Life in Vietnam: The heat

Hey guys,

So in the past two weeks I have had two different set of visitors come to see me, my girlfriend and my family. Getting visitors from home is obviously wonderful and a fantastic experience, and great in so many ways. However it also provides an entertaining perspective on ways I have gotten adjusted to Vietnam.

For instance, you tend to become aware of the larger adjustments you make in Vietnam. You learn to chill out (link) a bit, to talk excessively about your family, to drive as though you have no conception of any traffic laws. Your Vietnamese improves, and your English deteriorates. You notice these things yourself. It’s the little things that creep up on you.

Like, for instance, the fact that you now wake up at 7:00 am every day. You take your bike everywhere instead of walking down the street. You eat better with chopsticks than with a fork and knife. You wear long pants basically all the time, and wearing shorts and a tanktop make you feel strangely exposed. Oh, and the big one, you are used to the weather.

Ah, the weather in Vietnam. Where to begin?

Let’s start with the heat. Now as a disclaimer, I am from Boston, but I have been in both Washington D.C. and Chicago during the summer. Neither of them remotely compare to Vietnam. People in America talk a lot about “beat the heat.” Well, in Vietnam you can’t beat the heat. You can only try to avoid having the heat beat you.

The temperature in Ben Tre averages about 90 degrees a day, with highs of 98 and 99 during the middle of the day. The humidity index is at around 80%. These are average temperatures, year round. Those are just the numbers, though. What’s it really like?

In the morning, you rise early. Wake up at 6 or 7 am and the temperature is already comfortably warm. It is not bad at all, though, and the mist rising off the ground looks quite nice.

You go about your business, eating breakfast and teaching, lesson planning and drinking coffee. As the day goes on, the temperature slowly gets hotter and hotter.

When the noon sun rises every day, the scorching glare briefly turns paradise into hell. Water is 

evaporated, and you can feel the gravel begin to melt. If you are unlucky enough to be caught out in the sun, you begin to think that your hair has caught fire. As your brains slowly melt, you ponder the merits of locking yourself in a walk-in freezer for the rest of your life.

Shops close, businesses and schools and restaurants alike shutting their doors. From 11 – 2 pm it is very hard to get anything done in Ben Tre. From 12 – 1 pm it is impossible to do absolutely anything. If it’s noon and you suddenly get sick, too damn bad. It’s way too hot for the doctor to leave his house now. Ben Tre College becomes a ghost town, a normally bustling courtyard bereft of any living souls.

With the shops closed, every person in Ben Tre breaks out the hammocks. The hot hours of the day are nap time, when the rich and the poor, the teacher and the student, the mechanic and the CEO all give in to nature’s dominance and cease trying to do anything.

The rich sleep in soft beds in air-conditioned rooms, with the windows bolted shut to prevent any cold air leaving. The poor sleep in hammocks in rooms exposed to the elements, the doors and windows thrown open to let in a cooling breeze. Everybody stays out of the sun.

Slowly, the merciless sun descends, and the evening settles into a calm glow. People begin to reemerge and head back into the office, or back to the classroom. Ben Tre College slowly comes back to life with students laughing, chatting and studying, or playing sports in the courtyard. By the time the sun sets, the college—and the whole of Vietnam—is alive and bustling.

Coping strategies:

1. Water. Drink enough water or you will die. Drink more water than you think you need or you will be really grumpy. Trust me. Skimp on everything but water in Vietnam if you must, but make sure you always have a cold bottled water.

2. Handkerchiefs. You will sweat too much. Especially if you are like me and you sweat a lot. So always have a handkerchief to wipe your face, so you look a little less gross.

3. Efficiency of movement. Americans like to run around a lot. Americans like to gesture very emphatically, and to move around a ton. Americans like to multitask, which can mean running from one end of the office to another, to complete seven different tasks by the end of the hour.

These habits will make you very unhappy in Vietnam. Especially as the day gets hotter, it is important to think in terms of the most efficient movement. If something comes up at the last minute, do I have to do it now? If I have something that I want to do at the office, do I have to do it right now, or can it wait? If I forgot something I needed, do I really need to go back and get it? Every step outside in the sun drains your energy, so you have to be strategic about the most minor things.

4. Nap time. Nap time is awesome.

So, that’s daily life in Vietnam. It’s strange at first, to be sure. But before you know it, you are planning your day around the heat. You take naps or go inside during the hottest part of the day, and plan to exercise and go out during cooler times. Eventually, you get so that the temperature feels pretty normal to you.

And then your poor girlfriend/mother/father/siblings show up, and you are completely unfazed by the searing heat. You feel sorry for them, and always try to make sure they have enough water/fans/air conditioning to survive. After all, you remember when you were freaked out by the heat. But secretly, you feel like a bit of a badass. Maybe you haven’t beaten the heat, but the heat hasn’t beaten you yet! :) 

I am currently with my family in Mui Ne, a glorious beach resort with some fantastic views. Will post on that next week! See you soon!

Much love,

Jefferson