Stressing

Vietnam can be very stressful. Right now I'm balancing my internship, studying abroad, getting to know my roommate, hanging out with family, and attending to friends who happen to be in Vietnam this summer. Unfortunately, not everyone is aware of the social pressures a person could encounter here. While I'm usually not the type to care what other people think, I'm also the type to have a heavy conscience when someone I care about has been offended or is hurting. In a country such as Vietnam, the culture is group oriented in its mindset, with leaders having jurisdiction over the group as a whole. There is very little regard for individual decisions.

So when you say you're going to hang out with someone you respect, you really shouldn't flake. This place is wearing on me a bit, as I find the social atmosphere here to be very stressful at times. In fact, it makes me just a little home sick (literally).

Here are some things I miss:
- my friends and family
- food in Berkeley
- organic food in Berkeley
- NOT having traveler's diarrhea
- knowing that most of the food I eat will not kill me

Things that stress me out here:
- anyone older than me, as I have to figure out what to call them by. The Confucian hierarchy makes for a lot of messy social blunders (ie. you don't want to call someone "granny" if they're barely older than you)
- good food that I can't eat. My stomach isn't ready yet. I have having diarrhea.
- the balance of family, friends, and school. I suppose life is hardly different from at home, but there's even more insecurity here because of the social pressures.