Special video for special people, enjoy!

(Change the quality to the highest one for the best show) 
Later,
Lynn

My experience of the American War

I remember in the first or second grade at my elementary school, a friend at my school table asked me “Lynn, you’re Vietnamese right?! Were YOU in the Vietnam war?” I didn’t know what the war was at the age. So I just said “Yes..?” Then our teacher told us the date, she found out I was lying and with my pride at the age I made something up. That’s my first memory of the American War and the history of Vietnam.

Just like the delicious food here in Vietnam, I’ve been consuming a lot of information and opinions about Vietnam - it’s history, with what they call, the American War and it’s legacy – and I have not been able to digest it. So, sorry about this late and muddled post.. I’m still trying to figure out my position here as a Vietnamese-American and the concept of belonging.

Now, here are some pictures of my first two weeks learning deeply about the history in culture while being in Vietnam.. 

My first weekend, I went sight seeing and saw:

Ho Chi Minh’s Vestige in the Presidential Palace Area.

Ho Chi Minhs Museum

Van Mieu - Center of scientific and cultural activities 

I went sight seeing with my friend’s host dad. Here is Sneha and her host dad. 

Here is me and Sneha’s host dad. 

Presidential Palace (formerly Indochina's General Governor Palace of the French)

We got to see the area where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked at. This is a picture of his desk, there are portraits of Marx and Lenin because Ho was very inspired by them. He lived in simplicity and modesty.

This is Lily, my new roommate for this homestay in Vietnam. We're in front of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (where they display his dead body. Yikes!)

After sight seeing, we had lunch at Sneha's and Tami's house. That's fried chicken, french fries, and salmon. But later we had hot pot! Yum!

Cheers! Drinking with some host daddies! 

Tami is sitting on host grandma's lap. 

Here are some pictures from a classic week day in between and during classwork:

This is me ordering food on the street. I met a Canadian man this day. He joked around about how my American friends and I were invading his lunch space. He said “What an American thing to do… especially with your history in this country.”  I certainly am a fan of obnoxious humor, but that man was not cute at all. His comment got me thinking about my hyphenated identity – Vietnamese-American. The hyphen can be representative of a  bridge between cultures. But, who gets to decide what side of that bridge I stand on? Not that man wearing an ugly shirt. Hmph...

We went to a disability clinic for children – most of them were affected by Agent Orange that was sprayed during the war. These people lived in such happiness and held no grudge after the effects of chemicals Americans sprayed. It was a concept that was uneasy for me to follow. 

Lily and I went to the market after a heavy day, got snacks, and watched Whose Line is it Anyway.

One day, during community building, we met at a local lake..

Started by playing a game called Birdy on the Perch..

I won't explain the game, but here are the results.. 

Then we rented these Swan boats and peddled around.

I went to go see my family this weekend in Da Nang and Quang Ngai:

I hung out with my Ong Noi.

Went to the beach with my aunt and cousins. 

A woman named Lady Borton once suggested me to NOT keep a journal. Why not journal? She said that journaaling is cryptic because you’re writing to yourself. She said when you write to yourself, you don’t include enough details because you know the experience. So, she said.. write to others. 

I am writing to whoever wants to read. Right now, I'm still digesting this glorious country. I hope that if you wanted - you could experience the places, the emotions, triumphs, and challenges as I travel. I don’t want to give it all away though… that way you all will still want to talk to me when I return hehe :) 

Real quick, my five senses:

Taste: The aftertaste of peanut M&Ms and bad breathe

Feel: My tailbone against this board bed thing, cramped in a room 7ft x 7 ft with 6 other people. A silk sleep sack.

Sight: A bed above me, my computer screen

Smell: Mildewy, unidentifiable

Sound: Nearness of You – Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, bits of the conversation in the room, the rattleness of the train

If you couldn’t tell, I’m currently on a train to Sapa! A very rural and northern area of Vietnam..

Seeking,

Lynn 

Chow.

Tchau and chào are both pronounced as chow. One word is Portuguese, the other is Vietnamese. Both words signifies my status around the world today:

Tchau (chow) means bye in Portuguese. chào (chow) means hello in Vietnamese. This week started with me in Sao Paulo's Airport saying Tchau to Brazil and ended with me saying Xin chào to Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh's dead body, host family, and Hanoi's School of Public Health. 

Some quick goals for this month:
- Practice speaking Vietnamese, learn to read and write fluently (continue this when I'm in the States)
- Go to the only climbing gym in Hanoi and perhaps meet people and climb outside - that would be a dream come true
- Visit my family down South
- Sign up for classes at CC 
- Create relationships and reconnect old ones (everyday goal of mine.) 


Here's a glimpse of my first few days in this country full of history: 

Good morning, Vietnam!

First day in Hanoi!

At The Central Sector of Imperial Citadel of ThangLong - Hanoi 

Lingering Vietnamese New Years Decorations

Vietnamese flag

Three out of the Six stories at my host family's home! So fortunate to live in this home with a host sister and host parents.

Jo Francis and the view outisde of my window. Much love to Hang, Qua, and Lyly. 

Breakfast set for us the first morning - sweet pastries and even sweeter host parents.

My host university - the Hanoi School of Public Health.

Classroom - we've had two guest lectures on 1) the political and economic history of Vietnam and 2) the strengths and weaknesses of the current health system in Vietnam. The Communist Party is the ruling and ONLY party in Vietnam. It's principle is based on Lenin's Democratic Centralism. Even though most people don't even know what that means, it's supported because Ho Chi Minh was a Marxist-Leninist and he sought Independence for Vietnam from the France in 1954. Since 1986, an economic movement called "Doi Moi" has encouraged a market-driven economy and VN integrated itself in the world's market. However, the country is focused more on the economy and not enough of social problems, such as inequality and health. Our speaker says, today, democracy is encouraged and wants everyone to have a voice. But it is not written in the law. The media here belongs to the government and is censored, but our speaker argues, "Competition is sometimes good for development." 

First Vietnamese Language lesson! Yeehaw!

Classroom for one day - Hanoi Cinematheque (a privately owned screening area.) We watch two films for the day and had classroom at a cafe outside. One film was called In the Year of the Pig (1968), an American documentary of the Vietnam War,  and Mai's America. Mai's America was about a teenager living her dream to study in America. But realizing that it is not what she dreamt of, she says "In Vietnam, it takes so long to make a dollar. In the U.S., so easy to spend it." She ends up dropping out of college because of not getting enough scholarship money, living in Detroit, doing nails to make enough money to go back to Vietnam.

Exploring the word "belonging",
Lynn