Podchaser Logo
Home
NAM

NAM

Released Wednesday, 30th September 2020
Good episode? Give it some love!
NAM

NAM

NAM

NAM

Wednesday, 30th September 2020
Good episode? Give it some love!
Rate Episode

As much as The People’s Republic of Poland may seem a distant country hidden behind the Iron Curtain, it was an open and welcoming one... towards other socialist states. Student exchange programmes were one of the many ways of building international socialist partnerships.

The Vietnam War was just ending when Hai ‘Nam’ Bui Ngoc had reached university. He was one of the few lucky ones given a chance to travel to the other side of the world to study ship building. After a few weeks spent travelling by train from Hanoi to Warsaw, he saw everything other than what he had imagined. But this was only the beginning of his incredible journey...

Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter!

Time stamps

[01:08] What does Nam mean?
[02:09] The end of the world: growing up during the Vietnam War
[07:14] Moving to Poland to study shipbuilding
[12:51] Vietnamese secret agents appear
[13:51] Becoming a guru
[15:21] Love
[16:30] Escape
[20:44] 'What saved me was a hand'
[23:22] Asylum in France
[24:13] Problems in heaven & a difficult return to Poland
​​​​​​​[25:36] Where home is

Further reading & watching

Credits

Written & produced by Monika Proba
Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Show More

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features