Home Sweet Home

No matter how far you go or how long you stay, home is always the best place to be.  Everything is so familiar (food, family, and bed), plus all your other "stuff" is there.  In fact, home life is so comfortable that many people do not ever want to leave - even on a temporary basis.  This is short-sighted because tourism, especially international travel, has a tendency to broaden one's perspective.  If you get an opportunity, then take advantage of it.  You will become a better person and gain a better appreciation of the world and it's people.

After 5 months abroad, I returned safely to the U.S. on January 11.  Its good to be back home.  Now I am fighting jetlag and cold temperatures at the same time.  Not sure who is winning the battle.

          

Happy Endings

Every party has to end sometime.  I've had a wonderful experience in Vietnam.  The people, food, landscape and opportunities for professional development have been outstanding.  Never regretted coming, in fact every day was a confirmation that I made the right decision.  My hope is that the blessing I gave was larger than the one I received.

The Fulbright staff are doing a great job here - a very dedicated and talented group of individuals.  The faculty and students at VNU have been wonderful.  The International Relations staff treated me like family.  Park employees helped me to conduct the visitor survey.  And thanks to all the "other" people I met while living here - you just appeared out of nowhere.

My last week in Vietnam was a fun-filled adventure.  It passed too quickly.  I travelled to the northernmost province, on the border with China, to conduct a tourism analysis of the Dong Van Karst Geopark.  Its the world's newest geology park (dedicated by UNESCO in October, 2010), but it contains some of the oldest rocks on the planet.  In addition, about 250,000 indigeneous people live there (17 ethnic minorities are represented).  Mostly their life consists of subsistence practices, but they want use tourism revenue as a supplementary source of income.  It's a rare opportunity for someone to be involved in a project from the start.  Their goal is to create an international tourism destination in Vietnam and they asked me to help.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time.  So they want me to come back this summer and do some more fieldwork.  Sure, why not!  

The Meaning of Things

Some things just don’t have the same meaning in Vietnam and the U.S.   Here are a few examples… 

I was with some Vietnamese the other day and we were travelling to the airport.  It was over the lunch hour, so I asked if we could stop and get something to eat.  They said yes, to get some bread.  I was hoping for something more than bread – at least a sandwich.  We stopped at a sandwich shop and they said I could get some bread here.  So I ordered a sandwich.  Later, they told me that it meant the same thing.

More than once I have ordered “vegetables” from the menu only to get a few slices of tomato, cucumber, onions, and some lettuce.  It looks like food decoration - not real food.  It's not enough to even make a small salad, but I still eat it anyway.  

Recently, I was giving a lecture on ecotourism to some university faculty and students.  I was describing market segmentation procedures and used the example of bird watching.  This activity is popular among Westerners, but there is virtually no demand from the domestic market.  The first time I said bird watching, I heard a few women laugh and some started whispering to each other in hushed tones.  This was a bad sign.  Later, a guy told me that the term bird watching in Vietnam means looking at a certain part of the male anatomy (human, not bird).  You can imagine my surprise.  I plan to use another example in my next talk.

We have our own meanings in the U.S. and they are not shared universally.  For example, if Americans were to see two women holding hands while walking down the street, we would assume that they are lovers.  Even if the women told us otherwise, we would not believe them.  In Asian countries it is completely normal for grown women to hold hands.  So common, in fact, that every woman does it.  

Simple Pleasures

One of the big differences between Vietnam and the U.S. deals with recreation & leisure.  Everybody has some free time, but we spend it in very different ways.  In the U.S., people are more sophisticated, or at least pretend to be so.  Golfing is a perfect example.  Years ago, only doctors and lawers played golf.  Now, it seems as if everybody and their brother are hitting the links on a regular basis.  And those who are not want to be.  Nothing wrong with golf if you like status sports.  How much of your recreation is similar to activities done by poor people?  We tend to avoid it like the plague.

Many Vietnamese are satisfied with the simple pleasures of life - eating, socializing, drinking, playing games and activities.  Every night women are in the courtyard practicing Tai Chi and young people are singing, practicing dance moves, or playing hackey-sack.  Men are playing cards or checkers.  Yesterday, I judged some college students who participated in an English-speaking contest - over 3 hours.  You would have to be here to truly appreciate the simple life. And they seem to be content.     

Here's my thought.  Americans used to do the same things before we became rich.  If Vietnamese had money they probably would be doing something else too.  Wealth tends to "elevate" our tastes.  Technology rules, but it takes money to purchase the latest gadgets.  And the demand is insatiable.  Are we really happy?  If so, why are we never satisfied?  Our cuture is moving, but in what direction?  Go ahead, call me a naysayer.  But I've seen the other side of the coin.

 

    

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Vietnam was different than what I expected.  There was a lot of decorations - trees, wrapped gifts, Santa costumes, and even religious music playing over the loudspeakers!  (Yes, in English).  That part reminded me of the U.S.  But most Vietnamese don't celebrate Christmas the way we do.  Few people actually swap gifts.  From what I saw, it was just a regular work day - except for the marketing.    

Some Vietnamese friends invited me to attend church with them.  It turned out to be quite interesting.  First of all, the church was about 1 1/2 hours from Hanoi - more like a village than a city.  The service started at 9:30 and was over by noon.  Then we ate dinner and talked for a couple of hours.  So what's the big deal? 

The Pastor told us about a situation that happened last month.  A young Vietnamese woman was sent to a mental hospital in Hanoi, but the doctors could not treat or control her.  Seeing no solution to her "problem" they gave up hope.  So the family members called the pastor out of desparation.  The woman was possessed by evil spirits, so he and others prayed and cast out the demons.  It worked.  The pastor, family members, and even the doctors said it was divine intervention.  I only saw the woman once, so I have no basis of comparing her "old" vs. "new" self.  All I can say is that she acted perfectly normal. 

Why is it so hard for Americans to believe this story?  Because we need proof, cause-and-effect relationships, and scientific explanations for phenomenon, not to rely on myths or hearsay.   

It made me realize how poor in spirit Americans are.  Faith has taken a back seat to science in our society - to such an extent that our capacity to believe in the supernatural has been diminished. If we experienced a miracle (and talked about it later), then we would be sent to the mental hospital.  So tell me again why we celebrate Christmas?  Americans often make fun of countries whose belief systems are "backwards."  It makes me wonder who is going to have the last laugh.

  

Globalization

One world culture? Sounds like a science fiction movie, right? Although its a long way off, we are getting closer every single day. Commerce, industry, technology, banking, education, marriage, and tourism make it easy for us to reach out and touch someone across the globe. Is this good or bad? Guess it depends on who you ask.   

Vietnam likes America. That's good, because many countries do not (trading partners are not the same as friends).  As a result, many Vietnamese want to be like us.  Most Americans do not understand that culture is our largest export.  Goods and services often follow culture. Food is one example.

Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken are frequently seen in Hanoi and Saigon.  Yum, yum.  Given the relative "popularity" of these restaurants in America, it makes me wonder... what's the goal?  Respond to public demand, stimulate an underserved market, earn more money than what they would in the US, or to simply make Vietnamese as fat as Americans?  Gee, it seems as if we could do a better job with some of our exports.  Or maybe Vietnam should be more careful with their imports - all that glitters is not gold.

   

War & Peace

A short history lesson.  America declared war against Vietnam in 1964 and our troops arrived the next year.  In 1972, the US military started to withdraw and we signed the peace treaty in 1973.  Saigon fell in 1975, allowing for reunification.  Diplomatic relations with the U.S. began in 1995.

I was just a kid when the war started.  It ended while I was still in High School, so I never had to sign up for the draft.  What a relief.  Although it was in the news constantly, I was not interested - partly due to fear.  We didn't learn about it in school, because it was too "recent."  The history that you live through as a kid is often lost.  This is one of the reasons why I chose Vietnam, to understand more about war history, but in a safe way.

Young people in Vietnam hardly ever talk about the war.  It's almost like it never happened.  Some of the older folks probably carry a grudge, but they will talk about it if you ask them.  For most Americans, the image of Vietnam is clouded by war memories.  Maybe we are getting over it.  I see many more Westerners (Americans, I presume) at the war history sites than Vietnamese.  It's really strange. 

I've been to the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" - for American POWs.  I saw John McCain's flight suit, but not Jane Fonda.  I visited the War Remants Museum in Saigon and the Cu Chi tunnels - it was an amazing experience.  I thought that you might enjoy seeing some of "our" shared history.  It makes me really glad the war is over and now we live in peace.