Today is my one month anniversary in Vietnam (raise your glasses). It's fair to say that in just four weeks, life has changed considerably . So much of my world is foreign and unknown. At the same time, so much of it is comfortingly familiar. And most often, it's a hilarious clash of both.
Take tonight (the first night of my work field trip) for example:
- I dined with my work colleagues in the lovely hotel restaurant. Dinner was at 6pm.
(Pretty familiar right...)
- 50% of my work colleagues turned up to the restaurant in pyjamas. (Less familiar.)
- Dinner was a beautiful shared meal - ranging from pork stir fry to baked fish.
- The beverage options were red bull, fanta in a can or rice wine.
- I sat in silence at dinner.
- I really enjoyed dinner.
- My room has a minibar, the MTV music channel, white linen, and as this post suggests -
free WIFI.
- My room has a bed without a mattress (said white linen wrapped around timber), the shower is a tap hanging out over the toilet, and my pillow is a towel.
Best of all, for the past hour I've been prepping questions for work tomorrow - my interview with a woman from an ethnic minority community in the far northern mountains. Her community is classified by the Government as critically disadvantaged, she's never seen a westerner before, and tomorrow (through a translator) we'll be discussing gender equality, market access and agricultural diversification. Just another day at the office.
Vietnam might be foreign and unknown, but it's certainly not boring.
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