We all like to laugh! What a weapon for peace and understanding

Laughter Yoga- what a wonderful surprise!

Andrew Penny writes:

Vietnam- a country of wonderful surprises and delights every day

"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter." 

 Mark Twain

What a privilege to attend the Spirit of Anzac competition! My sincere thanks to Malcolm, Department for Education, the Premier and South Australian Government for maintaining this study tour. I felt blessed to have learnt so much and feel that it has changed my life.

In reflecting on our adventure, I must admit that the kindness, friendly and graciousness of the Vietnamese people will stick with me.

Martin was a wonderful tour guide, endlessly patient, gracious, honest and funny. The walk down from Camp Carroll with Peter and Martin is one of my happiest memories from the trip as locals waved and smiled, the children rode past us, spoke to us, laughed with us and at us. Along the way we had a chance to learn a little bit more about Martin and his life outside of being a Tour Guide.

I have chosen this photograph because even the final day of our time in Vietnam had a wonderful surprise. We left our hotel for a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake at 6.00am and I continued to appreciate the dedication of the Vietnamese people to physical exercise and well-being. Gym, badminton, jogging, ballroom dancing all occurring down at the park. Malcolm approached a Laughter Yoga group who immediately invited us to join in. Complete strangers held hands and laughed our way through several yoga sets. What a delight it was to relax and laugh with these remarkable people. One lady proudly told me her daughter was studying in Melbourne.

I walked away remembering Ewan Mc Gregor’s comment in the Long Way Round that “deep down people are the same across the world”. We all like to laugh! What a weapon for peace and understanding between different cultures, races and people. It was a remarkably simple but effective way of connecting two cultures and developing rapport and understanding between people.

Finally, we can be hopeful for the future of Australia given the character of our students. I lost count of the number of times foreign tourists stopped me to commend our students on their behaviour. They represented South Australia and themselves in a very positive way throughout the study tour.