Living in Vietnam for The Villager

This is an article I submitted for our local newspaper, The Villager:

Living in Vietnam

Ed Frato-Sweeney

“Vietnam? Why would we go there? It is a communist country.”

That was my reaction when my wife Libby, an art teacher at James A. Garfield High School told me over a year ago that she was thinking about applying for a Fulbright grant to study and teach.  I knew maybe three things about Vietnam when she first mentioned it: it was communist, it grew a lot of rice, and we fought a war there.  But as I write this now, Libby and I along with our family are living

very well in Hanoi (the capital city) and are about halfway through our Vietnam adventure. We have learned so much, and experienced very different culture and lifestyle from our lives in the United States.  Here are a few observations:

Yes, Vietnam is communist, but…

Vietnam is a single party government and only candidates endorsed by the communist party can run for political office, but the country is really more of a socialist-oriented market economy.  Most Vietnamese would consider the United States a friend and one of their biggest allies.  Since the economic reforms of 1986 here (“Doi Moi”), Vietnam has come a long way toward being industrialized and modernized.  It is a flourishing market economy.  It is also the world’s largest exporter of rice and in the top five in coffee, tea, and fish, and garments and textiles.  Every once in a while we are reminded that Vietnam is still a one-party communist state – order and security are definitely emphasized here; artists are not permitted to draw the president of Vietnam; Twitter is a blocked website (but not Facebook); etc.  – but for the most part it hasn’t affected us in obvious ways.

Hanoi is growing fast…maybe too fast

Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia, and one look at the Hanoi skyline will confirm it.  This city, like many in Southeast Asia, is growing at an unbelievable rate, with large construction projects seeming to dot almost every block.  It is an exciting place to live.  But in some obvious ways they are not ready for this growth.  Air pollution, litter, and traffic are real problems in this city.

Great food, street food, cheap food

We miss the pub chips at Sean’s, and we crave a good pepperoni pizza, but you can’t talk about Vietnam and not talk about the food – and we’ve had some unbelievably amazing food here.  Pho, banh xeo, nem, they all have exotic sounding names but are actually very basic foods prepared with fresh ingredients. There are many street food vendors here making these great dishes.  We simply sit on the blue plastic stools by our table and chow down.  Dinner for our family of six averages $7 - $10 most nights.  We’ve seen some unusual things being eaten here (pig knuckles, chicken heads and feet, and yes, there are two dog restaurants near us), but overall the cuisine is excellent.  And the coffee!  There are coffee shops everywhere here.  Vietnamese coffee is very strong, so they add sweetened condensed milk and serve it hot or cold.  You can also have many variations including egg coffee and yoghurt coffee.

Very different educational system

Our kids go to St. Paul American School Hanoi, so their curriculum and day look familiar to the one they follow at James A. Garfield (although foreign language is a requirement for all grades).  Vietnamese children have a different curriculum and schedule.  For starters, they attend school six days a week.  They start at 7:30 am and go to 5:30 pm, although they have a break in the middle of the day from 11:30 am until 2 pm.  Frequently they will take additional classes at night and even on Sundays to improve in a particular subject area.  Also, their classes involve a lot of rote memorization and there is little room for creativity and discussion-based learning.  Some Vietnamese educators are trying to change this, but it is a slow process. They also ALL wear uniforms (including our kids!).

A great experience for our family

Vietnam continues to amaze and surprise us.  Every day we run into something different, and we’ve definitely had our ups and downs in these first two months.  We’ll be back in Northeast Ohio in another two months (you’ve been warned!), but so far this has been the biggest, the most challenging, and the most rewarding thing we’ve done as a family.

P.S.  I heard it snowed there a few days ago?  Here in Hanoi we’ve had sunny, 90-degree weather the last ten days.  J

You can read more about our Vietnam adventure on our blog (http://hiramtohanoi.blogspot.com) and Instagram (http://instagram.com/fratoghs).