A Battle of Epic Proportions

For this stint of the program we were situated in the beautiful central city of Hoi An. It was unlike any city I had ever seen before and the transportation offered proved how different the culture of the city was. When we arrived we were each given a bicycle to ride into town and until we rode as a group into the old town, was I able to fully appreciate how chaotic their roads can be. This just confirmed what we could see in Hanoi and made me appreciate the respect for rules and regulations in the United States. Although this blew me away, the moment that I will not forget about Hoi An occurred on the soccer field in a game organized by our program coordinator.
The game really showcased the ability of the younger generation of Vietnam to look past the previous generations’ actions and live a life without discrimination or prejudice toward certain people. During the game I didn’t fully recognize the magnitude of the moment but afterwards when talking about the history of Vietnam it struck me that the game we played would not have been possible about 20 years ago. At one point the teams were 5 Vietnamese players against 2 French, 2 Americans and myself. France had obviously colonized Vietnam and of course the US had been involved in a very gruesome war not too long ago.
Vietnam had been under the control of many countries throughout its history, most recently, under French rule from the mid-19th century. Under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, a communist party was created in February of 1930 and they soon began to fight for Vietnamese independence. It was not until September 2nd 1945 that Ho Chi Minh declared independence for Vietnam. However, in 1946 a Franco-Viet Minh War began with a French attack on Hanoi. In 1959, the North-South War broke out, which became known as the Vietnam War. The United States ended their involvement in the Vietnam War in August of 1973, and when the North Vietnam military took Saigon in April 1975, the war was over and North and South Vietnam were reunited under communist rule.
Clearly there is a long history between the 3 countries that were involved on the field but based on the friendliness displayed by the Vietnamese, no onlooker would have been able to tell. They not only let us play, but brought water, some snacks and invited a few of us for drinks afterwards. This was not just constrained to the field but this is the mindset of the people of Vietnam on a whole and something that I think will help them prosper and grow. As our program coordinator put it, “Why would you be mean to tourists who travelled 24 hours to see your country?” They are also constantly asking questions about where we are from and I believe it is because they are trying to learn from other cultures to help with their own development. They value education highly and believe that interacting with tourists is the best way to learn about alternative approaches to societal problems. They are happy for the small things I life and as we have all seen, it is a very rare sight to see someone without a smile on their face especially when dealing with foreigners. It is really a great feeling to feel so appreciated and welcomed into a society and is a major difference between the culture of the United States and that of Vietnam.

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