By Alexander Stram
May 19, 2005
My perception of what Vietnam would be like before arriving
drastically differ from what I have experienced over the past 3
days. While I initially expected Vietnam to be a country much like
that which had been portrayed to me through the media, mainly
movies, I was quickly surprised to find a much different
country.
My previous thoughts of Vietnam portrayed the country as an
underdeveloped region, with a few number of major cities between
the jungles, but very little western influence, unlike other
countries in the region, such as Japan. I expected the majority of
the people living within these cities to be in significant poverty,
with very little technology among them. Those things that we
Americans broadly enjoy, such as cellular phones, I expected only
the richest of the Vietnamese to have. I expected to be hassled
much by beggars and merchants on the streets. However, I was very
wrong in these assumptions.
Upon landing in Vietnam, I found a modern airport, which I
expected. From the drive to our hotel in central Hanoi, I saw much
agricultural area, but very little forest as I had seen in the
movies. There were some poor merchants on the side of the roads, as
expected. Ultimately, our drive to central Hanoi reminded me much
of what I have seen in Mexico. One thing that stuck out to me
immediately was a few of the Vietnamese motorcyclists driving on
the road were wearing American flag scarves over their mouths. This
immediately struck me as odd, as it contrasted with the amount of
Vietnamese flags flying above buildings, and the overall history
between Vietnam and America until recently. I actually found that
more citizens were bearing American flags than Vietnamese
flags.
Upon arriving at our hotel, I was surprised by the amount of
technology implemented in the hotel. For example, the door lock,
light switch, and even shower faucet was more advanced than
anything I had seen at any American hotel. The service by the
employees of the hotel was greater as well. On the streets of
Hanoi, I found that western brand name stores, such as Louis
Vuitton, Nokia, and FedEx were commonplace. However, there were
still plenty of small shops in between, selling things such as
books, food, and electronics, much like I would expect to find in
any China town in America.
So far, my main misconception of Vietnam that I have spotted was
my idea that Vietnam was not very western influenced. Although
western culture has not completely infiltrated Vietnam, it is
certainly growing stronger, as the economy continues to move to a
free market, from it's communist past.