Same Same, But Different.

By Amy Coward

I recently returned from a two-week trip to Southeast Asia – China and Vietnam to be exact. My husband and I had planned and saved for three years for this trip and it was worth every penny.

It’s fascinating to me to go somewhere so visibly and culturally different from America. Tour guides, hotel staff and even restaurant waiters are willing and happy to share their local traditions with you.

Throughout Vietnam, for instance, multi-story homes are built on narrow plots of land for several generations to live in, with the top floor or roof reserved as a place to honor ancestors; people show you the way or direct you to an object with an open hand, not a pointed finger, in order not to be rude; shop keepers and street vendors fully expect you to barter for their goods; public cemeteries are not found, but instead pagodas are built on family property to indicate where the dead are buried and honored.

In China, we noted some differences, too – especially in food preferences. Fried starfish, grasshoppers and scorpions on a stick were offered at street fairs and seemed to be very popular. (I couldn’t bring myself to taste one of these local treats.) Fashions, too, were different – mostly western but different pairings of patterns in skirts and blouses. Sparkly hats and shoes were common. I would hate for the folks at “What Not to Wear” to critique them – it would be brutal.

My husband and I stood out as different, too, in Asia. When you’re tall (anything over 5’5”), white, blonde and blue-eyed, the locals know “you’re not from around these parts.” We were often stopped and asked where we were from. Children would call out, “hello!” to proudly show their English-speaking skills and loved it when we responded.

But just as we are different from these people on the other side of the world, we have much in common as well. Or as the saying goes in Vietnam, “Same same but different.”

As we walked through the streets and observed the everyday life of the Chinese and the Vietnamese, we saw all too familiar sights – mothers cuddling babies, teen girls shopping and laughing, boyfriends and girlfriends holding hands, little boys being mischievous, people hurrying to work.

That’s what I love most about our adventures – making the connection with other people.

In addition to the scenery and the sights, the vastly different architecture, the beautiful creations of nature that exist in different places, the unique and amazing food, I love being reminded that the world is bigger than the little speck that is America. Yes, this is great place to live — with freedom to spread our wings and speak our minds. (And no, we are not escorted by the “hospitality staff” from the public square if we protest the government.) But there are people everywhere who are kind, who work hard and love their families. We’re all part of the human race and when you have the opportunity to see how others live or share a meal and a conversation, you find the connection.

So, next stop? Who knows? I have a long list of places I long to visit and need only a lottery win to make it all happen. Until then, I’ll be planning and saving and figuring out our next “same same, but different” destination.

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it. 

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