Column: Abroad in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City
Our first weekend in Vietnam was a whirlwind, to say the least. After some funky airplane food and a few layovers, we finally made it to Ho Chi Minh City. I believe the last time we spoke, I was preparing to leave the United States, but after an action-packed week, our itinerary looks like it will be slowing down. It’s crazy how fast time has passed while I have been here. At the same time, I feel like I have been gone for three months. I already have so much to share.
Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh City. After getting off the plane, one of the first things I noticed about the country was the traffic. If you have never experienced traffic in Vietnam before, it is a sight to see. Cars are moving every which way, and everyone is always honking at each other. It is such a different way of doing things when it comes to getting from point A to point B, but I love that I got to see this part of everyday Vietnamese life with foreign eyes. Immediately, the city was welcoming with new smells and sights to take in from every direction.
We spent our first day touring Ho Chi Minh City, seeing the Reunification Palace, the historical heart of the city; Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon; the Saigon Central Post Office; the Saigon Opera House; the Hotel de Ville de Saigon and the War Remnants Museum. I was filled with excitement as we passed booths on the streets selling banh mi and pho. Motorbikes lined the sidewalks and pathways leading to our destinations as we walked through the city.
Our group listens to our tour guide Bien as he leads us through the streets. (Landri LaJeunesse/USU)
The most important part of our time in the city was spent at the War Remnants Museum. In many ways, I was unprepared for what we found there. After such a fun and exciting few days, I was humbled by the emotions the museum brought in me.
The following description of what we saw that day might be unexpected from an otherwise unassuming blog post, but I can’t help but share what disturbed me at the museum. I feel like I wouldn’t be doing my part in sharing what I am learning here without expressing even the most uncomfortable aspects of my education in Vietnam.
Guns and weapons hung on the wall as we read about American soldiers killing innocent civilians. We read about bombings that flattened rice paddies and villages, chemicals that caused miscarriages and gave children disabilities and soldiers who didn’t want to fight but were still forced to kill. We saw unborn babies floating in tubs of preservation fluid and the mangled bodies of young Vietnamese women in pictures on the wall. We saw mothers crying, children running from napalm bombs and cities reduced to nothing but dust.
It was difficult for all of us to digest, just as it might be difficult for you to read about. What happened 50 years ago is not something our generation often thinks about, but this museum puts the experiences and the horror of the Vietnam War into perspective for those who were not there to live through it. I was surprised at my sorrow in witnessing an event I considered so far removed from my own life and timeline.
USU student Emily Hill looks at photos of the Vietnam War in the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.
To me, the museum represented memory. So often, we don’t know what to do with the life knowledge we keep inside, but one way of handling it is by displaying it for other people to understand. For me, this museum and everything it had to share with us represented all of the fragments that had nowhere else to go after the war. Like puzzle pieces, the atrocities of the war fit together in a broken pattern to create an image we are still trying to understand. We may never truly know the full extent of what happened in Vietnam, but we can preserve it in the hopes one day, someone might be able to finish the puzzle.
I am grateful for what I have been able to learn so far in my travels. It hasn’t all been pineapples on the beach and tours of ancient buildings, but what we have been accomplishing here is, in my opinion, so much more important. If you are wondering, I have cried a few times already, but it’s all part of the process. I have also learned how to use chopsticks, gotten to know my study abroad group and begun to understand why people love to travel. There are going to be many ups and downs during this trip, but the more I learn, the more knowledge I get to bring home to Utah State and to readers like you.
Next week, we will be in Can Tho, spending a few days participating in Can Tho University’s Tropical Semester. I will be sharing what we are up to and, most importantly, what we are witnessing as far as climate change is concerned in the Mekong Delta. I can’t wait for more opportunities, and I am looking forward to sharing what we learn while we are in the southern portion of Vietnam. Until then, tam biet!