An American Girl in Vietnam

Thus far everyone in Vietnam has been incredibly friendly, even more so than in Thailand. Maybe it's because I'm traveling alone, maybe it's because I'm female, or maybe they are just very good-natured at heart. So far I've only traveled in the south: Saigon, Na Trang, Hoi An, and now Hue. Every time I told a local that I was an American they would get a big smile on their face and start talking about how their cousin or sister was living in Colorado or California or somewhere. I got a cylco ride back to my hotel in Na Trang and talked to the guy about the war a bit. He pointed out the signs to me for the Liberation Day celebrations coming up: 30 April, the day Saigon fell to the Viet Cong. He said people understand that the American people were against the war, and really the government was to blame, so Vietnamese people don't have hostility towards Americans. At least in the south.

Today in Hoi An I spoke with another Vietnamese man. He agreed that people in the south are very friendly towards Americans and have good relations with them, but in the north it may be a bit different. He said people will be nice, but suggested that I tell people I am from Sweden. I think he was only half joking.

In Hue I can already see it happening a bit, even though Hue is still considered to be part of the south -- the DMZ is about 100 km north of here. I told my moto driver that I was American and there was just a short pause...then a change of subject. And the girl at the front desk of the hotel just smiled and nodded when I said I was American. But they are all still very nice and friendly to me and I don't sense any hostility. Maybe it's all in my head.

Anyways, tomorrow evening I leave for Hanoi. I arrive Wednesday morning -- Liberation Day. I'm excited to see what kinds of festivites will be going on. I'm also curious as to what reaction Vietnamese will have if I tell them I am American. I'm guessing their reaction would be a lot different if we hadn't lost the war. I will just do as I have been doing, and leave a discussion of the war up to them. If they bring it up, I'll talk about it, if they don't, then I'll keep quiet.

One thing I was quite surprised about is the War Remnants museum in Saigon. I had read somewhere that the war was described as the "Civil war with American support," but I have not seen that anywhere thus far, it's all been the "American war." And this museum made the Americans look like absolute barbarians. I was almost ashamed to call myself an American while in there. But now I'm getting kicked off the internet so you can read about it on Wikipedia.