Touchdown in Ha Noi!

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I arrived to Vietnam a few days after my class with Tiffany, whose visa arrived just in time for my second rescheduled flight. I thought I had a fear of flying, but when searching for fear, did not find any but the fear of fear itself. The flight was smooth. The only terrible part was a white โ€˜murican man who overheard me discussing anxiety with the flight attendant so that I could sit in the empty row to help prevent anxiety. While the seatbelt light was still on, he moved to the empty seat fron the row directly in front of mine, and absolutely within earshot of my conversation with the flight attendant. During mealtime, I approached him to negotiate a deal. Before I could open my mouth, he said โ€˜get away from me and stop harassing me.โ€™ I was in shock because we were on a plane with hours ahead over an ocean, he was accusing me of harassing simply for being near him…. on a plane?

Male rains welcomed me back. It felt as if we picked up right where we had left of.          

 This is a prime example of the unfavorable, privileged/entitled, โ€˜all of the terrible thingsโ€™ attitude that US Americans carry with them around the world. While this man heard me speak of my mental health concerns, he felt the right to sit there simply because he โ€˜beat me to itโ€™ fully aware that it had been negotiated for. Furthermore, the most frustrating thing yet was the fact that he knew that the polite, Asian female flight attendants would not stand up to him. Even after the flight attendant asked him to return to his seat, he refused until the last two out of thirteen hours of the flight. As an Asian woman, which Iโ€™m sure other Asian women can too relate, I am essentially bullied simply because of my small stature and perhaps assumptions of my culture. Take my seat, sure. Blatantly disrespect the flight attendants requests solely due to subscribing to negative stereotypes and who you are as a shit personโ€” despicable.

I am now in Vietnam, and I will aim to avoid biligaanas so that I may do what it is that Iโ€™m here to doโ€” to learn, enjoy, and grow my relationship with this homeland of mine. It feels good to be in the North. While Iโ€™m not a city girl, the mountains of the North feel… right.

Caressa Nguyen

*SIT Study Abroad Scholarship <i>Hello in your host country language</i>: Chao, Salam, Hola! <i> University</i>: The Evergreen State College <i>Expected graduation year</i>: 2019 <i>Destination</i>: Hanoi, Vietnam & Casablanca, Morocco & Cochabamba, Bolivia <i>Program Provider</i>: SIT Study Abroad <i>Major / Minor</i>: Environmental & Sustainability Studies <i>Demographic background</i>: First-generation, Indigenous <i>Future career aspirations</i>: International Environmental Policy predicated on preserving and supporting indigenous life <i>Top 3 goals for study abroad</i>: To explore how climate change is impacting peoples around the world and the varied impacts; To learn about technologies and traditional forms of local knowledge that can realistically meet humanity's need for energy in a sustainable way; To develop the acumen to begin thinking seriously about realistic solutions.