May 15th - Culture Smart Reading and Cu Chi Day Trip

Today we went on a day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are about an hour outside Ho Chi Minh City. These tunnels were used by the Viet Cong during the war to move around and communicate. We have talked a lot about the war thus far and it was interesting to see where a lot of the fighting actually happened. We visited the tunnels in the morning and then went to a war cemetery in the afternoon. The cemetery was very somber and we had to make sure we dressed with clothes that covered our knees and had at least short sleeves.

When we went to the tunnels we had the chance to walk through a portion of them and see how they were designed. They were very narrow and I can't imagine how stressful it would be for a soldier to use these tunnels while they were being attacked from above. Besides going through the tunnels the tour guide showed us examples of the many traps and spikes used to injure outsiders if they tried to come into the tunnels.

In regards to the war cemetery, it was a very enlightening and humbling experience. We were able to take part in a short ceremony where we burned incense and presented it to the monument to honor those who lost their lives. Before the trip we had to read a culture smart book about Vietnam and I found similarities and differences between the book and what I have been experiencing culturally. In the book it said that we must be careful about what we say and make sure to be not to sound condescending about anything culturally. This gave me the impression that the people would be much more sensitive about cultural issues or much more angry if we messed something up culturally. When in reality the Vietnamese students are open about talking about sensitive topics and very understanding if we accidentally do something that does not align with their cultural values. This may also be because they are in a younger generation and have learned more about western culture. The students today were very open to talk about the types of behavior and clothing that was ok at the cemetery and very understanding if we were accidentally talking too loud or pointed at one of the graves with one finger. Another interesting fact from the culture smart book was that a smile can signify sorrow or grief in Vietnamese culture. When in American culture, a smile obviously signifies happiness. We had to take a photo in front of the memorial at the war cemetery today and all of the Vietnamese students told us to smile. This was obviously a little confusing because we were at a cemetery and it felt strange to smile, especially a war cemetery on foreign soil. I still am confused if the Vietnamese students consider smiling as a sign of happiness or not, but it was very interesting that this nuance in their culture came up in my travels. The culture smart book definitely prepared me for my visit and I think the most helpful aspect of the book was learning about what types of food to expect. Food is very important to me and I am usually not very adventurous, so it was nice to know what to expect before coming to Vietnam.

Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels and the war memorial was a very enlightening experience and it was very interesting to hear about the war from the Vietnamese perspective. I now really know why this war was so controversial and had such an impact on Vietnamese and American society.

 Example of one of the narrow entry points to the tunnels