My first impressions

The day I arrived in Vietnam, I thought it was a bad dream, I couldn’t believe what was in front of me.

You know, even before I came out of the airport, I could feel the heat on my face, and the smell of dust in my nose. And once I got through the exit doors, I realized that I wasn’t in France anymore, and that I was about to live in this country for a whole year.

At first, it sounded extremely exciting, and I really enjoyed the fact that I would live abroad for quite a while, even if I knew how it felt to be alone in a foreign country. I have been far from my family and friends before. I was happy, and proud of representing my country here. Here, in this country my ancestors invaded and destroyed hundred years ago, I could find a kind of mea culpa for the past, for what we did.

Indeed, when I found out that I was in the program and told my friends about it, the first thing they all asked me was: “with the wars and everything, they might hate the strangers from France and the US, and you could be killed!” It made me laugh because I knew that none of this was true. In fact, the Vietnamese are probably one of the most welcoming and warmhearted people I’ve ever met.  They care for everyone around them, they are nice, and they like interacting with strangers. Of all the people I’ve met since I’ve arrived in Hanoi, not even one has been rude or impolite to me.

It has been three weeks now that I’ve lived in Hanoi, and I love it. I know I will have some moments when I will miss my country, my friends, my brother, but it’ll be fine, because I’m not alone here, and I’m happy to be part of it.

Perrine Aronson