I have been in love with art ever since I could pick up a crayon. Growing up as “the art kid,” the hobby gave me a sense of familiarity and personal identity. In recent years, however, I have grown distant from my passion for art as I deal with college life. My favorite brushes and paints gathered dust as academics made their way to the forefront of my life. When I decided to study abroad in Vietnam, my intentions lay entirely on increasing my career readiness. What I didn’t know was that diving into this experience would force me to reevaluate my personal identity and remind me of the importance of keeping hobbies close while abroad.
My seldom-used sketchbook was thrown into my luggage as one of those “just in case” items a traveler might pack when their mind is in a million places, and for the first few weeks of my eight-week internship, it remained as such. The novelty of Vietnam and the long-awaited start of my internship conjured a whirlwind of must-dos, leaving little time for boredom.
Exploring shops lining the streets of Hanoi’s historical Old Quarter.
It wasn’t until I started to fall into my work routine and get acclimated to the environment that the dust settled, revealing a truth that I had been blinded to in the flurry. As exciting as my new life in Vietnam was, I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing, perhaps brought on by a feeling of being between worlds, not feeling entirely at home in Vietnam yet, while being far from friends and family on the other side of the globe.
Whatever it was, the feeling followed me around like an itch I couldn’t scratch. It wasn’t until one bleak Saturday afternoon that a spontaneous decision resulted in the solution to my dissociatedness. Working on my laptop at an outdoor cafe, I was distracted by the sight of a peculiar flat-faced grey cat hopping onto a table a few meters away. Delighted by its charming features, I felt the sudden urge to draw it. Remembering the sketchbook in my bag, I dug it out, closed my laptop, and started to sketch.
A perfect muse.
Sinking into the familiar comfort of the hobby, I was both grateful that the little cat seemed to be in no hurry, and that I had thought to bring the sketchbook in the first place, because just then something had clicked. Under the demanding yoke of academics, work, and personal life, I had been neglecting the side of me that yearned to create with no reason for doing so other than the happiness it brings me.
Long after the grey cat moved on, the feeling that my childhood passion for art had been reignited lingered. I started to find more joy in my routine, previously unnoticed hues and moods emerging as I imagined how the otherwise unremarkable scenes of daily life could translate into art. Fresh inspiration was everywhere, so much so that by week six my sketchbook was bursting at the seams. But that wasn’t the end of it. A visit to the fine arts museum became a visit to an art supplies shop and the (perhaps economically unwise) purchase of a watercolor set in eagerness to try other mediums and styles.
“Glorious Return of a Doctor of Letters,” a lacquer painting at the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts.
Reintroducing art into my life, not as an assignment but as an exercise of self-care, made me feel both closer to home and better understanding of the spirit of the city which surrounded me. Studying abroad is a blast in so many ways, from the skills you will learn to the people you will meet, but it comes with its challenges too. Having a hobby can be an anchor when one feels disconnected in a strange place. Whether it's playing an instrument, crocheting, or collecting unusually shaped potato chips, bring your own color into your internship and discover your host country through it. You’ll be happy you did.