Reflections after one month (aka Orientation)

I write this at the conclusion of my first month in Vietnam, and my orientation period.

Now- I realize its dangerous to draw conclusions too quickly- I've only seen 3 provinces/municipalities in Vietnam, out of over 60. I've met only a minuscule fraction of the over 80 million people in Vietnam. Even there, I interact mostly with English speakers, as my Vietnamese is limited to only essential communications ('What is the this?' and 'Where is the bathroom!?').

Culture Shock

For reasons I don't know, I didn't take culture shock seriously. I remember thinking during the Predeparture Orientation, that it wasn't a big deal (something along the lines of "I've been to enough countries, culture shock won't affect me). However, the culture shock has definitely been real.

I didn't realize how hard it would be to start at square one in terms of soft skills. Whenever I leave my room, I need to have a plan for how and where I'm going. I can't just depend on my ability to figure it out (via signs or walking around). I've had to rebuild my ability to read a menu, read a street sign, and many other basic tasks. We had a training session on workplace customs in Vietnam, and I realized that I really will need to start from scratch in terms of social skills. Gestures, small talk, and day to day life are different here. For example, asking how much money someone makes is no big deal; or, crossing one's fingers in a good luck sign is considered offensive in Vietnam. Even further, one should give and accept business cards, envelopes, menus, and other pieces of paper with two hands, not one.

While it is intimidating to try to learn the social customs of an entirely new culture from scratch, I'm hopeful that my co-workers and my students will forgive my lapses (I still struggle with not pointing with only my index finger and using my whole hand instead).

The effects of travel have also impacted me physically. I've so far been very lucky (knocks on wood frantically) to escape the bowel-destroying illness that has struck down two of my fellow ETAs. However, I've definitely gotten low level sick several times. It has never gone beyond low-grade fever, sore throat, or irritable bowels. So- nothing serious, but just enough to keep me aware that I'm in a very foreign country.

Additionally, I found myself having much larger mood swings than I'm used to. Usually, I don't find myself to be a terribly emotional person. Here, I've found my emotions to be much stronger than usual. Things that ordinarily wouldn't matter in the slightest have been making me somewhat upset. For example, I left my shorts in an area where they could get wet when I showered in Mai Chau two weekends ago, and when I found my shorts were somewhat wet, I was really bothered by it. (It should be like a 2, but was instead a 7). I couldn't figure out why I was being so emotionally volatile until I googled it and saw it was a symptom of culture shock/homesickness. Hopefully it will go away with time (and then return when I return to the States!) Its an unfortunate trait to have when some much is outside of my control.

Flexibility

As you probably know, I'm very much a planner. I like to know when and where and what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm on time and on schedule. As you might guess, Vietnam is not like that. One part of the problem is my own incompetence- it takes me longer to do stuff and get places. However, I've compensated for that by leaving earlier, doing more advance research.

Vietnam is not accommodating for advance planning. On one hand, everything needs to be submitted in triplicate. On the other, everything that doesn't come from a very top official is subject to change. Plans can change 5,6 or 7 times, and do (often without anyone telling me :( ) In America, this would be very rude. In Vietnam, I say "Oh, Vietnam" and roll with it (or try to).

For example, I was supposed to have breakfast with a teacher from my school this morning (Hoa, which means flower) at 8 am. At 7:25 (still in bed), I heard my handler/mentor (Khanh) outside with some supplies. She told me to wait and she would be back in two seconds with more stuff. I waited for about 15 minutes, but didn't see her. I got a call at 7:40 from Hoa, asking if I was ready to go. I replied that I needed to shower, could she give me 15 minutes. She told me I had 5, she had a meeting at 8! I replied that I thought we had breakfast plans at 8, but it turns out she had scheduled a meeting then instead.

(Side note: one thing I've quickly learned is that most things don't revolve around me; and there were hundreds of parents at Lao Cai Gifted High School today for parent-teacher conferences, so everyone was really busy). Basically, I've learned to make plans and confirm them multiple times before heading out. Totally not a big deal, just a shift in mindset from the temporally-efficient U.S.

Communication Barriers

I've started to become frustrated with the language barrier in Vietnam. With most Vietnamese, my Vietnamese and their English is only sufficient for very basic conversation (whats your name, where are you from, what do you do, etc). Its not sufficient for anything meaningful- I can't ask their feelings about social justice, politics, current events, America, my actions- really anything. (Of course, I steer clear of really sensitive issues or just frame them in terms of America- aka in America, women get paid 77 cents on the dollar, is it similar in Vietnam, and what do you think about that).

This is good motivation for me to learn Vietnamese (and to be a good English teacher), of course, but it is a tad frustrating. The point of Fulbright (as I understand it), is to be a cultural ambassador, which doesn't require a ton of Vietnamese. People see me (even when I don't see them), and watch what I do, thus requiring me to be "on" all the time. Thats not a problem for me- I can accomplish the goal of the Fulbright, but my own goal (maybe I should do a blog post on my goals for this year?) is to engage people in meaningful conversation, and I'm not yet good enough at posing questions yet to find out what people think about stuff. I know they have thoughts, but its just a matter of finding targeted questions that prompt them to answer (For example, if you want to know if someone has siblings, you wouldn't say "Do you have siblings?" you'd instead say "How many people are in your family.") This is definitely an area where I think I can improve my Fulbright Experience!

I'm now in Lao Cai. I've only been here for about 36 hours (got here on Saturday at 2 and its now 10 pm on Sunday) so I'm waiting to tell you guys until I have a little bit more experience for some context.

The only bit I'll share so far: some (many) of the students absolutely lose it when they see me. Like, One Direction status. I know I'm prone to exaggeration, but I can prove this one, I promise! I found out from a student that I have a fan page with over 300 likes (through 24 hours). Look on facebook for "Daniel CLC Team" if you don't believe me haha. But please don't like the page unless you want all my students to friend request you! I thought it would be cool (and it was) for about 10 minutes and now causing a ruckus wherever I go is somewhat annoying (grass is always greener, I guess!)

Thats all for now. I'll post again after my first week of observing classes!

Onward. Always Onward.
Daniel