Study Abroad Testimonials
Life in Hanoi
By Jimmy Tran
I don't know where to begin. I've been in Vietnam for only 1.5 months but feel as if I have a lifetime worth of stories and images to share. Vietnam is a world apart from any place I've ever been; the history of the people, landscape, and culture combined tells an incredible story of resiliency and inspiration (especially when the story is told from a non-western perspective--it's great!), and you can see the effects of this history when you walk down! the street. Vietnam is very much a poor, developing country. Third World seems too cliché these days, and there are some parts of Vietnam that feel very 1st world (Ex. Hilton Hanoi Hotel, $800/room presidential suite). I've also discovered that they have 50% off baked goods after 5:30pm everyday!!. I've started an online travelogue that has journal like entries and pictures at http://www.travelpod.com/cgi-bin/guest_login.pl?tweb_UID=jimtran. Check it out if you have time, I think it ll give you a good sense of what life is like here. I'll be updating this site about every two weeks (I have 3 logs posted so far). I'll try to mix the pictures up from time to time too....
...Other than classes, my weekdays have been filled with exploring the city (on my new $25, 1 gear, cruiser bike, and my bright orange helmet!---*colors don't exist here, everyone wears some slight variation of a grey or tan shade, and almost no one wears helmets, though most deaths are due to motorbike accidents and fatal head injuries. 90% of the vehicles on the road are motorbikes (mo-peds) or bicycles). The traffic here is insane. There are no rules. People drive on whatever side of the road they want, and people don't stop at intersections (no signal lights)! ! Just crossing the street by foot is a perilous dance with fate. The best advice I've gotten about crossing the street by foot is to pretend you re a fish, and the motorbikes are water. Remember that fish never swim backward. Swim at a steady pace and the water will just flow around you. It's much easier being part of the water (on a bike) though. No matter how you cross the street, it's still a huge rush, especially during rush hour. Looking back I realize that I had no idea what I was getting into. It's an amazing time to be in Vietnam right now because you can literally see the socio-economic conditions changing...
