Hen gặp lại is the Vietnamese for ”see you again”. A phrase I heard often during my time in Vietnam. It is also a phrase I believe to be true because even though my time in Vietnam has come to an end I have a strong feeling I will be back to explore more of the country. I’ve been back home in Ireland for a week now and I’ve been thinking about how I could possibly sum up my experience in Vietnam and what ”life lessons” I have taken from it. My first post on this blog I explain how I wanted to have a life experience and learn some new things and that has definitely been accomplished.
Anyone who has been to Vietnam will agree with me when I say that life is both fast-paced and laid back its a difficult one to explain but the day starts early here (around 5am) and while there is a constant rush of traffic, mainly motor bikes coming and going you will also notice all the locals taking time out of this hustle and bustle to drink tea by the lake, play board games or to simply just chill out and sleep in the shade on their bikes. Life here is very different to the typical 9-5 Monday to Friday working week we see in the western world and I was lucky enough to get to experience both life in the city and life in the country which in themselves are very different from each other.
I felt so greedy sometimes especially when talking to my colleagues about the cost of living over in Vietnam in comparison to the western world. I had the luxury of being able to afford to eat out for all my meals for the last three months. Something I definitely couldn’t afford in Galway. Then the guilt would hit me and I would wonder how anyone can make a living selling sandwiches that cost the equivalent of 30c or smoothies that cost 15c. When I stop to take a moment to think I realize that almost everyone I have met during my time in Vietnam has been so happy, from the lady selling fruit on the street to the man selling Banh Mi outside his home the people here are always in great form. While life here may seem difficult to an outsider once you are fully submerged in their way of life you realize it is definitely more laid back and relaxed. I didn’t have any of my usual stresses while living here despite fact that I had research to carry out and a thesis to write I was more calm than I would be had I been at home because I quickly adapted to my surroundings.
I will definitely miss Vietnam. I’ll miss the food and the fresh fruit, the atmosphere the constant beeping of horns. I’ll miss people asking me for a photo because I’m so tall/broad/white and the people shouting ”Hello” at me all the time. I’ll miss the locals shouting ”tây” whenever I walked into a shop or a restaurant as if to announce to everyone that there is a westerner here come look! Most of all I’ll miss the people, their kindness, their friendlies and they fact that none of them take life too seriously. Many people say that travelling ”changed their life” and while I still believe most people are exaggerating when they say this I can now understand where they are coming from. My life hasn’t change much, I’m still me but what this experience has thought me is don’t sweat the small stuff, try not to get too caught up in life, find some time for yourself everyday and just be true to yourself because life is too short.
See you soon Vietnam!