‘The Ignorance of Bliss: An American Kid in Saigon’ is a book by Sandy Hanna that tells her life and experiences with her military family in Saigon, Vietnam during the 1960’s. Join host Adrian Sinclair and Sandy Hanna as they explore her life in the Southeast Asian country and how it inspired her to write her book, as well as how those experiences impacted her as a child and now as an adult. They’ll also discuss child development, the importance of history and culture, as well as Sandy’s work at Sesame Street.For military child, it’s about living in the moment. And for a child to live in an environment filled with bombings, coups, and spying activities, you expect yourself to be attentive, independent, and resilient because things are always unexpected, and they need to be constantly on the move. That’s what Sandy Hanna’s life was like when she discussed about it during our podcast. Sandy shared that she was a BRAT (British Regiment Attached Transfer) and lived in Vietnam with her military family between the ages of 10 and 12 in the early 1960’s.She and her family had a decadent life when they moved to Vietnam during that time. She also had difficulty learning Vietnamese, but managed to learn French since Vietnam used to be under French rule. Vietnam was under France since 1887. During World War II, Japan invaded Southeast Asia. When the war ended, France continued to rule over Vietnam until May 1954 when the French were defeated at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Sandy also shared that she and her siblings used to sell baby powder and Hershey bars at the marketplace in Saigon, or when they meet other children (since they were constantly on the move with her family) they do not evaluate what they don’t like about that individual.She said that when they meet other kids, they would always live in the moment and they would always assume that they never will meet again, which they don’t and might never will. And that is just really heartbreaking. But what struck me that most during our podcast with her is that she wanted people to value history and culture, especially when visiting a country, whether it be Vietnam or any other place, and I absolutely agree with her. It’s not that history keeps repeating itself. Rather, our ignorance of it is what makes us to repeat it.“If you don’t understand history, you are destined to repeat it,” she said. There were so many insightful things Sandy mentioned during our podcast, like the Diem regime, how the Americans unwittingly supported a corrupted regime, and how the McCarthy-era in the United States created a mentality at that time that if you knew something about Asia, you’re seen as a communist. Talking about her childhood, Sandy said that she never gets to experience what a normal child would. And so when she became an adult, Sandy became interested in child development and the biology of cognition, as well as a child’s concept of the world and a child’s conception of physical causality, which helped her understand herself, the stages of her development, and children.Through that, she helped build venture playgrounds and children’s museums and was eventually recruited Sesame Street where, she said, she had a great time. During her time at working with Sesame Street, she shared that they had to come up with activities in which children of different ages would get different experiences based on four key design principles: the physical child, the social child, the emotional child, and the cognitive child. In a sense of having to grow up too fast, she shared that she was able to go back in time and create these experiences of what it was like to be a kid again and live precariously with children.Among other things we discussed was her love for painting. She shared that her mom used to hire a Japanese woman who taught watercolor painting, which she found that she wasn’t really quite good. Later on, she discovered an interest in oil paint and acrylic paint which, unlike water painting, doesn’t dry out quickly and gives artists more time to add something or make changes. For a child growing up in a military environment, she was able to experience what a normal childhood was through her passion and work as an author, designer, and painter.==================Apodcast.com - Listen, Learn, and Share.Don’t forget to like the video, hit the subscribe button, and click the notification bell to get more of apodcast.com. Done with this episode? Binge watch our other episodes - there’s a lot of them!Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/apodcast Stream this podcast on Spotify: https://bit.ly/apodcastonspotify Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2266073637018886/ Like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/apodcastshow/Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrianwsinclair/ Got something for us? [email protected]