This past month my team and I lived in Da Nang, a lively beach city. We were located in central Vietnam, a 24-hour bus ride north of Ho Chi Minh City.
We partnered with a local English café owned by a super sweet and hardworking Korean couple, Daniel and Esther.
Vision Café is a cute place with wooden mosaic tables, modern cushiony chairs and earthy looking water & flower center pieces. Think Pinterest decor. So very cute. There is a huge widescreen tv to have karaoke nights and listen to lively music. They have playing cards for game nights and upstairs room for private English classes.
You could buy Vietnamese coffee, which is sooooo delicious! It’s super bold coffee with condensed milk. If you haven’t tried, you must soon! Go to a local Vietnamese restaurant and order your very own coffee, you won’t regret it. They were my weakness so I had to stop drinking them for a while. (Funny story: giving up coffee led to caffeine withdrawals which helped me realize I had a coffee problem. Not fun). Anyway, they also had mango smoothies, frappes, freshly squeezed juices, etc.
All of these drink options are all over Vietnam. There are literally more coffee shops than restaurants. Vietnamese people love their coffee. And I love them for it.
Vision café is super chill & a cool place to hangout in. Many university students from the local Economics and Technology universities stop by to drink some coffee and practice their English skills. But also young professionals in the IT, Developers & Software Engineering come to enhance their English skills; aspiring to get higher paying positions.
Our time there was spent building relationships with the young people that come to the café. We made great friends!
We hosted various events during the week to engage the students and help them practice their language skills. We had discussion nights about their careers and love life, crafts, games, and karaoke nights. So much fun!
We also had many opportunities to hangout with them outside the café, which was probably the best part of our time in Da Nang. Going to see Lady Buddha, hanging out at the beach, eating duck embryos, eating local street food, riding on motorbikes, eating fish cakes and milk tea. Mmmh! I’m sure I gained weight this month.
I’ll be honest, it took me a while to get used to this. I was actually enjoying myself. And it felt weird. I guess I didn’t feel this was the reason I came on the race. Right?
God has been teaching me that this is life. This is how my life back home needs to be. I don’t need to go on a trip or be labeled a missionary or humanitarian to be doing good work for others. Having coffee while having a meaningful conversation, that’s life.
Did I really come across the world to realize this?
Doing God’s work is just loving people, all people, the friendly and the difficult people.
Everywhere I go.
At work or at a coffeeshop.
Just love people.
Because that’s what God would do.
He’s also shown me that I am blessed to have come from a country that speaks the “Universal Language”. Not only am I an American who has had many opportunities in life but also one who came from a English-speaking country, the dominating language of the world.
What a privilege.
People want to learn English for upward mobility in their careers or because it’s fun to sing Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber songs during karaoke.
Did I take this for granted?
I think most Americans, like myself, take our Americanism and English-knowing-selves for granted.
In the previous countries I’ve visited, it’s lacking the basic necessities that were more evident, like not having running water or wifi access that have made me appreciate being American.
But being in Vietnam has taught me to appreciate the English language and all the privileges that come with it. Not in a bad way but in a proud way.
I’m proud that my parents immigrated to America to give their future family a better life. My teenaged parents immigrated from México, met in California, got married in the US, had babies.
What a story.
Their sacrifices to move to a foreign country, learn a new culture and raise a bicultural family is not something anyone would just do for fun. It takes strong and committed individuals to leave the comforts of their homeland but most importantly to leave their families.
I love my parents. I will forever appreciate their boldness and willingness to have a better life. For themselves. And for us, their children.
I see a similar drive in the Vietnamese students and young professionals whom we met in Da Nang.
There is a hunger to have a better life.
A life that involves making more money and having nicer things. Just like in America. It’s not foreign to me, I believed it too.
Thankfully, I learned early on in my career that making more money wouldn’t bring true joy in my life. I learned there is more to just making money (One reason why I am on this trip).
I loved Vietnam. I loved its street food. I loved its coffee.
But most importantly I loved its incredible people.
They are friendly, they are loving and very giving.
I can’t wait to come back and visit! Vietnam is a must, if you haven’t been.
I truly wish all my Vietnamese friends the very best.
The best future.
The best career.
But most importantly, a joyful life that outweighs the need of having material things.
I love you guysssss!
