First Impressions
Before I took my first few steps off of the plane, I knew that Vietnam wasn’t an environment I was accustomed to living in. I’ve lived in many places throughout my life; I’ve lived in Tokyo, Beijing, Melbourne and Honolulu, which are all major cities in developed countries. The contrast of the social and economic atmospheres between the cities I’ve lived in and Ho Chi Minh is almost too great to put in words.
In my first day of touring around Vietnam, I couldn’t help but remember my days in pre-Olympics Beijing. The countless number of mopeds on the city streets and the dusty streets filled with people selling bootleg DVDs evoked strong memories in me. It wasn’t a negative experience at all, rather, it reminded me that there are places in this world that haven’t developed as much as the places I’ve lived in. I sympathize with people selling bootleg DVDs and fake Rolex watches because they are just like the rest of us; they are just trying to find a way to make some extra money to be able to survive. But this isn’t all that I’ve learned during my first day in Vietnam.
I’ve always known that Vietnam is a country filled with poverty, but today, I saw a glimpse of the vast amounts of history. The tour of Cu Chi tunnel was filled with American-Vietnamese history. I had an opportunity to crawl through the very same tunnel that the Vietnamese guerilla troops used during the Vietnam War. I could not believe that the tunnel was widened four times for the tourists; I was simply incredulous to the idea that the Vietnamese troops could fit through a tunnel that was one-fourth as big as the hole that I had a hard time crawling through. This is definitely an experience that I will never forget.
I also had an opportunity to shoot the M30 machine gun that was used by the Vietnamese troops during the war. I underestimated the force of the recoil and the sound that followed after each bullet left the gun, and began to shoot the three feet long machine gun without any earplugs. This left my right ear deaf for about ten minutes after I had left the shooting range. Imagine getting shot by one of those bullets… Your arms would probably blow off.
However, the best part about Vietnam is the food. In my first day at Vietnam, I got to taste pho, pig brain, liver, shrimp spring rolls, banana bread and countless other exotic foods. One has to come to Vietnam and try it to truly understand how good it is. My appetite for Vietnamese is insatiable now.

Kai Yamamoto
June 10/2010