starting, I found that the job was not as difficult as I thought, just be willing to learn and I would gradually get used to it," Hiep smiled.
Although always keeping a radiant smile, the 19-year-old still cannot hide his homesickness.
I call home every day. My parents only tell me to try to take care of my health and eat well. I hope to get used to the new roads and environment soon and have a stable income to send back a little to my parents, considering it as the joy of the whole family.
Simple rented rooms, homemade meals, calls home every night or sleepless nights because of homesickness are common experiences of many young workers when they first leave their parents' arms.
For those young workers, immediate happiness is sometimes simply receiving the first month's salary, buying another wardrobe for the rented room, covering the moldy walls, or sending a few hundred thousand VND back to their hometown to reassure their parents.
