It’s been one week since I boarded my flight out of Newark bound towards the great unknown (Hong Kong). Unsurprisingly, the week has really flown by. After finally meeting the other participants on the program, both US and Vietnamese students, it has definitely made the experience more enjoyable and exciting.
One feature about my program that is surprising, but not unwelcome, is the size. There are four participants from the states, myself included. The other three are all from Clark University in Worcester, MA. We each have a local roommate that studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities which is a subset of the Vietnam National University. They joined us about 3 days ago and so far they have been the highlight of the experience. They are fascinated hearing about America and I have been asked questions ranging from, “Do you own a gun?” to “Don’t you think Beyoncé deserved the Grammy?” Truthfully, I didn’t expect them to know so much about politics or popular culture, but I’ve been proven wrong.
After this first week, it is clear the magnitude of influence American culture has on a global scale. Very, very rarely have I been unable to communicate with people and a lot of restaurants and cafes have english menus. I will say that I have been staying in a comfort zone of sorts, but it’s definitely been interesting seeing that in a culture so different than my own, that I am able to communicate and the only Vietnamese phrase I know so far is “đẹp trai” which means “handsome”. Moreover, one of the funniest things that has been brought up a lot are how much Vietnamese students like memes. I will say that in the US memes are popular, but my roommate said to me—with a straight face—that he’s been “meme-ing for the past 6 or 7 years.” I’m still so taken aback by the fact that someone used “meme-ing” as a verb.
Our classes are starting this week and I really look forward to learning more about the public health and development issues that Vietnam faces!
