WAIW | This Feels Weird

This past weekend, I hopped-on a bus (because I could, sort of) and headed to Da Lat from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. With restrictions softened across the country, being in Da Lat after weeks of self-isolation in Saigon is strange to say the least. To make things even stranger, I spent part of today at a cafe just working and drinking fresh juice. As expected, it was weird.

As I mentioned in the video, and here on the blog before, I’ve been working on a series to chronicle the experiences of people around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic called #OurNewNormal. So far, whether my friends were based in North America, Europe, Asia, or Australia, there were many similarities in their stories. Of course, there were also some differences as well. For me, the biggest difference between Vietnam (where I’ve been since March 3rd) and almost anywhere else is the numbers.

It’s mainly due to these numbers, and not the ignorance of a leader hellbent on getting his own interests back to making money, that Vietnam has started to try and come out of the pandemic. Personally, if it wasn’t for my partner having been here for almost a month already, I probably would still be holed-up in our apartment in Saigon despite being told we were able to do a little more. For the most part, this wouldn’t be because I’m afraid of catching the virus, it would be more so because I haven’t done these “normal” things in so long that they no longer feel normal.

Now, as I try to become accustomed to being in public with varying numbers of other people around me, the two big questions I have are:

• Will this take a turn for the worse at some point or are we really out of the woods?
• How long will it be before it feels okay to be around other people?

Only time will tell these answers. For now though, I’m content enough with being able to enjoy at least a brief moment where it felt like the world wasn’t falling apart.