Holiday Celebrations in Hanoi

For about 2 ½ weeks Ryan was gone on a little vacation around Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. He finally returned on December 17^th – his birthday. I decided to throw a little shindig at Highway 4 to celebrate both his return to Hanoi and his 24^th birthday.

Since then we have been through a whirlwind of holiday parties. First of which was on the 20^th. The Institute of International Education held a Winter Holiday party to celebrate Christmas and to promote the center. A few days before, I was asked to teach a few of the volunteers some Christmas songs to sing at the beginning of the party.

About fifty people came. We played a few games and almost everyone went home with a gift. At the end I taught everyone how to sing “Feliz Navidad”. It was quite embarrassing because their music didn’t work so I did it acapella style and I think that I sing terribly.

The next evening Language Link held their End of the Year Gala. A few people who attended the previous year's gala told me that this one was much better. The space was so big, and the food was great!

Finally, on Christmas day, Ryan and I went to the "Orphans Christmas Party" at the Green Mango organized by De, our HR lady.

At first I thought that the money we had to pay to go to the dinner went to orphans, but apparently we were the orphans - those who had no where to go for Christmas. There was free flowing champagne with strawberries, mulled wine, and an amazing buffet with (mostly) traditional Christmas dinner foods. They even had a turkey! With cranberry sauce no less! That alone was very exciting because I hadn't had turkey since before I left the States.

We stayed until the early evening and walked up the street to this little cafe called Cafe Pho Co right on Hang Gai street. It's easy to miss this place because all there is is a little sign and nothing else. You have to walk through a souvenir shop and a small hallway before it opens up into the cafe. We ordered two egg coffees (egg whites whipped and then mixed with coffee) and walked up two flights of stairs. At the top of the cafe offers an amazing view

of Hoan Kiem Lake.

When we finished we walked through the streets of the Old Quarter while eating roasted chestnuts.

Just to mix things up and recognize the other side of my upbringing, last night my friend Mikka and I held a little Hanukkah dinner with matzo ball soup (my mother sent me a box of of the mix) and potato latkes!

All in all I would say it's been one of the most enjoyable holidays I've had.

Another lesson in intercultural relations

This evening I began a new Adult Elementary 1 class and I just so happen to have one of my old students, Trung, from an Adult Beginner course I ended about a month and a half ago. Trung was always a bit of a pain because he was way more advanced than the other students and he acted like he knew it. He would purposely ask questions and say things that the other students could not understand to prove that he knew more than they did. Somehow Trung had been placed in the wrong level from the start. Another issue I had with Trung was that since he felt like he already knew everything that was being taught he would talk to the other students while I or another student was talking. That always kind of pissed me off. I told him to quiet down, and he would for a few minutes, but then he'd go right back into it.

Anyway, when we both found ourselves again in the classroom together I thought, "Oh boy, not again." As in the last class before, he talked to the other students while I was trying to explain an activity, or while another student was talking. I decided that I was going to nip this one right in the bud! Because it was the first day of class I let them go ten minutes early, but I asked Trung to stay behind. I told him that just because he was in my class before does not mean he can just talk while I or the other students are talking. I explained that it was impolite and I asked if he would "please" not do it anymore. He stopped me and said, "Vietnamese teachers never say 'please' to their students. They just tell them." I thought about that for a second and repeated myself without saying "please". He appologized, said he would stop, and walked out.

I felt somewhat triumphant after that. I walked into the teachers' room and told the few that were there what had just happened. One teacher explained to me that in Vietnam people rarely say "please". They bluntly say or ask whatever they want without trying to be polite about it. Good to know.

Kristi

About a month and some odd weeks ago my friend Kristi, from the States, arrived in Hanoi. She had just finished her CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) course in Saigon and she was up in Hanoi checking out the place to see if this is where she'd like to settle and teach English.

Since then she has luckily decided to make Hanoi her home and she now lives just a few blocks down from me!

I met Kristi in October of 2001 when we both found ourselves in Sacramento, California on the same team in AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps. At first, I didn't really like Kristi because I didn't get her sarcasm. I thought that she was always trying to offend me in some backhanded way, even though she really wasn't. According to her, I actually flipped out at her over a shovel while we were cleaning up at a barn on some farm. I don't really remember that, but I'm sure it happened. However, after we were placed together in the same cabin at Kahili Mountain Park on the island of Kauai we started to hit it off quite well.

We were in Kauai for 5 weeks volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Our next project was for 3 months working at an elementary school in Sacramento tutoring kids and setting up an after school program. After that we volunteered at the Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon for 6 weeks doing garden maintenance and teaching environmental education to school groups. Our final project was in Salt Lake City, Utah at Camp Kostopolous - a camp for children and adults with various developmental disabilities. We worked as camp counselors doing all sorts of activities with the campers like horseback rides, swimming, camping, a ropes course and the campers would perform little shows for one another Thursday nights for our "Thursday night skits".

We graduated from AmeriCorps in August of 2002 and I will always consider that time I spent in the Corps to be the best year of my life. What was so special for me wasn't just the community service projects we did, or the travelling we had the opportunity to do, but the people I met along the way. Kristi was one of those people. I know that no matter how long or how far we're apart we will always come together like no time has passed. I said the same about my friend Youa, who I also became good friends with that year.

Since we graduated Kristi expanded her horizons a bit more in the Peace Corps on the island of Kiribati (pronounced: kiribas) in the South Pacific. Even though she was away for quite some time we remained in contact. When she came back to the States in October of 2004 we made plans to see one another that Thanksgiving. She gave me some great tips on my trip to India that I was to go on that December. In the Summer of 2007 we came together yet again in upstate New York to attend Megan and Nathan's wedding - two other team mates of ours. Then the last time I saw her in the States was last Fall when I drove up to Vermont, where she was living at the time, to hang out for a weekend.

When I found out that I got the job at Language Link this past January, I called Kristi because I knew that she would really appreciate the fact that I was moving abroad. When I told her that I was moving to Vietnam she said, "Me too!!!!!" Neither of us could believe it. Anyway, 11 months later and we're together again doing extraordinary things.

Phu Quoc

Until a few weeks ago I had never taken a vacation for the sake of simply relaxing and doing absolutely nothing. So on November 2nd Ryan and I departed from Hanoi to the beautiful island of Phu Quoc to do just that. We spent seven amazing days chilling out on the beach and riding around the island on a motorbike taking in the sights.

A little information about Phu Quoc: It's located in the Gulf of Thailand situated between Cambodia and Vietnam, but it's actually closer to the former even though it's technically part of Vietnam. There have been disputes between Cambodia and Vietnam over who rightfully owns the island.

Phu Quoc's main exports are nuoc mam (fish sauce) and black pepper. They are also known for an indigenous breed of dog: the Phu Quoc ridgeback.

Day one: We left from Hanoi around 8am and landed in Ho Chi Minh City about two hours later. We then flew one more hour to the island on a small propeller plane.

We booked a bungalow on the beach at the Thanh Kieu-Coco Beach Resort and they graciously picked Ryan and I up from the airport. From there it was only a 15-minute ride out to the resort.
















The view from our bungalow was absolutely stunning! Although we didn't have air conditioning or hot water, it was still pretty cozy. It had a hammock! A hammock!

We arrived at the resort around 1pm and napped until sunset. We were exhausted after getting up at 5am and traveling for six hours. I would have actually slept through the sunset, but Ryan woke me up so I wouldn't miss it, and I'm glad he did.


We ate dinner at the Rainbow Cafe attached to the resort and called it a night.

Day Two: That morning we resigned ourselves to spending the majority of the day on the beach swimming and taking in some ultra-violet rays...and that's just what we did. We literally roasted our white bodies in the Phu Quoc sun.



Day Three: After waking up with sun burned skin, we decided to take a break from the beach and rent one of the motorbikes available through the resort and explore the island.

The manager at our resort advised us on some places we may be interested in visiting and we set off to drive around the Southern part of the island.

We drove into a weird garden of sorts with large animals made of stone, pretty flowers and some children who were smoking cigarettes. The boys pointed us in the direction of some crocodiles, so we got off our bike and took a gander. The crocs were behind a fence, but the boys kept joking with Ryan that he should climb over to see them.




We drove a little further into the garden and found a sign for a waterfall. We paid 1.000 vnd (sixteen cents) and started hiking through the jungle. It kind of felt like the hike I did with my brother in California back in May.

On our way out of the jungle we stumbled upon a woman selling jewelry. I bought a pretty green beaded bracelet from a young woman. After purchasing the bracelet she offered Ryan and I some delicious ice-cold tea. It was so delicious
that we bought two bags from her...I wish that we had bought more.

Off we were again on the motorbike. We drove through a fishing village called Ham Ninh and then through another called An Thoi.




From An Thoi we drove to Bai Sao (Sao Beach), one of the most beautiful and pristine beaches on the island. Once we reached the shore we found a little cafe right on the beach and ordered some lunch and a few beers.















On our way back to our resort we stopped at a Pearl Farm where we expected to see boats bringing the pearls ashore. Much to our chagrin it was just a little gift shop and cafe owned by an Australian man. We did, however, get a chance to see a cow/wildebeast sort of creature on the way:


Day Four: On this magnificant, exquisite, fabulous, euphoric, joyous day we got the news that Barack Obama was elected as the 44th president of the United States! A part of me wanted to be home so I could celebrate with my friends and family, but I was just as happy to be where I was.

Ryan and I took the bike out again and explored the north western part of the island. We had to stop at a little town to buy face masks so that we wouldn't breathe in the red dirt as we drove.


We drove through Phu Quoc's national park. It felt like the road through the park went on for ages, but it was so beautiful so it was quite nice. Maybe because we were both in utter elation from the news we heard earlier that day, but we couldn't stop commenting on how pretty everything was or about the amazing weather.

At one point we stopped in a little town to get some delicious locally made sodas. I had a lychee one while Ryan had a salty sour lemon drink.

We continued on our way and found a bunch of boats parked right off of the coast. We stopped to take a few pictures.

Ryan and I started to head back to the resort, but the way back took a lot longer than we expected. It started to get dark, and there were threatening clouds moving in. The rain started to come down pretty heavily at one point and because the rain was so cold, I didn't quite know where we were, and I couldn't see anything I actually started hyperventilating. This isn't something that I normally do either, so it freaked me out. Before too long we started to see a few familiar points and we returned to our resort safe and sound. Phew.

Day Five: We decided that perhaps today we would take a break from the motorbike and just chill out on the beach. We swam a bit and paddled around in the sea in rented kayaks.

Day Six: Today we took the motorbike out yet again and traveled around the north eastern part of Phu Quoc. We drove out to Bai Thom (Thom Beach) and arrived at a small cafe right on the coast. We enjoyed some delectable fish while sitting within perfect view of Cambodia off in the distance only four kilometers away.

From Bai Thom we wanted to take a long road that would have brought us along the eastern coast down to the fishing village of Ham Ninh. We began towards our destination on only an quarter of a tank of gas. There was a bridge early on in the road that had collapsed, so we took a smaller route that took us around. The further we drove the worse the road became. At some points I had to get off of the motorbike so Ryan could drive up steep muddy parts of the road. I started to become nervous and reluctant to continue because we didn't have much gas left, and we weren't 100% sure that this side road would have connected to the main one. When we continued a bit further past the mud the road began to narrow immensely until it was obvious that only one motorbike could pass through at a time. All of a sudden a monkey jumped out in front of our bike and back into the jungle. I immediately jumped off of the back of the bike and refused to continue. Admittedly, I kind of freaked out. I was already hesitant to continue before the monkey, but once that happened it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I wasn't going any further. So we turned around and later discovered that the side road did eventually make its way to the main one, but we didn't know just how much further and if there were any gas stations along the way.

After that little adventure we headed back to the resort and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Day Seven: Since it was our last full day on Phu Quoc, we spent the day just lying around on the beach and read whatever books we had with us.

That evening we went squid fishing with a few other tourists. Ryan and I both agreed that out of everything we did during our vacation this had to be our least favorite. Neither of us caught anything, it was quite boring, and the food that was served on the boat wasn't very good.

Day Eight: Back to chilly Hanoi!

You can go here to see more pictures from our trip.

A lesson in intercultural relations

So I was teaching a lesson on the past participle "have been to..." to my elementary 3 class when all of a sudden Quan, a gregarious and goofy student, chimes in...

Quan: Jessica, you are very fat.

Me: What?

Quan: You are very fat.

Me: Quan, that's not nice.

Quan: I'm sorry, but it's true.

Me: That's just not very nice.

Quan: In Vietnam the word fat means healthy.....and not beautiful.

Me: Ok, so I'm very fat, healthy, and not beautiful?

Class: Laughs

Ngoc (a really sweet girl who sits in the front): No, no, no....not very fat.

I've heard other teachers say that their students have called them fat and I understand that Vietnam's concept of overweight is a lot different than that of the States, but that still kinda stung.

Thank you Mr. Obama

I could be writing about my friend Kristi in Vietnam, or Hanoi under water, or the holiday I'm on with Ryan in Phu Quoc and I will eventually get to those, but something momentous has just happened and I have to write about it...and I will write about it in a letter:

Dear Mr. B. Obama,

Last night I dreamt of your name in big letters across the top of major newspapers. I dreamt of your victory. I woke in the middle of the night and found it difficult to fall back asleep. I couldn't get it out of my head that you could quite possibly be the next president of the United States of America.

Finally, this morning I discovered that what I had dreamed actually came true! You are going to be the 44th president of the USA! You will end the nightmare that we have been living for the past eight years. I have never felt more proud of my country in my entire life. My body vibrated with elation! The sky has never appeared bluer, nor the air fresher than this day.

I feel like "we" accomplished something important and true. We need change and you have been the light who has brought hope and inspiration to so many Americans as well as the citizens of other countries.

The first year is going to be a doosey, so whatever you need please don't hesitate to ask.

Most graciously,

Jessica G.
- Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

P.S. You can bet your bum that I voted for you all the way out here in Vietnam!

Vietnam Women's Day

Yesterday was Vietnam's Women's Day. This is a day when women across the nation are celebrated and showered with gifts. Most men do the housework and/or invite women to have a meal with them. Each of the Language Link campuses (at least Cat Linh and Dai Co Viet) held luncheons and little parties to honor this special day.

The day marks the founding of the Vietnam's Women's Union on October 20, 1930.

Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) is an unique organization of women at all strata throughout the country. It is a member of the Vietnam Fatherland’s Front, the Women’s International Democratic Federation and ASEAN Confederation of Women’s Organization. VWU is mandated to strive for the equality and advancement of all women, protect and promote legitimate rights and interests of women
(taken from the VWU website)

When I walked into my Beginner class yesterday evening I found a bouquet of flowers sitting at a desk at the front of the classroom. They told me that the flowers were for me and then they all wished me a happy Women's Day!!

Addendum (added 6 hours later): This evening, after I taught my Elementary 3 class, one of my students approached me and said, "Yesterday was Vietnam's Women's Day. I did not see you, but I have this to give you." He handed me a pink envelope.

His card read, Happy Vietnamese Woman's day Miss Jessica!
Have a beautiful love, healthier, younger, more beautiful, successsful, joyful and happiness.
Student: Phuc

I love Vietnam.

Green Vietnam

Besides the immense amount of exhaust emitted from buses, cars and motorbikes, there seems to be a few things that Vietnam has gotten right.

About 15-20 minutes before I want to take a shower I turn on my little personal water heater and soon enough the water is hot enough for a 10-minute shower. When I moved into my apartment about 4 1/2 months ago my landlord informed me that in order to save money on my electric bill it's advised that I only keep the tank on when I know I will shower shortly after. These tanks are the norm in Vietnamese homes.
It was only until recently that I started to think...why don't we have the same sort of thing in the United States? Why is it necessary to keep a large tank of hot water running throughout the day when we're not even planning on using it? These small tanks or even tankless water heaters just seem to be more practical and economical to have than the more common storage water heater. Because I am in no way an expert of this sort of thing I would love it if someone could explain to me why these fixtures haven't caught on in the US.

Secondly, I noticed early on in my time in Vietnam that everywhere I went I saw energy-saving fluorescent lights whether they are the long ones or the smaller CFLs. Not sure if this is a conscious environmentally friendly move on behalf of Vietnam, or what. Even though there has been a great shift from the typical incandescent light bulbs to CFLs in US the change has been slow moving.

The tankless water heaters and the great use of fluorescent light bulbs in this country has made me think more about what can be done in the US to save on energy.

I know this is a dorky topic, but it's just something that I've been wondering for the past week or so.

Going on holiday!

Ryan and I bought tickets to the island of Phu Quoc located off of southern Vietnam in the gulf of Thailand. We'll be away from November 2nd - 9th. I definitely need this little vacation after working two months worth of six day weeks.

We were originally going to go to Laos, but the prices and flight schedules didn't quite work out. It'll be so nice to chill out on the beach for a week.

I'm an....MC!

The higher education fair was a success! As I said before, last year there were 6,000 attendees at the event and even though I don't have any concrete numbers to share just yet I would have to guess that about the same amount if not more attended this year.

About two days before the fair Linh, my immediate supervisor, informed me that I was going to be an MC and introduce the key speakers. For some reason I find it funny that just three weeks ago I had no attachment to IIE whatsoever and all of a sudden I was asked to speak in front of a few hundred people to introduce the director of IIE, the Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy, and Vietnam's Vice Minister of Education and Training. I did the English version of introduction while my counterpart, Tram, did the Vietnamese one.

It was so exciting! The fair was held at the swanky Intercontinental Hotel in West Lake. Fifty-three Universities and colleges came and unfortunately none of them were from New Jersey. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed about that.

My job, besides MCing, was to sit at a desk in front of the main room and answer questions that people may have about the US college system, or the undergrad or graduate application process. Some of the FAQs were, "Which of the Universities here is the best?", "Which has the best MBA program?", "If a college gives you a large scholarship does that mean that the school isn't very good?" I couldn't really answer these. Even if I knew which university was "better" than the others, or had the "best" MBA program I wasn't exactly in a position to divulge that kind of information. I had to be as objective as possible.

I also wandered around the main room to make sure that all of the volunteer interpreters were okay. One of the volunteers was Mai Phuong (in the picture to the left), a customer service officer at Language Link as well as my friend. Huyen, Ben's girlfriend, also worked as an interpreter for the day.

I know that I am constantly vacillating between attending graduate school next Fall or traveling and teaching a bit more before "settling" back in the States again. After working at this fair I believe that the pendulum has now swung back towards graduate school. I loved speaking to the students and getting a chance to do some advising.
Oi gioi oi.

I'm an Intern!

I know, I know I’ve been really awful about updating this thing. And again, it’s not because nothing interesting is happening, it’s just that I’ve been just plain lazy about it.

I do have one small update that I think is pretty neat!

Since I’ve been out here, I’ve been thinking a lot about my future (as if you hadn’t noticed). The longer I am in Vietnam the more I have come to solidify my desire to work as an advisor at a University or non-profit either with international students, or as an advisor or coordinator of study abroad programs.

So, a few weeks ago I went online to do some research into educational/cross-cultural non-profits in Hanoi. I was interested in perhaps volunteering for a few hours a week so I can gain some experience in the field of international education. Amazingly enough I found The Institute for International Education of Vietnam – perfect! Even better was that I was in the middle of reading the director’s book Vietnam Today: A Guide to Nation at a Crossroads. I do believe in omens, I really do, and I definitely took that as a good sign. I noticed on their website that on October 9^th they were going hold a U.S. Higher Education Fair with about 55 US colleges and Universities and that last year over 6,000 people attended. I thought that this would be a great opportunity to help out.

I updated my CV and emailed the director to express my interest in volunteering with the institute. Hours later he returned my email and asked me to meet with him that following Monday. That was about 3 weeks ago, and since then I have been working as an “intern” with IIE. So far I have done two days of interviewing volunteer interpreters for the college fair and two more days of training those volunteers. The fair is this Thursday and it just so happens to pan out that I don’t have to work at the time of the event, so I am able to attend and work as an advisor at my own table! How awesome is it that I am actually going to get real experience doing the thing that I would like to do as a career?

Feeling the Love in Hanoi

It’s incredible how much my life has changed in the past 4 months since I have left New Jersey. I relocated to Vietnam by myself, moved into studio apartment, started working as an English teacher for Language Link, learned how to drive a motorbike, permanently straightened my hair (this is very important), met and befriended a bunch of really awesome and inspiring people from all over the world, and began a relationship with a guy named Ryan from Colorado.

I’ve just been reflecting on these changes in the past few days especially with the oncoming of my 25^th birthday this past Tuesday. Much to the dismay of others this been the first birthday that I have ever had away from New Jersey. This might sound kind of cheesy, but I've really been feeling the love for the past few days...the following will explain:

Sunday night a bunch of my friends and I went out for dinner to a Vietnamese restaurant called Chim Sao (Pigeon). My closest friends came out: Ryan, Ben, Mikka and her boyfriend Iain, Amalia and her boyfriend Bence, Julie and Noa. I wasn’t expecting any gifts, but my friends Julie, Amalia and her boyfriend Bence chipped in to buy me a book on Vietnamese feminist poetry, and a pretty little notebook. Afterwards we went out to my favorite bar called SBB (Special Belgian Beer). Ryan and I go here relatively often and since we are one of their very few customers the manager, Tai, is always happy to see us. Because it was a birthday occasion Tai gave me a free large bottle of beer to share with the table and, as always, it was delicious!
I work with this American man named Jim who has been in Vietnam for 2 ½ years and he has been a sort of mentor for me since I have arrived in the country. I generally bother Jim if I have a question about anything work and non-work related on a daily basis. Anyway, a few weeks ago ago he returned to Wisconsin and Montana to visit some friends and take care of some personal business and while he was there he picked up an Obama button and gave it to me on Monday! It made my afternoon!

That night Ryan gave me his present. I told him that in the states I always wear this big silver ring with turquoise stones in it (people at home: you know the one I’m talking about). I didn’t bring it with me because I thought that I would lose it while I’m here, and it’s one of my favorite things. Based on the description of the ring Ryan walked around the Old Quarter for an hour searching for a gift. He bought me a necklace with a silver chain and a silver pendant with little turquoise stones in it. I usually do not like it when people buy jewelry for me because I am extremely picky about what I wear, but the necklace was absolutely beautiful and I have worn it for the past two days since he gave it to me.

I had to work on my birthday (bummer), and when I walked into the staff room Mikka gave me a gorgeous purple scarf, and Ben gave me a present from his girlfriend Huyen – an orange stuffed teddy bear with a frame inside of it.

I told my devilish teen class that evening that it was my birthday, so I’m not sure if it was just because I was in a good mood, they were willing to be nice to me for the one day, or I just didn’t care either way, but they weren’t that bad!

That evening I had an “excursion” with my beloved 2-hour Elementary 2 class. It was our final session and it is kind of expected that the class do something together whether it’s a party or some sort of outing. The final session just happened to land on my birthday. This is the first class that I have gone through from start to finish. The other classes that I finished were those that I took over from another teacher halfway through, so it was kind of sad to know that I am letting them go.

Anyway, I told my class that it will be my birthday on the day of our final session, so when I walked into the classroom they all sang happy birthday to me. After I handed out their final exams, report cards and certificates they presented me with a gift: a huge framed picture of Hoan Kiem Lake and written on the glass was “Happy Birthday Jessica in Vietnam 9/9/08”. I was on the verge of tears. We then proceeded to go to a Bia Hoi (a restaurant of sorts that make their own beer) and feast on some of Vietnam’s deliciousnesses: duck fried with chile, some sort of salad with green mango, peanuts and dried beef, grilled prawns, fried rice, fried tofu, potato salad, and sautéed beef. At the end of our meal Thuc Anh, one of my students, revealed that she had bought me a birthday cake! The other students helped her light the candles and they sang “Happy Birthday” yet again. I was just too happy for words.

I was unable to drive my motorbike to Ryan’s place with the framed picture and the left-over cake, so two of my students carried them for me and followed me to his apartment.

Almost immediately after I arrived at Ryan’s we left to go to this bar called MyWay. What makes this bar so special is that they serve about 100 different types of beer. I had some sort of German Hefe-Weiss beer, and Ryan had a Belgian Tripel. I love discovering little places like this in the city!

While I was out with my Elem 2 students last evening, a student from my Pre-intermediate 3 class who had found out that it was my birthday (I didn’t tell them), had decided to make something for me and drop it off at reception. I knew it was coming and told her to do so. So this afternoon when I arrived at the staff room I was greeted by Mikka who said, “Well the good thing is that your student’s present is here *pointing*. The bad thing is that mice had gotten into it overnight and ate it.” Apparently, the student, Phuong, had made me some Pho Cuon (one of my favorites!) and put it in a Tupperware type container and overnight some mice had gnawed through the plastic and ate a few. I feel grateful for the thought and I’m disappointed that the mice had gotten between me and some potentially delicious pho cuon.

Just when I thought the birthday love had ended, a student from my Adult Beginner's class walked into the classroom this evening with a gigantic bouquet of flowers. The class shouted "Woooooo!! Happy Birthday!!!!", and since they are only beginners it ended there.

Phở

A typical breakfast for me consists of granola, yogurt or soy milk, a cup of tea, and occasionally a banana or whatever fruit I have hanging around. However, at least once a week I walk three minutes to my favorite pho shop and enjoy a steaming bowl of beef noodle soup, some fried goodness called “cuay” to absorb the broth, and a glass of iced tea, “tra da” all for less than $1.00.
I simply can not live in Vietnam and not write an entry about the nation’s favorite and well-known cuisine: pho (rhymes with “duh”). The most common kinds of pho are “pho bo”, beef pho, and “pho ga”, chicken pho. Typically, I walk into the stall, go up to the woman behind the steaming pot, hold up one finger and tell her I want one, “mot”. Usually, if they have them, I point to the basket of “cuay” sitting beside her and ask for a bowl of that too. I find a seat, grab a pair of matching chopsticks out of the holder, wipe them down with a napkin and wait for my bowl to arrive. I always become so excited when my pho is placed before me. I am a huge noodle enthusiast, so for this dish to be the pinnacle of Vietnam’s culinary notables makes this country all the more appealing to me. At my favorite pho shop, the bowl is filled with fresh rice noodles, deliciously seasoned beef broth, large slices of white onion, diced green scallions, and thin cuts of beef. Once the bowl is placed before me it’s at my discretion to decide how to garnish the delectable treat. Also on the table is a bowl of chili sauce, a plate of limes, another of small chilis, a jar of pickled garlic, and a small container of MSG or salt. The garnishes vary based on what region you are enjoying your pho, but this is the typical set up in Hanoi. Once the pho is properly prepared to your liking you are ready to eat! The Vietnamese use a spoon in their left hand to drudge up the contents of the soup and then lift them with their chopsticks in their right, but I find the process easier to just grab at my noodles with the chopsticks. After I have finished everything in my bowl, except for some broth, I am full, satisfied, and ready to start my day.

Zen and the Art of Motorbike Driving

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be behind the handlebars of a motorbike riding around Hanoi, Vietnam...or any city for that matter. But the motorbike has become my primary mode of transportation and I have come to depend on it like the air conditioner in my apartment.

Like in the States you have your drivers who are lost and have no idea what's going on, stop or slow down for no reason in the middle of the road, or those who do not look before making a turn and inevitably these people tend to cause accidents. When I am behind another motorist who falls into one of the aforementioned categories I want to throw up my hands and go, "WTF?!", but that wouldn't be practical...although, I do say it under my breath in my fit of road rage. One would think that you could simply beep your horn and resolve the problem, but in Vietnam and as in my experience in India, the horn is not to tell others that they are in your way, but that you are in their way. I would love to, as one of my colleagues demonstrated the other night, point a finger in the face of another motorbike driver who is talking on his cell phone and scream, "GET OFF YOUR PHONE!!!!" How these people are capable of talking or texting on their phones whilst driving is beyond me. It's necessary to be on your game and in the moment at all times because who knows if another motorbike, taxi, SUV or bus is going to pull out right in front of you. You have to know the difference between the motorbike and the car horns so you know it means business and you have to get out of their way.

I've found that riding the motorbike works as a great metaphor for my life. For example, if I'm driving down Yen Phu or Doi Can Street (two streets that I hate driving down because the streets are so narrow and there's lots of traffic) before I hit a patch of messy traffic with bicycles, cars and other motorbikes I think, "Oh crap, this is going to be so hard to get through", but once I'm in the midst of it it's fine and I deal with it like a pro. That's sort of how I approach most things in life: I think that they're going to be too difficult to deal with, but once I'm actually doing it it turns out to be much easier than I would have expected.

Decisions, Decisions

The first time I had ever eaten Vietnamese food was in Portland with this woman Renee who I worked with at the Silverton Botanical Garden in Oregon. Now, I'm in Vietnam thinking about moving to Portland. Is there irony being played out here, or am I just over-analyzing?

Even though I've only been here for 3 months and I still have another 10 months to go I feel compelled to start planning my next move. I've actually been like this since I arrived in Vietnam. Why can't I simply relax and enjoy the time that I have here and really live in the present moment instead of trying to figure out what's happening next? I have so many ideas floating around in my head as to what I could possibly do. For the first time in my life I finally feel free. Not to sound trite, but life has so much to offer! I could do anything.

My favorite quote from Sex in the City is, "Why do we keep should-ing all over ourselves?" It's such a great question. Why do we think that life is supposed to follow a series of "shoulds" and "should nots"? My concept of how things "should" be has been radically challenged since I've been here. Why am I planning on going to grad school next year? Do I feel like it's something I should do? Why am I only staying in Vietnam for one year? Is it because I feel as if I shouldn't stay any longer? Is it possible to just move on to another country and continue to teach? Am I obligated to come home? Who am I obligated to? I know that I have to come home by July 4th of next year to attend my cousin Ryan's wedding, but who said that I can't just come back? Who says that I can't just move onto another country? I love being abroad. I love my job, the people I work with and my students, so why not continue until I can ultimately justify to myself that it's time to go home? Granted, I've only been here for 3 months so perhaps 10 months from now I'll be aching to come home, so who knows. Exactly. Who knows?

Only building upon the idea of obligation, responsibility and what I feel I should or must do as opposed to what really want to do I am going to throw in this quote. I know he's going to hate me for putting this in here, but in a recent letter from Mr. Schultz he wrote:

If someone gave you a luscious, juicy peach, and gave none to anyone else, you might feel some guilt, because they didn't have it and you did.
The question is, why did you get the peach handed to you?
Because you asked for it, and were on the look out for it, it came to you. No one else you know is asking for and looking for what you have managed to experience through AmeriCorps, and your other travels.
You sound as if, expanding on the metaphor above, you can't have any of the peach, unless you divide up around everyone around you, and maybe, just to be seen as good, keep only the pit for yourself.
Even that might be alright if you moved where you could plant the seed and grow a tree for your self.

I recently read this advice article on intuition vs. motivation and I found it to be quite helpful and enlightening. A man wrote in to the advice columnist at Salon.com, Cary Tennis, about how he is incapable of making a decision in his life. He wants to learn how to be able to follow intuition in order to help make these decisions instead of relying on his rationale each and every time. Perhaps he believed that there is more truth to listening to our intuition rather than using devices such as say....a pros and cons list?? Here is an excerpt from Cary Tennis' response:

You think you don't know what you want but you do. You know what you want. You have reasons for not wanting to want it but you want it.

You may find that none of your choices appeal to you. It may be that you want none of them. That would explain why it is hard to choose. We want what we want even if we think we should not want it.

Perhaps you want to be a minister or a forest ranger. Perhaps you want to do sculpture. So let us clear the field and ask, what do you really want? You want an ice cream bar? You want a bathing beauty? You want a dog? What does this mean? Does it mean that at rock bottom our desires are somewhat crazy?

Yes. It also means that different people experience their inner life through different modes. Some hear voices, some see images, some hear sounds, some think abstractly.

Try this too: Visualize a time in your past when you were happy. Were you sharing, were you winning, were you alone, were you in a crowd, were you talking, were you working, were you perfecting, were you building, were you walking, were you reading, were you driving, were you swimming, were you smoking, were you eating, were you studying?

Also think of "bad" decisions you made. When we cannot see what our intuition is, it is helpful to look at things we did "in spite of ourselves." We find ourselves in situations in spite of ourselves. And we ask: Why?

Because by making "bad" decisions we are often meeting needs that we do not admit we have. For instance, you may think you want to be a lawyer and yet have made many "bad" decisions that now stand in the way of your becoming a lawyer. The truth may be that you do not want to be a lawyer. It might be the sensible thing to be a lawyer but that is different. So look at ways you have avoided doing what you think you should be doing. It may not mean that you are confused. It may mean that you really don't want to do the things you think you want to do.

"Vinnie"

My friend Vinnie (or Vincent as he likes to call himself these days) came to visit for a few days. Vinnie and I met in September 2003 in New Brunswick at a pizza place called Skinny Vinnie's. A friend of mine and I went there for an "RU for Howard Dean" meeting and he just happened to be sitting there doing some homework. We asked if he was there for the meeting. He wasn't, but decided to join in anyway. Since then we've been friends. He's been teaching English in Japan for a year and a half. This month he's off for vacation, so he's decided to make a voyage to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and then back to Thailand where he will meet up with another college friend of his. He arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday, dropped his things off at my apartment, and showed up at Language Link nearly scaring the crap out of me in the teacher's room. It was nice to have someone here who has known me for so long, and who can remember every stupid story or conversation that was said back in college. I haven't seen Vinnie for over two years, but it seemed as if we haven't missed a beat.

The plan was to leave Wednesday morning and take a tour bus to Ha Long Bay for a 3 day 2 night trip that included swimming, kayaking, trekking, cycling, and sunbathing. I would say that Ha Long Bay is one of the most touristy sites in Vietnam, so the bay was flooded with many other junkets just like ours filled with tourists. When we arrived on the boat we were served lunch which actually kind of sucked. The other people on our boat were just other transients just passing through Vietnam on holiday and they were not particularly to our liking, so Vinnie and I just stuck to ourselves for the majority of the trip. It was great for the first few hours, until it started to rain. We were able to tour through the beautiful islands that are up for nomination for one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. We also saw the "Amazing Caves" and swam a bit in the bay. After about 3 or 4 hours it started to rain, and rain, and rain some more. The next morning it was still raining and our tour guide said that we were going to return to Hanoi due to a typhoon. Great. All morning we sat around by the port waiting for our bus to arrive. When it finally did we were taken to a half-rate restaurant for lunch and then we returned to Hanoi. We were asked to change to another bus with a different tour group because there wasn't enough room on the new bus with the group we came with, and we were perfectly happy to do so. We met some really cool Irish girls and a French guy who we chatted with for the 3 1/2 hour trip back to Hanoi. Vinnie and I definitely felt some self-satisfaction to say, "Oh, I live in Hanoi...I've been here for 3 months", or "I live in Japan, I've lived there for about a year and a half." There's just something really cool about that, or maybe we're just expat snobs. When we arrived back in Hanoi we went to the tour office and asked for a refund. I said that we basically only got to do one day's worth of activities. The woman behind the desk said that they do not normally give out refunds for "natural disasters", but she was willing to sympathize with us and return about 25% of what we paid. I don't think that I will be going on any more tours from now on.

I've posted my pictures from our abridged tour here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jpgreenbaum/HaLongBay

Since then it's been raining the whole time in Hanoi. We were able to get in some of the big sites in Hanoi: Hoan Kiem Lake, The Ethnography Museum, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and Museum, The Temple of Literature (Van Mieu), B-52 Lake, and we wandered around the Old Quarter for a bit. While in the Old Quarter I bought a DVD set of 44 of Woody Allen's movies for less than $10.00. It's legit too because Vinnie and I watched "Annie Hall" without a problem!
Also Hanoi is a city for eaters, and since Vinnie was willing to eat wherever, I took him to all of my favorite places: Pho Cuon, Bun Bo Nam Bo, Chim Sao, the awesome Pho Bo place around the corner from me, this great little pastry cafe near Ryan's house, and one night we ordered take-out from FoodShop45...an amazing Indian restaurant in West Lake.

Some pictures from Vinnie's time in Hanoi:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jpgreenbaum/VinnieInHanoi

Around noon today (Sunday) I dropped Vinnie off at the train station where he will be headed to Danang and then Hoi An to get some suits made. It was great getting to see someone familiar, and being able to see Vietnam through virgin eyes all over again, but now it's good to have my apartment back to myself to just relax for one more day before I go back to work tomorrow.

Wash it and go

Almost every Tuesday and Thursday from 10-11:30 my Vietnamese tutor, Viet, comes to my apartment and teaches me Vietnamese. We also discuss the differences between American and Vietnamese cultures. Our lessons have included introductions, numbers, telling time, food, going shopping and transportation. After about 6 lessons I finally feel like I'm making progress. My pronunciation has improved tremendously, but that's because he doesn't let me continue until I can say everything correctly. I was so excited the other day because I finally have my come back to xe om drivers who continuously harass me for rides. Last week I was walking about half a block from the supermarket to my school and the entire time a xe om driver followed me and asked me if I wanted a ride. Finally I turned to him and said, quite sternly, "Toi co xe may!" I have a motorbike! He backed off. I felt triumphant! He understood what I said and left me alone! Once I returned to the teacher's room I texted Viet and told him that I actually used something he taught me! A tiny victory, but a victory nonetheless. We have four more classes left, and we've already breezed through the book, so he said he's going to create his own lessons for me.

Besides my bi-weekly Vietnamese lessons, and teaching I really don't have too much to busy myself with. I go out with friends for breakfast/lunch/dinner/drinks every now and then, but I feel like I need a hobby. Before I came out here I had full intentions to take yoga classes and immerse myself in studying Buddhism, but that hasn't exactly happened...yet. The Friends of Vietnam Heritage holds a morning meditation program every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:30-7:30am and I would love to go, but with my evening schedule it makes it difficult to get up that early to do anything. I think that I will make an effort to try it out soon.

Sometimes it amazes me how culturally diverse this city really is (at least in terms of food). Take my weekend for example:
Friday: Ryan and I ate Indian food for dinner and then headed over to an Irish pub to play some connect four and drink some beer.
Saturday: I spent some time at a Starbucks-ish type coffeehouse and wrote a letter. That evening Ryan and I ate dinner at a Japanese ramen shop.
Sunday: Before going to see a Brazilian film at an independent movie theater Ryan and I ate hummus and a delicious Greek platter of marinated pork, grilled vegetables, and a Greek salad with feta and kalamata olives.

One of the greatest perks of this city, and I guess in Asia in general, is that personal services like massages and salon services are so inexpensive. I took advantage of this last Friday and I went to a haughty taughty hair salon and I got my hair permanently straightened. This type of thing costs $200-300 in the States, but I paid only $60 for the same service. I would never imagine getting this done at home, but I was so fed up with spending 20 minutes every morning to straighten my hair so it would look somewhat manageable only to walk outside and have it frizz up all over again. Now I can wash it and go...wash it and go: two words I've never been able to put together in the same sentence. I know it sounds silly, but this is almost a dream come true.

Points of thought

There were quite a few pre-conceived notions that I carried with me to Vietnam that, within the month I have been here, have been challenged:


Safety
I actually had no idea how safe Hanoi was. I had read stories about people in other parts of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City that advised to keep your personal things very close to you otherwise they will be "pinched". I have not experienced this personally, however, there are a few teachers who have had their bicycles or motorbikes stolen or their apartments broken into, but that's because they didn't lock their doors properly to prevent this from happening. Also, in terms of safety, I feel completely comfortable walking around the streets in the evening by myself. Not that I do it often, but if I have to I do. It's not like I don't keep my guard up because I do understand that anything can happen, but I also don't walk around expecting someone to assault me at any moment. At first I anticipated Vietnam to be like India because that was my third world point of reference, but men aren't as disgusting and derogatory towards women as they are in India. I, nor has any woman that I have met here, have not been physically assaulted or vocally harassed by any man in Vietnam. Stared at, yes, but that's because I'm a goofy looking foreigner.

Religion
Prior to coming to Vietnam I expected signs of Buddhism to be everywhere. I thought everyone was super spiritual and if i wanted to learn more about Buddhism I wouldn't have to do too much searching. With the exception of several pagodas scattered around the city, and the small shrines to Buddha in the front of most shops and homes, I don't find too many people to be that religious.

Women Riding Motorbikes
When I first arrived in Hanoi a sight that caught me off guard was women riding motorbikes. Again, with India as my reference (bad idea), I didn't expect to see any women driving motorbikes or cars...that was something that their brothers, husbands, or fathers did for them. But nope! Just like in the US where almost everyone owns a car almost everyone in Hanoi owns a motorbike, and that includes women.

Poverty
I think from now on I will stop using one country as a reference guide for another. I should have known better anyhow. I thought that while walking through the streets of Hanoi I would be approached by extremely impoverished men, women and children begging for money much like I experienced during my time in India. It's not like that at all in Hanoi! A few times late at night I have been approached by a child or a developmentally disabled woman, but that has only happened on two or three instances. It's not that there aren't poor people in Hanoi because there certainly are, but they are not living on the streets relying on begging to survive. I don't want to say that most people in Hanoi are well off, but many aren't doing too bad. There are a lot of universities in Hanoi and most adults between 19 and 24 are attending one of them. Parents are very adamant about sending their children to university either in Hanoi or abroad especially if they can learn English while away. One of my landlords' sons is studying in Malaysia for animation, and their other son is studying in Hanoi for architecture.

Western Influence
I was quite surprised to find how much the West has had an influence on Hanoi. You can find almost any food from any country either in a restaurant or in a supermarket, yes supermarkets. Since I've been here I have eaten: Pizza, falafel, hummus, steak from Australia, vegetable lasagna, roasted veggies on foccaccia with pesto, hamburgers, fish and chips, and all sorts of Indian and Japanese food as well....and it's all delicious!

The way people dress is not too much different from the way we dress in the US. While I was packing to come to Vietnam I kept the concept of "conservatism" in the back of my mind. That meant not bringing shorts or skirts that may be considered too short, shirts that may be thought of as too low etc, but apparently women just wear everything and anything here! My only point of reference is in Hanoi, but I hear that Ho Chi Minh city is even more laid back than Hanoi, so I can only imagine what the women are able to wear. Obviously in the smaller towns and villages this type of thing probably doesn't swing.
I'm sure this all has to do with President Clinton lifting the 30-year trade embargo on Vietnam in 1994. Since then development in Vietnam has been booming. It seems that everyday in the newspaper you can read about a new project being built by a foreign developer. Of course in some ways this is good for the country because it will bring more money into the country, but on the other hand it will bring in more people which will inevitably worsen the pollution. It will be interesting to see what Hanoi will look like in 5 years. It will probably be almost unrecognizable.

Small updates

A couple of the classes that I picked up from their previous teacher are ending now, so for the past 2 weeks I have been administering/grading final exams and bringing these classes to an end. Monday was the final day for my Intermediate 1 class (i.e. the class with the girl who criticized my teaching on my first day) and we had an impromptu class party. I brought some of the boys from my class downstairs with me to the supermarket next door and I told them to get whatever they wanted. If this were an American class we might find potato chips, cheese doodles, and donuts in the basket, but my Vietnamese students insisted on spicy beef jerky, dried jackfruit, and shrimp chips. We had a fun little time listening to music, mingling, eating and one student took pictures. I gave her my email address and asked her to send me the photos expecting never to receive them, but today she sent them to me and they made my day! What I love most about this picture is the heart border. =)


In other news, I've become more comfortable with riding the motorbike. My hands no longer shake and I'm not afraid of making left turns anymore. I've made it on two highways, once during rush hour, and this evening I drove home from work in the rain...so I think I'll be alright. Now I just need to become more familiar with the city because even though I've been here for 5 weeks I only know how to get to 4 or 5 places in relation to my apartment.

Next Sunday I'm going to an Independence Day Celebration sponsored by the American Club. They are importing Budweiser beer (ho ho) just for this occasion! For $20 there's food, music, beer, and a ton of prizes like free trips within Vietnam. A bunch of people from work are going to be there, so it'll be a ton of fun.

My friend Vinnie is coming in for a visit from Japan in the beginning of August, so I'm going to take off a few days from work. I haven't seen him in about 2 1/2 years, so it'll be cool to meet up again while we're both in Asia. It will also be nice to see a familiar face.

Firsts

Friday night I got out of work around 9pm and a few of the teachers wanted to go out for dinner and drinks afterwards. I hopped onto Mikka's motorbike and headed to Chim Sao restaurant across town. Mikka is another American teacher that I work with and we've really hit it off. Unfortunately she may only be staying only for the Summer, but she's not sure. We met up with another teacher that we work with, Ben, his roommate Ryan, and eventually Mat, Amalia and her boyfriend Benz joined us. I love how life here is beginning to feel more normal. When we finished dinner Amalia and her boyfriend headed off while Ben, Ryan, Mikka, Mat and I moved onto the Pleasant Bar near the Old Quarter for some beers. Once we closed the place down Ryan, Mikka, Mat and I headed to Maos, a popular bar hangout for foreigners. I don't know why, but I kept feeling hesitant about going on to another bar. It's not like I had to get up early in the morning or anything. I think something that I have to learn while I am in Vietnam is to allow myself to relax. I just need to chill out. I find myself being really uptight sometimes and there really isn't a reason to be that way. Anyway, the police raided Maos and Mao didn't pay them off which would have allowed us to stay longer, so we left and finally landed at the bar Hair of the Dog. They were serving $4 buy one get one free Mojitos so our group loaded up! Around 4am I said to Mat, "I can't believe you've kept me out till 4am!" and, in his very Mat fashion, he responded, "It's not like you're going to turn into a pumpkin are ya!?" During that evening I told Ryan that I wanted to finally rent a motorbike of my own because I am tired of depending on xe oms or others to drive me around. He said that'd take me to his rental place and teach me how to ride. Mikka, Ryan and I also decided that on Saturday we would go to a Japanese Ramen shop for lunch! Around 4:45am Mikka and I decided that it was time to leave. When we stumbled outside of the bar the sun was coming up. We hopped on our separate xe oms and went home. I love Hanoi at sunrise. The streets are just about empty, the air is cool and something about it feels almost magical.

Later that day, on Saturday, Mikka, Ryan and I met up at Vincom towers and walked over to this little Ramen shop. While we were walking a man ran up to me and tried to put his helmet on my head and screamed something indecipherable. My only response was to run away and yell, "Ah! Go away!" It was really funny actually. We enjoyed some yummy bowls of ramen and ate pieces of dragon fruit for dessert. I've never had ramen that didn't come out of a little baggie and was seasoned with a spice packet.
Afterwards we took a taxi to the Old Quarter and Mikka went to do some errands while Ryan and I went to sort out my motorbike business. He was getting his fixed and I had to wait awhile before the rental place had a bike ready for me. In the meantime we just wandered around Hoan Kiem Lake, some of the Old Quarter and stopped for some fruit juice. I think when I leave Vietnam I'm really going to miss the fact that I can get delicious fresh fruit juice almost anywhere for a little over a dollar. Eventually we made it back to the rental place and Ryan picked up his bike; mine wasn't quite ready yet. He took me out to a parking lot, taught me about the important parts of the bike and set me off to ride around. My hands kept shaking! I couldn't imagine riding this thing in the streets with other people! I was so nervous. Once I felt comfortable enough we made it back to the rental place to pick up my bike.
When we arrived my heart started beating rapidly. Not only did I have to begin riding this thing on an actual street, but I had to start learning in the Old Quarter. It's a maze of little streets, people walking every which way with other motorists and cars all thrown in. On top of that my bike kept stalling. I just made sure to keep my eyes on Ryan's blue t-shirt the whole time so I wouldn't get lost. Sometimes I would panic and accidentally accelerate instead of hitting the brake. Nothing is intuitive like driving a car. When I drove my car I felt like I was a part of it - we moved together so well. I know the more I drive the bike the easier it will become. We rode around the city for about an hour and ended up in West Lake - the snazzy part of the city with high rise 5 star hotels and expensive restaurants. We stopped at my favorite Indian restaurant, Foodshop 45, for dinner. When I stopped to hand my motorbike to the parking guy I obviously had no idea what the hell I was doing with this machine and he asked, "Is this your first time on the motorbike?" Doh. All throughout dinner I could feel that my nerves were absolutely shot. I was physically and mentally exhausted and still a little off from the night before. Afterwards Ryan showed me the way back to my street and then he went home. I am taking a little break from the bike today, but tomorrow I'm going to attempt a ride to work on my own.