The Cardinal Rule of Looking Left and Right Before Crossing the Street has Never Been so Real

I’m naturally pretty extroverted. I’ve been told the difference between being introverted and extroverted is how you recharge. Do you recharge by being alone away from people or do you get energy being surrounded by people? This funnels me into the category of being extroverted pretty easily. When I’m tired, I still like to be around people and not talk. I always go into my best friend Kylie’s room to just sit and do homework without talking because I like company. I thrive in social settings and meeting knew people, so a program like Semester at Sea where it’s actually near impossible to have more than 5 seconds alone is truly the program for me.

The main source of down time that reflects how I re-energize has been transportation on SAS. The long bus rides, the cross-country train rides, flights to and from, and car rides longer than a 10 minute taxi are all places where I have recharged. A lot of times, those long stretches of transportation are the only down time you have while in port. The transportation in other countries and the conversations I’ve had with fellow travelers on them have been some of my favorite memories thus far.

During my time in Vietnam, I had so many moments of real conversations that were easy and where I could decompress from the stress of traveling. We took a car from Ha Long Bay to Hanoi and on the way back to the city, the group I travelled with started talking about some in depth issues. We talked about how when you’re on a semester abroad, you have a learning lens on which changes how you interpret the environment around you. Instead of being ego-centric and wanting to get what you pay for, you are people focused and deal with less than glamorous situations. Instead of judging the culture, you accept and absorb. We discussed how SAS is giving us the opportunity to view the world at such a raw level and how much it has changed our lives already.

We talked about politics, women’s rights, American culture and desensitization of violence, Greek Life, and how we grew up. In the few moments of down time we have in port, we were able to make the most of it by learning from one another.

The transportation in Vietnam is what I’ll remember when I think back to my short time there. Unlike in China and Japan, there is no real bus or train system to get around the city. You have to hail a taxi or ride a motor bike. There is also zero traffic laws. The little green walking man does NOT mean go unless you want to get ran over by a moped. Crossing the streets is an extreme sport. You do a little cross over your heart before stepping off the curb and just pray they avoid you. There were people on motor bikes everywhere you looked and I’m shocked that I only saw one car accident in my time there. Most of my time in the front seat of taxis was spent closing my eyes and holding my breath. The women would sit with their legs swung to the side looking like royalty on those things where I would’ve been holding on for dear life. They also use their horns 100 times in a five-minute drive which took some getting used to as an American where I throw my hands up in my rearview mirror when someone honks at me. It was absolute insanity. Here’s a little visual for you to imagine my anxiety crossing basic streets:

Here’s a breakdown of some other highlights of my time in Vietnam:

Ho Chi Minh City

This city was very similar to any US city in how it was structured. People were going to work, there were Westernized restaurants and coffee shops on every corner, and it was easy to navigate. We had amazing brunch food and cocktails in this city, we dedicated a whole day to just finding food and drinks because most of it was extremely cheap.

We stumbled upon a street full of elaborate Chinese New Year decorations and celebrations. There was interesting artwork and pig statues everywhere for the 2019 being the Year of the Pig. It was so lively, it almost reminded me of a weird Vietnamese version of Hollywood because there were people dressed in costumes asking for pictures and expecting tips. It felt like an alternate universe, but I’m so glad we stumbled upon it because I didn’t experience a lot of the celebrations in China.

We went back to Ho Chi Minh the last day and went to a huge market called the Ben Thanh market which was a warehouse bursting at the seams with vendors selling clothing, shoes, counterfeit products, fruit, and anything else you can think of. You have to haggle the prices, and at the end of a long six-day stretch in Vietnam, I was not in the mood and was extremely overwhelmed so I bought a pair of pants and skedaddled out of there. We have nothing like this in parts of the US, but we should definitely look into getting one because you can get everything there. I know it’s like illegal and stuff, but still food for thought.

We also visited the Vietnam War Remnants museum, but there will be a separate blog post about my experiences and thoughts.

Ha Long Bay

We booked a tour on a very sketchy boat to see Ha Long Bay. This Bay is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and I can see exactly why. Even on a boat I thought for sure was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean, the views were breathtaking. The water is a beautiful blue and green color even on a cloudy day and there are little mountains peeking out of the water everywhere. Through this company we were able to kayak in the bay and go into a cave, which is what we wanted to do so it was perfect! The kayak was banged up, pretty sure my life jacket wouldn’t have floated if I went overboard, and we didn’t have to sign a single waiver, but hey we survived and had a grand time. Annie and I were on the kayak together going through a cave to a private area of the bay and were literally screaming into the abyss “We are on a kayak….in Ha Long Bay…IN VIETNAM!!” We definitely had a what even are our lives and the reality of how lucky we are truly sank in. I’ve kayaked before in beautiful places, but absolutely nothing compares to my experience that day. We were having too much fun and could’ve stayed on the water all day.

We survived the sketchy boat ride and went around the city when we got back. Annie and I got separated from the rest of our group when we split up in taxis and ended up stumbling upon a full-size amusement park. After figuring out where we were and combing through our extreme confusion, we took a gondola over to the other part of the park where we watched water puppets and rode a mini roller coaster. The water puppets are signature to Vietnamese culture and are very intricately decorated, so it was amazing to get a little taste of their culture. We waited in line for this mini coaster for way too long and that’s when we noticed nothing moves fast in Vietnam. There is definitely an impatience aspect to their culture, but nothing moves fast and everyone goes at their own pace which was very different than America. We ended up meeting up with some friends and got ice cream and food. It’s crazy how you are having these really natural moments like sitting on the street eating ice cream, and then it hits you that you’re in Vietnam. Never in my life did I think I would kayak in Ha Long Bay or be licking ice cream on the streets of Vietnam. Wow.

Hanoi

Hanoi was definitely my favorite city in Vietnam. The streets were PACKED with people it was hard to move and the bar street had insane energy. People of all different nationalities were sitting on little plastic chairs drinking Tiger Beer laughing and signing to the faint music in the background. We ran in to other SAS groups which is always fun because of the bond we share. You may never talk to them on the ship, but when you see another group in port, you are like life-long friends reuniting. We also stick out like sore thumbs everywhere we go which makes us easy to spot. We had so much fun talking and laughing with locals and cheersing with people we’ll never see again.

Annie and I ended up going into a quaint little bar that Annie described as a “stoner bar” a block away. We said it reminded us from home so why not give it a shot haha! S/O to Colorado, miss you. We got talking to a guy from Canada that dropped everything and moved to Vietnam to start over and travel. That seemed to be a reoccurring theme with Westerners we met, they all shared a “mid-life crisis” moment and moved to Vietnam to figure it out. It’s incredible the type of people you meet far from the touristy areas. Annie and I have also traveled extensively together at this point, and we have found that when we split off in smaller groups, you have the best cultural moments and have the richest conversations with locals and other foreigners. This has been my favorite part about independent traveling so far, is the conversations with strangers and the automatic bond you have with people that look like you even on the other side of the world. In a society where you stick out as a Westerner, it is a sense of comfort to find people that look like you. We go to talking to this guy and his Czech Republic friend with dreadlocks and sat there for about 2 hours just talking about life. The Canadian man started getting flirty after a few beers and Annie goes “Can we get the check?” a true friend. We left shortly after, but it reminded me once again, you meet good people everywhere you go.

The next day we went on a food tour with the nicest tour guide I have ever had. She immediately took a liking to us and we had a blast. I have never been so full and tried so many weird foods in my life, but it has been my favorite thing I’ve done in port so far. The group we were traveling with had a lot of food allergies, so it was hard for them to participate but Annie and I had a BLAST. We enjoyed every second of it, even eating the baby duck. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have already seen this video but here it is again. Also our guide Hana, I want to be friends.

I can’t believe I ate snails, baby duck, and other suspicious meats but believe it or not, my stomach only hurt for a few hours afterwards. Such an amazing way to experience the culture and the people of Vietnam and a MUST do if you ever visit Hanoi.

Overall Vietnam was the first country where I experienced a decent amount of culture shock because of the poverty and the normal ways of life there. It is so different than the US in that there are no regulations. People still laugh and sit with their friends while drinking bubble tea, people still cheers their beers to toast the night, and people still work for a living; but everything was drastically different than my norm in the states. The transportation and motor bikes are elements of their culture I’ll never forget and will forever have PTSD from, but overall, I am still in awe of the beauty of Vietnam. Vietnam has this element of fear in the US, but after visiting, it is nothing like you hear about in the news or watch war documentaries on. It is a vibrant culture that deserves to be explored and appreciated. I had such an amazing time, and I’ll miss waking up to the sound of Annie saying “GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!” every damn morning.