My expectations, My fears, My perceptions

Okay, I am downloading and uploading on my DSL internet; Hoai Pham, a colleague from the University of Minnesota Medical School, flew back home to the states; my fancy new generic bike “Successful” made in China sits pretty in the first floor of my house; and a pile of surveys await my analysis at the Pasteur Institute. Now with the flying Sai Gon dust settling, I can return to my blog world.

My six months in Viet Nam goes beyond medical academics and goes into a personal rediscovery. I anticipate awkward falls, loneliness, disappointments, and unanswered questions to speckle my rebirth. So behold my list of expectations, fears, and perceptions.

What I know:

1. My Viet language skills are mediocre trending to pathetic. I can’t really read or write, but I can ask people where the toilet is located.
2. I love Vietnamese food and can eat just about anything. (Message to Stephanie: I will abstain from Dog).
3. I am more American than Vietnamese, but my Viet blood runs deep into my psyche.
4. My Grandmother will fatten me up.
5. Food is cheap. Clothes are cheap. And all the products are fake. Can you say DVD before released into the American market for one dollar?
6. I won’t look like a midget anymore.

My Fears:

1. I am unable to improve my Vietnamese language skills.
2. Sticking out like a Viet Kieu (foreigner).
3. Being trampled by another motorbike on my way to work.
4. Discovering that Viet Nam does not belong in my future.
5. Months of diarrhea.
6. Unrelenting urge to devour pizza, hot dogs, and hamburgers doused in Tabasco sauce.

My Perceptions:

1. Viet Nam continues to be a developing socialistic country building a new image 30 years after the “Fall of Sai Gon.”
2. Sai Gon motorbikes blanket the road with dust and pollution.
3. This trip will challenge my interracial relationship with Krista.
4. I look good in blue jeans here.
5. Even with poverty, Viet Nam is still beautiful, strong, and kind.