random musings

I have a few random reflections to offer on things I've observed during the course of daily life here.



One thing that intruiged me at the shelter is the way in which the girls structure their games. Many of their games are similar to our own but with a small twist. One particularly intruiging element is how they distinguish between the winners and the losers. In the U.S. we have been raised to praise excellence and direct the focus towards the winner. In contrast, in Vietnam there is an emphasis on the relationship between the winner and the loser--perhaps this relates to the enhanced focus on group relationships that exists in many asian countries. In the shelter, the winner gets to essentially punish the losers. This punishment generally comes in the form of shame, in that the losers are directed by the winner to perform actions that would make them appear a bit ridiculous i.e. holding your ears and doing squats (i didn't mind because it gave me a chance to get a bit of exercise) or having to use your body to draw the various accent symbols that the winner will call out. Of course this precendent could be more specific to the girls at the shelter, but individuals at another shelter have also witnessed a similar incident.



Another challenging thing about daily life here is what to do about child beggars. These beggars are everywhere and are rather aggressive. Many of them have realized that it is profitable to know a few words in english such as "you want to buy?" or"bad man" in order to better approach foreigners. These child beggars are often selling random goods such as feathers or roses. The hardest sight for me so far has been a three year old boy selling lottery tickets. It is very hard to know how to react to these children. Many of our Vietnamese roommates refuse to give these individuals money, for they say that this supports the system of child begging and the money is going to the parents rather than the child. Thus this approach would involve simply ignoring the children, for if they sense hesitation they will continue to approach you and will often resort to tapping you. Yet, 18,000 dong would be equivalent to one dollar and would buy the child a meal. It is hard to justify not giving the child money when there is such a gap between the value. This has been the topic of much debate and moral uncertainty among the Duke students.

A final random thought is the role of outsiders in Vietnam. There are some tourists in Vietnam. However, a lot of them are from Australia, for there is a developing relationship between the two countries. Tourists are uncommon enough that at this point when I see a white person I often stare at them and wonder what they are doing in Vietnam. I suppose this reflects the degree of my integration to a certain extent. I have found that I do stick out a bit as a white person. This is more prevalent when I go to my internship, for it is located in a more remote part of the city where few tourists venture. The attention I get tends to be in stares or often in random english phrases being yelled from cars and motor bikes ("hihihihi" or "1,2,3"). That being said in other parts of the city you can find tourists and expats. However, there are many expats here who do not set the most positive example of western civilization. It is also extremely rare to see families of tourist. Furthermore, the tourists tend to cluster in certain areas. The other night we had indian food in what turned out to be the "backpackers area." I was shocked to see so many white people! It does seem a bit of a shame to me to come visit another country and then insulate yourself in a less than authentic part of the city and surround yourself with other tourists. Yet, I can understand that expats may sometimes become homesick and wish to talk with others in the same situation.