I wanted to yell to all newcomers, "Vinasun or bust," as I made an immediate hard left, avoiding all possible taxi scams in my wake. I pretended that the hoards of people waiting directly outside were there to greet me. "Welcome back to the chaos, girl."
My first few weeks of being back have mostly consisted of reestablishing my serious relationship with phở, getting over jetlag, seeing friends, and work. Sounds like a Rihanna song, I know.
For the past few weeks, I have been living in a very nice one bedroom apartment provided by my school. The fun part is that the building is currently under intense construction. If you are unfamiliar with Vietnamese construction methods, please note that they usually start hammering away at 7 in the morning and continue through the early evening. On the weekends when I just want to shut the curtains and hiss at the sun, the pounding sledge hammer prevents all nocturnal activity. "Why don't you just wear earplugs, you big baby?" Good question! That would work if the entire building didn't violently vibrate my entire bedroom...and not in a good way. Another issue with this construction is that the workers will randomly pop into my apartment without notice, whenever they damn well please. Let's be honest, does anyone really wear clothes when they live alone? Obviously some quality life time memories have arisen from this set up.
Other awkward new apartment moments include:
*While unpacking my bags, a group of men were in my apartment installing a shower curtain rod. One of the dudes was straight up just watching me unpack my clothes while smiling, laughing, and pointing for a good five minutes. Possibly time for a new wardrobe?
*On the first day I moved in, I went to put my groceries in the fridge, and it was FULL OF PINEAPPLES. Pineapples are definitely like 10th on my list of things I would want to find my new fridge full of. Always remember, keeping your refrigerator stocked will get you many women.
*My lovely friend Mica being awoken from the futon several times to people violently trying to enter the apartment at 7 am to fix appliances. We need to work on our timing and common decency skills here, people.
On one of my first meals out back in Saigon, I stumbled upon this lovely menu item:
Frankly, sometimes it is embarrassing to be an American and that is exacerbated when you live abroad. In America, there is no one constantly questioning where you are from and why things happen the way they do. Here, I am forced to be on the defensive end for a country that I can't seem to find the words to defend any more.
With that being said, I have never lied and said that I was Canadian like several Americans are recommended to do while traveling. Have I wanted to? Hell yes.
"Oh, America, eh? So....Trump. How did he win? Did you vote for him? What do you think he will do next? He's the worst. America messed up." These blanket questions and statements are sometimes frustrating to deal with, but they are important to confront head on. If we don't, people around the world will never hear other perspectives.
Once, in the April before the elections, I was traveling in Sri Lanka when I moseyed into a tiny jewelry store. The 21 year old woman who was giving me a henna tattoo asked me where I was from. Upon hearing my reply, she sighed and asked, "Why does everyone in your home want Donald Trump to be the president?"
She explained that she had been watching BBC and saw crowds of people holding up Trump signs and yelling. This led her to assume that all of the American people were on the Trump train. I clarified and explained that this simply was not the case. I assured her that several Americans did not want him to win and that everything would be OK (oooops, sorry lady). She solemnly said, "I just don't understand how a man with so little general knowledge could possibly be president. Sri Lanka is scared. The world is scared."
Situations like this arise all of the time. If I were to list all of the times someone questioned me about being an American, you would have stopped reading by now.
If we Americans living or traveling abroad lie about where we are from, then we fail to be the unofficial ambassadors that the US of A so desperately needs right now. We need people to represent the aspects of our country that so often go unnoticed by others. We need the open minded travelers to claim citizenship in conversations with others so that we can teach people that there is still beauty and greatness in our world. The national parks. The music. The sports. The [majority of] humans. The landscapes. The ultimate tournaments. Target. God damn, the food. The facial hair. I have never once thought about how terrible my country is while staring at the magnificent Mt. Hood while on a hike, dancing to my favorite band at Red Rocks, or scarfing down deep dish.
I have a friend from Australia who once told me that I was the first American she met that made her realize that, "Not all Americans are bad." Let's all be that for someone. We are not our president and it's important to remind people of that.
*In other news...
I have officially made it 1/4 weeks without consuming alcohol. Why you (and everyone who sees me not drinking) ask? My brain was basically marinating in tequila and IPAs after the Big Fat American Summer of 2017, so I decided to take a break. Luckily I have Heather todrink milkshakes support me through this tumultuous time. Honestly, I am fine having soda lime instead, it's not like I turn into some judgment monster whilst sober. Whenever I have friends who are not drinking I am usually more jealous than anything else. I just wanted to be on the opposite side of that envy for a change.
*29*
Beer and I are fine....we're fine, really! We are just on a little break.
Also....I had major eclipse FOMO, guys.
For the past few weeks, I have been living in a very nice one bedroom apartment provided by my school. The fun part is that the building is currently under intense construction. If you are unfamiliar with Vietnamese construction methods, please note that they usually start hammering away at 7 in the morning and continue through the early evening. On the weekends when I just want to shut the curtains and hiss at the sun, the pounding sledge hammer prevents all nocturnal activity. "Why don't you just wear earplugs, you big baby?" Good question! That would work if the entire building didn't violently vibrate my entire bedroom...and not in a good way. Another issue with this construction is that the workers will randomly pop into my apartment without notice, whenever they damn well please. Let's be honest, does anyone really wear clothes when they live alone? Obviously some quality life time memories have arisen from this set up.
Other awkward new apartment moments include:
*While unpacking my bags, a group of men were in my apartment installing a shower curtain rod. One of the dudes was straight up just watching me unpack my clothes while smiling, laughing, and pointing for a good five minutes. Possibly time for a new wardrobe?
*On the first day I moved in, I went to put my groceries in the fridge, and it was FULL OF PINEAPPLES. Pineapples are definitely like 10th on my list of things I would want to find my new fridge full of. Always remember, keeping your refrigerator stocked will get you many women.
*My lovely friend Mica being awoken from the futon several times to people violently trying to enter the apartment at 7 am to fix appliances. We need to work on our timing and common decency skills here, people.
On one of my first meals out back in Saigon, I stumbled upon this lovely menu item:
With that being said, I have never lied and said that I was Canadian like several Americans are recommended to do while traveling. Have I wanted to? Hell yes.
"Oh, America, eh? So....Trump. How did he win? Did you vote for him? What do you think he will do next? He's the worst. America messed up." These blanket questions and statements are sometimes frustrating to deal with, but they are important to confront head on. If we don't, people around the world will never hear other perspectives.
She explained that she had been watching BBC and saw crowds of people holding up Trump signs and yelling. This led her to assume that all of the American people were on the Trump train. I clarified and explained that this simply was not the case. I assured her that several Americans did not want him to win and that everything would be OK (oooops, sorry lady). She solemnly said, "I just don't understand how a man with so little general knowledge could possibly be president. Sri Lanka is scared. The world is scared."
Situations like this arise all of the time. If I were to list all of the times someone questioned me about being an American, you would have stopped reading by now.
If we Americans living or traveling abroad lie about where we are from, then we fail to be the unofficial ambassadors that the US of A so desperately needs right now. We need people to represent the aspects of our country that so often go unnoticed by others. We need the open minded travelers to claim citizenship in conversations with others so that we can teach people that there is still beauty and greatness in our world. The national parks. The music. The sports. The [majority of] humans. The landscapes. The ultimate tournaments. Target. God damn, the food. The facial hair. I have never once thought about how terrible my country is while staring at the magnificent Mt. Hood while on a hike, dancing to my favorite band at Red Rocks, or scarfing down deep dish.
I have a friend from Australia who once told me that I was the first American she met that made her realize that, "Not all Americans are bad." Let's all be that for someone. We are not our president and it's important to remind people of that.
*In other news...
I have officially made it 1/4 weeks without consuming alcohol. Why you (and everyone who sees me not drinking) ask? My brain was basically marinating in tequila and IPAs after the Big Fat American Summer of 2017, so I decided to take a break. Luckily I have Heather to
*29*Beer and I are fine....we're fine, really! We are just on a little break.
Also....I had major eclipse FOMO, guys.
I will leave you with this:
No comments:
Post a Comment