When we first arrived in Hanoi, I was initially fascinated by the hectic nature of the city. Everywhere I looked, I saw a pack of mopeds, with anywhere from one to four people on the back. It is interesting to compare the street traffic to that of America because we are so used to cross walks and having the right of way as a pedestrian. Meanwhile, in Hanoi, we had to run across the street dodging the vehicles.
I was also intrigued by the amount of shops on the streets and how many people walked around trying to sell things to you, especially fruit. It added to the busyness of the city because everywhere you turned, something was going on. I remember our first time leaving the hotel, a man came up to one of the girls in my group and bent down to try to fix her shoe and get her to pay which took us by surprise because something like that would never happen in America.
Another thing I noticed about Hanoi was that at any hour of the day you would see people sitting on the streets on their little stools in groups of people eating and talking. It was odd to me at first because in America the only people we see sitting on the streets in cities are homeless people, besides that, everyone is just walking to get to where they need to be. Being in this city really made me appreciate the sidewalks in America. Here, you can barely walk on them as they are filled with parked mopeds, trees growing out of them and people sitting around. So because of this, we have done a lot of walking on the streets which then causes us to have to be very aware of our surroundings. It amazes me how I have not seen an accident yet because of how crazy the streets can get. I began to notice that the drivers don’t really pay attention to lanes and communicate much more with their horns. For example, they seem to be used more in an everyday and friendly manner than in America.
I have noticed that wherever we walk, the locals will stare at us which makes me think that it is rare for them to see people of other ethnicities. This is interesting to me because America is known as a melting pot, so if we were to see someone who was from another country, we wouldn’t even think twice about it where as here they stop us and ask where we are from and seem almost stunned to see us walking around.
However after being in the city for almost a week, I am starting to feel more adjusted to the different style of life in Hanoi and have truly been able to appreciate the beauty and excitement that it has to offer.