Vietnam - a bit of a culture shock!

I've been to a few countries prior to Vietnam. USA, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Thailand... But never have I experienced culture shock until I arrived in Hanoi. I remember walking off the plane feeling absolutely exhausted- tired, hungry, in an unfamiliar country. After finally sorting out paperwork in customs (must have taken nearly an hour as it was very early in the morning!) I managed to (eventually) get myself in a taxi and dropped off at my hotel. (Hanoi Trendy Hotel and Spa- would highly recommend if you can afford!) What I hadn't realised was that I couldn't check in until two o'clock that afternoon; I'd arrived at 7am, of course! Sleepily I dropped my bag off with the receptionist and took myself around the city with google maps (wouldn't be anywhere without it.) As I was walking around the city I remember feeling very confused with it all. Where was I? What was I doing here? This is nothing like Bankok at all! And that's when it hit me- Vietnam was going to be nothing like Thailand. I was in a completely new culture, and the next few months were going to be a very bumpy ride. I have been living and teaching in the very rural city of Ha Tinh, which is about an hour away from Vinh city (which you might find on the map.) Now, for someone who lives in a market town in the UK, you'd think they'd be able to manage small town life in Vietnam- this is definitely not the case for me! Ha Tinh, like many cities in Vietnam, is built up on the main motorway that goes from the North of Vietnam down to the South. There are a few shops, a few small cafe's, a few Vietnamese restaurants which serve very local food (I'll probably add another blog post later) a few gyms, and a brand new fancy shopping complex (which is basically the town centre) - and that's probably about it. I've been here about six months now and you name an illness, I've probably had it. In my very first week of teaching, I ended up going off sick with a very runny nose, a very sore throat and a temperature. At this time I was living on my own in a very small one bed studio apartment, having never lived on my own before. (I also had to make a trip to the pharmacy for an ongoing case of the traveller's stomach). Just before Christmas, I felt like I wasn't breathing properly. A very helpful Vietnamese teaching assistant drove to a pharmacy after our night class for me for some yet more weird Vietnamese medication. The next day, I was alright. One day in January, I spent one whole day in bed vomiting violently. But I had hardly eaten anything, so why was I being sick? The following couple of months since then have been a case of battling against vertigo. I didn't leave the house for a good few days, but when I did I constantly felt off-balance. (Going to the supermarket was an interesting venture.) Last week I took myself on holiday to Ho Chi Minh (as we are off due to the coronavirus.) After being driven an hour outside of the actual city into the suburbs to a tiny hospital, where they decided they didn't want to treat me due to not being able to speak English- I ended up back in the taxi to a bigger international hospital. After talking to a doctor for a while, he decided I should see a psychologist. I broke down in tears and they diagnosed me with stress- they put me on magnesium and an anti-depressant, and suddenly this week I am starting to feel like a human being once again. So as I reach the end of this post, I want to thank everyone who has gotten me through my ongoing culture shock- my housemates (who are the best- Dan and Frances, who basically became my carers for a week- I am forever in your debt!) to any doctor who has tried to help...the receptionist in the hostel in HCM city who looked after me last week- my boss for putting up with my ongoing health...the list goes on! There are probably a lot more health reports I could talk about but I feel this is enough for now- I may well write another post on this topic! If you have suffered anything similar, please feel free to comment or message me- I am interested to hear other people's stories! Tam biet for now! x