Some highlights were seeing the skyline for the first time on a 45-minute motorcycle taxi ride from the bus station to our Airbnb in the rain, going to the eye-opening War Remnants Museum in the middle of the city and spending time with my American friends for the first time in a month (the only native English speakers I have interacted with in that time).
Again however, the most interesting part of the weekend was not the buildings or the experiences themselves in the city but the position I found myself in while experiencing them. After living in province for a month and being fully immersed in Vietnamese culture further outside of global influence than I may have ever been in my life, returning to a global city like HCMC was truly a shock. It reminded me of something a second-year participant of the program told me during training: that the bigger culture shock was not arriving in Vietnam but returning to the U.S.
While he may have been joking about seeing American prices again for the first time, it truly did strike me when the streets of the expat community, lined with gated houses, were silent compared to the daily bustle of Soc Trang. Also how much smaller you feel when the buildings tower above you and you do not know any of the people who pass you on the street. Even walking on sidewalks felt weird after literally not walking to a single place outside of my school walls for the past month.
As I mentioned earlier, I was feeling a little bit off after this weekend. But this is what I wanted. To feel uncomfortable in places I am not familiar with and in places that I thought that I was familiar with. I take it as a sign of a shifting worldview and growth.
