I heart Ho City too believe it or not!
This year has been honesty, just bizarre. I’ve had 2 huge trips (Indo and the U.S.), 2 weeks in Thailand and I just came back from another trip in just Bangkok (the best one yet!) This year I wanted to some clarity and direction in my life and boy did I get it.
I know I was a Cranky Christine when I lived here working a full time job. I hated everything around me. I hated everyone around me. I probably even hated myself to tell you the truth, but now? I’m better than ever and totally refreshed.
The thing is Vietnam to me is more than just a temporary fling. I didn’t come here to teach English (which I don’t really do anymore) and I didn’t come here to just escape corporate life. I came here because this place has potential, passion and hope. When I visited my first time in 2002, I knew I wanted to come back. Things that I grew up with and the things my family and family friends have done made sense to me here and I wanted to get to know it better. Things in the U.S. change very little and they honestly aren’t that amazing. A new Walmart at the next intersection from the other Walmart? Or a new smoothie shop or new plaza? C’mon. People here have dreams and they have the opportunity and a pretty empty slate to start ‘em. Ho Chi Minh City is like what New York City is to people around here. You come here to find work, get a better education, make more money, and find opportunities. The place grows DAILY. Every time I’ve left this place, I come back and there’s a new café or restaurant and office buildings are popping up EVERYWHERE. This is where it all happens, and I’m right smack in the middle of it. Lots of people here wanna open businesses, support their families, send their kids abroad to have better educations, and really just want a piece of the pie (probably what the American dream is, but way more intense). That’s amazing to me. That is why I came here, to be a part of it.
I know that I have said some offending things, but hell if I don’t love this city. You don’t leave someone you love because they don’t make the bed exactly how you want it. You don’t leave them because they continuously forget where they place their keys every morning on the way to work or forget to wash the clothes. You don’t leave them for daily surface stuff. I know had bitched about Saigon a lot, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love this city. I’m the one who defends it against most people (here in HCMC to Vietnamese and foreigners and back home to Viet Kieus). I’m the one who offers a little more understanding when someone’s frustrated. I suppose you only know what I write you, but you probably don’t even know how much this place even means to me. It’s not an infatuation. It’s way past that. It’s a marriage. I will stand by this city no matter what. If it drives me crazy sometimes, I’ll just suck it in or vent, but I will still stay here. I may take some breaks or whatever, but I will always come back. Saigon is my permanent home or at least second home for the rest of my life. So I find it a little naïve for someone to tell me to leave just because I complain about some ridiculous things. Who do you think you are anyway? Who made you ambassador of Vietnam and the whole of Asia to tell me to go back to the U.S.? WTF? (this is to the mean comments I'll mention in a second)
So, I won’t be leaving Vietnam because I get only one menu when I have a party of 4. That’s a rant, a simple complaint, and most of my complaints have been about stupid stuff like that. Why would anyone interpret that as a HATE for Vietnam and its people? I say this because I’ve received a few mean comments recently and honestly 1.I can’t believe you put the time to vent to me like that if you dislike me so much and 2. You judge me on a couple of paragraphs from my last entry or my last entry alone. How do you think that’s enough to know what my blog is about or what I’m about? You don’t. 3. Even if you have read the past few entries, you had picked individual lines about Vietnam and Vietnamese people from full entries talking about my life and situation. And why should I be condemned because I made comparisons to the U.S. and Vietnam? I was born and raised in the U.S., it was AWESOME to go back for the first time in nearly 4 years. I’ve been a resident to Vietnam for nearly 4 years, why should I not even talk about the differences??? It’s an explanation of my appreciation of things I had in the U.S. that we don’t have here in HCMC. Why is that suddenly a crime?
The good thing is I’ve received even more messages in agreement with me, but the thing is it’s usually sent to me privately, so looking at my blog, you’d think more people hate me than enjoy me. Should I care? Probably not, but I must since I’m explaining that to you. I mean, I’m only human. I posted you my Facebook pictures and I’m a real person. You don’t even know me and don’t even have the courage to sign with your real name or email address and most likely don’t ever come back to see my responses. So if I’m talking to air, well so be it, but I just wanted to say - it’s totally immature to attack me personally when you don’t even know me.
The thing is, during my travels this year, and being back, I’ve come up with a plan. It’s something I’m gonna keep quiet about until it works out, but it’s a way for me to stay here for YEARS (sorry non-fans of mine).
So now I am happy. Things are great. I’m so incredibly broke now as I’ve travelled nearly half this year, but it’s all been worth it. I have a goal now, a lifelong one, and it’s something I’m passionate about. I’ve finally grown up. I guess that’s what the 30s do to you.
I know I was a Cranky Christine when I lived here working a full time job. I hated everything around me. I hated everyone around me. I probably even hated myself to tell you the truth, but now? I’m better than ever and totally refreshed.
The thing is Vietnam to me is more than just a temporary fling. I didn’t come here to teach English (which I don’t really do anymore) and I didn’t come here to just escape corporate life. I came here because this place has potential, passion and hope. When I visited my first time in 2002, I knew I wanted to come back. Things that I grew up with and the things my family and family friends have done made sense to me here and I wanted to get to know it better. Things in the U.S. change very little and they honestly aren’t that amazing. A new Walmart at the next intersection from the other Walmart? Or a new smoothie shop or new plaza? C’mon. People here have dreams and they have the opportunity and a pretty empty slate to start ‘em. Ho Chi Minh City is like what New York City is to people around here. You come here to find work, get a better education, make more money, and find opportunities. The place grows DAILY. Every time I’ve left this place, I come back and there’s a new café or restaurant and office buildings are popping up EVERYWHERE. This is where it all happens, and I’m right smack in the middle of it. Lots of people here wanna open businesses, support their families, send their kids abroad to have better educations, and really just want a piece of the pie (probably what the American dream is, but way more intense). That’s amazing to me. That is why I came here, to be a part of it.
I know that I have said some offending things, but hell if I don’t love this city. You don’t leave someone you love because they don’t make the bed exactly how you want it. You don’t leave them because they continuously forget where they place their keys every morning on the way to work or forget to wash the clothes. You don’t leave them for daily surface stuff. I know had bitched about Saigon a lot, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love this city. I’m the one who defends it against most people (here in HCMC to Vietnamese and foreigners and back home to Viet Kieus). I’m the one who offers a little more understanding when someone’s frustrated. I suppose you only know what I write you, but you probably don’t even know how much this place even means to me. It’s not an infatuation. It’s way past that. It’s a marriage. I will stand by this city no matter what. If it drives me crazy sometimes, I’ll just suck it in or vent, but I will still stay here. I may take some breaks or whatever, but I will always come back. Saigon is my permanent home or at least second home for the rest of my life. So I find it a little naïve for someone to tell me to leave just because I complain about some ridiculous things. Who do you think you are anyway? Who made you ambassador of Vietnam and the whole of Asia to tell me to go back to the U.S.? WTF? (this is to the mean comments I'll mention in a second)
So, I won’t be leaving Vietnam because I get only one menu when I have a party of 4. That’s a rant, a simple complaint, and most of my complaints have been about stupid stuff like that. Why would anyone interpret that as a HATE for Vietnam and its people? I say this because I’ve received a few mean comments recently and honestly 1.I can’t believe you put the time to vent to me like that if you dislike me so much and 2. You judge me on a couple of paragraphs from my last entry or my last entry alone. How do you think that’s enough to know what my blog is about or what I’m about? You don’t. 3. Even if you have read the past few entries, you had picked individual lines about Vietnam and Vietnamese people from full entries talking about my life and situation. And why should I be condemned because I made comparisons to the U.S. and Vietnam? I was born and raised in the U.S., it was AWESOME to go back for the first time in nearly 4 years. I’ve been a resident to Vietnam for nearly 4 years, why should I not even talk about the differences??? It’s an explanation of my appreciation of things I had in the U.S. that we don’t have here in HCMC. Why is that suddenly a crime?
The good thing is I’ve received even more messages in agreement with me, but the thing is it’s usually sent to me privately, so looking at my blog, you’d think more people hate me than enjoy me. Should I care? Probably not, but I must since I’m explaining that to you. I mean, I’m only human. I posted you my Facebook pictures and I’m a real person. You don’t even know me and don’t even have the courage to sign with your real name or email address and most likely don’t ever come back to see my responses. So if I’m talking to air, well so be it, but I just wanted to say - it’s totally immature to attack me personally when you don’t even know me.
The thing is, during my travels this year, and being back, I’ve come up with a plan. It’s something I’m gonna keep quiet about until it works out, but it’s a way for me to stay here for YEARS (sorry non-fans of mine).
So now I am happy. Things are great. I’m so incredibly broke now as I’ve travelled nearly half this year, but it’s all been worth it. I have a goal now, a lifelong one, and it’s something I’m passionate about. I’ve finally grown up. I guess that’s what the 30s do to you.