Julie Ginsberg's Portfolio

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Julie Ginsberg graduated from Princeton University in 2006 with a degree in anthropology. Afterwards, she moved to Hanoi, Vietnam, where she currently lives and plans to stay through the fall of 2007 (or perhaps longer, if she can't break her addictions to sticky rice and tailored clothing). Julie works as a subeditor at Viet Nam News, a national English-language daily newspaper, through a Princeton-in-Asia fellowship. For the past year, she has been grappling with Vietnamese tones and is proud to finally be able to stumble through a conversation—though in the process she has completely forgotten Spanish. Future paths may involve journalism or law or both, but for now Julie is very much enjoying living in the present. Her account of crowded minibus travel, “A Microcosm of Vietnam,” shows how even uncomfortable bus rides can be an opportunity for cultural learning.

Listen to an interview with Julie about the challenges and rewards of living and working in Vietnam:

AV: What were your day-to-day responsibilities at "Viet Nam News"? What did you learn about living and working in another culture, and did you face particular challenges?

AV: How is learning Vietnamese helping you to adjust to the culture?

AV: What were you expectations before going to Vietnam and has the reality matched what you expected?

AV: How long do you plan to stay and are you glad you took the time for an international experience at this point in your life? Do you plan to keep an international focus to your life and work? Will your return to Hanoi? What are your future career goals?

AV: In your article you discuss the discomforts of personal space and how you dealt with it. How important for you was the process of using writing for self-reflection?