Origin?🔗

Have you ever wondered how the nickname "vanbuncha" came to be? Well, let me tell you the story.

Picture this: it was 2012, and I was a young and enthusiastic fan of football. I was the only Asian on a team full of cheerful kids and adults, and as a result, they gave me the nickname "Fun Din Dung". While it was popular amongst my peers, it wasn't an original nickname until one day, my coach exclaimed "Van bún cùng chả" (in a Czech accent), referring to a Vietnamese dish that was becoming popular in the Czech Republic. And just like that, a new nickname was born.

On September 6th, 2012, I immortalized this new nickname by creating the email vanbuncha.nguyen, which I still use to this day.

Over the years, other nicknames have come and gone, such as "Wafik" (which means successful in Arabic) and "vanba" (derived from Ho Chi Minh's alias during his stay on a French merchant steamer). But none of them have stuck like "vanbuncha".

Despite its joke origin and possible derogatory connotation to my ethnic origin, I still use the nickname to this day. After all, it's all in good fun!