Right so, I did say I would write up a little something something about my time in Vietnam after I pretty much dedicated my undying love to America and independence like a proper redneck in the last post. -In my defense this was a post fueled by a lot of questionable Vietnamese wine and, I'm pretty sure, the forced veganism.The thing is, there are so many aspects of that beautiful chaos to talk about and I'd hate to bore you with a long list. So I'm just going to talk about what was the most spectacular part, much to Nomadic Matt's disapproval.It was the people. The homies. My brothers. The Vietnamese.(cue cringe and swiftly click top right x sign)I'm going to try my best not to be corny in this post but it's really hard when you encounter such a great, genuine culture of people. But I've just got 3 points, and I'm going to stick to them.Point 1: honesty.Even though I'm about to paint a picture of the Vietnamese for you, I've found that you should never really let someone else's opinions of a place form your preconceived notions. You need to go there yourself. If not, it will almost always be amplified in your head to imagine the best or worst case scenario. When I heard Vietnam was a land of scams, ('Vietscam', as its lovingly referred to in said-Matt's article), I was like: 'shit, girl you're a sitting duck'. I mean, you really don't get more tourist-looking than me. I'm an angry-when-driving-blue-scooter blonde wielding a backpack... and I was not prepared to lose it, that shit is functional and genuine leather. Also, I'm South African and WILL scare you with screams in Zulu if you try to mug me.So that was the tactic.At least, I thought, I'd be able to escape to the beautiful and diverse natural landscapes on any one of the given sunny days I've been told about. Well let me tell you, those obtuse (albeit really magical) mountains are a long way from Ho Chi Minh city and it rains 90% of the time. I'm talking not a fun drizzle to keep you cool as you whisk through the sea of motorbike traffic. I'm talking blinding, pelting rain that forces you to pull over on a highway and frantically put on a raincoat while praying that your phone won't give way to the weather beating.All in the name of adventure.But yeah, that 'Vietscam' thing? It's bullshit. In fact I've never met more honest people in my life, thank you by the way Elsa, for telling me with such a joyful smile on your face that I looked fat that day and not to wear those pants again, throwing me into a plethora of emotional confusion trying to read the room. It took me by surprise but yeah I should've known better, horizontal stripes and all that.Which gets me to my second point because being ruthlessly honest is not as fun if the intended meaning is going to be misconstrued and get you punched in the face. You need point two.Point two: passivity.I'm not going to lie, for a country with so many wild bike drivers, everything is crazy chill. If I head out on the road in SA like I did in Vietnam, I'd probably give at least 5 dutchmen in bakkies road-rage heart-attacks before even reaching a Woolies. I've seen a man with 4 puppies balancing on his bike hit a family on another bike and neither made a sound as I caused a scene at the calamity in the background.People just don't want to fight.Accidents happen and it's for the Big Man (I refer to Buddah in this case, take it as literally as you will) to bring that karma. Ultimately though, that is the best way to live. People were at peace in passivity. It's the most humbling and emotionally-intelligent thing you can possibly do to look at someone who's pissed you off, acknowledge that you don't know one single thing about their path and turn the other cheek. I'm not naive to the fact that it's easier said than done and that most people don't live in this idyllic world. You're going to get people who would love to walk over you and yeah, you'll have to back yourself a little... but pick your battles wisely. Sometimes it's not worth the fight, especially if pride's taking the lead. Pride is not a rational emotion, self-respect sure, but not pride. Point 3: kindness.The third thing I learnt the value of in Vietnam, is kindness. Of course, I'm familiar with the word but man I've never seen it practiced so well. When someone has any minor concern, they try to help. You'll be on a grab motorbike and he will get a little lost and ask 10 new friends on the way the route to the gweilo's place (-Asian gringo) and then not even accept your money for inconveniencing you. I suppose you could say well yeah but that's just the appropriate thing to do, it's good service. Fair enough. But I found this to be the case in all scenarios. The cool thing about teaching was that I was the one providing a service for the Vietnamese and when you're servicing not being serviced, you really see what people are like -you're not a walking cash-cow.I've never been treated with more respect and kindness than in Vietnam by my students. I had one kid, 5-year-old Johnny pictured below (easily my favourite), randomly buy me a water bottle with his pocket money, simply because I always used a 7/11 bottle. I also had an adult student who bought in a $100 face mask for me because she said I looked exhausted. You see? The kindness isn't selective.Point is, they went about their business thinking of giving and being kind because what goes around comes around. Not quite sure how the sweatshop loophole is worked in but I don't claim to have all the answers. Maybe all this travel has coincidentally resulted in some answers though. Ones I didn't even think I needed -because you know your girl did not start this round-the-world shit on a soul-searching mission. Yet I guess I've figured out the answer to my own happiness -well, close enough anyway. If you leave people happier and more at peace than when you found them, you'll be all good.Thank you Vietnam, for teaching me.

Feel free to check where & what I'm up to in the world on the gram.

How I fell in love (with Vietnam).

Why my year in America might've been the best yet...

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