OurNamStories

Vietnam: My Personal Dissertation

2009-12-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

Elsbeth writing…

At long last my journey through Vietnam has come to a close. It was 15 months to the day. My last few days in Vietnam were hectic and blurry as I tried to tie up all the loose ends, but as I started typing this blog I was sitting in the Seoul Airport (which I have to say is really nice and I had my first drink of water from a water fountain!) on the way back home. It was a long plane ride home and it seemed even longer because I progressively got sicker with a cold. Now as I finish and publish this I’m sitting by the warm fire at home.

In some ways it’s odd to be home again. Coming home, I felt like I was going to another foreign country instead of the one I grew up in—Vietnam has been my home for so long and I’ve acclimated myself to the culture and lifestyle. It’s good, though, to see the people and things I love again. I surprised myself with some of the things I forgot. And whoa, do most people have a Minnesotan accent! I didn’t realize how strong it was, but uffda! But then again, I’m also settling straight back into life at home as though I never left. I told my family that I shouldn’t be allowed to drive a car for awhile; now I’m back to driving and it’s like picking up an old habit. However, I’m a bit uncertain about some of the road rules like who turns first: the person going left or the person going right? No worries, I’m a careful driver :-). After living in a country with no explicit traffic laws, I was just a bit weird getting used to our organized way of driving as well as the different shifts and levers I have to use. I still have the urge to honk at people.

Anyway, I just want to talk about my last couple days in ’Nam and then move into giving my dissertation, so to speak, on my overall thoughts on Vietnam. So if you’re up to it, settle in for a long blog….

As Minnesota tradition goes, I haveta talk about da weather in Vietnam lately. Oh sure, ya know. It was purdy cool da last week I was der. It was getting cooler and cooler lately, but the week before there was a heat wave and then all of a sudden it was ‘freezing’ cold and drizzly. Dang it! I wanted to go swimming and work on the little tan I already have during my last few days. At least, it allowed me to acclimate to how cold is at home. However, they don’t have insulation in their buildings like we do, so you feel the same cold inside as outside. Plus, it's a damp cold, which is worse; it's not a dry cold like we have. I was wrapping myself up in thick blankets because I had cracks under my balcony doors, which let in the cool air.

Let’s see, that last week one of my friends from my job in the south came up to Hanoi on his break between contracts. It was great to see him. He, Ellyn, and I met for brunch that Wednesday morning. Before that, Ellyn and I had gone to pay our respects to Unka Ho. We solemnly walked around a refrigerated room with his re-embalmed body guarded by soldiers. He had just returned from his little getaway in Russia where he was getting all pampered to look presentable for his audience. We had to be very quiet and keep our hands to our sides. The line moved pretty quickly so you had to view him as you walked around. It’s like a perpetual funeral in there. I’m glad I went there though. My trip wouldn’t have been complete without seeing this revolutionary leader. He’s highly revered (practically worshiped) by many Vietnamese people, similar to our patriotic, propaganda-induced reverence for Abraham Lincoln or George Washington, though cranked up a notch. As Communist tradition seems to go, they go as far as to keep his body on display indefinitely (instead of abiding by his wishes to be cremated).

After that I went to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. I had been there before, but at the time they were closing so I didn’t get a good look at things. It’s a very well done museum. It’s artsy, but thought-provoking. Then I met Ellyn and our friend for brunch and afterwards he and I went across the road to the art museum. I think that was definitely one of my favorite museums in Vietnam—it was much better than the art museum in Saigon. The collection was fantastic and they had some really gorgeous ancient and modern pieces. I think lacquer painting is one of my new favorite art styles. The lighting and compositions of the pieces were beautiful. It would be neat to try it one day if it were possible. That evening we all met Steve for a good dinner at Kyoto. The next morning we also met our friend for brunch at the New Zealand café in town.

Otherwise, the weekend went fine. Getting through my long weekend of teaching was a blur and I was running around getting things in order and my locker cleaned out. I went out to lunch with some of the Vietnamese ladies from work. That was nice. On Monday I had a bunch of errands to run, including turning in my motorbike. I had just been to the bank before that and was in a bad mood on the way to my rental place for certain reasons concerning the bank, so I didn’t fully enjoy my last drive. I missed driving my bike as soon as I shut off the engine…. I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to get back on a bike. Not for a long time I’m sure. Hopefully one day I can find a Honda Cub on Ebay and pimp it out. That was one of the things I loved most about living in Vietnam. Traffic is another story, but I love just driving. It’s more of a thrill to have the wind whipping in your face than listening to the radio while sitting on a comfortable seat in an air conditioned cab. I can’t wait to start driving my baby, though. She still needs to get tuned up before I can take her out.

Anyway, on Monday evening I met up and had dinner with the same two friends I said before (Ellyn couldn’t make it because she had Dengue Fever). It was good to see them. The next day I spent a lot of the day at work getting things done and then I went to Ellyn’s house across town to help her pack because she was too sick to pack everything on her own. Yep, she got the dreaded tropical disease, Dengue Fever, but don’t worry apparently it’s not contagious. It’s too bad she had to get it right before we left, much less get it at all. Sam made us a good spaghetti dinner after we finished packing as well. Then that evening I met some of my co-workers for a drink after work.

The next day I went to a spa to pamper myself with a manicure, pedicure, haircut, and massage. It was a bit pricey for Vietnam and the manicure isn’t the greatest, but oh well. Then I ran a few small errands and had my last Vietnamese meal of Pho Bo (beef noodle soup, which is my favorite). Then I went home and finished packing. My family helped me move my bags down and fed me some dinner before the airport taxi came. It was sad to say goodbye to them and everyone these last few days. It was even sad to say goodbye to my landlady’s cat. As I was walking away he was looking after me as if to say goodbye and wonder where I was going. That tien ho—little tiger.

However, it was time to leave and now as I type this I’m back to the comforts of home. It’s good to be back, but strange. On the way home I got progressively sicker with a cold. I was getting a scratchy throat the day before, but on the long ride home it got worse and worse. It was a long, miserable trip. When I finally got home I wasn’t fully able to enjoy my Chipotle burrito I had been looking forward to eating for ages. But it was more important to see my family again. The next day my grandparents came to visit and we had a good meal and talked for awhile. The next day (Saturday) we all went to my brother’s marching band concert at the U.

Like I said, it’s been strange to be back, but at the same time it feels like I just left and came back. So many things seem so much the same. You would think that it would be strange going from a capitalistic democratic Christian society to a communal (well, more capitalistic nowadays) communist Buddhist society, but I think it’s stranger the other way around.

There’s so much open space and so few people. Everyone and everything is on such a larger scale. We have a luxury of space. People are so big (both ways), too, and I’m amazed at how much open farmland and stretches of nothing there are here. Before, I was a bit hesitant to say I really lived in the country, but I do…at least compared to the cramped space in Vietnam. Everything is also so new, cleanly cut, and correctly made from roads to houses to stores. It’s good to have these comforts again, but I miss the craziness of life in Vietnam. People are too safety and health conscious here—to the point of needless obsession. What’s with all the hand sanitizer around? I know; it’s the paranoia for getting Swine Flu. Cars drive too slowly and carefully, especially in parking lots. It’s as if they think I’m going to jump in front of them at the last minute to purposely get myself run over. Honestly. Strangely, I miss the dependable noise of motorbikes, trucks, and peddlers honking and shouting. All that noise started outside on my street at 5 a.m. and ended with the police truck going by with the loudspeaker at 11:30 p.m. At first all this noise was a shock to the system (as it is for most Westerners), but I think I got used to it. Having so many people around is kind of comforting. There’s a sense of community there whereas here there’s a sense of personal space and privacy. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Nevertheless, I’m totally glad to be back. It was by far time to leave and I still don’t plan to go back there for a long time. Like I’ve said before, though, I’m not yet done with Asia. The people, the culture, and the landscape still fascinate me. During my last few days, and really during my entire time, in ’Nam I tried to remember to suck it all in, thinking how beautiful it all really is to my Western-raised eyes. Although I would often get frustrated with what seemed to me illogical, annoying things, when I dug deeper I always discovered a reason for why it was the way it was. Little things, like women outside a temple selling incense sticks along with red and gold medallions for the worshipers or a family of four squished on a motorbike together, stick in my mind. Things that make you laugh or stop and think for a moment—those are things I miss about Asia.

Anyway, on that note, here’s my dissertation on Vietnam that had been brewing in my mind for a long time while I was in the country and is more so now that I’ve left. Keep in mind that these are my general observations and don’t necessarily remain true for every person or part of Vietnamese society.

Where do I start? I think like any place in the world, what essentially makes a place what it is, is the presence (or absence) of people. So I’ll start with the Vietnamese people themselves. I may have given the impression before that many of them are out for your money and will cheat you at any chance they get. That’s not necessarily true of course, although I did run into a good number of people who stole or took things from me dishonestly. However, any country you go to will have honest and dishonest people. I also think the people who tend to cheat you also have their reasons (not that, that justifies them for stealing by any means). For instance, they’re poor or have lesser education. On the other hand, I met many people who were very honest and kind towards me. For example, the family that owned and lived in my last apartment building where always very helpful, watched out for me, and scolded me if I paid too much for something off the street. The girls at school were also very sweet and I enjoyed going out with them after work.

Vietnamese people are quite warm. As Westerners would perceive them, they’re very touchy-feely. They have no concept of personal space and enjoy petting each other and linking arms. This goes for both men and women. You see men holding hands in public, but they’re not homosexual, they’re just friends and it’s a way of showing affection. Men in Western cultures seem to be too afraid of showing their feelings or being overly affectionate, because we view it sometimes as weird and creepy especially between men. Women are also very affectionate and always link arms when walking together.

I have a lot of respect for Vietnamese women. Overall, I think they’re very sweet and friendly; they’re also very hard working. There doesn’t seem to be a job in society that they don’t or can’t do. You often see them working on construction sites alongside men—something you rarely see here in the U.S. They’re the ones who own the small businesses and work every day, all day, while you see many men lazing around, playing a board game, or just sitting on motorbikes waiting for some business. Fortunately for women in this country, a lot of respect is given to them in society and they even have several museums dedicated to their hard work and contributions to the country.

Yet, it’s still largely a patriarchal society it seems. Men still seem to be the head of the household and women have a lot of expectations to fulfill as good wives and daughters-in-law. My landlord was definitely the head of his household. Some of them also don’t have much respect for women in the sense that they think it’s okay to whistle at them—among other things—which I find really offensive. A lot of people there have this concept of ALL Western women being loose, which really, really bothers me. Even the women think this. I do give the men kudos for being fantastic fathers, though. They doted on their children. You always saw them holding their kids and playing with them, which I thought was nice—you don’t see that as much here it seems.

They are much blunter, though, than we generally think is appropriate. For example, they don’t hesitate to call you fat or ask you why you personal questions like why you aren’t married or how much money you make. Then again, they also don’t hesitate to call you beautiful or handsome and compliment you. They will always ask how old you are, but don’t take too much offense to that, because they need to know this in order to know what pronoun to give you—whether you’re older or younger than them. They don’t have one general pronoun like we do for ‘you.’ In their culture they have a lot of respect and distinction for age. For example, ‘em’ is for people who are younger than you—both male and female. ‘Chi,’ for women, or ‘anh,’ for men, are for people a little older than you—maybe about the same or younger than your parents. ‘Ba,’ for women, or ‘ong,’ for men, are for elderly people who are your grandparents’ age. I kind of like how they have so much reverence for age. We don’t seem to put much value on wisdom that comes with living a long time.

They’re also completely and gaggingly obsessed with love. They seem to need a boyfriend or girlfriend and are very lovey-dovey and giggly when it comes to anything romantic, even boys. If you say you don’t have or want a boyfriend or girlfriend it’s beyond their comprehension. I noticed this a long time ago when I first came to Vietnam, but they’re in a very 1950s post-war romantic era. My mom also agreed with me when she came here. I think that similar to the U.S., when they were finished with war, peace and security were restored to their country, and the population began to become more prosperous, people sort of embraced life. There’s this feeling of family togetherness. Parents and grandparents dote on their children and buy them all sorts of balloons and trinkets from the street vendors on weekend evenings. They go outside to the park, drive their motorbikes around town, and do things as a family. There’s often a festive, light-hearted, gooey feeling in the air which is accentuated with Christmas lights strung around every city all year long. People seem to just be alive, they enjoy socializing and being out in public instead of inside watching TV (not that they don’t do tons of that anyway).

As for society in general, like I’ve said before Vietnam isn’t the most health and safety conscious place in the world. You see men welding with no masks and women chopping up meat to sell on the sidewalk during insanely humid afternoons. The kids at school share cups to drink at the water cooler—there’s no thought about communal diseases. Parents also let their kids play in the streets at night. They don’t obsessively worry about their safety like parents here do. Then again, living in Vietnam in that sense is very safe and there are few abductions or murders—at least you don’t hear about them on the news because the government doesn’t approve of things that make them look bad. No, really, it’s a very safe county overall and people aren’t quiet as paranoid of each other, even though they do obsessively lock up their possessions (and for good reason). Your biggest problem is generally thieves and you definitely should be aware of your surroundings. I was always wary of where I was and who was around me. Especially as a Westerner you’re an easy target because they perceive you as rich. I learned from experience and didn’t like to be out late on my own.

While we have our safety rules and regulations for a reason in the States, there’s something exhilarating about living without having to be so worried all the time about being ultra healthy or totally safe. People are too worried about everything nowadays. Granted, it’s a catch-22 here. Medical costs are extremely high, so if someone hurts themselves and they don’t have, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars just lying around, they have no choice but to sue. Then people and businesses have to become more safety conscious because they can’t afford the high litigation costs if they are sued so they have to make sure they’re covered as much as possible in case someone doesn’t know how to walk on their own two feet and look where they’re going or something ridiculous like that. I don’t know how to explain it, but you feel somewhat more alive to not have things so perfect and clean cut. It’s refreshing. Then again, it is nice to be back and not have to deal with that nonsense and mess either. It’s nice to not see random piles of trash on the side of the road or to not have to look where you’re walking so you don’t trip on the broken pavement or to not have to worry about being hassled on the streets by vendors and motorbike guys.

As for the job situation there, you rarely see someone who is simply homeless and has nothing to do as you do in the States. Virtually everyone has some sort of job no matter how small. Even if they’re just sitting on their bum all day selling rice or fruit, giving rides on their motorbike, or being a motorbike attendant, they all have something to do and are at least making a little money. I think because of this there’s less crime and violence. People get violent when they have no work, no money, and no responsibility; giving everyone a job keeps them busy and perhaps feeling like they have something worthwhile to do and contribute. Also, having close family ties keeps a lot of people out of trouble. This is a very important lesson I think our country could learn. You also always see people working in the fields. Nothing is done with big machines, it’s all done by hand. You may think at first that this is just cheap, hard labor and they’re being used. And this could definitely be the case, but also think of the shear number of people in Vietnam. For a small country there’s a heck of a lot of them: over 83 million by the last count, making it the 12th most populated country in the world. You gotta give these people something to do and some sort of income, so why not put them to work in the field where they can replace machines? In the States we need to use machines to bring in our crops because we have so much of them and so few people; it would be impossible to do it by hand, but there it’s possible and practical to do. That’s not to say that they shouldn’t get a fair wage or be treated fairly. Anyway, it’s a different way of looking at things.

Then there’s driving in Vietnam. Ah, driving in Vietnam…. I don’t know how many motorbike accidents I’ve seen there—many of them right in front of my eyes. Most people jump right up afterwards and are fine for the most part. Of all the accidents I’ve seen—which are A LOT—I’ve only seen one or two really serious ones. While accidents aren’t bad, there are too many of them and they happen because people drive like maniacs and don’t think about the consequences. They cut in front of you, run red lights through a crowd going the opposite direction, pass you on the left side while you’re signaling to turn left, and so on. It’s all about getting where they need to go the quickest without courteously to the other driver. You can’t follow the set rules when driving, you have to follow the implicit rules and push your way through. If you don’t follow the implicit rules you’re probably more likely to get into an accident. It’s kind of funny, but when I first started driving motorbike in the small, quiet town where I lived I had a lot more accidents than when I lived in Hanoi. In fact, I had absolutely nothing happen in Hanoi, thankfully. Maybe I learned from my mistakes or maybe I was just lucky…. You also drive slower there too. Word of advice, your horn is the most important part of your bike. If you don’t have that you’re a danger to yourself and others. It’s polite to honk to let people know you’re there. I would rather have them honk at me. I get really nervous if my horn doesn’t work. I’ve been driving our family van, I always have the urge to honk at people who cautiously pull in front of me or pass me on the correct side of the road—just to let them know I was there—but then I think ‘oh yeah, that’s not so polite here.’

As for the countryside in Vietnam, I’m going to miss driving my motorbike through it. It’s really a beautiful country, especially once you get out of the city. The cities themselves aren’t anything spectacular. There’re no skyscrapers or exciting nightlife. Hanoi is more of a large small town with old French buildings, low-hanging trees lining the roads, and tight ancient streets, which is nice too. Saigon is a ramshackled maze of new and old buildings with huge trees towering in their midst, but there’s nothing particularly aesthetic about the city. The countryside is full of mountains. In the South you have wider bluff-level mountains that come to a gradual peak, whereas in the North you have jutting speared limestone mountains that look as though they’ve been dropped there by some humongous crane. The land around these mountains is as flat as northern Minnesota farmland. In fact, it’s perfectly flat even right up to the base of the mountains that simply jut straight up. You could just sit and stare and wonder at the landscape. I’m glad I was able to experience it like I did.

Then there’s the food. Generally, there isn’t tons of variety; basically, it’s different arrangements of rice and noodles mixed with vegetables and some sort of meat. Of course, there’s more than that and in the seaside areas there’s more seafood. Yes, there is also Western food around in the Westernized shopping malls, tourist areas, and swankier parts, but otherwise there are small restaurants and a lot of street food. The street food is pretty good and extremely cheap. You could buy a heaping plate for less than a dollar. Personally, I never got sick from any of it; even though the guidebooks tell you to be wary, I didn’t have too much discretion with what I ate. Although they are definitely not the most hygienic when cooking there are a few health procedures that more and more restaurants are putting into place, like wearing disposable gloves; they also know how to cook their own, traditional food. It’s going to nice Western restaurants where you have young, novice cooks that make you sick.

I can’t forget the language: Tieng Viet. Grammatically Vietnamese is an easy language to pick up; however, it’s the tones, which you have to perfect, that are the killers. There are six tones in Vietnamese that go with the different vowels. The tones are little marks above the vowels that indicate how you’re supposed to say that vowel (i.e. what kind of voice inflection you should have—if you have to raise or lower your voice, break it, or make it sound like a question). When you mix the tones with the vowels in the words they mean different things. For example you could have the word ‘bo,’ it depends what tone (or no tone) is on the ‘o’ to give the word it’s meaning. Even words with the same tone can have different meanings. It’s really difficult for a foreigner to speak the language correctly. Vietnamese have a finely tuned ear to hear what we think are the tiniest differences between sounds (you would think this would make them better at pronunciation with another language, but not at all). It reminds me of the SNL skit where there’s this ultra modern couple who have names that sound the exact same, even though they say they’re distinctly different. The guests they have over to their house can never pronounce their names correctly and both sides get frustrated. Just like the couple, they’ll get mad at you if you say the slightest difference in their names wrong, because it is a huge difference to them. Of course, then they don’t see a problem with calling me Outspit or Albert. Yeah, you would think they’d also be nitpicky about spelling, but they are the sloppiest spellers, at least when it comes to English things. You’ll even find obvious spelling errors in professional things that are literally set in stone. You wouldn’t think it’d be that hard to look it up in a dictionary….

As students though, they’re great. Generally, they’re very respectful and hold teachers in high regard. There’s even a teacher’s day, dedicated to honoring teachers. Wish we had that here. Kids work so incredibly hard, because they’re parents make them focus on their studies from the time they’re old enough to hold a pencil through university. I think this comes at a loss of other equally important life experiences, though, like holding a part-time job or being involved in after-school activities. Middle and upper-class Asian parents in general seem to take on this obsession of having their child succeed and become rich. It seems all of them are studying to be engineers, bankers, or doctors. No wonder many of them can’t find jobs in their field. Western parents don’t seem to be any less obsessed either.

Okay, it’s time to stop there before this gets unbearably long. I think I’ve covered the main aspects of Vietnamese society and my observations here and there. I just have one more thing to add. When people think of Vietnam they often think of a war-torn country; while there are still many remnants of the war left (particularly people with agent orange deformities), that is their past. Their present and future are nothing like that. One thing that does persist is their determination to better themselves and their country, while being fiercely patriotic. Yes, they still have a long way to go, but they’re a determined people and well on their way. I’ve been hearing a lot of comparisons between the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan going around lately. What lessons can be taken from the Vietnam War and utilized in Afghanistan? While I don’t know all the ins and outs of either war, I have to say that the most important piece of advice others have given on this ‘new’ war is to understand and respect the country’s culture and people first and foremost. This was something that was largely neglected in the Vietnam War. From my experience living abroad, I’ve learned about a new way of life and a new way of looking at the world. I believe I’m better for it. Listening to what others have to say is the key to wisdom and a true perspective on life in my opinion. Imposing your beliefs or culture on others without listening to their side of the story is never the way to go. In fact, it’s the ignorant way to go.

So I’m excited for my next adventure—especially to see where it takes me, because as of now I have no clue. I think that’s the excitement of it though: it’s the unknown. Before I left on my long journey home my landlord and his wife invited me to have dinner with them. While they stuffed me with rice and fish, my landlord gave me a piece of advice that made me pause and reflect. ‘Life: It goes up and down, always up and down. That’s the way it is and you just have to take life as it is.’ Vang, toi biet.

Tying Loose Ends

2009-10-30T05:20:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Finally I have reached the end of October and there are only two and a half weeks left before I come home again. It’s been a long time—too long—since I’ve been home and every day I count down the days to when I can start packing up. As I said in my Shutterfly album description and before, it’s not that I hate traveling or that my days abroad are over (not in the least), I just need to go home and reset again. I need to see the old people and things I love, have comfort food, and spend the holidays in the cold and snow instead of in the tropical heat.

These last couple weeks since my last blog I’ve taken two other little trips: One to the Perfume Pagoda and one to Sapa. These were the last things on my list to see in Vietnam (besides a few more things in Hanoi). I enjoyed both trips, but I have to admit that it’s nice to finally be done with them and now look forward to coming home.

The Perfume Pagoda was very nice. It’s not far from Hanoi—I’m not sure the direction. It was a day trip with a tour group and a bit like my trip to Ninh Binh the other week. We took rickety row boats along a river through the mountains for an hour or so. It was rainy and cool that day, so when we got to the dock and walked up the short distance to the entrance most of us decided to take the cable car to the top of the mountains (instead of climbing the slippery 3k up). It was actually well worth the extra 70,000 d (about $4) to take the cable car up (considering that it was new and made in Switzerland which equals safe and reliable in my book). It was neat to see the mountains here in a different way—from above instead of below—and it was beautiful.

After the cable car, we walked a short distance to the Perfume Pagoda itself. There are actually many different pagodas here and it’s a religious destination for many Vietnamese people (especially around TET and the holy days). This particular pagoda, however, is the main attraction because it is set in a cave. You have to walk down stairs to get to the wide mouth of the cave and walk through some short pathways to get to the back where there are a variety of shrines for men, women, children, and the ancestors. There are also some formations in the walls of the caves that mean different things—one for women to be more fertile and others that are shaped like men, women, and elephants. It was interesting.

After that, we walked back and took the cable car down. We had lunch and then went to a temple (same as most of the other temples I’ve seen so far). After that we took the row boats back and went back to Hanoi. It was a nice relaxing day and good to meet and talk with some other people.

Then I just got back from a four-night/three-day trip to Sapa this week. Sapa is Northwest of Hanoi—near the Chinese border. The trip was very nice and Sapa was gorgeous. My landlady’s son, who works for a tour agency, organized everything. All I did was pay. I left on Sunday evening after work and took the night train to Sapa. I had a sleeper cabin with a family from Singapore. There was a husband, wife, and their adult son. I talked for a bit to the husband and they were all very nice, but the husband and son snored up a storm the entire night. As I told my parents, it sounded like a pack of lions tearing apart a gazelle. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep.

We arrived in Sapa early in the morning. Outside the train depot there were many people with signs to pick up tourists who were with tour groups. I looked and looked for my name, but didn’t see it, so I called my landlady’s son and asked him how he spelled my name. He said “O-U-T-S-P-I-T.” “What?! Outspit!” I said, “That’s not my name at all! It’s spelled E-L-S-B-E-T-H.” I rushed to one lady who I’d seen with that name previously—she was starting to walk away. I had her talk to him, because she said she wanted a receipt. All I had was my itinerary, which she took and subsequently never gave back. Eventually it was sorted out and I got on the bus that went into Sapa.

The morning was beautiful there. The bright yellow sun was just coming up over the top of the mountains, lighting up the rice terraces. Only then did I really start to realize that it was my birthday! Yes, on Monday morning I turned 24. It didn’t seem like my birthday at all, though, because…well…I’d never had a birthday in a place like that nor had I ever spent it alone.

Anyway, we eventually got to the hotel after dropping off some of the other people on the bus. The hotel was much nicer than I’d expected. When I came in they asked me if I would be okay with staying in the hotel the first night and the homestay the second. Originally, it was supposed to be the other way around. That was fine with me. I didn’t care.

So I dropped off my backpack and went downstairs to have a good breakfast of fried eggs and bread. I sat with two middle-aged German women and ended up having a conversation in German with them. My German’s a bit rusty, but it’s good to practice. They were very nice and they invited me to their houses when I, hopefully, am able to teach/live in Germany or one of those German-speaking countries one day. They also showed me pictures of their families and we took a picture together.

Afterwards, I met my group for the tour and we went on a trek through the mountains. There were four others in my group: A couple from Switzerland and two guys from Holland. They were all very nice. A Vietnamese family also joined us. They had two young daughters who went to private International schools and spoke English really well. It was good to talk to everyone and the scenery was amazing. The paths on the trail could be muddy and rocky, but luckily the weather was sunny and perfect for the entire trip. It wasn’t too hot—cool in fact—and it was windy. A group of minority women dressed in their traditional outfits followed us around the entire time. I’d heard of this before. They don’t try to sell you things right away, but talk with you and help you along the trails. Then at the end they ask you to buy something. I thought their strategy was smart and so I was willing to buy something from them. One little girl, about 11 years old (she said), followed me and we talked together. She was very sweet, so at the end I bought a small purse and a bracelet from her (for a lot more than it was worth). That’s okay, she was nice, but I shouldn’t buy from kids—it just makes their parents think they can make money and so they take them out of school—she’d already been out of school for about three years.

We finally stopped at a waterfall where we sat and rested for awhile. Then we took motorbikes back to have lunch at the hotel. We had the rest of the afternoon to explore Sapa and I walked around town with the Swiss couple. I told them that this town reminded me of St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps minus the snow and plus the rice terraces. They didn’t agree at all. I don’t know…something about the mountain town, touristy feel.

Oh! And my hotel put a lovely, but over-the-top, bouquet of roses and lilies in my room. That was totally unexpected but really nice. It really made my day. Before the lady at reception had said happy birthday and I asked her how she knew—she had seen it on my passport. I brought them home and they’re next to my TV now. They probably thought I was crazy to drag them away with me (maybe they thought I was just traveling around).

Anyway, the next day our group met up with a group of four Spanish people traveling together—one girl and three guys—and we went on another trek. This one was longer—10 k. We walked through the mountains, rice terraces, and minority villages again. The villages were filled with little children who had no pants on. They were filthy and their clothes were all torn. It seemed as though nobody was looking after even the littlest ones who were barely able to walk and wandering around. They were sliding down the hills on plastic bottles and bits of cardboard, trying to sell us little cloth bracelet and baubles, and following us around. We visited a school which was bright and colorful, but the kids had no uniforms and were only dressed in their torn dirty clothes, while other kids who were not in class still followed us around trying to sell us things. The homes we visited were like barns—very dark and dirty and impoverished.

It’s crazy to imagine how people can live like this—so poor—but at the same time, somehow, people seemed relatively happy. They didn’t seem to need lots of things to make them happy like we tend to want in our Western culture. I’m sure their lives aren’t perfect by any means and that they have a lot of problems, but it’s a simple way of living which isn’t entirely bad in and of itself. One thing I do think is sad to see is the children running around the way there are—not taken care of properly and with little education. The Vietnamese government does seem to be trying to build good schools for them and encourage the parents to keep them in school. In all the villages we visited or saw, the schools were the biggest, newest structures there. I think that shows something.

Well, the trek was good, but exhausting. My legs are still aching. The food was good, too—traditional Vietnamese food—and the homestay was very nice. It was similar to the other homestays I’ve done here in the northern part of Vietnam. We all slept in one big room with mats on the floor and mosquito nets. Because it gets so cold here, we had super thick blankets which kept me more than warm at night. The homestay (even though it was more open to the elements) was warmer than the hotel which was freezing cold the night before—probably because it was made of stone. We talked outside on the patio that night before and after dinner. It’s great to meet new people and talk with them. That’s always my favorite part of traveling.

The next day we had a shorter trek—5 k—and saw another waterfall. When we made it back to the main road a clean, new bus was there waiting to take us back to Sapa. Back in the hotel we took showers and had dinner before we got on the bus headed back to Lao Cai, where we would take the train back to Hanoi. At the train station we had a couple hours before the train took off so we sat down at a restaurant to have a beer and talk some more. I was supposed to take a train later than the others, but they came up to me and asked if I wanted to switch my tickets for the earlier train. So I did. The second night on the train wasn’t the greatest either. It was freezing cold because the A/C was on full blast and we couldn’t turn it down, so I hardly got any sleep. We got into Hanoi around 4:30 and I just took a taxi straight home—nobody was out on the streets yet.

So those are my adventures from the last several weeks. Phew! I had a really nice time on both tours and it was good to be in the countryside, but again, I’m glad to be over with them and really start thinking about going home.

Jeez louis, that’s a long blog. It took me ages to type. Okay, well, this may very well be the second to last blog you see on this site, because soon I’m headed home! I can’t wait to see everyone, but for now I should remember to enjoy life on the other side of the world. See you soon!

Harvest Moon

2009-10-09T08:02:00.001-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

I just got back today from vacation in Ninh Binh, which is about two hours West of Hanoi. Overall it was good to be out of the city after being cooped up and getting progressively fed up with everything over the last two and a half months. I stayed for about two and a half days—two nights.

I took a tour there the first day and we saw a temple and went on a boat tour around these beautiful, spired mountains. The landscape is gorgeous, but they were just trying to push us to buy things on the boat trip. I was with a Japanese guy in our row boat and I struck up a conversation in Vietnamese with one of the ladies who was rowing the boat. I was so proud that I could talk for an extended length of time in Vietnamese and I understood most of what she said. Of course, though, she had to push the embroidered cloths she was selling on me (to fund her daughter’s college education, so she said). I was nice and bought two small embroidered things…so I guess that’s one of your future presents, mom. Another lady on one boat at the end of the boat tour before we turned back pushed us to buy drinks for our rowers. I was stupid and should have known better. I thought the rowers were going to pay for their drinks for some reason, but I was expected to pay at the extortionary price of 30,000 d (about $2.50) for two drinks. Okay, that doesn’t sound like a lot over there, but it’s a lot here. Anyway, the Japanese guy and I paid some. You can’t even have a pleasant conversation in Vietnamese without being asked to buy something…I guess I can see where they’re coming from.

Anyway, I ended up staying at the hotel where we had lunch and which my tour guide was pushing for me to stay at. I had another hotel in mind, but actually this one was pretty good as it turned out. It was right across from the place where we took our boat tour and the room I was in had an amazing view of the mountains. The room was also very clean and new. The owners there were pretty friendly and helpful. They even gave me a discount and didn’t charge me for some things. The first night they even had me eat dinner with their family. It was very nice.

The second day I went on another boat tour that was further out in the middle of nowhere and less touristy. It was also more beautiful and a longer tour. We went through a bunch of caves that were so low we had to duck our heads as we rowed through them. I was getting claustrophobic and some of the caves had bats flying around, which freaked me out even more. I officially hate bats. One of the owners of the hotel drove me there and back, which was nice.

After that they had another motorbike driver take me to the Phat Diem Cathedral, which is apparently the biggest Cathedral in South East Asia. It was different from any other Cathedral I’ve seen—the architecture was clearly Asian with tiled roofs and Chinese carvings and motifs. It was really neat to see the blend between Western and Asian cultures in this Cathedral. It was a long drive through the bumpy countryside to get there and I only stayed for about an hour. I ended up talking to a Vietnamese girl who came up to talk to me. She didn’t speak much English so we ended up talking for awhile in half English, half Vietnamese. She was very sweet and showed me around the area.

Then my driver and I headed back in the cool evening through the countryside. Even the flat rice fields were so beautiful and reminded me of Wittenberg in Germany for some reason. Of course, the crops are different and in Wittenberg they had wind generators dotting the countryside instead of palm trees. It’s harvest season now so there was sweet-smelling hay strewn all over the roads and they were burning piles of it—sometimes even in the middle of the road. I don’t know why they had to burn it. There was also a bright red harvest moon as we were driving back. It felt more like autumn. That evening I had dinner at the same place I had lunch at that day. Jeez, again the prices were super high for Vietnamese food, but the people there were nice.

Today I got up “early” and went for a bike ride around the countryside for a little bit. Again, it was so beautiful, but the locals were very rude. They kept shooing me away wherever I went and wanted me to buy a ticket for some tour or another. I don’t trust many people here anymore, so I just ignored them and went on my way. I didn’t stay out long. Just long enough to work up a dripping sweat. I went back to the hotel, freshened up, quickly gathered my things, and left. I took the bus back to Hanoi.

I unpacked my things and cleaned out my defrosted fridge right away. Then I went grocery shopping and cleaned my room.

Oh, also last weekend was the Harvest Moon Festival. I was here last year for it, but I didn’t see much. This year I was determined to see a little and I saw a lot. It was a nice festive atmosphere—like Halloween and Karnival combined. All the children were dressed up—the little girls had on cute princess dresses. The teens and university students were also wearing elaborate masks. I wanted to get a mask but I couldn’t find one. We saw a little Chinese dragon show for the kids in one of the streets and went to a Vegetarian restaurant for dinner. After that one of my friends from work and I ended up walking all the way back to our apartments when we realized the streets were so crowded and no empty taxi could be found. It was neat to see the festivities as we walked back and the people just socializing around Hoan Kiem Lake, but I was exhausted.

Speaking of exhausted, I better get to bed because tomorrow is going to be a very long exhausting day.

Namaste. The light within me bows to the light within you.

2009-09-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing...

Today after my yoga class I was shopping on the street for flowers, vegetables, and fruit. I had done most of the shopping on my motorbike on the way home, but then when I got home I parked my bike in my alley and went out on the street to find some fruit—particularly limes (chanh). I had just bought some fruit around the corner when the vendor women started grabbing their baskets and running. The police were coming in their truck to make them move. They were dropping scales, tools, and things all over. One woman in particular knocked over her basket of shrimp in her frenzy to get away. I wanted to help her, but I knew that I couldn’t. As I looked back she looked as though she was going to cry. All her shrimp were dumped on the dirty, wet street. It was probably a day’s or more wages for her.

With all this complaining I also have to realize that there are much more unfortunate people out there and although things and people frustrate me at times it could be much worse. And really, the things I’m complaining about are for the most part only temporary things in the long run. I’ve been relatively lucky in life and I’m lucky enough just being able to have this experience. Deep breath. Namaste.

Troi Oi!

2009-09-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Troi Oi! It’s been a long time since I last wrote—over a month—but I’ve been so busy this last month that I haven’t had much time to sit down and write a blog. I’ve been working every single day this last month and a half, except for Vietnam’s National Holiday two weeks ago today where everyone got the day off. Speaking of the National Holiday, I made sure I relaxed all day. I pampered myself—got a massage, pedicure, hair wash/facial, and hair cut all for about $15. A-MAZING! Then I went swimming at that pool across town and met my friends for dinner at this wonderful restaurant where they train street and disadvantaged kids for the hospitality industry. We had a long, relaxing dinner and then went to Vincom to see “The Proposal”—very corny and formulaic, but funny.

So you may ask why I have been working every day? Well, I switched my schedule to a M/W/F/Sat/Sun schedule, because I wanted two days off a week instead of one. So now I have to work an intense, long weekend and then I get two days to relax. However, I had one class on Tues/Thurs/Sat that was my favorite class. It was the last class of the day and I only had a month left of it, so I decided to work every day this last month to finish out the class. I figured that I might as well get the extra money and I hadn’t planned any trips anyway. So this last week I finished that and another M/W/F class, so yesterday (Tuesday) was finally my first real day off in a month and a half!

I didn’t get to relax a whole lot though, but I did get a lot done. I brought in my bike to be tuned up and pay the rent for it, I went to a café to eat and read for a bit, went to Vietnamese lessons, went grocery shopping, went home and corrected photos from my trip with mom, and then the Vietnamese family I live with invited me to a late dinner. They were having their Japanese friend, who first lived in my room, over for dinner. He was in town for a week and is a professor in Japan. My landlady made bun cha (noodles with grilled beef cakes, spring rolls, and leafy greens soaked in a vinegary fish sauce). It was very delicious. We waited for a bit for him and his friend or student (?) to arrive, but they didn’t get there ‘til later. Then we all talked for a bit. Him, my landlord, his student (a Japanese woman who is attending graduate school in New York, but studying in Hanoi) and I compared Vietnamese, Japanese, and American culture and it was very interesting to hear their perspectives on their own cultures and other cultures. Conversations like this really open your eyes to why people do the things they do in a culture and how they perceive other people’s cultures. You learn a lot and have a greater appreciation for the world and its diversity when you have conversations like this.

Anyway, that evening there was a bad thunderstorm just as they were leaving. Apparently there’s a typhoon heading this way…but not. I’m a bit confused by the weather. Right now it’s quite overcast, but hasn’t rained. I won’t drive myself to work if it’s bad—I’ll take my motorbike driver or get a taxi. I’m terrified of the streets if it gets really flooded. I’ve heard horror stories about what happened in Hanoi last year when there was major flooding in the city. They open the drains in the roads, so people walking through the flooded streets can accidentally step in one, get sucked in, and drown. *Shiver*

Well, forgetting about that, I’ve been taking yoga classes in the morning and Vietnamese lessons in the afternoon on Tues/Thurs so those days have been quite busy. The yoga lessons are good and only with Vietnamese people. The instructor doesn’t speak English, but some of the other people do and they’re all very helpful and nice. The weeks have flown by, but at the same time not. I’ve kept myself busy with yoga, Vietnamese lessons, quiz night at the bar on Tuesday nights, going to the Cinematique to see a foreign or classic film on Sunday night with some friends from work, going to a new restaurant with the same friends on Wednesdays, going swimming at the pool when I can, and whatever else. I finally got my computer cleaned up and I can now correct my photos on Photoshop and hopefully upload them, so hopefully soon they’ll be on Shutterfly. On Monday I also went to the tailor with a friend from work and had a dress and traditional ao dai (Vietnamese dress) made. I’ll pick them up next week and I’m so excited to see how they’ll turn out. I had the dress made from a little picture with no pattern, so I’m not sure how well it’ll turn out or if the fabric I chose with work….it’ll be a surprise. The tailor seems really good, though, and a lot of Westerners like her, plus she’s actually a tailor and they make all their clothes right in the shop, so I trust her. Last week I also went to Ellyn’s new house across town. It was good to catch up, since we don’t see each other much any more considering that we live so far apart and are busy with work and whatnot. Now we’ll have the same days off, though, so that’s nice.

Phew! It’s only two months now until I come home. I’m so excited and ready to come home, but there are still tons to do. It’ll be good to have two days off a week from now on, so I can get all this stuff done and see all the things I want to see before I leave. Things have been getting on my nerves more and more and it seems like lately I’ve just been waiting for the next crappy or annoying thing to happen.

For instance, my landlady has been getting in the habit of taking out my motorbike on whatever little errands she has. She has her own nice automatic bike, but for whatever reason wants to take out mine because hers is parked in the house and it’s difficult to take it out or whatever, so I let her. I don’t know how to say no in a polite way because she doesn’t speak English so we only communicate in Vietnamese, plus it’s just a cultural norm for everything to be shared here. But on Sunday, just as I was pulling into the alley she came up behind me on her motorbike and asked if she could take my bike. I was like, “okay…,” thinking 'why in the world can’t you take your own bike?' But I let her because I was just going to walk to the mall nearby to meet my friends for dinner and I didn’t need it. So the next afternoon just as I was about to rush to work I couldn’t find my keys anywhere. I went up to my landlady and she looked and looked, but couldn’t find them. She lost them! Great, and I had to bring in my bike to my rental guy the next day so how was I supposed to explain this to him? That evening they still hadn’t found the keys, but luckily the next morning as I was going downstairs to figure out what to do they were there on the microwave. They had found them. Nevertheless, I’m keeping my keys with me from now on and not letting her drive my bike if I can help it. She asks sometimes to drive it, but I kept my keys downstairs with the other keys in case they needed to move my bike, so I think she’s been taking it out without asking… Actually, I know she has because as I was out on my balcony one evening I saw her driving past on my bike. Sorry, but I’m very possessive of my things and it’s not even mine! I guess I will never be able to get used to the communal aspect of Asian culture.

I know this attitude is very pessimistic, but after a year I think I just need a break from it all. And it has been over an official year now! Wow, the time has flown by and so much has happened. It’s been a good year and a bad year—both for many different reasons. I don’t regret it though. I think it’s changed me a lot. So don’t get me wrong—my traveling and living abroad days are far from over.

I think that’s enough of an update for now. I’ll try to be more frequent about my updates these next couple months now that I have time. I’ll also be going on two small trips in October, so I’ll tell all y’all all about them! I hope all is well at home and wherever you are—starting a new school year and moving into the fall. It’s supposed to be getting cooler here, too, but I’m still sweating bullets every day. Yet another thing I’m completely sick of!

Lephrecauns and Pigs Invade Hanoi

2009-08-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

It seems like this last week has been a never-ending string of hassles. My motorbike broke down earlier this week—luckily this happened just as I was pulling up to my alley and it was fixed quickly the next day. My computer has been a continual pain and I have yet to deal with it, much less work on those many pictures I have. My second pair of headphones broke, so I had to replace them. Although I had fewer hours last week it seems like school still took up all my time…. Blah, blah, blah poor me. But then I caught my maid stealing from me.

I’ve had my suspicions for the last several weeks. When I first moved into my apartment my landlord warned me not to leave any money out, so I didn’t I kept it hidden. However, one day as my maid was cleaning my room and I was in a rush to get out and have coffee at a café, I took some money from where I’d placed it. I didn’t do it obviously; I tried to hide what I was doing, but she must have been aware. About two weeks ago now I had four 200,000 d bills in my hiding place, which I counted the night before. I left again to go to work while she was cleaning. I had an 8:30 a.m. class. That evening I looked and there were only three 200,000 d…hmm, my suspicions were growing like a stingy old heiress who thinks the pool boy is out to steal her family jewels. Okay, maybe not quite like that. But anyway, this last Tuesday I got up early to count my money again and, the sneaky person I am, take a picture of the bills spread out. I had 12 100,000s and 1 200,000 bills—1.4 million all together (that adds up to about $95. I usually don’t keep that much money in my room or on me, but you also have to have cash because that’s practically the only means to buy things here). Anyway, this time I didn’t go anywhere. I went up a flight of steps to read. She knew I went up there. When she was finished I went down and counted my money. 200,000 d was missing!

Straightaway I went up to my landlady who was chatting with the maid. I had my money in my hand and paused to look at the maid who was standing on the threshold. She just looked back at me. I couldn’t tell if her expression was one of faked innocence or surprise at noticing the missing money. I went to my landlady and showed her my money and the picture. Of course, the maid denied it and said that she didn’t have the money. She even showed us the little amount she had in her pocket. Who else could have stolen my money between the time I counted it and when I came back to my room after she cleaned? It must have been that little green leprechaun who sneaks into my room every Tuesday and Saturday around 8 a.m. He likes to climb in through my balcony window and search for the bag o’ dong hidden in my room.

We went down to talk to the landlady’s son and he helped translate what his mom said and I showed them where I put my money and how the purse was folded differently when I found it. They said that they believed me, because of the picture, but they couldn’t do anything until the landlady’s husband came home (he was on a business trip abroad). The maid had been working for the family for six years and they said that it was difficult to find a good maid in Hanoi. They told me that I had two options. She could clean my room but I had to be in there at all times or I could clean the room myself. I said that I would think about it.

On Sunday I talked with the landlord and he said that he couldn’t prove anything, but believed me. He said that this was the first time something like that had happened and that they couldn’t get rid of her, because she was a good maid and they had gained a relationship with her these last six years. He also said that she had four children to support (I don’t know if this was meant to put me on a guilt trip). He said that 200,000 d doesn’t mean a lot to him, but it means a lot to her because she doesn’t get paid much in the first place. So he gave me 200,000 d back. He told me that it still doesn’t make it right that she stole from me, but he has to think of supporting her. If he made this a big deal, she might not only loose her job here, but her jobs with my landlord’s extended family who she also works for. Apparently she didn’t even come into work on Saturday because she was afraid and perhaps felt guilty. I don’t know if she came into work today, since I haven’t been out of my room yet, but at least she knows. In the end, somehow I agreed to pay the full rent (I wanted to get money off for not having a maid). He also said to forget the whole situation. At first I thought, sure that sounds compassionate enough, but why can’t they just pay her more if they want to keep her? Why should I have to pay for a maid who doesn’t clean my room and stole from me? I’m paying her more money despite the fact that she took it from me without asking. That doesn’t seem right or fair. I don’t hate her and I’m not vindictive, but I think that people who knowingly do wrong should have to deal with the consequences of their choices. Yes, I can see from her point of view that she’s poor and perhaps a little desperate, but it still doesn’t make it right what she did. I’m mostly disappointed because she was really friendly and I love custodial people in general. They’re always the friendliest people you meet. Instead she betrayed my trust.

That’s one thing that really irks me, people who take things from me without asking and don’t return them. For instance, at work people just take things from my or other people’s supply boxes when they could just as easily ask for them from the ladies who deal with the supplies. So I’m at a loss when I teach a class on a day when the power and elevators are out, it’s stiflingly hot, I’m on the 7th floor teaching a class of 18 excitable children, and I open my box to find that I only have 3 boxes of colors (two of them unsharpened colored pencils and one small box of crayons) when I should have seven or eight nice, full boxes of crayons. How is this fair that I’m the one prepared, but I pay for someone else’s forgetfulness? Yes, I’m possessive of my stuff, but you know, I made the effort to get it in the first place. Go buy your own pens if you keep forgetting. I’m fine if you ask and return. No problem! Khong sau. It’s when you ask and don’t return or don’t ask and don’t return at all that gets to me. It seems to be this way a lot here. Okay, enough ranting.

Anyway, back to the maid situation, I already paid for these next two months. Perhaps, it’s best not to make a big deal of it now, but the next two months I think I’ll bring up the fact that I’m paying for a maid who I don’t use and I shouldn’t have to pay.

Moving on. Did you hear? Hanoi primary schools are closing because of the Swine Flu scare. Crazy. Language Link hasn’t closed, but the security guards are wearing face masks and checking everyone’s temperature when they come into school. So far they haven’t sent me home. I’ve been wearing a face mask a lot more, but that’s mainly because I actually have a good one that fits me now. Here’s an article from AsiaOne.com:

Hanoi closes schools amid swine flu fears:

Fri, Aug 07, 2009
AFP

HANOI, Vietnam - All schools in Hanoi closed Friday in a bid to contain an outbreak of swine flu that has killed one person and infected more than 1,000 in Vietnam, the city's education authority said.
The Hanoi Education and Training Department said it had asked all schools in Vietnam's capital not to open until further notice, in order to prevent the spread of the A(H1N1) virus, which causes swine flu.
The new school year will start on August 17, but schools have started convening students since the beginning of this week.
In Hanoi, three schools have recorded A(H1N1) infections among their students, according to the education department's online report.
Vietnam reported its first A(H1N1) infection in late May. Since then, 1,043 cases of infection have been reported, with 608 discharged from hospital.
The country's first death from a swine flu was a 29-year-old woman who died Monday in Khanh Hoa coastal province. --AFP

Source: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20090807-159739.html

P.S. here’s a common misconception, if you see pictures on the news of Asian people wearing face masks it’s not necessarily because we have a lot of diseases circulating around here, it’s because people wear them on a regular basis to protect themselves from the pollution and sun. If your main means of transportation is driving a motorbike, you’re not as protected from the elements as you are in a car. Thus, a face mask is a logical protection.

Other than all these things not much has been going on here. My day off on Sunday was pretty blah. I went grocery shopping and went to see Indochine at the Cinematique with from friends from work. That was a great movie. It’s a French film about a love drama that takes place in Vietnam during the French occupation. It won a bunch of Academy Awards in 1992.

Yesterday I went swimming across town at this quiet, lap pool where mainly Westerners go. It’s a pain to get there, but when you’re there it’s so peaceful. You can’t hear the traffic—only birds and the wind. There’s also a fantastic view of the city skyline across the biggest lake in the city. I think this is going to be my escape. It feels so good to swim some laps and work out. When I got there in the morning I was the only person and later on when I was reading a few Westerners came. After that I drove around looking for a nice place to eat and stumbled upon this Indian restaurant that many people have been raving about. It was next to one of the lakes, the ambiance was great, and it was so peaceful. I had a chicken wrap which was about the closest thing I’ve come to a Chipotle burrito here. It was a good morning.

I’m not working much this week. I just finished one of my classes yesterday and so the rest of this week I have one class a day until Saturday when I have a full schedule of four classes. Gulp! That’ll be a long day. Otherwise this week I’m hoping to take advantage of my time off and work out, sign up for some yoga classes, buy some art supplies, get my computer fixed, and do whatever else needs to be done. Getting one thing accomplished a day here is a good day in this heat.

Becoming Officially Vietnamese

2009-08-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Time for a “quick” update. Not much has gone on this last week other than work, work, work. This was the last week of summer school, which is good and sad. Good in the sense that next week will be much quieter and sad in the sense that most of the summer school teachers are leaving.

On Friday afternoon I took my motorbike driving test across town. It was more of an obstacle to get to the testing center than to actually take the test. What with buses shooting out disgusting smog, deep pot holes, idiotic, speeding motorbike drivers, and SUVs honking and turning right in front of you. I’ve been working through the process of getting my license for several weeks now and I finally took the test. I met a Vietnamese lady from the Language Link head school there. I practiced once through the course and then we headed upstairs through the old building crowded at the top floor with other people waiting to take their written test in a hot, non-air conditioned room. I didn’t have to take the written test—only the practical one. There was another Western man there and when we had to come forward to sign our papers the woman calling names couldn’t pronounce them so she just said “foreigners come forward.” Everyone laughed and looked to see the two white-skinned, sweaty people make their way to the front.

Then we eventually made our way downstairs and stood with a small crowd of Vietnamese people waiting to take their practical tests. My guide was able to get us to take our tests earlier, because I had to go back to work (sometimes Westerners have priority, which can be good, but also unfair; then again, sometimes Westerners are purposefully served last). It was kind of embarrassing to take the test in front of a crowd of locals. I’m sure they thought we were pretty stupid and ridiculous to be doing what we were doing. Even the guy who controlled the test motorbikes held onto the bike and indicated that I needed to click it into gear as if I’ve never ridden a motorbike before. “Gee, thanks, I had no idea, but hey I’m taking the test anyway, dur!” The first part of the test is the most difficult and it didn’t help with the crowd or the fact that I was sweaty, nervous and hadn’t eaten much that day. You have to make a tight figure-eight while staying within the white lines and not letting your feet touch the ground. I did okay, but my foot briefly touched the ground. I thought “Shoot, well I’m done for.” I finished out the test just fine and came back. Both of us thought that we hadn’t passed but we did! Such a relief! Maybe they didn’t notice my foot touching or maybe they just wanted to get rid of us Westerners, but now I have my receipt and can pick up my real, bonafide Vietnamese motorbike license in a couple weeks.

As I’ve said before, traffic is crazy here and I’m glad I at least have my license now (about 8 months later than I should have). Just tonight on my way home from the movie there was a motorbike crash right in front of me. Everyone was okay, but two people weren’t wearing their helmets and the person at fault was stupid and driving right into traffic. As a Westerner, though, you can’t stop for those things, because you might be blamed so they can extort money from you.

Anyway, on Friday night I met the summer school people after work and we went to a bar out in the boonies for awhile. Saturday I worked, but then some of us had dinner at a Bia Hoi near school to have one last hurrah with the summer school people.

Today I ran some errands in the afternoon. I got some groceries, a good face mask (one that actually protects you from pollution and matches my helmet perfectly), and a floral/rose patterned long-sleeved shirt to protect me from the sun. Many Vietnamese women wear these to keep their skin white. They look old-fashioned, but they’re comfortable. Next I need to get an Ao Dai and some leopard print pajamas tailored. Then I'll be officially Vietnamese. I also bought a new helmet shield, because I broke mine one night a few weeks ago when I was trying to open my door. I ventured to a café one co-worker showed me and sat and read for a little while. Afterwards I got my motorbike washed and tried to find this art supplies store that I found on the New Hanoian, but it either wasn’t there or closed. Instead, I went to a dress shop and tried on some clothes, none of which I really liked. Finally I met two of my co-workers at the Cinematique for the 7 o’clock movie (now that I’m a member I need to take advantage of it). We had some drinks and a cheese platter there beforehand and some free popcorn during the movie.

The movie was pretty good, I thought. It’s great to see a real Vietnamese movie made by a Vietnamese director. It was called "Nostalgia for the Countryside" and, surprise, took place in the countryside of Vietnam. The story is from one 17-year-old farmer boy’s perspective as he lives in his small farming community and comes of age. It was fascinating to see the things I’ve seen first hand on my travels there on the silver screen. Somehow seeing those things in a movie makes it all more amazing, especially when you can say that you see that way of life every day.

Even going on a year, I am still amazed sometimes by where I am. The culture is becoming modern and at the same time is still old. Like I said a long time ago, Vietnam is at a very romantic point in time. You see women selling flowers and vegetables in woven baskets every day on the street, I walk past an ancient wooden communal house on my way to the modern, upscale Vincom Mall, and on the corner near where I live is a dusty, old, Eastern apothecary. But then I think that in the States there are some amazing things there too. Even the old brick buildings from the 1800s in Buffalo are pretty fascinating when you think about it. Any place you go to, especially if it’s a new place, can be fascinating and beautiful.

It’s my goal to do at least one new thing every week and every day I have off. So much still to do, but even running errands, like I did today, is new.

Ba Be Lake Excursion Plus Some

2009-07-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

It’s been a long and, at the same time, quick last couple weeks, so I haven’t had much time just for myself. Mainly work, work, work or travel. Teaching is going just fine, but I was sick the week before last with the flu and called in sick two days. Sorry, no Swine Flu, though, to make an interesting story, and I’m perfectly fine now.

Luckily, I was all better just in time for my trip to Ba Be Lake last weekend (I had stayed home on Friday). I went again with the Zoom Zoom group from the New Hanoian and had a fantastic time. I had been looking forward to last weekend since the previous trip. There were many new people, but it was still a great group and so good to meet people outside of work—ex-pats and Vietnamese alike. I wish I could go on more trips with them, but I can only take so many days off and I want to save up my days off so I can go home in time for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, this time we didn’t drive motorbikes and instead took a bus. Although I love driving my motorbike and I think it’s the best way to explore the countryside, it was a relief to take a bus. Traffic is crazy and driving for hours on end gets tiring. It’s nice to not have to worry about all that and be able to gaze at the countryside (even though you don’t feel as close to it as you do when driving a motorbike). I felt much more safe and secure. In Vietnam you can rent buses for group trips. They’re not your typical coach bus equipped with TVs and a bathroom. You rent these buses for private trips, not tours. They’re smaller and basic.

Even though I appreciated having a bus, the length of the drive was another story. It took us almost eight hours to get to Ba Be (thus the reason for taking a bus). It went fairly quickly because I talked with one girl I met on the trip, read a little, listened to my iPod, thought, and tried to sleep. I haven’t been able to sleep very much lately. I’m too restless. I have this drive to get out and do things, especially because I have so little time off of work. That’s a good thing, because I’m usually always tired.

The countryside was beautiful—especially the second half of the journey when we wound our way through the valleys. It was a little precarious though with all the steep and tight twists and turns. Many of us were getting car sick (we had also just eaten lunch) so we tried to sleep it off.

Finally! We arrived at our destination—Ba Be Lake. It was beautiful. We stopped at the small ferry docking area and took rickety, small ferry boats across to the “island” (I don’t think it was really an island, but connected to the mainland on the other side of the lake) where our stilt house was. The house wasn’t as nice and clean as our last homestay. The bathrooms were dirtier with squat toilets and the beds weren’t as clean, but the view outside the open, wooden-shuttered windows was amazing. About 50 meters bellow water buffalo and ducks grazed in the marshy field while men fished in the lake beyond with bamboo poles standing in hollowed out wooden boats. Behind them were green, jungle mountains. We joked how it all seemed so orchestrated. Someone was telling the pigs and ducks to stand just there while the water buffalo meandered in and out of the streams that ran through the field; then, in the meantime the birds were told to fly gracefully just in the distance. Perfect. Bravo.

We went almost immediately on a trek. It wasn’t very difficult. I was glad about this, because I didn’t want to push myself after having just recovered from the flu. We walked to a cave, which had a pond that went deeper inside. We didn’t go very deep and just took pictures for awhile. Then we walked back and down some small gravel country roads between traditional farmhouses. We turned back after a bit, because it was starting to get dark. Although it wasn’t hard going we were pretty sweaty and dirty, so we took turns taking showers and then had a traditional Vietnamese shared dinner. It was pretty good. After dinner some local women did a traditional performance for us. Originally, we planned to have a bonfire with the performance, but because it had been raining all week we had to have the performance at the stilt house. (P.S. luckily, the weather was perfect all weekend.) The performance was great. They wore their local Ao Dai style—velvet dyed with a dark blue color from a local tree and silver hoop necklaces, I believe signifying the peach tree. They played traditional lute/guitars, danced, and sang. Our fearless leader, Quyen, translated the songs for us. They talked about the beauty of the area, their customs, and welcomed us to their village.

The next morning many of us got up early and chatted for awhile before breakfast. Then we went to the ferry dock and took a five-hour tour on the ferry boats around the lake. It’s a huge area and so beautiful with tall rocky mountains, jungle, and quaint, traditional farming villages. It was just peaceful and relaxing to sit and look at the scenery. I dreaded going back to the bustle and constant noise of Hanoi as you can imagine. We visited a cave, which was more like a tunnel to another part of the lake. You could get off the boat and walk along a path. There were thousands of bats hidden in the ceiling and they were dropping poop left and right. The path was half an inch deep in their putrid feces, which we had to walk through. Disgusting. We also went to a rushing waterfall and sat for awhile. On the way back we stopped at a pond where there’s a tale of a fairy maiden who came to bathe in this pond. There were so many yellow and orange butterflies there. It really did look like some Asian fairy tale. Everyone stopped to have a rock skipping competition before we headed back to the boat.

When we got back to the house we had lunch and then left at 3 p.m., sadly, to head back to Hanoi. We didn’t get back into town until almost 10 p.m. I went to dinner with the trip leader, her boyfriend, and Steve, but I was so tired and felt and looked disgusting.

This week and weekend hasn’t been too eventful. Next week doesn’t look any more interesting. Back to work again. I don’t know when I’ll have another two days in a row off next or when I’ll get out of the city. Kind of depressing, but there’s heaps to do here and the days go by pretty quickly. Last Monday was my 11 month mark! Can you believe it? I’ve been here for ELEVEN months—almost an entire year. Crazy how the time has flown by and yet so much has happened…. That means only four months left before I get to go home. I’m excited for it, but there’s plenty to do here in the meantime that’ll distract me.

Yesterday I taught one class in the afternoon (it breaks up your entire day) and went with a co-worker to see Harry Potter. I was so excited to see it, but sad that I couldn’t share the experience with Sarah or Katie as our tradition goes…. It was good. Jeez, I haven’t read the book for ages; I’ve forgotten a lot. I can’t wait for the last one to come out—I hear it’ll be broken up into two parts? Today I finally got off my bum and went to this pool across town to swim laps and read. I have to say that I am amazing with directions…not to brag or anything ;-), but I could navigate my way there and back through the crazy Hanoi traffic. Not to mention I didn’t know my way back home very well, but nevertheless came straight here without having to stop to check the map. I’m getting used to the layout of this city. Tonight I’m met Ellyn to see the Quiet American at the Cinematique (the cinema I think I’ve mentioned before that plays old and foreign films as well as documentaries). It was the old 1958 version and pretty good. It was interesting to see how Saigon in the 50s is portrayed. Remember I told you, mom, that the Continental Hotel was in this movie? It was pretty cool to see it on the silver screen after having eaten breakfast there one Sunday morning on our trip. It looks pretty similar. I finally got a membership to the theatre tonight as well so I should go there at least once a week.

Oh, yes! The weekend before last I also went to the Cinematique on Saturday night where they had an improv skit show going on. Some ex-pats put it on. The first part was pretty funny, but I ended up talking to a friend, who I don’t see very often, and his roommate for the second half. On Sunday, I went with some other co-workers to the Ethnology Museum across town. It was really interesting to see, but we didn’t see it all because most of it is outside and it started to pour. Driving on the way back was crazy. I had one of the guys on the back of my motorbike and the rain was insane. He got soaked and I was pretty wet despite having a (crappy) raincoat.

Okay, I think that’s enough for now. Time to go to bed so I’m fresh and awake for…*shiver* Monday… Blah, who doesn’t hate Mondays, especially when you only have one day off before it comes? Hope everything is going well for all of you on your end…wherever you are!

Happy Fourth of July Vietnam!

2009-07-06T10:35:00.001-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Happy Fourth of July! Of all places to spend the Fourth… Last weekend wasn’t as exciting as the weekend before, but I’ll give you a quick update.

On Saturday, I unfortunately had to work—I now teach a class in the late afternoon on Saturdays (a very inconvenient time because it breaks up your entire day). After work, however, I went to a house party hosted by one of my co-workers. She was house-sitting for a Dutch-Ethiopian family who were away for a month on holiday. Their house was amazing—huge, beautiful, new, and situated right next to West Lake (the biggest lake in Hanoi). It was decorated beautifully with lots of artwork and they had a little terrier named Spotty. The party was good. There were at least 30 people there (most of them my co-workers). We had a traditional Fourth of July barbeque with hamburgers, hotdogs, awesome potato salad, fruit salad, and of course beer. It was fantastic. After socializing for awhile I left with one of my co-workers. I had taken the motorbike taxi guy who usually gives me a ride there, because it was raining, dark, there was heavy traffic, and I didn’t know how exactly to get there. Originally, I tried taking my motorbike, but I gave up after it broke down several times and decided to turn back. So long story short, I ended up taking a taxi back home. We had to walk down this road in the dark and there were bats everywhere swooping low and almost flying into us. I was freaking out—well, I thought it was funny more than anything, but I didn’t want to get rabies. Because you know, that wouldn’t be too good. So far it’s been more than 24 hours and luckily no rabies yet (knock on wood).

Sunday morning I realized that I had left my motorbike helmet and poncho at the house. It was still pouring rain and I dreaded going all the way across town. I didn’t want to drive (not to mention the problem of not having a helmet), so my landlady ended up calling me a taxi, which wasn’t really necessary since I don’t need to be pampered by staying out of the rain. But my motorbike guy wasn’t around so I just went with the taxi. I arrived and walked through the rain down that same street with the bats the night before (obviously none there in the middle of the day).

I ended up staying at the house for several hours helping my co-worker clean up everything. After that she drove me to a nearby salon. I was planning on getting a haircut and pedicure yesterday, but going to different places. She suggested this place just down the road so I went there. I got a haircut for 80,000d (about $5), a pedicure for 25,000d ($1.25), and I bargained for a 45-minute body massage also for 80,000d, because I only had a little money on me. Talk about an awesome deal, right? Total I paid 185,000d ($11) for several hours of pampering—something you’d pay at least $50 for in the States. I tell you it’s the life and I needed it from last weekend and this last week. Plus, I received a lot of complements on my haircut today (I also wore a dress I had made in Hoi An that I haven’t worn to Language Link yet, so I’m sure I looked much different). I think the salon trip was a success.

On the way to the salon I also realized that Ellyn didn’t live too far away, so I called her and we met for an expensive dinner at Al Frescos. We also found a Western grocery story with….Cheetos! Yay, but unfortunately they weren’t the original kind—only flaming and the puff twists. I bought an expensive bag of the twists, but hey, it’s a taste of home junk food. After dinner and conversation the mosquitoes in the restaurant were getting too bad so we went back to our respective houses. So it turns out that it was worth traveling across town for the day. It was soggy all day, but it was good to get out and do something.

Today was back to work again. This morning I went grocery shopping and finally bought a bouquet of flowers—pink lotuses. I’ve been meaning to buy flowers since I moved into this apartment, because I have a vase, but haven’t gotten around to it. There are flower peddlers everywhere near where I live, but I’m too darn lazy. I also need to venture to the huge park only a block away (I haven’t done that either), but I can never get up early enough before it’s sweltering hot. Sometime this week for sure if the rain lets up…. I’m hoping to take a yoga or tai chi class in the mornings in this park. Oh! I’m also starting Vietnamese lessons tomorrow. I’m taking them with another co-worker every Tuesday/Thursday for two hours throughout the next three months. I want to be able to talk with my landlady, the peddlers, and the other people who live in my area. I feel bad for being so ignorant.

It feels good to finally be really settling in and getting involved in things.

P.S. I should have realized this a long time ago, but the old picture website listed on this blog was not my regular picture website. I just posted the other link. Some of you may know that it's http://elsbethsescapades.shutterfly.com/. I haven't posted any pictures on the Flickr one for ages, so check out the Shutterfly one although I also haven't posted new pictures on there for ages either, since my camera was stolen on Easter morning and then I haven't finished even deleting photos from my trip with my mom (there were over a thousand and my computer is really slow). So sorry! I'm getting better at this updating thing and I really hope to find some time to finish deleting, editing, and uploading all these photos between work. Also soon to come are my photos from my other trips.

The Motorbike Diary

2009-07-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

I had a fantastic weekend last weekend at Mai Chau! Of course, I loved my trip with you mom, but this was also a great experience.

The night before the trip I was so nervous that I hardly slept. We were meeting the next morning at 5:30 a.m. in front of the Opera House. I was anticipating having to get up so early (I set my alarm for 4:40, having packed my backpack the night before). I didn’t want to over-sleep my alarm. I was also nervous about driving at that time in the morning on deserted city streets (if you’ve read my previous blogs you’ll know that I haven’t had good experiences driving on my motorbike when few people are around). Luckily, though, I did get up on time and make it to the Opera House safe and sound.

When I arrived, a group of about eight bikes was already waiting there (including Ellyn and Steve), but we still waited a good half an hour for some others to turn up. Finally, we decided it was time to take off before the traffic got too bad. We revved up our bikes and made tracks out of Hanoi. The first few hours of driving was non-stop, gut-wrenching traffic. It takes skill, patience, and a level head to weave your way around the pandemonium of semis, dump trucks, cars, SUVs, bicycles, motor-carts, pedestrians, peddlers, water buffalo, dogs, geese, and of course your plethora of fellow idiot (understatement) motorbike drivers all packed onto a narrow, two-lane highway. Not to mention the deep, jolting pot holes that can really throw a kink in your bike and the bumps that send you flying otherwise. The going was tough but thankfully I came out unscathed. I only nearly hit two dumbass girls on a motorbike who pulled out in front of me and weren’t looking where they were going. I was literally about two inches from their front tire. I shook my head at them in reprimand, since I had no free fists.

Gradually, the traffic thinned. After getting through the worst of it, I kept driving and driving without seeing anyone from the group ahead or behind me. I was starting to freak out that they had turned off the main road without me seeing them or that they hadn’t stopped to wait for everyone. I stopped on the side of the road and was starting to call someone when four other bikes from the group came up. Apparently, they had been farther behind me and said that the rest of the group would stop up ahead before they turned. Surely enough, not long after I saw the group on the side of the road for a pit stop. We drove ahead for another 45 minutes and stopped for a Vietnamese breakfast of Pho. Then we drove and drove, stopping every now and then until we reached our destination in the valley of Mai Chau.

The rest of the drive there was both one of the most amazing, exhilarating experiences of my life and one of the most frightening experiences. There’s nothing like reaching those speared rock mountains after driving for several hours through dusty streets that seem out to kill you. These are the mountains you hear about in Asian legends and folklore. They’re the ones you see in paintings hanging in Chinese restaurants. And it’s obvious why they’ve given people so much inspiration throughout the centuries. Even by looking at them you feel like you’re in some myth. Then to see them when driving on a motorbike—ah, I can’t even describe that. I just want to say that it’s by far the best way to explore the countryside here in Vietnam. You feel so much more a part of everything around you. You feel vulnerable and at the same time it gives you a rush of adrenaline. There’s no air conditioning, no stereo blaring your favorite radio station, no screaming kids in the back seat, no windows to stop the dirt and pebbles kicked up from some dirty truck in front of you, or windshield wipers to scrape away the rain so you can see properly. There’s nothing to make your ride particularly comfortable or to make you forget your surroundings. You’re right there with the elements. You swerve for Water Buffalo who are just inches from your hand if you stretched it out. You can actually smell the jungle and rice paddies that surround you. You have to stop to put on a poncho to protect yourself from getting absolutely drenched. It’s brilliant.

We made our way up and down and up and down again through steep mountain cliffs. On your right side are the mountains with loose rocks and on your other side are straight drops down a couple hundred feet or so. I usually love heights, but this scared the bejeebus out of me and the huge semis and road construction didn’t help matters either. Stupidly, I should have been in second gear on the way down, but I was in fourth. I knew this and didn’t shift down. Thankfully, I was fine—next time I’ll know better both when driving a motorbike and a car. It twisted up my stomach all night just thinking about having to drive up through those mountains again the next day. Yet, despite this fear, the drive was gorgeous. I’ll post pictures on Shutterfly…eventually. I’m still slowly working on deleting and fixing pictures from my trip with my mom. The hills and valleys are absolutely amazing. Then there’s the traditional wood and stilt houses nestled within them. It’s a true adventure.

We finally made it to our destination by 11 a.m. after driving for a good five hours. Our homestay was in a small village in a wide, flat valley filled with rice paddies and surrounded on all sides by mountains as far as you could see. We all stayed in one traditional wooden stilt houses in a campground/compound area for tourists. The house was about 15 feet in the air. Underneath is a slab of concrete where meals are served on low wooden/straw tables and plastic chairs. Inside the house there is one large room. The floor is made of straw woven over wooden beams, so you can see straight to the concrete slab below. You feel like you’re going to fall through at any moment as the floor crunches and moves underneath you. Nevertheless, there was some big, ornate wooden furniture up there in the corners. The women who worked and lived there first laid out woven mats and then our thin mattresses side-by-side. They covered them with clean white sheets and beautiful traditional embroidered blankets. I chose a mattress with an exceptionally thick, embroidered blanket. I wish I could find one like it and have enough room to take it home with me. The inside was like our ancient blue sleeping bags at home—good enough for winter. There were no windows in the house—only shutters which were open to the cool mountain air blowing in. The weather was perfect for traveling the entire weekend: overcast and cool with not too much rain. This was by far the best homestay I’ve done so far in Vietnam. The house, our beds, and the bathroom were clean and tidy, the food was fantastic, and the owners were lovely.

When we arrived they hadn’t prepared a lunch for us at the homestay because they didn’t know when we were coming, so we drove down the street—right through a rice paddy—to a restaurant where we had a shared Vietnamese meal. It was great to chat with and meet everyone on our trip. It was a good, friendly group.

After lunch we went back to the house, chilled for a bit, took naps, and waited for the rain to stop. Then we hired one of the men who lived in the stilt houses to be our guide and take us around the valley. He led us on a seven kilometer trek through the rice paddies, village, and eventually up through jungle and mountain. We thought at first that we were just going around the mountain on a nice afternoon stroll, but no. Half of us ended up practically getting lost in the mountainous wilderness when the other half raced ahead through the bush. We had to constantly stop to yell out “Dung Oi!” Dung—pronounced zung, but she likes to be called zoom—was our group organizer/leader and “Oi” is the equivalent of “hey.”

Despite our fears that it was getting dark and we wouldn’t find our way out again plus the fact that we were filthy and sweaty from struggling up slippery rocks plastered in red mud, the whole thing was a pretty comical experience—especially when we finally found the other half of the group only to discover that our guide had disappeared ahead. Now none of us knew the way out! Yes, we did survive this ordeal, obviously as I’m posting this on the internet. Civilization! We came upon a small farmhouse hoping it wasn’t another scene from Deliverance and these weren’t natives waiting cook us in a stew. Sorry, no painted, spear-bearing locals (although I did faintly hear drums on our trek), only a water buffalo giving us the most absurd look.

We trudged back through rice paddies as the sun set with a perfect reflection of the mountains on the paddies. All of us were looking forward to a good hot shower and a filling dinner. We got what we wanted. We ate at our homestay on the concrete slab and the food was delicious. Then we decided to have a bonfire. We paid our homestay to set up the fire and bought two clay jugs of (weak) traditional rice wine. We drank this wine through long hollowed bamboo straws that we stuck in the pots and drank communally. We also invested in a bamboo dance and accordion player. You have two long bamboo poles laid horizontally on the ground and six poles (three sets of two) laid vertically over the horizontal poles. There are six people (three at each end) who have two ends of the bamboo poles. In unison, they bang them in a rhythmic pattern on the horizontal poles. We all tried our hand at this. Then while the poles are being moved people dance over them. You have to step through the poles a certain way before they hit your ankles. Simple enough and most of the time you escaped the bang of the poles, but sometimes you didn’t. It was a lot of fun. Still, I was exhausted from the long day, so after about an hour some other people and I went back to the house and straight to bed where mosquito nets were already set up over our mattresses and waiting for us to climb into.

The next morning we had a breakfast of sticky rice at the house. It was wrapped in a husk, which had been cooked on the fire. When you peel open the husk there’s a banana leaf inside. You peel open the banana leaf and in that is the sticky rice which you can dip in crushed peanuts or sugar. After breakfast we packed our things and took off right away. We drove through the valley to a minority Hmong village where there was a Sunday market. It was fantastic to see. All the women were dressed in their traditional brightly colored woven dresses selling their homemade ribbons, yarns, and cloth. The men—some of them also traditionally dressed—were selling ammunition and other things for hunting. I bought some ribbon and a little purse.

After that we drove further down the road to a path only for motorbikes. It wound up and down the mountain on very steep hills. I didn’t think my bike would make it and I was sure to use second gear on the way down. In the valley below we ran into a bumpy gravel road and traveled down a little ways to a dingy general store where our Vietnamese members negotiated lunch for our group. In the meantime, I walked around with two other girls from the group. It was a farming community filled with little wooden houses and children running around and climbing trees in their traditional outfits. So peaceful. It was straight out of a National Geographic picture. On the way back to the general store some of the group members and the store owner were climbing the small mountain behind the store, so of course I ran to join them. Apparently lovers climb up this mountain to have their romantic rendezvous. It was steep going up and even harder down on the slippery gravel, but the view was amazing. You could see the entire valley up there and the little dusty village below.

By the time we reached the bottom, I was starving. We took our motorbikes just down the road to another general store where we ate our lunch on straw mats on the floor. After lunch I road on the back of another ex-pat’s bike instead of driving my own. I was nervous about the twisting steep roads and another Vietnamese girl had offered to drive so I let her. We took off back home and she drove for a ways until it started to rain a little. Then we stopped and another Vietnamese girl, who had wanted to drive earlier, offered, so I let her. I jumped on the back of another ex-pat’s bike and we drove and drove and drove. Our group split up along the way. Apparently one of the bikes behind us broke down and so half of the group was with them and the rest of us were up ahead. We decided to wait for them at a café where we had sugarcane juice; however, as we were heading to the café, the girl who was driving my bike sped on ahead and didn’t realize we’d stopped. None of our phones had reception and the ones that would have worked were dead, so we couldn’t get a hold of her. I was also carrying her purse. Ha, well she had my bike and I had her purse, so it was a trade. The others eventually caught up with us, but by then it was dusk. We hopped on again and drove straight through to Hanoi. When we got into town it was dark. The ride had been long, bumpy, and nerve-wracking, but we made it safe and sound. It turns out that the girl had been in town for a good hour and a half at a café waiting for us, so we met up and exchanged our possessions. Most of the group headed to a Bia Hoi for dinner and it turns out that it was literally just around the corner from my apartment—such a relief that I didn’t have to find my way home in the dark. In fact, I had walked there for lunch the week before.

So…finally…there ends my adventure for last weekend. Now onto the next adventure this weekend. Happy Fourth of July! When you think about it, it’s kind of crazy to be spending the Fourth in Vietnam of all places. I’m headed to a BBQ with some work buddies tomorrow evening after work (yes, I work six days a week now). Then on Sunday I’m hoping to get a pedicure and my hair cut. It’s been a long, busy week this last week…work, work, work. Finally I have more hours! In fact, maybe too many. Troi oi! You can never win….

Checking Things Off the List

2009-06-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Okay, I’m going to try hard to make this quick update actually quick, because I need to go grocery shopping, mail something, and go to school to work on this project I’m doing for extra hours, since I don’t have any at school.

Last weekend wasn’t terribly exciting, but I did go to the Temple of Literature with a friend from work. It was interesting to see, so that’s one thing checked off my list of things to do and see. It was the first University in Vietnam and students still go there today to rub the heads of the turtle statues that line the courtyards for good luck before an exam.

On Sunday I met the same friend at this English bookstore in town. It took me forever to find the place and I almost gave up and went home. I was driving in circles and the Vietnamese people I asked were much help either. As I was driving slowly trying to look for the little street one guy pulled up next to me and asked if I knew how to drive. Thanks for your help! Dur, let’s think, wouldn’t your first question to a total stranger be to ask if they need help or directions? Apparently not. I finally found it with the help of a bookstore worker—it was off on an unmarked side street that wasn’t even on my map. Actually, it’s okay. It’s good for me to get lost because then I know where things are better and where my place in the city is, plus next time I know where to go. I was so excited, though, because I bought the third book in the Twilight series (so now I will be able to get to the fourth book, which I already have) and Emma by Jane Austen. I can’t wait to read them. Now I’m reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I know dad and Eli have read it. It’s a thick, philosophical reading, but at the same time I can relate to it because not only does it take place in Minnesota and the Midwest, the main analogy in the book is about motorcycles. Now that I’ve owned and driven a motorbike I can understand more of what he’s talking about.

Anywho, last week two friends from Vung Tau came to visit us. It was so great to see them and it really brightened up my week. They came on Monday and Ellyn and I met up with them at a bar after work. We played foosball (at which I rock—I guess all those years of playing in the church basement have finally paid off) and pool, which I haven’t played (and never really cared to play because I'm terrible) since Vung Tau. Still, it was nice to have those good, old times back for a brief period time (although those times aren’t so far in the past). They went to Halong Bay for the same three-day tour my mom and I went on and returned on Thursday afternoon. I had Thursday off so I met up with them and Steve for dinner at an Indian restaurant. We were planning to see a movie at the Megastar Cineplex (this really nice Western cinema in that Western-style mall near me), but were too late. Instead we went to a bar/café. Weren’t too pleased with the needlessly slow service and when Ellyn was finished with work went to another restaurant/café across the road and had ice cream. It was good to just be able to talk with them for a bit. The next morning I met up with them for breakfast before they left. Well, that was the highlight of last week. Oh, I miss them all! Hopefully they’ll be able to come back to visit. It’s always good to have visitors—even it Vung Tau it was nice to have HCMC visitors or go visit them for the weekend. It’s crazy how many connections I have here—all across the country. I love it.

This week I haven’t been doing much. I’ve just been working on getting various things accomplished and checked off my list of things to do (including pictures from my trip with mom). Once I get those done I’ll look into doing other recreational activities, such as taking Vietnamese lessons, joining a yoga class, finding other places to exercise and whatnot.

This weekend I’m going to Mai Chau on this motorbike trip with a group from the New Hanoian website. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned the New Hanoian, but it’s a God-send for ex-pats living in the city. Steve and Ellyn are going too. I learned about the group from Steve. I’m excited, but a little nervous about my bike. Thankfully it’s a good-sized group with Vietnamese people going as well. It’s definitely something to look forward to and yet another thing checked off my list. Next is Sapa and Haiphong. I haven’t been outside Hanoi since my mom left and I’ve heard good things about Mai Chau from a German couple on our Halong Bay tour. I’ll let you know how it goes. We’re doing a home stay, trekking, seeing rice paddies, and the whole bit. Unfortunately, this is my last full weekend off—at least until September—so I’m glad that I’m able to use it wisely.

Bis später!

Float On...

2009-06-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Well, it’s been another long and…interesting week. Not much to talk about this past week, only working the measly hours I have and trying to do other things in between. I don’t know where the time’s gone.

So yesterday I finally rented a motorbike. Having to take a xe-om everywhere really limits you. I’d been having the motorbike driver—whose friends with the family who owns my apartment—drive me around. He’s really friendly, but I’ve been having him pick me up after work so I can’t really go out with people. I tried to rent a bike from an Aussie guy who trains street kids to be mechanics, but he was full up with customers. So I went to a Vietnamese guy who had good reviews on the New Hanoian Website. I rented a bike from him and he told me to come back at 6 p.m. to pick it up, but when I got there he said that his brother was using it for the night and gave me his Honda Super Cub instead. That was fine with me, because it’s basically the same as my old Cub, only a newer model. Then this morning he brought me the other bike—a Honda Wave…well, not really a Honda, just a cheap Chinese bike.

Then last night after I picked up my motorbike I met one of the ladies and her friend for dinner on BBQ Street. It was delicious. Then we went to this bar called the Green Mango where there were some live ex-pat bands playing. They’re just teachers and other ex-pats who play for fun and on the side, but their music was great. It was so nice to hear some good, live Western music. Some of the guys from work met us there too. I didn’t stay late, though, because I wanted to get home before the gate closed at my apartment. Surprisingly, I got back into the groove of driving pretty quick (minus a few stupid mistakes) and found my way around without getting lost too much. The streets here are crazy—there’s a ton of one ways and it’s so much bumpier than Vung Tau (except for bumpy street :-).

Then I didn’t do much today. I don’t know where the days go, but I’m glad they go by quickly. In the afternoon I met some of the guys from work at the Army Hotel pool, which was consequently full of kids, but refreshing enough despite the water being warmer than the air (which says a lot) and it costing 60,000 d to get in (it cost me 15,000 d at the QUIET lap pool in VT). Oh well, it’s a give and take. Then I went out with them later to dinner at the Kangaroo Café near the Old Quarter.

On the way there my bike kept staling every time I stopped. Arrgh! Not MORE bike problems. I had had enough with my old Cub. So I called the guy and he came to the restaurant to fix it, but when he got there he was like “okay, lets go to my shop.” I had told me three times on the phone that I was eating and had asked if I could bring it afterward. I assumed when he was coming that he would bring someone with him to take the bike to the shop. He didn’t, so he called his wife who took a good 10 minutes to get there (while I was in the middle of my dinner) and fixed it in 5 minutes. I told him that it was fine if he took the bike to his shop and worked on it for a day or so, but he insisted on doing a quick job then and there. That’s what I was afraid of—a Vietnamese quick job. I have had nothing but trouble with mechanics here because they only want to fix the bike quickly without digging deeper and seeing what the real problem is. Then I just have more problems, because they didn’t fix it properly in the first place. That’s exactly why I wanted to go to the Aussie guy who’s an actual mechanic and whose moto is to fix bikes properly and thoroughly right off the bat. We’ll see how this bike runs now. The guy is supposed to being really helpful and he did come right away, so that was really nice. I’ll definitely give him the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, by the time I came back up to finish eating my food was cold and the others had finished their meals. I just got take away and then headed out. Only when I came out did I realize that my bike was on the stand, which is difficult for me to get off, especially in tight spots. There wasn’t a guy there either who watches motorbikes, so I had to get it off myself. I tried to get it off, but when I did I couldn’t hold it up and it tipped over knocking over two other bikes including the owner’s. He came out immediately and started swearing at me and berating me for tipping his bike over. He didn’t even bother to help me get it up. He just stood there calling me names. I said several times that I was sorry and he was just like “well, sorry doesn’t cut it.” Then a minute later he was like “well, aren’t you going to say sorry?” So I said that I was sorry and he said “well, now you say sorry after I have to ask you to” and I told him that I had just apologized several times! He was complaining about how much it would cost him and I asked him if he wanted me to pay, I asked how much, and I even offered to give him my phone number, but he was completely unreasonable. He didn’t want anything, only to swear at me, demean me, and generally make a scene in front of his restaurant. So I asked “what more do you want from me? I’ve said sorry, I’ve offered to pay you, I’ve even asked if you wanted my phone number to give me a quote for the cost! It was an accident. I’m a small person and I just couldn’t hold my bike up.” After demeaning me several more times he just told me to leave.

Then as I was taking my bike off the sidewalk he was berating me to a three-year-old girl, whose mother must have worked at the restaurant. Wow, I’m sorry. I don’t know about you, but that’s the absolute epitome of sad—to act that way in front of a little child. He can berate me to adults, but to do that in front of a child is…I don’t even have words for how wrong that is. I think that’s what makes me the angriest.

The last thing I asked him if he owned the place, he asked why, and I just said that I wanted to know. I have never, ever met someone so absurdly rude in all my life—thank goodness for that. Most people I have met would be much kinder and more understanding than that (I haven’t completely lost faith in humanity yet). And trust me I’ve met some crazies out there. As the owner of the place he was being absolutely unprofessional. Even as I was driving away, he was like “I hope you don’t have any more stupid accidents” or something along those lines.

Yes, I know I should have asked for someone’s help, but there WASN’T anyone to help me. I looked around before I took it off the stand and nobody was around. Even when I went to ask someone after I tipped over the bike nobody would help me, so what was I supposed to do? Yes, next time I’ll be more careful, but things happen that you never mean to have happen. Am I the one who was so at fault in this situation? What did I do wrong? I tried to make amends as best I could, but nothing was good enough. He was happy just to treat me like scum. I suppose that’s a good indicator of true character—how you act in stressful situations. I’m glad that I kept my cool. It was an accident, simply that. It’s not like I viciously meant to tip over my bike specifically so I could damage his bike. You can’t have an explosion because of something like that. I’ve heard several odd things about this guy and I think he’s a little more than snapped.

Anyway, it’s been a really crappy last couple weeks…actually year in more ways than one. I’ve been trying to sound positive and brush it off. I know everyone goes through crappy times and this is just my year. It’s just been one thing after another and I’m really, really ready to go home. *Sigh* ‘ONLY’ five more months. I can do it….

Elsbeth in the Big City

2009-06-07T02:33:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

It’s been three weeks since I arrived in Hanoi ready—or sort of ready—to start my new life in the north of Vietnam. It’s been almost two weeks since my mom left and since I started my new job. These last two weeks have dragged along slowly as I’ve been settling into my new teaching job, meeting my coworkers, searching for an apartment, trying to get my darn computer fixed (it had heaps of viruses on it), and dealing with the complicated layout of this new city. So far, it’s going quite well. I’m getting back into the swing of teaching. It’s so good to be teaching again. I really do enjoy it. Lesson planning is okay, but the best part is being in the midst of a lesson. That’s usually when I realize how much I’m enjoying myself. Lesson planning itself, though, seems to be taking me far less time than it did before. I’m also teaching all adult classes as of now—which means two classes. Adults are okay, but I’d rather have kids if it came down to it. Yes, my schedule is pretty skimpy now and for most of June. I’m only teaching on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so I have the other four days off. I’m going to go crazy if I have this much time off. I asked for cover hours because I need money—you know to pay for food and rent and loans and petty things like that.

Speaking of rent. I moved into a new apartment yesterday! I was so excited to just be out of the hotel life and the backpacker area. I hate living in hotels—and I’ve stayed in plenty of them for more than enough time in this country. It’s been over a month since I had my own place. I don’t feel settled into things until I have a place I can actually call home. I love it here so far. I was seriously considering two places that I looked at and I finally decided on this one. I’m glad I made this choice. It’s very near my school; the area is full of small businesses making it convenient and comfortable; it’s just a short walk from a huge Western-style mall and a large gorgeous park; the apartment itself is near the street and down a short alley; and there’re windows running all the way up the building, so it lets in a lot of light. My room is pretty nicely furnished. In fact, there’s more furniture and space than I know what to do with. There were even speakers for my computer and a DVD player! I was so excited about those two things.

To top it off the family who owns the building and lives here is fantastic. They’re so friendly and helpful. I hope to improve my Vietnamese, because the woman doesn’t know much English. When I first came today we were trying to have a conversation using the sparse Vietnamese I know. The man and son know English fluently though, which is good if I have questions or need help. In fact, the man is one of the top guys in the Vietnamese health department. He’s traveled all over the world and he showed me some of his pictures from his travels in the states. So if I have any problems with the government I can probably ask him. They even have a motorbike guy who can give me rides whenever I need them. I think the thing that charmed me most about this place, though, was their orange stripped cat. I haven’t had a pet for ages nor have I been able to just pet a pet. I’m scared to death of dogs here for one thing. They’re always running around without leashes, which I hate. Having pets has always been a relaxing thing for me and it’s nice to have this sprightly cat around. When I asked in Vietnamese what its name was, however, the lady said it didn’t have a name. Well, I’ll think of a name for it myself. Maybe simply the Vietnamese word for cat, meo, will do….

Okay, now that the apartment is found, the next step is to get a motorbike. I’m contemplating buying another one since I can save a ton of money in the end that way; however, sadly I’ll probably not invest in another Honda Cub. Although I loved the thing it caused me so many problems and so much hassle. I need something more reliable. I’m thinking about a Honda Dream this time—something newer, but still good quality. Now that I have the apartment checked off my list, I can start the search for the bike. I’m dying to get back on a bike—and not just be on the back seat when taking a motorbike taxi. I need to be in control, as many of you already know about me. I’ll keep you updated. I’m worried about driving here though. The traffic is much more congested (but not quite as congested as HCMC). There’re also a lot of one ways streets and the routes seem pretty complicated. I’m trying not to think about it until I have to.

The nice thing about living in Hanoi, though, is that there’s an Australian mechanic here who trains street kids to become mechanics. He’s an actual trained mechanic so you know he’s going to fix things right the first time and it’s a definite plus that he speaks English and is a Westerner. You’re not going to get messed over again and again or have things shoddily repaired. I know that sounds biased, but after you’ve run yourself ragged week after week trying to get a pretty basic bike fixed you can talk. The good thing that came out of all this is that I’ve learned a lot about bikes. I’m reading Zen and the Art of Motorbike Maintenance now and I can really relate to it, especially because it’s set in the Midwest and makes me nostalgic. Someday I’d love to buy another classic Honda Cub and really pimp it out.

Enough bike talk. What else have I been up to…. Oh yes! There’s the all-important issue of a social life. It’s so great to already have a good network of friends here, but I’m still making plenty of other friends at work as well, considering none of my old friends work where I am. There are a lot of new teachers who came at the same time I did for the summer school program, so it’s nice to be in the same boat as them. I’m also trying to take every social opportunity I can. Last Saturday all the Language Link schools had a big party at the Cinematheque. There was free food and drinks. Unfortunately I got there late, because I was trying to get my computer fixed. It was a really, really long day, but the party was still swinging when I arrived. Later on my own school had a dinner at a Japanese-style restaurant and then us newbies went to this concert way out in the Hanoian boonies. A band called Rat-a-Tat was playing and the place was full of ex-pats. It was so great to be with a large group of Westerners again. The band was just instrumental—no vocals—and they had a kind of indie/techno/rock style. Something you could really jam out to. It was a good night. I needed it. Trust me.

On Thursday I was still on my quest for an apartment. I found an ad on the New Hanoian Website for an apartment and called the guy. Not only did he speak fluent English, he was a really cool, laidback artist. He took me to have tea, then lunch, then more tea with his group of fellow artist friends (who didn’t speak much English). He even gave me a small painting of his that was just gathering dust. It was really interesting to spend the day talking with him, though. That was very kind and it was a good way for me to waste away my day off. I was afraid of being trapped inside my musty hotel room all day. Unfortunately I didn’t take the apartment he showed me and took the other one. I feel kind of bad, but what can you do? I can’t take both.

Okay, I think you’re clued into my life here in the city of the ascending dragon (what Hanoi means) enough for now. Hen gap lai (see you later)!

From South to North Vietnam: Our Journey

2009-05-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Back to reality—only this time in Hanoi. The adventure is over and now it’s time to really have a go at this next fresh start. In my last blog my mom was on her way to visit me. Now she has come, seen, and conquered Vietnam and is on her way home as we speak. It was sad to see her go today, but it was really good to have her here and to travel with her all the way up the country. We did a lot despite being sick for part of the journey. Only six months left now before going back home…I’ve been here for nine months. Whoa, almost a year! I can’t believe it.

As usual I’ll start from the beginning. So much to talk about. The last time I wrote I had just finished my last day of work and was preparing to meet my mom in the city the next day. I took the ferry into Saigon the next morning (Wednesday, 29 April). From the wharf I negotiated and took a motorbike taxi through the insane Ho Chi Minh traffic to the airport. I was thinking as we were weaving through traffic that most people upon arriving in Vietnam would be wetting themselves if they took a motorbike, especially with a driver like I had. However, I just looked on with apathy. Meh. Traffic has a puzzle-like way of working itself out here. I’ve learned that you just have to go with the flow. You can’t over think it. My mom learned this too during her stay here.

I got to the new arrivals terminal extra early and as it turns out the plane was delayed as well, so I had to wait several hours. Of course, I had dear Edward to keep me company. I’m nearing the end of book two now. Still have to find book three. I got a good bit of reading done on our journey (finishing another book and getting more thoroughly caught up with the news). We were texting and as I was looking for her she snuck up behind me. A nice surprise. It was good to be reunited. This is the longest I’ve gone without seeing my family.

We took at taxi to Bui Vien, the backpackers district, and ended up staying in the very same hotel that I stayed in the first night I arrived in Vietnam. It brought back a lot of queasy memories—how we didn’t know whether we could survive an entire year in this chaotic country. It also showed me how far Ellyn and I have come. I’ve made a life for myself here.

We stayed for the next several days in Saigon touring around all the sights and old haunts. On Wednesday we mainly settled in and saw the night market outside the Ben Thanh Market. On Thursday we went to the Cholan Chinese Market in the morning, but I forgot that it was April 30th, the national victory day in Vietnam, and everything was closed. So we went to the Ben Thanh Market after walking around the Chinese Quarter a bit. My mom also had her first taste of Pho at one of the clean chain Pho restaurants. On Friday I think we went to the post office, walked around Don Khoi, had ice cream, and went to the Art Museum in the French building my friends and I had visited one scary, stormy afternoon. It was like déjà vu, because that day was also gloomy and rainy, though not with booming thunder and lightening. We walked down a street filled with dusty shops full of Asian antiques and got a little lost trying to find the same French restaurant I had been to before. I was surprised, though, how well I could navigate myself through the city. I’ve gotten pretty good at directions in this confusing jigsaw puzzle of a place. On Saturday morning we went to a park in the morning where locals tote their chirpy song birds in bamboo cages and gather to socialize, drink coffee, and listen to the soothing sounds of nature midst the honking and revving engines meters away. They say it’s healthy for the birds to be together—their voices get practice. We walked around that park and then visited the zoo and botanical gardens as well as the Museum of Vietnamese History. Probably my favorite part of the day was buying plaster figurines—my mom got a fish and I got a little Buddha. It was meant for families with little kids, but we sat at the low plastic tables and chairs and painted the figurines. It was so relaxing to sit and paint. I haven’t done that for years and have been meaning to get back in the habit. We attracted some Vietnamese onlookers though, especially a little girl and her mother who sat with us for awhile. On Sunday we went to church at the Notre Dame Cathedral; however, it was in Vietnamese. Then we got breakfast at the Continental Hotel (one of the famous hotels from the Vietnam War). We got pedicures, checked out of our hotel (we had since moved into a much nicer hotel in the same alley), and met a friend for lunch. After lunch we got ice cream from Fanny’s, the good ice cream place in town located in a cute French building. Then we caught the ferry back to Vung Tau. One of the ladies from work was having a chili party at her house that evening. It was a drizzly evening, but we were having problems finding a taxi, so I drove my motorbike. My mom was pretty good about being on the back, considering she’s ridden on motorcycles before. The stupid thing stopped though while trying to climb the hill to their house and one of the foot rests broke off—arrgh, just one more thing with that bike. Most of my co-workers were there, so my mom got to meet them. It was good to get together with them one last time.

We spent the next two days lazying around Vung Tau. The first day we stayed inside the house literally all day taking several naps. We were so exhausted from our full weekend in the city. We talked to my dad and got some things done. Tuesday we got up early and went for a walk around Lighthouse Mountain, stopping at a little Vietnamese place for coffee. Later we tried to go swimming at the Lan Rung Resort, but the beach was closed due to the encroaching storm, so we went to Pineapple Beach (my favorite beach). The tide was way out and for the first time we were able to walk out to the island near the beach where there is a temple. Unfortunately I didn’t have on good shoes so we didn’t make it far on the sharp, rocky path and ended up just walking along the shore. It was a beautiful evening though with a full moon. The next day we got up ultra early to catch the minibus into the city again and go on a two-day tour of the Mekong Delta. We arrived in HCMC around 6 a.m. and had some breakfast before catching the tour which left at 7:45. We did much of the same stuff that I had done on my one-day tour to the Mekong; however, that night we did a homestay in the backwaters. After dark we and five others took a rickety boat down the river. It felt like a scene from Deliverance.

At our homestay we were shown three straw huts which would be our rooms for the night. They weren’t very private and the lock on the door was hardly worthwhile. The bed sheets were dirty, along with the one towel hanging from a hook. We had a mosquito net to protect us from the many mosquitoes and only a fan to cool us down during the sticky, hot night. Not to mention the unhealthy state the bathroom was in: bugs everywhere, dirty, and an eye-level hole in the back for any creepy peeping tom to look through. This wasn’t in the brochure. And it cost five extra dollars instead of the hotel!? The meal—served outside—was pretty good though—traditional Vietnamese food. We were pretty exhausted and went to bed soon. The next morning we had to wake up earlier than the hotel folk and headed back down the river to the floating markets where we met our group. The market was neat, but not quite as spectacular as I’d hoped. Later that day we went to a few more farms and shops before heading home. We spent the night in HCMC, since we got back too late to take the ferry and I didn’t want to bother with the bus system. We met another friend for dinner at an Indian Restaurant and got to bed early, again exhausted.

We went home the next morning. My other roommate happened to be on the same ferry home. We went to the Lan Rung that afternoon to cool off. Later we met friends at Bia Toi for dinner—one of our usual spots. On Saturday morning we walked up Big Mountain, went to school in the afternoon to do some last-minute things and show mom the school, and later went to our usual Seafood restaurant with some friends for dinner. Unfortunately mom and I were sick so our dinner went to waste. Afterwards, my friends came over and raided the things I was getting rid of. I was frantically packing those two and a half days when we got back from the Mekong, trying to get rid of as much stuff as I felt I could. According to my mom I’ve acquired three times more than what I came with. Not only did I have my hiking pack, I also filled up two suitcases (one mostly with souvenirs that we bought). Choke. I’m going to have to get rid of a lot of things before going home. My goal is to get it down to one suitcase and my hiking pack. We shipped the suitcases on the train up to Hanoi the next day. It cost peanuts for two suitcases. Amazing. Then we waited in the train station most of the day, Sunday, while I tried to sleep off my illness on the steal benches.

We boarded the sleeper train that evening. Luckily we had the two bottom bunks and the other two top bunks were occupied by a nice Vietnamese family. We fell asleep early again and woke up early to see the lime green countryside and stubby mountains passing by in the gray morning haze. It was beautiful. We arrived in Danang, our destination, earlier than expected. From there we took a taxi to Hoi An, 45 minutes away.

We spent the next several days in Hoi An. It was great to see the city dry and sunny. The last time I was there it was cold, rainy, and miserable. We ordered tailor-made clothes right away. We were half happy with them in the end. Mom got a jacket and a turtle-neck. I got a dress, a Vietnamese-style shirt, Capri-shorts, and Barbie-doll pink shoes with an Asian pattern. The dress was the most frustrating. I specifically showed them what I wanted—even drew it out—and they said “yes, yes, we can do that.” But when I got my dress back the next day it was just a pattern dress from one they had on display—not the dress I wanted at all. In fact, it had the opposite features that I wanted. It looked hideous, but of course they said it looked beautiful so that I would just take the dress and go. We argued with them for a long time and they made up all sorts of excuses for why they didn’t do it the way I asked even though they said they could. They even went as far as blaming me, implying that I should want the same pattern as they have on display and not something different. They also said it was too difficult to change the dress now—well, you could have done it the way I asked in the first place and then you wouldn’t be in this mess, now would you?! We think they were just being lazy and, since they weren’t the actual tailors, didn’t know what they were talking about. We were running out of time to get it fixed, because we had to leave early the next day. They said they would have it finished by 8 the next morning, but as usual we had to wait a good 45 minutes before the finished dress (still not quite perfect) showed up. My mom’s going to alter it later. Otherwise, I was generally happy with my purchases.

Anyway, enough venting about that. We bought Old Town tickets and saw a variety of historical sites around town. We didn’t do too much around town, since both of us were sick. We ended up taking a lot of naps.

On to Hue. We went back to Danang on Thursday morning (after retrieving my dress). We were supposed to take the train at 11 a.m., but it was delayed for several hours. It seemed that nobody knew why or when it would show up and every official person we asked had a different story. Finally the train arrived. As we were gathering our things an official-looking woman hurried up and took our cart without asking whether she could take it. She went and loaded our things onto the train. At first we thought “oh, this is a nice complementary service,” but no, she asked for fairly large sum of money afterwards. Um, we didn’t ask for your help in the first place and now you want money from us? Little schemes to cheat us were starting to get on our nerves. It’s not the money itself, it’s the principle. Many people here (not everyone) try to cheat or lie to you in order to get your money in whatever way they can. That really grates on your nerves after awhile. I can understand where they’re coming from being poor, but it puts you off a lot when dealing with people here. Eventually you just have to ignore them completely or be firm with them otherwise they’ll hassle and cheat you out of your wits.

Partially because of this we connected with an Australian couple who had also been waiting for hours and had their luggage unwittingly loaded onto the train. The train ride was gorgeous. The ride between Danang and Hue is supposed to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world and I agree. The mountains to the left were much higher than Vung Tau and covered with a messy jungle of trees and vines. The sea to the right was so blue and clear. This ride was only three hours and soon we arrived in Hue. We took a taxi with the couple and stayed at the same hotel. Again they got stiffed. I had asked for a $12 room and we happened to get the same type of room as the couple; however, they were charged $15. They were pretty angry when they learned this and definitely decided to switch hotels the next day. We went to dinner that night with them as well. They were good company—Aussies always are. We went to a German restaurant that we read about in the guidebook. Apparently the owner was a former TV comedian in Holland and had taken a bike trip around Europe. I talked with her for a bit—she was a pretty lively character and cracked some jokes in her broken English.

The next day (Saturday, 16 May) we took a half-day tour to the ancient Citadel across the Perfume River. We also saw a pagoda along the river and had a boat ride. The next day we took a full day tour down the river, again to the same pagoda, to three tombs, a temple, and a tourist trap in disguise of a conical hat- and incense-making shop. We had lunch on the boat and talked with several other tourists on our trip. It was a nice day. Then on Sunday morning we took the train to Hanoi for the last leg of our journey. It was a good 13-hour train ride and we didn’t get into the city until after dark. The countryside was amazing again and well worth taking the day train. There were those tall, speared Asian mountains you see in postcards. It was awesome.

However, near the end of our ride a very sick girl with her mother and grandmother got on the train and sat right in front of us. We shared one of my face masks and otherwise covered our mouths with mom’s jacket. The train was so crowed that people were sitting in the aisle or standing. We didn’t particularly want to get sick, especially in this Swine Flu scare (not that it’s come to Vietnam yet). Other people were wearing face masks as well.

Well, we arrived in Hanoi and took a taxi to a guidebook-picked hotel. Our room was more posh than usual, since they only had $20 rooms (which can get you something fairly swanky over here). It was nice to relax and have a bit of luxury after all our traveling.

The next morning we booked a tour to Halong Bay with our hotel, ate lunch at a New Zealand café, walked around a bit, and spent most of the afternoon in the Vietnam Airlines head office (only learning afterwards that there are Airlines booking shops all over—even right next to our hotel, which would have only taken five minutes). Oh well, we got a lot of planning done.

On Tuesday morning (19 May) we left early to go on our tour of Halong Bay—where your classic speared mountains in the sea reside. This was probably my favorite part of our trip. We decided to take a three-day “luxury” tour for a discounted price of $75 per person. The first day we boarded our traditional-looking wooden boat. It was brand new and very nice. Our rooms were pretty sweet and it was just relaxing to hang out there. We had a seafood lunch (the first of many strangely similar seafood meals) on the boat. Then we toured a beautiful, huge cave. We kayaked around the rock mountains—my favorite part. Finally we got to swim in the water for awhile—you just jump off the boat and tread. The water was so refreshing. Ha, you couldn’t escape the peddlers even in that peaceful place. They were trying to sell us things in their row boats as we were swimming! When we were being ferried back to our boat after kayaking they were crowding it. I made a comment that it looked like they were trying to pirate our ship—it was true. They were practically climbing onto it trying to see if anyone was there who they could sell something too. That evening after another seafood dinner we tried fishing for cuttlefish (a.k.a. little squid) with no luck. I talked with another Aussie guy while we fished. It turns out he works for the Australian CIA as a bodyguard for the prime minister! That was way interesting. At first I thought he was pulling my leg, but apparently his girlfriend confirmed the story when she was talking to my mom. I love hearing people’s stories. You always run into such fascinating people.

The next day we left half of our group (the two-dayers) and went to Cat Ba Island National Park. Most people went on a trek up the mountain, but we decided not to since it was slippery and dangerous. Instead, we walked around the park for awhile, which was neat. We settled into our hotels, had lunch, and then took a boat to Monkey Island. It’s called Monkey Island for a reason. There was a family of monkeys on the beach under the trees. I didn’t want to get too close to them because I was scared of getting rabies or something. We stayed on the beach instead of exploring. Ironically it was a chilly day—the day you want it to be hot and humid it’s cool, almost too cool for swimming. Of all the hot, sticky days here…. Well, that evening after dinner we had some drinks along the harbor with a German couple. It was a nice evening. The town on Cat Ba Island is quiet and relaxing. Then on our final day we just got back on our boat and went back to the harbor where we started off from. We sunbathed for a bit on the top deck.

When we arrived back in Hanoi on Thursday evening we went out to dinner and didn’t do a whole lot. Friday (22 May) we walked around the Old Quarter in the morning and then went shopping at the main market in town where we bought the majority of our souvenirs. We had dinner with friends at an Aussie Restaurant and then went to the Fanny’s Ice Cream place in Hanoi next to the lake. Saturday we tried to go to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in the morning, but we got there too late. It was already closed, so we didn’t get to see the embalmed body of Uncle Ho. Instead we went to a museum on the grounds dedicated to him; however, that was closing too and they were pushing us out. Of course, they had no qualms about selling us tickets at the full price at the last minute. Even though they were only a dollar I took my time despite the guards pushing us out. I wanted to get my money’s worth. We tried going around the botanical gardens there, but we didn’t know where we could and couldn’t go because there were guards everywhere. That afternoon we sorted through and packed our bags to move the next day. Later we had dinner at a Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant again with some friends. Afterwards we went to a movie theater/café. We didn’t see a movie, but just had drinks. Apparently you can get membership there and see all these old and foreign films. If I find that I have time I might get a membership there. It sounds pretty cool.

On Sunday we woke up early to go to church at the cathedral down the road. It was in Vietnamese, but the inside is beautiful despite the outside looking tarnished with black mold streaking the walls. Then we went for a walk around the lake and walked across the red Japanese Bridge to the little temple on the island. We continued around the lake and stopped to have some juice. While we were sitting there some Vietnamese University students came up to us and wanted to practice their English so we talked to them for a good hour. After that we walked to the Opera House where we bought tickets for that evening’s concert. There is a Highlands Coffee next to it so we had a little breakfast there. Then we had to get back to our hotel to move our things to the hotel provided by my new job. It’s a really nice hotel. So we settled in and then decided to go to the Hoa Lo Prison (a.k.a. the Hanoi Hilton) where John McCain was imprisoned as a P.O.W. during the Vietnam War. It was really interesting to see the prison. Finally for the crowning event, that evening we went to a musical at the Opera House. It’s a beautiful, grand-looking French building. It’s apparently the first musical written for and by Vietnamese people. It was a contemporary show called “Dream and Reality.” I thought it was pretty good and creative. We went to the concert with some friends, but afterwards my mom and I decided to go home since we had to get up early the next morning.

Sadly, Monday the 25th arrived all too soon. We got up early and took a taxi to the airport (an hour’s ride away). We checked her luggage and walked around a bit. Then we said goodbye and she left. I took the minibus back into town and walked the rest of the way to my hotel. So there ends our story. I congratulate you if you ACTUALLY made it to the end of this extremely long blog. It’s more for my own record anyway… So, very soon I’ll be heading back to work and to the real world. That was the excitement in my life for now. I had a very good time and it was really nice to have my mom here. We made it all the way up Vietnam, from South to North, alive. Now the countdown to when I come home begins. I have to keep myself busy so the time goes by fast, which I’m sure won’t be a problem here.

Life With Chopsticks

2009-04-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Ellyn Writing!!! Surprise! I'm still alive!

Maybe been about 5 months since I wrote last....so sorry! But here goes try to get as much out before I have to get to school.

Here in Vietnam I have been given the nickname of Wrong Way Ellyn. This name has come from the fact that I sometimes show up later than people that leave at the same time as I have. Or I am gone for a half day when I just planned to stop by the corner store, or people think that I get "lost"...now I have been quite opposed to this name, and have fought it hard, but I think this has only strengthened the name. I always say just because it was the long way doesn't make it the wrong way. I hope some of you out there will agree with me...I just like to take the road less traveled, I like to explore....I'm something like a Conquistador :). So my latest development which has been a 3 month adventure, is my passport, visa issue. Many of you have already heard of this but for those who haven't, this is quite an interesting story and even though it's still not entirely resolved, sometimes I am able to laugh about it.
The story begins 3 months ago, on January 25, my parents and I left Vietnam to visit Cambodia during TET holiday. We left this day on a flight from Ho Chi Mihn City to Siem Reap. On our way out we received a nice red stamp that said hey we are leaving the country. This was a beautiful stamp, I don't know if we have ever mentioned red stamps in this country but the Vietnamese worship these things. Without a red stamp you are in trouble. In fact, I believe I will have to get a red stamp tattoo to always remember this country, one that will cover my whole face, it shall be beautiful. So, we received our stamps on the way out. Then we decided it would be nice to take the bus the rest of the way. We took a bus from Siem Reap to Pnom Phenn. Stayed there for a day and headed back home in the hopes of taking a motorbike trip up the coast from my home. We didn't get to do that trip, however, as many things went wrong. Crossing the border, from Cambodia back to Vietnam, there were loads of people crammed into a building. There was a stack of twenty-some passports all for the people from our bus that were taken away to some random back-room where they were analyzed and stamped. They called people out one by one and then they were rushed back to the bus. I was last to be called and the bus driver grabbed my stuff to hurry me along (not that I am slow, I learn to move fast from my dad). Because we were moving so fast I accidentally left some hats back behind, I hope some people enjoy those hats! :) When I got onto the bus I sunk into my seat breathing hard and sweating profusely. I located all of my important items, passport, wallet, phone and put them in my jacket pocket, all the while think maybe this isn't the best place for these things. Somehow I still left my passport there thinking I would be fine. Big mistake! As we got back into Ho Chi Mihn City we had the most difficult time finding a way back to Vung Tau because of the holiday. We went from place to place from taxi to taxi in order to get a bus or a boat back to Vung Tau. In this process, trying to drag along all of our bags and countless souvenirs, I misplaced my jacket...or had it it stolen....so there goes my passport! So this created countless problems for my trip with my parents, which I may write about later but I need to finish this story first.
After I lost my passport I had to get a red stamp from the police that said that I lost my passport...the police aren't the greatest people to deal with in Vietnam, especially when you don't speak Vietnamese. When I went to a police department in Ho Chi MIhn City on my own for example they asked "where did you lose it?" since I didn't really know I gave him a street name that I knew and he says "well you need to go to the police on that street"...simply because he didn't want to deal with me. This conversation all took about 45 min because they don't know much English and my Vietnamese is extremely limited. So I went to the other street, about 2 blocks away and they said that I needed to come back with a hotel manager. I had to go back to Vung Tau to work that day so I said fine and left. Back in Vung Tau I have made a friend who has friends in high places so he got the stamp after about a week, RED STAMP #1.
This stamp allowed me to go to the consulate and get a new passport which I got 2 weeks later with a letter from the consulate stating I lost my passport and I will be needing a new visa....with.....you guessed it....a RED STAMP...#2. With two stamps and a new passport I should be set! I sent these in through ILA to get a new visa around March 1. So when I still didn't have a visa about 2 weeks later, I started getting worried. I bothered my manager about it virtually every day. She continued to reassure me that there was no problem. Then around the 3rd week point they said they was no record of me entering the country and that this was a problem. BUT we could fix this with a red stamp, so I signed a paper which gave information on when I left and entered the country. READ STAMP #3. Around this time, mid-March I decided it was time for me to move on jobs and cities, so I gave my notice around March 24 and asked for more information on my visa and for my documents (degree, background check, CELTA certificate) back. From then on I continued to ask about the visa with continued reassurance that there was no problem. Then 2 weeks from my last day April 15th I received an email which stated that I needed to come to office immediately because there was a problem with my passport/visa. In the office, my manager said that it wasn't going to be as bad as she had thought. She was told that they were going to send me home (back to the United States) because I was so illegal, but that she had negotiated with them (not quite sure who them is) that I would be able to get a visa that would allow me to leave the country, and then I could apply for a new visa and re-enter the country. So this was the new plan make a visa run; I would have to be out of the country by April 29th. I made plans over the next week, I would go into Malaysia where my sister had a friend and try to get a visa there. While this was happening, I needed another stamp from the Vung Tau police that stated that I had been living in Vung Tau all this time, however, they didn't want to give me this because I had been unable to register with the police because I had not had a passport, bit of a cyclical nightmare, so finally the police gave me a stamp because I moved into a hotel for a few days and registered with them RED STAMP #4. All of this has now been sent to the immigration office in the hopes of a visa that will allow me to leave the country and eventually maybe come back in? Now I have been talking to an employer up in Hanoi who have offered me a job. The lady I have been talking to told me that this whole situation is completely out of the ordinary and that when this happens they don't usually allow people back into the country. Then she asked me if I had gotten in trouble with the police, I, of course, said I have done nothing. So at the moment I am supposedly getting a visa on May 12 that will allow me to leave the country, and then I am working with Language Link a company in Hanoi to get me a visa to get back in. Oh, and remember those documents that i asked for over a month ago, because I need them to get a new job, they have recently been sent to America to be notarized (this is normal for the work permit process), because they weren't told to stop the process when I told them I was leaving. :) Convenient right?
Life with Chopsticks. When I first came to Vietnam I didn't know how to use chopsticks very well, nor did most of my friends in the CELTA course. Eating was so much more difficult, maybe that's why I first lost weight. When others gave up and used the forks and spoons they looked at me like a crazy fool. They asked me "why don't you just use a fork" I always said "you know, I'm not so sure, I just want to use chopsticks, I'm not going to give in" I now look back and compare this to my life, I can never go the easy route, somehow I always end up struggling through this path where no one has been. Perhaps people think its the "wrong way" but usually it just less traveled. Sometimes I wish I had chosen a different route, but by the time I have recognized this...its much to late and I am being deported from a country! :)

A Beginning's End

2009-04-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

It’s been a busy, yet lazy, last couple weeks. I find myself becoming a worry wart more than being excited for the adventure ahead of me. Saying goodbye is always the hardest part…so is getting started. I think that being settled into someplace is the most comforting, but also the most apathetic. It’s good to wake yourself up every now and then with a break from the monotony of life and start fresh. Then again, I ask myself why am I leaving when I’m comfortable where I am. Oh, well, the decision is made and I’m going with it.

My mom’s on the long flight over the giant Pacific Ocean as I’m typing this. I’m meeting her at the Airport in HCMC tomorrow morning, so I’m going to make this quick because I need to get some sleep so I can get up early tomorrow morning to catch the ferry into the city. I’m a bit worried about the ferries. They’ve been having problems lately and they’re building a bridge somewhere along the river. I’ll keep my beloved Edward close at hand as I try to finish the first Twilight series book. A friend gave me the fourth one so now I have one and four, but not two and three! Mom’s bringing the second one though—I think—so she’ll give it to me when she goes.

My excitement has also been dampened by Ellyn’s situation. Some of you probably have heard about it, but she’s been having a ridiculously difficult time with her visa. It’s very complicated. She has to leave the country and may not be able to get back in yet, at the same time, she can’t leave the country. Don’t ask about how this is logical. It all boils down to ONE red stamp. People here are so stuck on their ephemeral red stamps that they’ve lost the reason for WHY they do them in the first place. They’ve just gone stamping crazy because it makes them feel important. So because of this power struggle Ellyn is caught in a real-life purgatory. Like I’ve told people many times before everything is a Catch-22 here… So having said that, I’m not sure if we’ll continue our journey together in Hanoi…very sad, but I’m trying to hope for the best.

Another depressing part of leaving Vung Tau is leaving my students. I love all my classes now. I couldn’t have a much better schedule. Monday through Friday with all seniors classes (middle school age), my favorite level. One of my classes had a going away party for me yesterday. It was so sweet. They had a cake that said “Goodbye Elsbeth” and they even spelled “We love you Elsbeth” in ketchup and hot sauce. There was pizza and bubble tea (I love bubble tea! It has these jellies in it that you suck up through a big straw). Then the girls gave me heaps of presents and cards. They’re very middle school-age, girly type of gifts—things I was into back in the day—it was so thoughtful, but I don’t know how I’ll be able to take them all up to Hanoi with me. My TA also gave me a beautiful bouquet of yellow, white and red roses sprayed with glitter. My other TA also gave me this awesome black bracelet that stays on with magnets for beads. I’m going to miss them all so much as well as the other teachers, TAs, and people at work. When it comes down to it, I really enjoyed working there. It was great place to start my teaching career.

Today was my last day. I cleaned out my locker, organized and sorted through my piles of materials that I’ve been collecting these last seven months. I don’t know how I managed to fit it all in that tiny space. It didn’t seem like I was really teaching my classes for the last time. It just felt like another day. Two of my classes are ending very soon—this week was revision—so it’s kind of appropriate timing. Still, I’ll miss it all. *Sigh*

On Sunday we also had our farewell banquet. Six teachers are leaving (most of them are going up to Hanoi), so we had a massive farewell banquet at this nice restaurant/resort in town. I think it looks very Grecian with blue tile roofs and white-washed walls. I enjoy going to the beach there, because it’s secluded, fairly cheap, and relaxing. Anyway, we had a delicious Vietnamese meal—there was so much food—on a massively long table outside. It was good to see everyone together and to socialize. I’m going to miss them.

Also, on Saturday afternoon there was a party for the Australian/New Zealander Veteran’s Day called Anzac Day. They had the kids from the orphanage sing Waltzing Matilda with one of the teacher’s from school. I’ve been volunteering at the orphanage for a couple months now, teaching the older kids English for an hour on Mondays. They’re great kids (even though they don’t pay attention sometimes) and it was great to see them sing. It seems like they had fun. Sadly, I think that was the last time I’ll see them. I’ve gotten to know quite a few people in town—mainly other Westerners—through volunteering and also just hanging out at the restaurants and bars every now and then. Many of them are retirees who I’ve gotten to know. We’re kind of a close-knit community in this town and it’s nice to have other people you can somewhat relate to around. It’s crazy how you build up so many connections in such a short period of time.

Otherwise, the weekend passed by quickly as usual. I tried to read, figure out my annoyingly slow computer, and get last-minute things done. Oh, I played Botchy Ball with some friends on Saturday. It was a good time. A truly Vietnamese experience—in the dirt and grime of a Vietnamese Botchy Ball court with all the men. We were the only two women playing and you can imagine how intrigued the men where especially because we were white on top of it. The weekend before it poured for the first time. The monsoon rains are just about here! We had a huge thunder and lightening storm, which I was partially caught in, after running errands. I got inside safely and it was so relaxing to spend the afternoon curled up warm and dry in my bed reading Twilight. I also got up early with the Vietnamese both days the previous weekend. I walked around the harbour, up the Jesus Mountain, and swam at the lap pool on Saturday morning with Kaidian. It was so refreshing to get up that early and exercise. I really need to do that more often. I think I’ve said that before…. On Sunday I got up early and went on a short “Orange Walk” around town. It was a fundraiser for Agent Orange victims. The people involved in the fundraiser take a motorbike trip all the way up the country to Hanoi. That would be awesome to do one day. Someday I’ll have to come back and take that journey for the fundraiser.

Well, that’s an update for the time being. I can’t wait for my mom to get here! Omigosh, it’s less than 12 hours now. I haven’t seen my family in over eight months. It’s the longest I’ve been away. Crazy to think how quickly the time as passed! It doesn’t seem like I’ve been here for that long, but you know what they say: Time passes quickly when you’re having fun…or at least keeping yourself busy.

Let Peace Begin With Me

2009-04-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

I had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before Cinderella was chased down by more ravenous wolves. Perhaps Little Red Riding Hood would be a better analogy here.

I prepared all day on Saturday for Easter Sunday. I cleaned my room and a bit of the house, I went to the market (a dingy, dark place) to buy my Easter brunch of fresh, brown eggs, veggies, a pealed pineapple, and even a nice bouquet of tropical Easter flowers. I topped up my bike with petrol, bought some more minutes for my phone, and traveled to the big church next to the Mother Mary statue in the fishing village around big mountain to check what time they had Easter service. From my limited knowledge of Vietnamese, I gathered that the sunrise service was truly at sunrise—5:30 a.m. I was excited to go to an Easter Sunday service in a Vietnamese Church. I wanted to see what it was like.

The next morning I woke up at 4:30 a.m. I wanted to get to church a little early, since I assumed that it would be crowded and I wanted to get a decent seat. I packed my purse with my camera, cell phone, sunglasses, and wallet with the limited amount of cash I always carry with me for safety sake. Little did I think that the pockets on my kaki Capri’s were deep enough to hold the needed items for traveling across town. I quietly made my way downstairs and out the gate. I started up my motorbike (now finally fixed with a 70 engine). It purred to life and off I went in the cool of the morning. The moon was still up in the sky and twilight still lingered as I drove along the harbor. I was actually up before most Vietnamese! I didn’t think that was possible, yet there were still many people along the boardwalk having their morning constitutional and doing their light exercises. It was refreshing to be out at this time.

I was lost in thought as I climbed up the side of the mountain—the ocean to my left and the rocky cliff to my right. All of a sudden I felt a presence behind me and a motorbike zoomed so close to my bike it touched it. There were two teenage boys wearing white shirts and the one on the back quickly reached towards the hook that latched my purse to the bike. I always kept the purse nestled on the rack between my legs feeling it would be safe enough there and ignoring the warnings people gave me that I shouldn’t carry one at all. I loved that purse. I was perfect—lots of pockets, classy with a bit of an Asian flavor. Then before I knew it my purse was quickly moving away from me and then forever out of my sight. The boys laughing at the clever little trick they had pulled. It was all a blur, but from what I remember I had tried to kick and move his hand away. I tried to pull my purse, but I only had one hand to spare; the boy had two. I screamed and chased after them, but my bike—even with the new 70 engine—was not fast enough around those windy curbs. I drove on towards the church in shock. Trying to see where they went, but no luck. There was a group of young guys parked across from the church at a café. I thought they might be the thieves, but I couldn’t be sure. It was such an unexpected blur. I didn’t even think to look at their license plate (if they had one). I slowed down to look if they had something small and black in their hands, but one of them saw me looking and started to whistle, most likely thinking I was checking them out.

I pulled into the church to gather myself for a few seconds. The grounds were dark, but church-goers were making their way to the church on the hill. I briefly thought about going inside, but the parking place was dark and there was nobody to watch the bikes. A woman pointed towards the church telling me that there was parking there. I tried to start my bike…and it didn’t start. “You cannot be serious,” I thought. Of all the things I needed now was to be miles from home without a cell phone, money, and a bike that didn’t start. I tried again and again. Nothing. I rolled it around the parking lot and finally asked a Vietnamese man heading towards the church to help me kick start it. Only then did I realize that I had the keys in my hand. I knew then that I had truly lost my mind. I heard him tell his wife in Vietnamese that I had forgotten to put my key in the ignition. Yet another stupid Western woman, I suppose.

I made my way back home, wanting nothing more than to be behind the safety of my locked gate. On the way back I saw two boys with white shirts on a dark bike stopped along my street in front a little house. A group of young people are always gathered there in the middle of the night as I’m coming home from work. I slowed down to look at them while one of them was tying his shoe, but as I looked into my mirror he quickly jumped on the bike and they sped down an alley. I know they saw me as I slowed down and stared. I thought this was suspicious, but how can I know and what can I do? Maybe I’m paranoid….

As soon as I got inside I knocked on Ellyn’s door and told her what happened. Then I called my parents on Skype and talked to Sarah on the Skype chat. They gave me some perspective. I hadn’t lost relatively that much and I had escaped unscathed. I had retained control of my bike. It could have been much worse—like Ellyn who fell off her pedal bike. In fact, she was mugged at the same place I was. Obviously this is a doggy area. Perhaps it was even the same little twits. I had some breakfast, read my bible, and then went into work to talk to the office staff. They called the police and I went with one of the office workers to the station. He translated everything, I showed him where it happened, and he helped me file a police report. Many thanks to him. I don’t expect anything to happen or to be recovered, but it gives me a little piece of mind to have reported it. Immediately after filing the report I went on a bit of a shopping spree. I bought a new, slimmer wallet (one that can fit in my pockets easier), a cell phone from the same place I bought my old one (it was slightly cheaper than my old one and blue; my old one was cheaper than I thought), and a new pair of “designer” sunglasses. I need to be more careful about keeping these things attached to my body in the future.

The rest of the afternoon I stayed in the house and got a few things done. I fell into a dead sleep for an hour. I was drifting off at the police station sitting in the open room with no doors, no computers, and cracked walls. The lazy mid-morning heat was getting to me. Then I met the ladies from work at school to walk up big mountain. We parked our bikes in a side street parking lot, found a quicker, steep path up the rocky side of the mountain. I was sweating buckets as usual, but it was a good workout. The top of the mountain is being shaped into a park. Eventually they’re going to have gondoliers going up from the base of the mountain. I thought it was nice up there. It’s a very peaceful and beautiful place. The view is amazing. As we walked down the paved road the sun was setting red across the sea—sailor’s delight. The path is lit and there were quite a few Vietnamese people making their way down. The city lights are gorgeous—like Christmas in an impressionist painting with bright, candy colors. We also stopped along the way for sugarcane juice. I love that juice.

I drove with Ellyn home and we stopped on All-Night Street to buy shakes and movies. Haha, I bought High School Musical, because all my kids are obsessed with those movies and I want to see what they’re all about. At home I freshened up and made my brunch. It’s so nice to cook again. I haven’t made brunch in Vietnam yet. That was one of my specialties and it tasted so good. I listened for the tenth time to the Easter Tape dad had converted into MP3 format and sent me. I know every song by heart. It was so comforting to have a little bit of Easter here. Also, thanks grandma for the Easter gift! I loved it. Oh, mom and dad, I just got the packing slip today for the package you guys sent. Anyway, I watched Dan in Real Life instead of HSM. Love that movie.

Like my parents’ advised, I kept myself busy the rest of the day. Only until 6 a.m. this morning did I wake up and really think how horrible that was and how much worse it could have been. Thank the Lord that I stayed on my bike and only swerved a little. Since then I have been freaking out every time I see two young guys on a motorbike or when someone comes close to my bike. I can’t help but wonder when the next attack is going to happen. How much worse will it be? Lesson learned: You can’t let your guard down for one minute—not one. I have been relatively careful, but it was one stupid, stupid mistake to take my purse instead of putting things in my pocket when I was traveling across town in the early morning. I need to make sure I’m with someone when it’s dark out. I’ve learned with Vietnamese guys that you can’t give them an inch—you can’t even glance at them or they think you’re coming onto them and they take the opportunity to whistle and make catcalls. Even if you don’t give them the time of day they’ll whistle. Maybe other women think it’s flattering, but I find it rude, immature, and offensive. I’ve learned to wear an angry (for use of a better word) look on my face as I’m traveling—a look that says I’m not going to take any crap from you. And that’s how it is. You have to constantly keep your guard up especially when you’re a petite, blond-haired, blue-eyed woman. Still, I can’t let myself live in constant fear…but always safety first. As dad said, that’s the price of traveling to strange lands.

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

2009-03-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

TGIF like you would not believe! My first weekend off in 19 days! Finally a break. I slept in late Saturday morning and moseyed around trying to plan the itinerary for my trip with mom in April and May.

The International Kite Festival has come to Vung Tau this year and thousands of people (more tourists than usual on the weekend) thronged Back Beach, which is only three blocks from our house to watch the many elaborate kites float weightlessly in the air. I met friends Saturday evening at the Beach Club (our usual hang out) to catch my first glimpse of the kites. The main festivities were going on right out on the beach from the bar. Even in the dark they were flying their huge kites shaped like teddy bears, sharks, and squid. I walked along the beach for a bit and later had dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant with a friend as we watch the kites shining through spotlights in the dark. There was some sort of Vietnamese celebration going on at the restaurant and the karaoke was deafening, considering that the people inside insisted on opening the windows. Later I joined the other girls for a movie under Kaidian’s cupcake pink mosquito netting.

On Sunday morning I woke up early—7 a.m.! That’s way early for me and drove out to Back Beach again to watch the kites being set up and lifted off. I walked down the beach and then sat in the sand while I watch the largest ones being teased into the air. They’re beautiful and there were so many Vietnamese people out swimming in the cool of the morning. It’s a nice event for families. Kids were running up and down the beach with their own little kites. I took lots of pictures and once I get them Photoshoped I’ll post them on Shutterfly. It’s so nice to get up early and have the whole day before you. I should really try this more often. I was falling asleep by 11 a.m., though, yet I never got a nap in. I talked with the parental units for three hours! Then I went to the Essentials Grocery Store where I bought some food and made myself lunch at home.

Then later that evening we met other teachers at ILA and drove to the dog restaurant nearby. Yes, I said dog restaurant. We...um…I don’t know how to put this for all you dog lovers out there (myself included)…we ate dog. Yes, I admit that I tried a bit of those poor, poor dogs. I didn’t think I could do it, but I plugged my nose a tried a bit of almost every dog meat dish they put in front of us. It tasted like beef…. I’M SORRY WOOLY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I don’t know how you can….I have betrayed you and your dog kind. Never again. When we came in they had two roasted dogs (thank goodness there were no heads) ready to be chopped up on the cutting board. To make it worse there was a dog nonchalantly sleeping in the corner while his pals cooked in the steaming vats behind him. I feel like such a traitor and a cannibal in a twisted sense, but it was all for the experience…right? They try to justify eating dogs by saying that they would eat me if they had the chance and that they only kill the stupid dogs. Still….

Well, aside from that disturbing news, I have some other interesting news for you. Ellyn and I have decided to move to Hanoi. We originally wanted to move up there when we took the job with ILA, because we wanted to experience both halves of the country. Although I still love this town and it’s peaceful, laidback lifestyle, it’s also a dead-end town where old Aussies and Oilies congregate to chase after young bar girls. There isn’t much here for 20-something women…well, women in general. When all the tourists have left after the weekend, it’s a man’s town, plain and simple. I love teaching, my students, the other teachers, and the staff at school, so I'll miss them.

It’ll be very sad to leave my friends here. We’ve had some good times. But, a lot of people are leaving at the same time—some of them going to Hanoi as well, so that makes leaving better. After all, we’re young! As the song says “Take a chance, make a change.”

So that’s where we are now. I have so much to do this next month to prepare for leaving and for my mom to come, so I may not have much time to update this blog. Wish me good luck! I hope all is well at home!

You Never Know What You're Going To Get

2009-03-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

So much for my New Year’s resolution. It’s been another month since I last updated this blog. No worries, though, nothing really interesting has happened in my life since then. I’ve just been here in Vung Tau the entire time working, working, working. Come Friday, I’ll have worked 19 days in a row. I’ve covered for the last two weekends, which is fine because I’m racking up hours. I didn’t have a first class on Monday/Wednesday/Friday for awhile so I needed to make up some hours, but today I start that new class. It’s the same level as I have for my second class, which I’m so glad for. Now I can just use my previous lesson plans and update them a little.

I’ve also been working on preparing for something else, which I’ll tell you once I’ve finalized it at the end of this month (I don’t want to blurt something on an open blog—I’ve done enough blurting already and I’m sure many of you, who do read this blog, know already). Then I’ve been starting to think of my mom coming at the end of this April. I’m sooo excited! I can’t wait to see her, but of course, I wish my dad and brother could come as well. I already have all these things in mind that I want to show and do with her. I’m planning to take the train up the country to Hanoi with her, making stops along the way in Hoi An/Danang, Hue, and whatnot. Now it’s just a matter of getting it all organized….soon!

Hmmm, what else. I’ve been trying to fix my bike here, but no mechanic is willing to make it go faster, because apparently it’s illegal. Plus, they think I’m a stupid girl. It says it’s a 50 (engine) on the front of the Cub, but it has a 70 engine, however, the previous owner was ‘smart’ enough to put a piston meant for a 50 engine in it. I’m going to ask some of the Aussie guys at Belly’s if they can fix it or if they know someone who can. Hopefully, they can help. Right now it tops out at 40 K (a.k.a. not very fast, but decent for city driving). Haha, Tony’s been helping me with this bike and one day when we were going to pick it up from the mechanic we almost got into a crash because some idiot pulled out from behind a van into our lane and almost hit us, so Tony pushed the guy, but he just drove off. Then just down the road he almost ran into a little dog. Oh, driving in Vietnam. You never know what you’re going to get.

Otherwise, during the week we’ve just been doing our usual. I’ve been going to the orphanage to teach for an hour or two on Monday mornings. Then we’ve been going swimming at the lap pool, playing tennis, playing football on the beach, and I want to go to the driving range here. Another teacher and I are planning to go on Monday.

The weekends haven’t been too thrilling. I’ve just been trying to get things done and run errands. Not last weekend, but the weekend before, we caravanned out to the Ba Ria mountains to try to find a way up the mountains, but our search was unsuccessful. I rode on the back with Tony, because I didn’t have by bike back from the mechanic then. We went on these bumpy, gravel roads in the back country to a quarry. He gave me his camera to take some video and I thought I did a pretty good job with all the bumps in the road, but I almost fell off on one huge bump because I wasn’t holding on. It was a good time. We stopped on the roadside for some sugarcane juice, which I hadn’t had in a long time, and got our bikes splattered with dirt and water. It’s nice to just get out of town, have a little adventure, and see the countryside.

Then, last weekend our roommate, Tony, left us and moved up to Hanoi. It was sad to see him go, but we’ll see him in a month or so (I’ll explain more later). Kristof, our other roommate, is also coming back to live with us until the middle of April, so it’ll be nice to have him back. He just finished his DELTA and now he’s on vacation in the Philippines.

Well, that’s about all that’s been going on for now. More to come in the next week. I can’t wait for this weekend! Finally, some real down time. I’m hoping to get a bunch of things done. I’d like to also drive around town finally. I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile, but I haven’t been able to with my bike problems and working on the weekends or whatnot.

Cinderella Chased Down By Ravenous Wolves

2009-02-22T02:15:00.000-08:00

Elsbeth writing…

I don’t know what the world’s come to lately, but I’ve been screaming a lot both in- and outside my head. The world is becoming a more and more dangerous place for Cinderella…a.k.a. me.

Just today as I was on an innocent cleaning spree, cockroaches were appearing left and right making me scream my head off. I HATE cockroaches and lately there’s been an infestation of them in our house. Last night alone, let’s see, there were…one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, EIGHT cockroaches popping up dead in our house. Presumably from all the Raid we’ve been spraying. I’m actually surprised we haven’t dropped dead as well. If cockroaches are supposed to survive even nuclear bombs, how powerful is this spray? Nevertheless, Caolan and I were going Raid crazy last night and screaming our heads off as we tried to kill these nasty buggers. This afternoon I was cleaning up the aftermath and as I was trying to get one long dead one from behind the sink another live one suddenly scurried away. I screamed and jumped about five feet in the air. Tony and Ellyn were in the living room watching TV. But of course they didn’t bother to ask if I was alright. They just gave me an odd look as I ran in to get the Raid. I could have been eaten alive by cockroaches by the time they bothered to saunter into the kitchen. After much screaming and cringing on my part, it eventually drowned in a bowl of water. At least I’m brave enough to throw them away. A piece of advice: Never smash a cockroach. Their guts splatter all over. And I’ve heard that, that bug juice contains cockroach eggs which hatch into baby cockroaches; however, I find that hard to believe and pass it off as an old wives’ tale. I did, however, experienced this disgusting splattering after crushing it with one of my books after it crawled across Ellyn’s feet in our HCMC hotel room. To make matters worse, it was still moving! They never DIE!

Moving on. Next perilous situation Cinderella has encountered…. There’s this massive, wolvish-looking dog in our neighborhood that I always see wandering the streets with its owner, who carries a stick to keep it in line (there are no leashes in Vietnam). It seems to be a fairly tame, family dog, but you don’t see many dogs this size here. The climate and lifestyle is not conducive for them. Today, I just got back from bringing Ellyn to fetch her bike from the mechanic. As I was driving back home through our neighborhood, I saw it snap at a child. I think it was protecting its owners’ children and I had a suspicion that it would snap at me when I drove past between it and the child—but both were in the middle of the road and I didn’t have much time to react. Surely enough it snapped at me, I screamed, lost my shoe, and drove off in case it chose to chase me down. I seriously thought it would jump up at me. I stopped not much farther down the Hem to check if the coast was clear. The owners were taking care of him. One woman just stood there and didn’t bother to even make a move to pick up my shoe. So I turned my bike around and slowly reached for my shoe without getting off my running bike, grumbling under my breath the entire time.

Cinderella went back picked up her own shoe this time….

Then for the most perilous situation of all (and not very funny either). Last Tuesday night we had some friends over from HCMC. They joined us for dinner and afterwards we decided to go out for drinks. Kaidian and I had to drop off our bags at home, so we left the others. I thought Kaidian and Tony were behind me, but they stopped at her apartment to drop off her bag. So I just kept going. The streetlights were off in our neighborhood and the streets were quite dark. As I was turning the corner onto our Hem another bike slowly drove past me and cut the corner where I was driving. I gave him a look like ‘what are you doing on my street at this time of night’? I had another sneaking suspicion that he would turn around, so I stopped in front of my house where the front light was left on; however, I didn’t make a move indicating it was my house and I left my bike running and in gear. Surely enough he turned around and came up close to me. He said ‘hello’ and I cautiously said ‘hello’ back. Everything sort of happened in this blurry slow-motion, but he reached out and touched me in an inappropriate place. At first I thought he was after my necklace and I pushed away his hand, but he tried again. I shoved him away, started blaring my horn, and drove quickly down the lane honking my horn the whole way. I think he started to follow me, but when he realized that I would probably wake up the whole neighborhood he scattered. I drove back to Kaidian’s apartment and called Tony. They came back to the house with me, but we didn’t see him. I can’t quite remember what he looked like anyway. It was dark and all I remember was that he had on a white shirt with some pattern. I also remember that he had one big headlight and three small lights underneath. Thinking back, the whole situation was like out of some horror movie.

This time, I never screamed or said anything. I was literally speechless. All I could do was honk my horn. In real emergency situations, it seems I can never say anything; I just react and do what needs to be done. And it’s good that I did what I did. Thanks mom and dad for training me to be paranoid all my life. Your gift of vigilance has paid off and hopefully it will continue to do so, because I know I’ll be even more paranoid now than ever.

Once again, Cinderella has fended off the ravenous wolves with her intuition…for now.

Cambodia: There and Back Again. An Elbus' Tale.

2009-02-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

Elsbeth writing…

Cambodia! So much to write about…. Our trip over the TET Holiday was fantastic for the most part. It was definitely the different cultural experience I was looking for. We just arrived back last Thursday night and I’ve been working on correcting and posting pictures since, so check that out as well.

So we left early on Saturday morning for our trip. Caolan, Kaidian, Tony, and I caught the minibus into Saigon. We got there a bit early for our next bus to Phnom Penh so we ate at a good Italian restaurant and met up with Ellyn and her parents who just arrived from the states. It was good to see them—to see some parental figures from home—and I got my iPod! Thank you very much for bringing all those things for me! It’s great! Then we had drinks at a café while waiting for the bus. Finally, we caught our six-hour bus ride to Phnom Penh. We were all assuming that we would ride in a coach-style bus, but when a minibus pulled up we thought “are you serious?” I was hoping that this was just a transfer bus and that there would be a bigger one which would drive us the whole way…nope. We spent six hours squished in the back of this minibus. Caolan and I sat in the very back with the luggage. It was great…. On all our bus rides we ended up sleeping the majority of the time. I was hoping to practice my Vietnamese, get some more reading done, play cards, but we were all exhausted.

Arriving in Cambodia wasn’t so bad. The buildings around the boarder were all nice and new, but as we drove further into the country things began getting much more rustic. You could tell that this country is poorer that Vietnam and that people still live in a very traditional way. The first cultural difference I noticed was that the houses are on stilts—they’re raised off the ground and made of wood with thatched roofs. Perhaps it floods often in this country. Many of the houses were also a faded grayish blue with blue shutters. I thought that this must be a cultural thing. I even noticed that they sit on top of tables—sort of like tables—to eat, sleep, or socialize. I wish we had that. It looked pretty comfortable.

I really realized how poor the country is when we stopped our bus in a town to catch the ferry across the river. Street children, carrying naked toddlers, and disabled people bombarded our bus asking for money. There are many beggars in Vietnam, but these people seemed more adamant and desperate-looking. Throughout our trip we encountered so many street children. I can’t imagine what their lives must be like. Tip: Never give street children money—only food and perhaps useful things if you have something on you at the time. If they get money there is usually an adult who they must give it to or they use it to buy drugs. Food, on the other hand, is something they can keep for themselves. I have to hand it to them. They are probably some of the most intelligent, quick-witted children I have ever met and it makes sense that they are. They aren’t spoon fed an education. They are literally forced to learn things in order to survive. For instance, on one of our bus stops the girls selling pineapples knew English quite well—most likely because they picked it up off the street. They remembered Kaidian on our way back and nagged her to buy pineapple because she said “maybe” the last time. Another boy at Angkor Wat gave me a bracelet in order to get me to buy some things from his family’s stall. He knew English pretty well, too. Yes, it’s depressing to see these children living in this way, but there are things being done to help the problem. In Phnom Penh there’s a restaurant called “Friends.” It’s a colorful little restaurant with children’s artwork hanging up all over. All the staff at the restaurant were former street kids who are now being trained for the hospitality industry. The service was excellent and the food was so delicious, especially the tacos, which I was obsessing over. I haven’t had tacos that good since leaving the states…. Anyway, you can see many problems in the country, but you can also see much progress being made. I’m sure many things will have changed if I come back in five or ten years.

Despite the changes they seem to be retaining their distinct culture. I came away loving Cambodian cultural. It’s so rich and colorful. It’s a cross between Indian and South American cultures. Their traditional clothes, for one, are so colorful. The women wear long patterned skirts or baggy, bohemian-style pants. Men also wear baggy pants or red, patterned wraps. I mainly noticed that the men wore these wraps/skirts when they were working in the fields. They also wear head-wraps instead of conical hats like they have in Vietnam. Their traditional theater costumes are also very beautiful. They’re so ornate and colorful. The most famous costume is the gold speared hat that looks like a temple from Angkor Wat on the top of the women’s heads. I wish I knew what all these outfits and everything means. Someday I’ll read up on it….

The people also look different. They have darker skin than Vietnamese people and their noses are more squished. They look very Peruvian, we thought. It’s interesting how you can tell the difference between people from different Asian countries once you’ve lived here for a bit. We can tell who’s Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, etc. You wouldn’t think the differences would be so noticeable. But it’s the same in Western culture. I can tell who’s German, English, Italian, Finnish—they all look and dress differently.

The language is also completely different from Vietnamese. Their script alone is different. It’s a very beautiful-looking script that reminds me of Hindu or Arabic scripts. The spoken language also sounds very beautiful—softer with lots of rolling ‘r’s. Plus, there aren’t all those confusing tones to worry about…at least I don’t think so.

The food is also very different. There are a lot of curries, flavored rice, and fish. It’s good food, but a bit heavier than Vietnamese food. I tried various dishes and they were all good.

As for the countryside itself, everything is very flat. Tall, bare palms dot the plains and look very desert-like. It’s so dry and dusty there—at least in this season. The streets are covered in dust…and pot holes. The roads are terrible. They aren’t well maintained, I suppose because they can’t afford it.

Anyway, those are some of my main general observations. Now back to our trip itself. We stayed the first night in Phnom Penh. On our bus ride we met another twenty-something guy from the States. He was really cool and all alone so he tagged along with us when we got in town, found a hotel, and went to eat. Then at the restaurant where we ate, we met another guy who I had seen earlier that day at one of the bus stops or somewhere—he looked familiar. He was sitting alone so we invited him to eat with us as well. He later came with us and got a room at the same hotel we were staying at. This is probably one of my favorite aspects about traveling—meeting other travelers, talking to them, and hearing their stories. You can make friends so quickly with other people when you’re traveling because you’re all in the same boat—new in a foreign land without much of a clue as to what you’re doing there.

The next morning we took another six-hour bus ride to Siem Reap—the town near Angkor Wat. It’s a very touristy, Westernized town which turns into a little New Orleans at night. You don’t notice the poverty anymore in this town. There are fancy, expensive restaurants and stores everywhere. I have to admit, though, it was relaxing to be in a fake Western town. When we got there we found a hotel and got a late lunch. Then Caolan and I walked around town and as we were looking in a convenience store Ellyn came up to us (she had flown into Siem Reap with her parents that day). We had planned to meet them later for dinner, but she saw my bright pink pants and surprised us. The first night we all ate at a very nice Cambodian restaurant squished in a lane full of other Westernized restaurants.

The next day we went to Angkor Wat for the day. We paid a Tuk Tuk driver to take us around all day. A Tuk Tuk is literally a horseless carriage—a motorbike pulling a carriage. We saw quite a few different temples that day (again pictures are on Shutterfly). It would be good to go back one day and actually have a tour guide to tell us what the temples and sights mean. We were just going by our Lonely Planet guidebooks. Here’s a little info about the temples: The temples were built during the Khmer Empire from 802 to 1432 A.D. Siem Reap was originally the political and religious center of Cambodia and the Khmer Empire; however, the capital of the country has changed to Phnom Penh. It’s also interesting to note that Angkor Wat was a finalist in the Seven New Wonders of the World Vote and it has become the foundation for tourism in Cambodia. So much (American) money has been poured into the country because of this old relic. At the end of the day we went to the top of a tall hill where there is a temple called Phnom Bakheng. You literally have to climb to the top, but it’s worth it to see the sun set. There were hordes of tourists up there all taking photos of the sunset. I was more interested in taking pictures of the people taking pictures of the sunset than the actual sunset. It was a good day and we saw a lot. I only wish I could have taken an elephant to the top of that hill (you can do that). Next time I guess….

That evening, after changing and taking showers to get rid of all the dust, we went to eat at a restaurant which had a traditional Cambodian show and dance. Their costumes are so beautiful and their dances tell a story—everything is very elegant. I also had this fish in a saffron sauce that was so good; however, it took forever to get service, get our food, and it took a good 45 minutes to get our check! Afterwards we went to the Night Market where there were lots of nice souvenirs. I bought a few small things. On the way we ran into the same guy who we met on the bus going to Phnom Penh and talked for a few minutes. Small world. Then as I was walking with Kaidian and Caolan, all of a sudden a little street girl runs up to me and starts kissing me on one of my…well, in an inappropriate place and left as suddenly as she came with a good squeeze on the other. The others had kept walking and didn’t see, so I called out, “You guys, I think I was just violated by a small child.” It was amusing to say the least; I think I was mostly in shock….

The next day we left early for another six-hour bus ride back to Phnom Penh. Back in the capital city we had lunch at that Friends restaurant I mentioned, walked around town, made a pointless trip across town in a Tuk Tuk to the Russian Market which was closing early for TET, had drinks, and bought “happy” pizza, which wasn’t as happy as we’d hoped. We spent the next day—our full day in PP—sight seeing. First, we visited the Genocide Museum which was about the Khmer Rouge in the 70s. It was really interesting and terrible to see what essentially brainwashed and intimated people do to their own countrymen. I’d like to read up more on that. After that we went to the Killing Fields where people were transported to be killed and buried in mass graves. I won’t go into depth about what they did to them. Finally, for a little pick-us-up we went to the Royal Palace. The grounds are beautiful and all the temples and palaces have gold roofs. It looks very oriental. They still have a monarchy in Cambodia and every shop or restaurant has three standard pictures of the royal family. The city itself is very religious. It’s full of saffron, orange, and rust robed Buddhist monks walking around town with their bags, books, or yellow umbrellas.

It was a busy day, so we took a siesta, and later that evening met up with Ellyn and her parents. Tony and I wanted to check out the Foreign Correspondents' Club. One of the teachers at school told me about it. It’s where the journalists used to meet, I believe, during the war. So of course that intrigued me very much. And it did look like a perfect journalistic hovel—simple and straightforward. The food was good too, but a little expensive. I had pizza with potatoes and chicken on it. After dinner the others left but Caolan and I stayed to hear the live Cuban music. It was so good to hear good, live music and the band did a great job entertaining the small crowd of Westerners. The next morning as we were catching the bus back to HCMC, we saw the same band waiting at the bus stop as well. It turns out they were on the same minibus as us, but unfortunately they didn’t sing much. I was hoping they’d be a cooler Cuban version of the Partridge Family, but no. They slept most of the time. They seemed friendly though and we should have struck up a conversation with them, but I think all of us were exhausted.

So that was basically the end of our exciting adventure—sleeping soundly (or trying to) on the last stretch of our over 24-hour bus trip to and from Cambodia. We finally arrived back home around 6 p.m., got pizza, and relaxed. End of story.

P.S. If you're wondering who Elbus is, it's me. I have gained many nicknames here thanks to the Vietnamese mispronunciation of my name, among other things....

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Happy (Chinese Lunar) New Year!

2009-01-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Elsbeth writing…

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Happy New Year in Vietnamese…Happy Chinese Lunar New Year that is. There’s an excitement in the air as everyone prepares for the TET Holiday in just a few days. Many people have already begun celebrating. Red and gold decorations are going up everywhere and the town is beautiful at night with the glittering lights. Decorated potted trees with yellow and pink flowers sit in people’s homes, stores and restaurants. They remind me of our Christmas trees at home. Every hole in the wall is selling ornaments, lanterns, red envelopes for lucky money, and baskets of food. The kids are running around distractedly, asking for lucky money and holding onto whatever little knickknacks their parents or relatives give them. It must be a wonderful time of year for kids here. Very much like our Christmas, only with a more festive atmosphere than we have at home. It’s like a carnival. I don’t know how my senior beginner class will concentrate today on their mid-course test. I’m buying all my classes some cookies and candy, which will probably only make matters worse, and giving my TAs cards. Today I bought a little red lantern with gold lettering and traditional Asian children on it. I hung it up in our living room above the staircase.

Unfortunately (well, maybe fortunately) we’ll miss all the craziness of TET as we’re heading to Cambodia over our six day holiday. All the teachers at ILA are migrating there. They’ve constantly told us to get out of the country for TET because the traffic is insane and you basically can’t get anywhere. All the Vietnamese people are heading home for the holiday. So try to imagine hundreds of thousands of people driving even more like maniacs then usual on their motorbikes, drunk off their arse (as the Scots would say). And on New Years the streets will be as insane as they were over Christmas—if not more so, but I can’t imagine that. So Westward Ho (Chi Minh)!

As of now we’re planning on taking the crowded minibus into HCMC on Saturday morning, then taking a six-hour bus ride to Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) at 1 p.m. The next morning we’ll take another six-hour bus ride to Siem Reap where the Angkor Wat Temples are. We’ll spend a few days there and then head back to Phnom Penh where we’ll stay for a day and a half. Yeah, lots of traveling on the bus. I’ll bring a book and study Vietnamese. We’ll also probably play lots of card games and I Spy. I’m going with a small group of friends and we’re meeting Ellyn and her parents (who are coming tomorrow!) in Siem Reap. It should be a lot of fun. I’m excited to see someplace new and different.

Last Saturday Ellyn and I went to HCMC for the day to buy tickets for the bus to Cambodia. That turned out to be a long ordeal and we were run around in circles. So first we went to a Mailinh Bus Ticket place on Bui Vien. The lady there hardly spoke English and didn’t know what she was doing, so we were told to go to another ticket place a few blocks away. They gave us the tickets, but by then it was getting late and we decided to take the bus back to Vung Tau instead of the ferry. So they told us to go to one bus station. Our taxi driver was stupid and brought us to the wrong station (the one going to Dalat) and charged us $4 when the meter (which he turned off right away) said 22,000 D ($1.50). Then he didn’t give me all my change back, because he said that he didn’t have enough change. BS. I was out of it and didn’t realize I hadn’t gotten all my change so I ran back where he was still parked, yelled at him, and got a little more back. #@%*^/! Anyway, one guy there helped us get to the right station and told some motorbike guys to take us there. However, at this new station you could only buy the tickets for the bus to Vung Tau and not actually catch the bus there. You had to go to the main city bus station. So we caught a minibus from there and after maybe 40 minutes through the crazy traffic arrived at Thanh Pho Ben Xe (the city bus station). Then we had to wait for about an hour for our minibus back into Vung Tau. We were anticipating that the bus would break down or something as well, but it didn’t luckily. So we got back into town and took a taxi back home. By this time we were exhausted. I went out and got some seafood pizza from David’s, fruit shakes, and retrieved my helmet from Waltzing Matilda where we left it while we were in the city. Ellyn had brought her bike back to Waltzing that morning as we were racing to catch the next ferry, which as it turns out didn’t leave until later than we thought. So that was our whirlwind of a day. We did get to see Jenn for a bit at Highland Coffee. That was nice to catch up.

Sunday I just got some things done at home, but still not everything I wanted to as usual. This week has gone by fairly fast. Today I got up early to meet another teacher at the orphanage where I’m planning to volunteer for an hour every Monday morning after TET. Then later Tony, Kaidian, and I went to a bike shop. We’ve been looking for motorbikes for both Ellyn and I. Actually, Tony’s been doing most of the leg work (Thank You!). He’s been encouraging me to get a classic Honda Cub and the more he’s talked about it the better and more practical it sounds to get. So I finally found one that I liked. It has a 70 engine (even though it says 50), which gives it more power and it’s that classic Vietnamese green. I bought it for pretty cheap and will get it revamped and perhaps pimped out. We had some things fixed on it before we bought it, but there are still lots more that I have to do on it. I’m so excited, but it’ll take some getting used to. It’s different from my rented bike. First there isn’t an indicator to show you what gear you’re in, which I don’t like right now. It also has a kick start instead of an electric start. Plus it’s smaller and as of now sits a bit higher up than the handle bars.

But that’s not the end of the story. So as we were testing out and looking at the bike Kaidian was trying out my bike, because hers is automatic and mine is manual (manual is cheaper so she was thinking about getting that). We were looking at the bike and then all of a sudden I think Tony said something like “look out” and Kaidian crashes into me. I got burned pretty bad (again) and a little bruised, but I’m fine now. I’ve been burned before by my bike. The front panel was just smashed on the rented one. And somehow my indicator switches were knocked off my cub (we had just got those put on). I don’t know how they got knocked off of all things. Anyway, one of the guys at the bike shop came out with this strange milky/gooey concoction in a jam jar. It looked like it was milk/lotion with apricots and mold. I was a little apprehensive about him whatever it was on my wound, but I finally let him put some on my leg and it sort of soothed the burning. I swear my legs are going to be completely scared over by the time I leave Vietnam. Good stories to tell though. No worries, Kaidian! It’s fine and I still love you. Like I said I’ve done lots of dumb things on my motorbike as I’ve told everyone on this blog.

Oh! I didn’t mention that last night as we were leaving from a restaurant where we met some friends for a drink I discovered that the speedo wire on my bike was hanging out on the ground. We got one of the guys who worked there to fix it. I was going to offer him money, but he walked away right away, so I thought “Oh, that’s nice. It was out of the goodness of his heart.” But then one of the bar girls said I should pay him. I didn’t have small change and pulled out a 100,000 D. She said “Yes, that’s good.” Um, no. That’s waaay too much here. I only paid 20,000 D to have my speedometer fixed a couple weeks ago. Eventually he was paid 50,000 D. Don’t get me wrong there are many, many people here who are really kind and do things for you without asking for money, but then others look at us as rich Westerners…. Relatively we are. But it’s the fact that some people here try to scam us out of our money, because they think we’re gullible tourists and that bothers me.

Anyway, back to today. After I quickly got my bike and the registration card, we rushed home (my bike still works okay). Luckily I didn’t have to plan for my classes; still it was getting close to show time. The traffic is already turning into the insane TET traffic and I was getting frustrated with slow women taking up the entire lane, cars, trucks and taxis pushing their way through, people driving more recklessly than usual, and, in the midst of it all, dazed people walking in the middle of the road. Arrgh! I was thinking about everything and then one guy dressed in the traditional white paper funeral garment—which looks like a KKK outfit—sped by me looking absolutely ridiculous and I couldn’t help burst out laughing. I thought to myself: “Oh, life…what the hell?” And that’s the theme of this blog and my life here in Vietnam lately….

More stories to come I’m sure as we embark on our next exciting journey into another strange foreign land.

Ladies Night in Vung Tau! That's an oxi moron...

2009-01-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

Elsbeth writing…

Okay, I’m starting to get better at this. So this last week and weekend was somewhat uneventful. The week went by fast as usual. We played tennis two mornings, I had Vietnamese lessons on Tuesday and Thursday, and then a new female teacher who’s my age arrived on Friday. We had been talking with her and giving her advice via e-mail for the last month so it was great to finally meet her. She’s really nice and I think she’ll fit in well. She reminds me so much of you Ashley B. So we took her out to the same seafood restaurant I went to for my birthday. It was good.

On Friday night, Ellyn, Kaidian, and I went to this little pub in town where they had a good live band. Unfortunately we only caught the last song, but it looked like it would have been a lot of fun. They were these old Westerners and the bass player, I believe, was this classic old-school rocker. He looked like he had just stepped out of the Back to the Future car straight from the 80s. Apparently he was 62, but he was tan, had a bleach-blond Flock of Seagulls haircut, clothes that were two sizes too small, skinny and drunk as. It would have been awesome to see them in action.

Then on Saturday the guys were gone on trips or to HCMC, so we had the house to ourselves and took the opportunity to have a ladies night. We invited the other girls from work. There’s only…let’s see…ten women who work at ILA out of almost thirty teachers now. Five of us younger ones got together that night. We made a delicious dinner of (real) mashed potatoes, steak, salad, bread, wine and wine coolers. The other girls also brought cheese and crackers and wine. It was so nice to just eat and have a good, real conversation for once. We all agreed that we have to make this a more regular occurrence.

On Sunday, I got a call early to cover for a teacher, so I went in that afternoon and taught two classes. They weren’t that difficult to plan for, but my voice was going and the second class was the low-level senior kid who had failed other classes. They were sweet, but jeez sometimes you need more patience with them than with Jummies (3-6 year olds).

So, here’s the start of a new week. Not much planned, although we may go into HCMC next weekend to get our Cambodia trip sorted out. TET is coming up so quickly here….only two weeks!

Ringing in the New Year, Vietnamese Style

2009-01-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

Elsbeth writing…

Jeez, it’s been a month since I last updated the blog. I’m becoming worse at this than better…. New Year’s resolution: Update more frequently (especially so I don’t have a ton to write at once).

Let’s see, I left off at our little trip to HCMC. What exciting things have happened since then? Well, one weekend Ellyn’s Vietnamese friend, Tho, and his Australian friend took us down the coast to this resort they have invested in. It was a very peaceful, beautiful place near the ocean. There was a little tidal lake surrounded by sandbars there. Tho took us in a boat across the shallow lake to the beach. We walked along there for a bit and bought some freshly caught fish from a fisherwoman which we took back to the resort to be cooked up. Dang, every time I don’t have my camera is when I really need it. They gave us a delicious lunch with lots of fried food. We were so full by the end. It was nice to get out of town and see the countryside a little with our own Vietnamese guide.

The next weekend, one of our friends from the CELTA course visited us for the weekend. We had a good time. The first day we did a motorbike trip up the coast. We ended up getting lost trying to find a resort area to stay at for the night, so we decided to just drive back home. We discovered that we basically went in a big circle. That’s okay, it was good to see the countryside and the little towns, plus I love driving my motorbike. I thought I was getting pretty good and confident at driving my bike until I crashed it not once but twice that night after we had returned home and were going out for dinner and whatnot—both while being basically parked. The first time I didn’t realize that my bike wasn’t in neutral and the second time I was trying to get my bike over a rocky path and crashed into another parked motorbike. I got bruised and cut up from that second one, but I didn’t realize it until later. So that was a fantastic end to the night….

The next day we hung around Vung Tau and went to the Lang Run resort. It’s this beautiful, fancy resort beside the ocean. You can swim at the beach there for only 40,000 D (about $2.50). If anyone comes to visit me, I will take them there. It’s just so peaceful. There weren’t many other people on the beach or anywhere at the resort so we could really relax and have some space. The beach is clean and shallow. I swam for a bit, picked my way around the big rocks along the shore finding seashells for my Christmas tree, and then sprawled out on a rock for a couple hours to read. Afterwards we got drinks and then saw our friend off on the ferry.

Then last week was of course Christmas! Although, I have to admit, it did not feel like Christmas here at all. I talked with my family for a bit over Skype early that week and opened their package and Grandma and Grandpa’s Christmas ornament. I loved it all! Thank you! The ornament is beautiful and everything in the package is just what I wanted. It’s so nice to get Christmas presents so far from home. Plus, they opened their presents then too, so it felt more like I was actually home for Christmas. Again, Skype is AMAZING!

We weren’t in town for Christmas. Ellyn, Kaidian, Tony, and I went mainly to Hoi An for Christmas. On Christmas Eve we took the ferry into HCMC where we spent the day. Some work friends joined us and we went around the city. We first found a hotel along Bui Vien and then had some brunch. Afterwards, we took a taxi to the Zoo and botanical gardens where we stayed for a bit. Then we decided to wander back and find a café to get drinks; however, we didn’t have much luck for a long time and ended up going to this fancy basement restaurant. After that we went to the Ben Thanh market and around there. After freshening up at the hotel we walked to Dong Khoi and had ate at a German restaurant. They had these complimentary bags of Christmas things on the tables (e.g. Santa hats, whistles, masks, etc.), so we had fun with those. It was also great to eat some real German food again. The bread was sooo good and fresh.

The lights in the city were like nothing I had ever seen before. There were so many. I love the city at Christmas and they really went all out. Everyone was in the streets walking around and looking at them. We joined them and made our way to the same ice cream place we went to on our last visit. Kaidian and I bought devil horns. Is that a bit blasphemous to buy blue light up devil horns on Christmas Eve? Well, it was all in good fun with the festivities. On our way back the streets were five times more crowded and we got stuck in a massive motorbike traffic jam. Apparently, Vietnam had just won one of their Championship games in football. Everyone was carrying flags, honking their horns, banging on pans, and cheering. The noise was deafening at times. We slowly but eventually picked our way through the crowd and made our way back through the madness. It was definitely an experience.

Then on Christmas morning we flew to Danang (in central Vietnam) and immediately took a taxi to Hoi An, which is about 20 minutes away. Hoi An is this beautiful, little traditional Vietnamese town with lots of old Vietnamese and French-style buildings. If I could give only one word to describe the town I’d say it’s very colorful. The town is based on tourism (there are so many Westerners there) and subsequently there are heaps of shops selling brightly colored cloth lanterns, linens, cheap souvenirs, and whatnot. The main industry there, however, is tailoring. Tailor shops line all the streets and you can have anything made in 24 hours from dresses and suits to shoes. The choice is overwhelming. We just walked around for the first day and a half saying “oh, that’s nice,” “I want that,” “how would that look on me?” Needless to say, we all added to our wardrobes. I had some bronze strap sandals, a gray peacoat, a purple embroidered skirt, and a blue dress made. I love the coat and shoes, but the skirt didn’t have a lining and I thought at the time I wouldn’t need it. As for the dress it’s hideous. It looks like a cafeteria lady’s or nurse’s dress. Good for Halloween, I guess. I wanted something for work, but it didn’t come out how I thought it would. I should have also had it altered at the time, but I didn’t because I thought it would be okay…. I brought those two things and a few more of my clothes into a tailor here today. Hopefully they’ll come out somewhat more wearable. We’ll see…. I’m taking you to Hoi An, mom. You’d love it there and by then I’ll have a better idea of what I want to have tailored.

Other than shopping we bought Old Town Tickets and visited many of the historical places in the town. It was interesting to see some of the old houses, temples, museums, etc. We went to one old traditional wooden house and had a little tour. Apparently the house floods every year from the river right across the road, but it’s amazing how sturdy it is. The river runs through the town and when we were there it was raining and cold the whole time. The river even started flooding at one point while we were eating at a riverside restaurant. In a sense it was a nice change from the hot, dry climate back home, but it got to me after a bit. My legs were constantly splattered with dirt, I was sick of wearing my tattered cheap poncho, and I developed some uncomfortable rashes and blisters on my feet from my constantly wet sandals. To top things off we stayed Christmas night in a terrible hotel. There was a fuzzy mass of mold growing on the wall, a cockroach, and everything was dirty and damp. What a way to spend Christmas night? The next day we moved to a nicer, spendier hotel, which was well worth the extra splurge. Our room was great, with a balcony that had French wooden doors, and the beds were so comfy. We also got massages there one day.

Anyway, one day we took a tour to these ruins about an hour outside town. They were Angkor Wat style, I thought, and surrounded by mountains. It was really cool to see them, but again it was pouring and our tour guide, who we nicknamed Moley, because he kept popping up and disappearing again like a mole in one of those pound the mole games. We got lost and eventually found our way back. Then we took the bus to a boat which we took back into Hoi An. We had a good Vegetarian meal on the boat and stopped at a small island town that’s known for its wood-making.

Let’s see, what else did we do in Hoi An? We mainly just bummed around and relaxed. We ate some good Hoianian food, including White Rose (kind of like wontons) and Cau Lau which is a noodle dish that has to be made with water from the town well. Oh, you can take cooking lessons and learn how to make Cau Lau at almost any restaurant there, mom, so we’ll have to do that, too.

Then on Sunday, our last day, we went to Danang and spent the day bumming around there. I didn’t care for the city too much. It was ugly, spaced out, and too ominously quiet, but that’s how I felt when I first came to Vung Tau (aside from the ugly part). For a bit we were thinking of going to Danang, but I think I’d much rather go to Hanoi when our six months is up in April. That’s what we pretty much decided on from the start of our contract anyway. We went to the beach and sat on some chairs for awhile. After a bit I decided to walk down the beach and discovered that they were dumping sewage into the sea! So that turned me off to even thinking about swimming at the beach.

That night we watched the final championship football game on TV. Vietnam was playing Thailand and in the last minute they scored a goal and won the game. We were in our hotel room at the time and a massive uproar echoed through the halls. After spending nearly 20 minutes trying to find the keys we went outside to watch everyone waving their flags and riding their motorbikes through the streets. They were making a big circle around the town. It was a crazy sight to see.

The next morning we went to catch our plane and discovered that the time had been misread and we missed our flight. So we waited at the airport until noon, caught the next flight, went immediately to catch the next ferry, made it back to Vung Tau, and raced into work. Luckily I had all my lessons planned and ready to go. So that was the hecktic end to our Christmas break. I have definitely never had a Christmas like it. Although I missed being at home, it was a good change.

A few days later we had two days off for New Years, so a big group of us teachers decided to go to Binh Chau, which is about three hours up the coast (same direction we went the last two times). We met for breakfast in the morning and drove our motorbikes up. We found a hotel not far from the beach and spent an hour there. Then we drove to Binh Chau, which is a hot springs place with crocodiles and little pools to boil eggs in (a.k.a. a Vietnamese tourist attraction). We saw the crocs who weren’t doing much…mainly sleeping. Kaidian, however, tried to wake them up by throwing rocks at them :-). Then we got shriveled up in the warm pools for a couple hours. Later I ate crocodile meat at the restaurant there, which had terrible service. The waiters could not have been more absent minded and illogical. The croc meat, however, was actually really good. Would it surprise anyone if I said it tasted like chicken? Then we drove home in the dark, went out to the beach one more time, and brought in the New Year with our hotel owners and the other guests. It was very nice. They had good Vietnamese food and played a New Year’s DVD with Vietnamese New Year’s songs, it was great. We also shared a bottle of Champagne with everyone. Again, we celebrated the New Year’s in a way I had never done before. It was a nice change, but I still miss the good old times at home.

This weekend we just wanted to chill after traveling during our free time for the last several weeks. I ran a bunch of errands and today we experienced our first Vietnamese wedding reception. Wow, let me reiterate that they really go all out for celebrations (however, we were told that they only last for two hours). There were decorations galore to the point of sheer tackiness. It was a cross between Western weddings and Asian traditions. They had a little show where the wedding couple and their parents came onto the stage and were presented to the crowd while firecrackers of confetti were shot off. We all exchanged questioning looks when the parents walked on stage to the tune of “I come from Alabama with a banjo in my hand.” A group of male and female attendants dressed in Renaissance attire followed the wedding couple. The male attendants carried cakes and bottles of champagne. The wedding couple lit the candles on the cakes, cut them, and then poured champagne on a stack of glasses. They also had a Chinese dragon show and invited the kids to come up and receive lucky money or something similar. Then we ate a five course lunch and like clockwork everyone suddenly cleared out of the ballroom in two hours. No dancing or mingling outside of their separate tables, aside from the men constantly cheering to “Mot, hei, ba, yo!” (one, two, three, yo!). I had a good time and it’s great to have had that experience. Very different from our all-night wedding receptions at home.

So, it’s back to work tomorrow. Fortunately, we’ll have another break in a few weeks with the Tet Holiday. Ellyn’s parents are coming and I’m hoping to get out of the country and go somewhere different. Perhaps Cambodia. We’ll see.

It's Christmas Time in the City--Not Your American City That's for Sure

2008-12-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

Elsbeth writing…

Okay, time for another update! Let’s see. Much has happened and I’ve been pretty busy these last couple weeks teaching, taking Vietnamese lessons, hanging out with people, and doing whatever else comes my way. It’s nice to finally, truly be settled in.

I did finally get my motorbike. I’ve had it for about two weeks now and it’s working as well as can be expected. I’m getting much more confident driving it. Except I, um, crashed it the other week. Ellyn, Tony (one of my roommates), and I were driving to the lap pool. I was trying to turn in front of a guy driving fast and I miscalculated how quickly and sharply I could turn, so I ran into two parked motorbikes. Oops. The people were pretty good about it and sent me on my way. But one of the older men followed me. I don’t know if it was to see if I was alright or what, but then I stopped to call my friends because I lost them—I told him this—and he drove off. Then as I was pulling into the pool another guy from the accident came and said his bike was damaged. He asked for 150,000 dong (about $8). I didn’t really look to see the damage and I already felt bad, so I just gave him the money. This is how accidents are sorted out here in Vietnam. You don’t want to call the police because they’re corrupt and in line with the mafia. So you just negotiate the cost of damage on the spot. No insurance companies involved. I wasn’t hurt or anything, just a bit shook up, but I tried not to make it a big deal of it. Anyway, I think that accident gave me a perspective on driving here. I’m much more cautious of my surroundings—you really have to be on your toes at all times here because there are crazy things happening around you at every moment. It’s nerve-racking, but I’ve grown to love driving my bike. Oh, I miss my baby back home now, too.

Thanksgiving was interesting to say the least. We had the most random Thanksgiving dinner at one of the ex-pat restaurants in town: mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, bread, pizza, rice, and two chicken breasts. We shared it family-style with some friends from work after a hilarious, to-the-point prayer by Jeff. After work that evening I talked over Skype with the family. Eli had Skype on his new laptop, so he gave me a tour of the house since I left. He showed me some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and sat me down on the kitchen table while mom cooked dinner. The only sad part was that I couldn’t eat the food. Mom kept showing me everything she was making while I sat starving on the other side of the world. Nevertheless my Thanksgiving was complete after that three-hour long conversation.

Last weekend we went to HCMC for two days. It was like returning home to see some good, old friends. Surprisingly, it was a refreshing change from living in that small, quiet town. The opposite of what we thought a month and a half ago. We took the bus in on Saturday morning around 7:45. It didn't seem like the bus driver had his route mapped out very well because we keep backtracking. We went past ILA about three or four times. In the city we went to one of the fanciest hotels in town to get information for the 5k race the others were going to compete in on Sunday. Then we went to Bui Vien for lunch at one of our usual restaurants. We ate Western food all weekend. That was my goal--no Vietnamese food. It was so good, but we aren't used to that heavy, fatty food anymore :-). That day we also went to the Ben Thanh market. It's this big market near Bui Vien selling souvenirs, seafood, and cloth. I bought a new purse/bag, because mine was literally falling apart. The seams were going to split and one of the straps had already broken…. I bargained and got relatively good deals on everything. Then we went to dinner on Dong Khoi, which is the most upscale, expensive street in town. We met several of our old CELTA buddies for dinner at the same cute French restaurant I ate at before with Jenn and Alison. It was so nice to see them again.

Everything was also decorated for Christmas and for the first time this year, I actually felt in a Christmasy mood. I love being in a city during Christmas time and it reminded me of the Cities back home :-). On Sunday we got up early and went out to the HCMC suburbia. It's still vastly being developed, but nevertheless it feels like suburbia at home. Not like Vietnam. That's were the Terry Fox Run was held. It was a totally organized, Western affair in a Western area. It was so refreshing to have some order in life for a brief hour. The race ended up being 4k instead of 5k. I wish I had run, but I didn't really have any running clothes or my shoes along, so I couldn't. I should get up early to go running one of these days. It's nice to be able to go to the lap pool though. Nobody else has ever been there when we've gone there in the mornings, so that's nice.

Anyway, Kristoff obviously got first place in the race. I got this great picture of Ellyn and Steve as they sprinted towards the finish. Steve was joking that he would stay a step ahead of Ellyn the whole way and he was just a step ahead of her at the finish line. In his words: hilarious. We went to lunch at a restaurant along our old little alley where the Kim Hotel is. I had baked mac and cheese! Yum. Then we went to get body massages…. Ha. That was an interesting hour and a half. So we’re in this dark room with all guys (Ellyn and I were the only girls), being massaged by two young Vietnamese men. I tried to be relaxed but I couldn’t stop laughing the entire time, especially when they all started smacking our legs. It sounded like the rain game we played in Girl Scouts—a fleshy musical. The most awkward part, though, was when they pulled down our pants and gave us a bum massage. All I was thinking was “please nobody get up.” I couldn’t help bursting out laughing when he had me bend backwards over his knees. Haha, that was the most awkward position and I knew the others were watching.

After that experience we met Alison at our old hang out: Chi's cafe also along our Alley and had drinks. We also walked down the street and talked to a tour guide about a trip to Dalat for Christmas. That's what we're thinking of now. Leaving maybe on Christmas eve and spending the day in HCMC. Then taking the overnight bus to Dalat where we'd stay for several days. Later we went to the Refinery, which is this beautiful French restaurant that used to be the largest Opium factory in HCMC, or maybe Vietnam. We had drinks there and went to a nice Mexican restaurant near Dong Khoi. I had a burrito, but it was too small and expensive. Not quite as good as Chipotle. Then we went to Joe and Katie's house where they were hosting a rooftop terrace party. The next morning we got up and took the ferry back home in the morning. So that was our exciting weekend. Ahh, we should get out more often, but the costs add up….

This weekend I’m hoping to go shopping for clothes and Christmas decorations. There are three new teachers here as well and they are all very nice. It’s good to have some more friends to hang out with. Well, I think that’s enough of an update for now. I’ll post pictures of our house and my motorbike soon as well. Until then, I hope all is well at home as the snow starts falling and you prepare for the Christmas season!

Snow Day in Vietnam!? Cyclone Day rather...

2008-11-19T19:26:00.000-08:00

Elsbeth writing…

Yet again, it’s been a long time since I last posted an update and much has happened, so grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable, and be prepared for a long blog.

I like the idea one of my CELTA groupies had for her blog. So here’s the short version first if you are in a hurry (which I know many of you usually are): We moved into our new house last Friday, I’m renting a motorbike today, and Monday we had a “snow day” because we were supposed to get a Cyclone, which never came.

Now here’s the long, overly-detailed version. Where to start? We’ll go in chronological order. Many of you probably already know that Ellyn was mugged over a week ago—last Sunday. It was pretty crap that it happened to her, but we can be thankful that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. She was already laughing about it within a few hours.

Last week was another busy week. We started our Vietnamese class. It was good, but the pronunciation is so difficult. You have to remember what all the accents mean and get them exactly right in order to be even slightly comprehensible with a native speaker. It does put your own English teaching into perspective, though.

We also went to the orphanage in Vung Tau for the first time last week. It was a good experience. I was asked if I could teach adult classes there (to the staff and older kids) for an hour each Saturday. I’m thinking about it, but I’ll do something there for sure. We’ll see. The kids were really sweet and after taking a tour of the facility we tutored them for an hour in English. Then we took them next door to a Vietnamese café/shop. The kids got pop and we had Vietnamese coffee. It comes with this little filter contraption which is placed over your cup. You wait a little bit for the coffee to filter through and then pour it into a cup of ice for iced coffee. Although I’m not big on coffee, it’s pretty good. I know you’d love it, mom and dad :-). It was a clean little shop, a nice place to sit, but obviously poorer as many of the shops here are. The kids seemed to have a good relationship with the friendly, parental owners.

On Thursday we had our second day of football at the beach. It was a lot of fun. Although playing with a bunch of big guys—and me obviously being small—you can’t walk away with out a few scraps, bruises, and painfully stubbed toes. We also went swimming, but the waves were freakishly high and dirty. It was high tide and I didn’t want to venture out very far. I could just feel the rip tide tugging me at waist deep. I banged my head anyway trying to body board.

Then we moved into our new home—an actual house this time—on Friday. There were three people living here already—two guys and a lady, all teachers at ILA. She moved out the other day and we moved up to her bedroom, which is quite nice. It’s spacious, has nice furniture, there’s a balcony, and windows that let in lots of light. The best part, however, is the spa/sauna/shower in the bathroom. I have to admit it was a bit intimidating trying to figure this thing out, but I think I’ll like it. It’s way fancier than anything I’ve ever had at home, although I still really miss our good-old-fashioned sauna. The two guys are still here. They’re really nice, but one is planning to leave at the end of the month (maybe?), so one of us will take his room. It should be a good place to live. I’m glad we are FINALLY settled in.

This weekend wasn’t super eventful. Now that we have some money Ellyn and I went shopping. She rented a motorbike on Saturday. Today I’m finally going in to rent a motorbike. I’ve looked around a bit and the one I was looking at wasn’t available a few days ago. Anyway, we’re contemplating just buying bikes and then selling them later…there’s pros and cons to that though. I can’t wait to get my own bike and be more independent. Steve taught me to drive to on Sunday. It’s pretty nerve-raking driving with the traffic here in Vung Tau. I also still need to get coordinated with all the new shifts and levers, but hopefully I’ll get used to it soon. The drivers here are crazy. I thought the traffic was nuts in HCMC, but it’s worse here because not only are they faster, they’re lazier drivers.

Ellyn and I also bought some heavy-duty, Space Balls-style helmets. We also bought cell phones. Sad, I was enjoying my freedom without a phone attached to me wherever I went (not that I ever talked on it much), but it’s good to have one now. We also got into a very maternal phase this weekend. We cleaned up the place a bit, threw the filthy rags which lined the floor in a corner and replaced them with new rag rugs, bought garbage cans, towels, and did laundry.

Then we had a “snow day” in Vietnam on Monday because there was supposed to be a cyclone heading our way. However, it never even reached us and the day was only pleasantly overcast. We were already at school when we got the news. I was quickly trying to prepare lessons and contemplating only going to the first hour of Vietnamese lessons, so it was a fantastic relief. Wohoo, three-day weekend! They were really battening down the hatches in the Co-op Mart across the street when we went in to get a few things. They were putting colorful tarps over all the cases and sections of the store. I’m not sure if it was because of the cyclone or renovation. We ended up bumming around that night. We went to Tommy’s Bar and had nachos. Yum. It was a pretty long, lazy weekend in Vung Tau as usual.

So now it’s almost the weekend again. Today I’m gearing up for another game of beach football. I think I’ll wear shoes this time….

Stupid Foreigner turns to Begging

2008-11-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

Ellyn Writing...
Today I became a beggar when I discovered my poor motorbike gas gauge had drastically dropped to E and would not continue driving for me. Yes, I have gotten a motorbike, which I am so happy with. This last weekend was a very productive weekend. After moving into a house with two fellow teachers, one guy from Belgium, Kristoff, and the other from Scotland, Tony, I decided it was time to make a move and get myself a motorbike for a month and see how I liked it. I figure this may keep away the muggers because I can drive faster so Steve took me out to discover the art of driving a motorbike. After driving in a few circles I went to the rental place and rented a motorbike. My first stop after buying my new motorbike was a helmet shop. With myself driving, I decided I needed a hardcore helmet. Apparently, Elsbeth also thought this was a necessary action so we both now have Star Wars looking helmets to keep us safe. After a few days of driving anywhere and everywhere around town, I have become much more comfortable driving. I have become a pro Vietnamese driver. In fact I have become such a comfortable drive that I have become Vietnamese. While a fellow MInnesotan lady teacher (yes i say MInnesotan! very bizarre! there are several Minnesotans here!) and Elsbeth and I were searching for a place to get a pedicure, we had 3 of us on the motorbike. When a man warned us that we were going to get in trouble with the police because we had to many people on the bike, I explained to him that merely 2 minutes ago we had passed at least 6 police officers on bikes and we had had 3 people on the bike and we were driving on the wrong side of the road. They don't care...it's the Vietnamese way.

But back to my gas gauge. Seeing as I was on a short trip back home from school to pick up some music before work this afternoon, I didn't think I would need any money (bad decision number one). As I got about half way home my bike started sputtering and I start thinking something must be extremely wrong with my bike. But instead I found that I had not looked at my gas gauge for about a day (bad decision number 2). So there I am sitting on the side of a pretty quiet road trying to figure out my next move. As a young teen couple drives past I give them a pathetic sad look and they figure I'm in trouble. They pull up beside me and I signal to them that I am completely out of gas. The girl then jumps on my bike and I jump on the back of their bike behind the guy. They then push my bike to a gas station about 5 blocks away.
This is a typical Vietnamese way of doing things. One motorbike will push another bike. This is done by the driver of the bike placing his left foot on the bike ahead (normally a pedal bike) and pushing it along nice and easily. I have done this numerous times before, in fact I had been a guilty member of the towing club when I had had only my pedal bike to get around. A couple teachers had pushed my around while I was on my bike., but I had not seen this done with another motorbike, but the Vietnamese are very skillful with these bikes (even though we almost got into an accident on the way to the station. When I got to the gas station I thanked these very helpful Vietnamese friends and waved goodbye.
Now for my next move. First I tried to talk to the attendants and see if they will give me gas if I come back, this was extremely ineffective and I decide its time to try something else. So I ask a woman if she speaks English and she say yes and I explain my situation. I say I can pay her back if she gets me enough gas to get home and back but she says no she will just pay for it. No problem! So off I was on my way home with another bizarre experience. This one, however, I do have to admit was completely my fault and I shall keep a better eye on my gas from now on. And I feel complete love for the Vietnamese helpful behavior after this. Or perhaps I should quit and take up begging because it seams I have a knack for it.

An Ode to a great purse

2008-11-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

Ellyn writing....
Malta, Caribbean, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Vietnam, and multiple US cities...My little black Brazilian purse has traveled with me since 2005 when I bought it on my first trip out of the country to Brazil. It has seen happy times and sad times but all in all it has been an amazing journey. I am now mourning the loss of a wonderful purse that has stood by me through thick and thin, which has happily carried many items and stayed hidden enough as to where no one would bother trying to take it. It was small and a perfect size to fend off all the thieves. I could hold it close by my side and felt safe yet adequately prepared with enough items to carry me through the day. The rein of my little black Brazilian purse ended ever so suddenly Sunday November 9, 2008 at approximately 14:00 (broad daylight). I was driving my bike back from looking at a house for possible rent when two men on a motorbike drove up to me and slowed down. Now this is not an unusually occurrence as a foreign western woman (people slow down and stare all the time) so I really thought nothing of it. When they moved in really close I knew what was going on but by that time it was two late to do anything about it. The man on the back of the bike grabbed onto my purse which was hooked around me and tried to yank it away. For a moment I was being dragged along by their motorbike because my dependable purse was holding on stubbornly. Finally, the purse broke free as the strap broke. My lovely Vietnamese friends sped off into the distance leaving me on the ground yelling to get attention of the passerbys. A man with his son and wife on the back of his motorbike slowed and told me it was too late, they were long gone and then mumbled something about a phone. He left when I stumbled back onto my bike which was then completely out of alignment from the fall. Out of the several other witnesses no one made a move to help out so I figured I was on my own. I hurried back to the hotel to close my 3 credit card accounts of which I had stupidly kept in my purse. When I reached the hotel I tried to tell the front desk workers what had happened but they sat me down trying to clean up my bloody mess, their English would not allow them to help me in anyway so rather that try to explain to then what happened I came up to my room and got my parents to close my American accounts. My Vietnamese account would be left open until the beginning of the next day because they are not open on Sundays. The system is very convenient for people who need to take money out, however, closing your account is entirely impossible on Sundays. So here I am two days later without my trusty purse which I had entrusted more than it was worthy. Along with my favorite purse went my camera, my phone, 800,000 d/V which is $50 (which leaves me with no accessible money to my name until I figure out the bank situation), all of my credit cards, and a pack of American gum. Unfortunately what came with it were some great scrapes and bruises (love the battle wounds), a depleted trust of Vietnamese people, an awareness of my vulnerability, a bike which no longer works properly, a sadness with the realization that the scenic route I love to run through every day is not the safest area to be in. Still I have to take into account that my losses were minimal. My scrapes with quickly heal, I did not have my passport in my purse (I had given it to ILA for a visa renewal), I had needed a new camera anyway (I had dropped it in a bucket of paint so while it still worked I had to manually pry the lens open before taking pictures). I had wanted to bike through Vietnam but as this type of crime seams to be a normal occurrence across the country, I may want to chose a different country for my long bike trip. Being a foreign white woman means I have a bulls-eye painted right on my back for crimes like these. I shall be much more careful in the future, while this experience makes for an interesting story, I think once is enough for me! My little black purse that I loved so much will live on in my heart forever, but I must move on. Someday maybe I can find another purse that can live up to its greatness. Goodbye forever my faithful purse!

Ignore the awkwardness of the picture but this is me, my good friend Madalyn, and my purse in Malta

HaPPy hALloWeEN! After a long week...

2008-11-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing...

Yet again, it’s been a long time since I’ve written an update for this blog. This last week as been absolutely crazy and a lot has happened. First, my birthday was last Sunday! It was a fantastic day celebrated Vietnamese style. I had the day off of work (we had just finished working 10 days in a row and needed a break). We were pretty lazy—sleeping in late, watching TV, and generally being bums. In the evening we went to Pineapple Beach, which is at the foot of the bluff where the Jesus statue is. It’s behind a café and down the hill. It’s our favorite secluded beach. There are rocks to climb on, big waves, and few people. We played Frisbee and I read for a bit. Afterwards we went to a nice seafood restaurant. I wanted a change in venue so we went in the opposite direction than we usually go when looking for a restaurant. We had a traditional Vietnamese hotpot dinner. A metal pot is placed over a small burner on your table. In the pot they cook a stew right there. We had mixed seafood with fresh vegetables. It also comes with big bowls of rice noodles, rice, and vegetables. It was delicious. After dinner we went back to the hotel, had cake, and watched the second half of Harry Potter on TV. Ellyn bought a fancy cake for my birthday with roses and everything. It was so good. There were four of us so we had a quarter each of this huge cake. I also got a lot of birthday wishes and it was great to talk to my parents and Sarah over Skype. Overall it was a great day.

Also later that week I received a package from my parents at ILA. Thanks heaps by the way! I knew they were sending me some things we needed, but they also put in some b-day presents. A couple used books—the first Twilight series book and a biography about L.M. Montgomery. I was so excited. So now I have even more to read. I also got a beautiful old fashioned necklace and earrings that my mom bought from an estate sale. Apparently the previous owner had traveled and collected jewelry from all over the world. So typical of our family to buy used things. It was a little piece of home. Ellyn also got a package from her parents today. It’s always nice to get mail, but it’s ten times better when you’re halfway around the world.

Those were some of the main highlights of my week. The rest of the week was super busy. We had meetings and workshops all week. Monday my boss observed one of my classes as the first observation for new teachers. I also started a new seniors class (middle school age). So now I have three seniors classes and one adult class. I didn’t particularly want the adult class, but they’ve invited me out for coffee and have offered me rides home so they seem pretty nice. Still, it’s very difficult to teach them because they’re beginners. It’s so hard to explain a concept, give directions, or get them to do something interactive. I’m glad I have mostly seniors classes, since that was the age I originally wanted to teach in Minnesota. They’re good kids.

We also had to spend our Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at the hospital getting health checks for our work permits. That was an experience to say the least. Ellyn’s writing a blog about that, too. On the first day we had our blood drawn and then they gave us these tiny test tubes and pointed to the bathrooms. I just started laughing and laughing the entire time. Not only did we have to somehow use these tiny tubes, but there were dirty squat toilets. Then we had to carry them back in plain sight of our co-workers (there were five of us—two guys and three girls) and put them in this rack in the open air where everyone was walking by. How embarrassing. But that was just the start. The next day wasn’t so funny for us three ladies and we were pretty upset with ILA. Ellyn can tell you more about that…. Anyway, complain all you want about healthcare in the states, but it really makes you thankful for the quality of care we have back home.

Then on Thursday morning we had two friends—a couple our age—from our CELTA class visit us. They work at ILA in HCMC and needed a break by the beach. It was great to have them over, although I didn’t see them until later that evening. I had to plan my lessons and get books for my new class. We met for dinner on All Night Street (as it’s dubbed, even though it’s not really open all night—late, though, for Vietnamese people). We usually eat somewhere on this street every day after work. There’s a lot of cheap Vietnamese food. Can you believe that I haven’t had potatoes for two weeks now?! Crazy. After dinner we went to the Monte Carlo Casino in town. We got free beers (because we look like rich Westerners) in exchange for gambling. I just exchanged 100,000 (about $5) into USD, but didn’t spend anything. I don’t care for that much, plus I’m still dirt poor. Then they slept overnight in our hotel room, since we have two queen-size beds and we introduced them to the world of quality late-night movies on cable….

Yes, that’s our new thing in this small town. Every night after work we flip on the TV to see what great, new movie is on the Star Movies or Cinemax Channels. We’ve seen some doozies. Let’s see… "Ants on a Plane" as we call it (really, “Destination: Infestation”) where these vicious ants attack people on a plane. I think that’s where they got the idea for “Snakes on a Plane.” Then there was “Tremors” with the sand monsters who try to eat Kevin Bacon in the desert. That night we watched a “scary” movie called “Storm Warning.” There was a storm, but I don’t recall hearing a warning. It was just a couple crazy Aussie guys trying to kill this couple who trespass on their land.

Anyway, the next morning we went to Belly’s and had a real American breakfast—French toast, bacon, orange juice, and an omelet with cheese. So good. We played cards and later saw them off on the ferry. It’s so nice to have visitors.

Anyway, speaking of scary things, on Halloween we had a special scare for the students. In both my classes I talked to them about Halloween, showed them pictures, and for my seniors I had them say “Trick-or-Treat” to get candy. Then during break time all of a sudden they shut off the lights and some of the teachers, who wore scary costumes, came up and freaked out the kids. And they were really freaking out, even the TAs and the girls in my adult class were scared. I thought it was kind of hazardous to have it pitch black and have kids running all over. Someone also accidentally tipped over a bucket of water so the floor was all slippery. I’m surprised no one got hurt. But that’s Vietnam for you. It’s the law for adults to wear helmets when riding a motorbike, but not kids under 12. They weld without face masks. They’re pretty lax about safety.

So that’s an update for now on our lives here. Jeez, yet another long blog.

The Birthday Girl

2008-10-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELSBETH!!!

Today (Sunday) is Elsbeth's birthday! Wish her a happy birthday! Shall be a great day! We are off to the beach to celebrate this glorious day when Elsbeth was born! :)

How to Maneuver through Vietnamese Roads...method to the madness

2008-10-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ellyn Writing...

A couple weeks ago I bought a little pink bicycle so I could get around Vung Tau more quickly. I didn't want to make the dive and buy a motorbike quite yet because it is more expensive and I would rather get a bit of exercise while getting around town (Vung Tau is pretty small and easy to get around on bike). So on my little pink bicycle I have had the opportunity to learn the workings of traffic in Vietnam, granted it is a bit different than Ho Chi Mihn City or Hanoi, but the idea is the same.

Guidelines while driving in Vietnam:
1. First and foremost the directions are the same as in the US...drive on the right side of the road, however there are several exceptions to this...
a. you are just starting up and need to get onto the right hand side
b. you are taking a left (simple merge all the way over to the left and take a left turn, then when its most convenient, move back over to the right side of the road
c. if its more convenient to drive on the left side of the road because you are just going up the street a little ways
2. When driving on the wrong side (left) of the road you must be all the way over to the left side never have a bike in between you and the curb.
3. You must have a horn or a bell on your bike and you must use it or you will be considered impolite (this is one I do not adhere to because I have yet to buy a bell for my bike.
4. Learn the tones of the different horn signals...different tones and lengths all have different meanings. Most important one to pay attention to is the loud, never ending horn, this one means that the driver will not move and will most likely run you over if you do not get out of the way
5. While on a bicycle do not wear a skirt, this may sound fairly self-explanatory but when your late to work its just easier to wear the skirt...however, this is only distraction to you and other drivers.
6. When you come to a stop light
a. stop if its red
b. go if its green
unless....its night just honk and go through
7. When coming to an intersection honk and go through...if you don't want to slow down at all for the intersection, simply honk louder and longer
8. Helmets are the law for motorbikes, unless you are 14 years of age or younger. yep..thats right don't worry about the kids, no need for helmets.
9. Bikes stay on the far right, then motorbikes to their left and then cars to their left.
10. Slower drivers move to the right.
11. If you are a foreigner you must concentrate all of your attention on the road, only Vietnamese can use their phones on the road.
12. Whenever crossing a one way always look both ways there are probably people coming from both ways.
13. Never hesitate
15. All rules are more like guidelines, just always pay attention and as a foreigner realize that you are NEVER a better driver than a Vietnamese person

How to get fed (guide for Vietnamese...a new way to beg)

2008-10-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

Ellyn writing...
1. Find a clueless foreigner who obviously speaks no Vietnamese
2. Sit down across from her and smile
3. Say something in Vietnamese and smile (she will have no idea what you said so you can say anything,..just has to sounds like Vietnamese.
4. Stare at her while she eats and every once and a while when she looks up and you smile (she will return the smile because she wants to try to be friendly).
5. Point to her food and gesture to her that she needs more greens in her soup (she might not need more but this will just further confuse her).
6. Point at her food and the kitchen a lot
7. Keep speaking Vietnamese (say anything and everything just to confuse her).
8. Smile
9. Order yourself what she is having
10. Eat and smile
11. When she is done eating point to your food and her food and gesture towards the kitchen
12. Finally gesture at both dishes and ask for 40,000 dong which she can finally deduce that you want her to pay for both meals (she will be happy to pay for the meal and will love to tell the story in the future!)

Bummin' and Hangin' with the Locals

2008-10-13T00:22:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing...

Here we are in Vung Tau as you know. We’ve officially been here one week and are antsy waiting to start work. Vung Tau is beautiful and relaxing, but too relaxing for me right now. I need a schedule. On Wednesday we started our inductions; however, our manager had to go to HCMC on Thursday and Friday so we don’t have our second day until Monday. We’re also having troubles with our internet, which makes it extra frustrating. As I’m typing this as we’re sitting in a food court with no power outlets, before this we were in a café, and the internet barely works in either place. Don’t even ask about the WiFi in our hotel. We’ve asked them time and again for them to fix it, but no results. So we’ll see when I can actually post this blog.

All week we’ve been exploring. We’ve been scouting around for other hotels that have working WiFi, cheap street restaurants, and basic amenities. There’s no shortage of the amenities here which is a good thing. Steve showed us two amazing grocery stores that have American/Western products. We should try to stay away from those though, it’s too expensive anyway. Otherwise, not much has happened besides putzing around. I’ve been reading a lot, fixing pictures (I’m even more frustrated that I can’t get those up now), and watching CNN. I borrowed a book—Why the Caged Bird Sings—from an ex-pat restaurant. That made me excited. There aren’t book sellers here with English novels bombarding you in restaurants like there was on Bui Vien. I was afraid I’d have nothing to read.

Okay, I’m adding on to this blog from Saturday the 11th. I finally found a good connection in a café not far from our hotel, but I have to get going. We’re switching rooms today and we have to go in for our second day of inductions, so I have to get back soon. Yesterday (Sunday) Ellyn, Steve, and I went biking around town. Ellyn bought a bike the other day and Steve and I road the double bike our hotel has to take for free. We went in search of a beach that is two kilometers out of town; however, town extends forever, so we eventually gave up and turned back. We went the other way back around Vung Tau and stopped at one of the beaches along the resort strip part of town. We sat down on some of the beach chairs hoping to be charged less than 100,000 dong; however, it was 160,000. Way too much. One Vietnamese guy who was with a group next to us invited us to join them. While Steve and Ellyn went swimming for a bit I sat and talked to them for awhile. They were really nice and their English was very good. They also gave us so much food. Including some processed pork—many of you know my bad experiences with processed meat. I had to choke it down in a baguette. We also had fresh shrimp and crab along with small shots of whiskey. The seafood was absolutely amazing and fresh. Later we went swimming a bit in the ocean. I was swimming underwater when something stung me across the face. My first reaction was that it was a jellyfish. My face really stung, but I didn’t have any marks. Eventually the pain went away. I don’t think I’ll be swimming in the sea very much from now on. I’ve had too many bad experiences swimming here already. What’s next? An actual jellyfish or something worse? There’s plenty of pools to cool off in and do laps anyway. So our day turned out to be quite interesting. We had a true, laidback Vietnamese experience. It was great!

Home Sweet Home

2008-10-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

Ellyn writing...
So hopefully we have internet for good now...it has been nice catching up with people, here's a couple random stories written yesterday (Monday).
Yesterday we went out and found some dinner and then went on a mission to find ourselves some oil, matches and salt to go with the popcorn that I had bought in HCMC. I had a stove underneath my sink and we thought maybe we could figure it out enough to make some popcorn. We found our supplies pretty easily and came back to see if we could get the stove working. My job was to get the pan from the front desk so I went down to ask for a pan, which after about five minutes of talking about the internet (she thought I was coming to complain about that again, which subsequently still doesn’t work) so I drew a pan for her and she finally came back with huge pan! Perfect for popcorn! Steve came over to start the stove (his job) and away we went with the popcorn…This story may be boring for many of you…popcorn no big deal right? Wrong...First of all us Roaches live on popcorn in Minnesota and anywhere I go I end up being the popcorn maker ask anyone from my home in Moorhead or Malta. Therefore, me being able to make popcorn makes Vung Tau my new home. So I am now here at my home sweet home!
Elsbeth went for dinner along the boardwalk today which is apparently where all the rich people go for dinner….good thing it was good! So after dinner we went for a walk along the boardwalk. The storms were coming…I could feel it earlier in the day but we went out anyways. The air was much cooler and cleaner and it was just wonderful being out without being burnt to a crisp while sweat streams out of your body. The rains began and it was absolutely lovely. The feeling of rain after a couple VERY hot days is beautiful. We walked back, well I kind of waddled like a duck because my shoes were so slippery. So lovely! I will love this place once we are settled into the job and meet new people!
We start our first induction tomorrow (Wednesday) and will be doing some observations and such this week. Our first classes will be next Monday. We will be real teachers!

Vung Tau here we are!

2008-10-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ellyn Writing…
Finally have internet for a couple minutes...
Couple quick random stories then where we are now…

Cat story:
One night we hear another weird noise…I think nothing of it because there are always weird noises, then a little later Elsbeth tells me that there is a cat outside our window. I come over and find that yes indeed there is a cat on the roof above. Then a little later it walks right past our window. We think it’s a little creepy but just go to bed. The next night we discover that its outside our window again and now its getting louder and more obnoxious. We, however, just go to bed again. Morning comes around and now the cat is really loud and continuously meowing outside our window. Some girls from another window try to give it water but they can’t reach it because there is a ledge there. Now we are really close and could probably save the cat, but someone had recently told me that when you get rabies you basically die foaming at the mouth, the thought of this has kept me from animals since, so I guess I was about to let this cat die right outside my window. Anyways the other girls get it over as close to their window as possible and then grab it. So here is this girl holding onto the cat by the head so it would drop down a couple stories into an alleyway and trying to get it in between these tiny bars. Finally the cat is in and saved! No thanks to our selfishness!
Our next 6 months were planned for us when Apollo told us Friday that they were unsure about the openings available for us in Haiphong. We called ILA up immediately and formally accepted our positions in Vung Tau. We were a bit disappointed in the beginning because we had our hearts set on moving up north (a bit cooler and a new environment) but we realized the positions we accepted were pretty much identical to the ones we were turned away from. So here I am sitting in my own free room in Vung Tau an hour and a half away from Ho Chi Minh City. We will stay in this guest house/hotel for free for the next week (ILA pays your first 7 days). From there we have to decide whether to stay or find an apartment. The place is pretty nice and we will probably end up staying either here or in another guest house because we would have to make a 3-month down payment for an apartment or house….which we could save and spend on things that we need right now…such as loans payments, transportation, and food. We took the Hydrofoil down here yesterday and took a taxi that jipped us and went the long way to our hotel….but we didn’t want to argue so we just paid up. We came in and met up with a fellow CELTA trainee, Steve, who is the one other person who ended up in Vung Tau with us, had a game of cards, some dinner of delicious pho, and went for a walk along the boardwalk. As the vacation spot for many Vietnamese, the boardwalk was full, wall-to-wall of Vietnamese people. The expat community is very small which is exciting because it forces us out into the local community. After a lovely night I was woken up at 7:30 by the maids right outside my door. They knocked at 7:45 because they wanted to clean….good thing I didn’t want to sleep in! I was planning on running anyways. Here are a just a few comparisons between running along the boardwalk in Vung Tau as compared to Malta.

Similarities:
Watch your step the ground is not flat
Its hot on the equator--sweat will be pouring out before you get 5 minutes into it, really you should just insert an IV and strap it on your back
The sun is strong; by the time you get home after one run you will have a watch tanline
If you are a 5’7 woman running you will never fit in…even if you think you don’t look very different from the locals.
If you pretend you can’t hear anyone because you are listening to music, people will eventually leave you alone.
There are no bathrooms…go before you leave!
If you have to cross a street…just go, people will go around you unless they are absolutely blaring your horn, then be careful
The sea is an extremely great escape from traffic and the bustle on the streets, it doesn’t matter how crappy the beach is
I’m a fast runner…I actually pass people when running in Vietnam and Malta
Running remains to be the best way to discover a new place…slow enough to see things, fast enough to get around before midday when the sun is blaring

Differences...Vung Tau I learn
Green trees, bluffs, and grass do exist in this world.
Look out for human feces as supposed to dog feces.
If you’re tan with dark hair, luckily you are not attractive to Vietnamese men, white people are more attractive (you can find whitening in the stores if you would like) so you will only be bothered by people who want to sell you something (choose your poison)
There aren’t that many people along the boardwalk at 8:00 am…they must get up earlier?

Here's a bit about what I have learned so far in
Vietnam
1. A normal American is 5 inches too tall and 50 lbs too heavy.
2. Vietnamese have perfect hair (stick straight, no fuzz) so they can wear it long and down without going crazy in this deathly hot, humid environment
3. It’s hot…good luck going back to Minnesota after this you will die there if the heat doesn’t take you now
4. In the city you are breathing in pure exhaust with a bit of water
5. In the country you are breathing in pure water
6. Cheese, popcorn, good gum, diet pop, and wheat are hard to come by (oh and mom you were right, I should have brought more chocolates)
7. On the other hand cheap pho, exotic fruits, rice, stir-fry, bakery treats, teas, and coffee are splendid and I can’t go without them for 2 days.
8. Western food is disgusting and I feel like a fat pig when I eat it next to a Vietnamese person eating rice.
9. It’s ok to wear pajamas in public…they just have to be silk and look nice.
10. Wedding dresses are beautiful and pretty easy to come by around here (maybe I will elope here just for the dress ☺)
11. The stereotype of crazy Asian tourists still exists in Asia, but in Vietnam it becomes crazy Chinese and Korean tourists
12. To my surprise, not only are Americans fat but they are also loud; they say men are worse but this may only be because they were talking to an American woman (me).
13. Futbol remains to be one of the best ways to relate to people anywhere in the world
14. You can carry absolutely everything on a motorbike (I have seen naked manikins, loads of wood, a wooden chair with a baby sitting in the seat, and families of 5 all on one bike)
15. While traveling I just have to embrace my fellow roaches
16. Cats are too cute not to pet, even if they might have rabies
17. Though the cats and dogs on the streets look like strays they probably live with a family
18. Jesus looks better with a neon halo above him
19. For every customer in any store or restaurant, there must be at least 3 workers to take care of his/her every need (this may be uncomfortable at first because you have 4 people staring at you when you eat, but you will soon get used to it and when there is only one person to help you, you will comment “What TERRIBLE service!”)
20. Vietnamese work all the time and never seem to sleep--up by 5:30 to bed around 12…I think they take naps when no one’s looking…sometime they do lay on the side of a street on their bike and sleep for a while

Lions, Tigers, and White, Western Women, Oh My!

2008-10-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Time for another update. No, we don’t have any job news yet. The school we are looking at is incredibly slow about getting back to us, but we have to make a decision by high noon tomorrow. So we’ll see. It’s a waiting game. I’m not too perturbed about it, but I know Ellyn is really antsy to leave.

Well, yesterday, I went to the botanical gardens and zoo with two ladies from our class. It was a great day. We first took a taxi to this Vietnamese restaurant. I had rice noodles wrapped in beef, lettuce, and some peanuty thing. It was good, but I was a little worried about the hygiene of the place after one of the workers sneezed into her hand and kept making the food (and eating it herself). That wasn’t surprising though, I’ve seen food workers come out of the bathroom without washing their hands. Street vendors are a whole ‘nother story. Yep, the FDA would have a field day in Vietnam. But I haven’t gotten too sick yet. I’m just building up immunity :-).

Anyway, after that we went to the gardens and zoo. I had that Simon and Garfunkel song in my head all day. It was a really nice place (you’d like it there, mom). According to Fodor’s, the botanical gardens were founded by the French botanist Jean-Batiste Louis Pierre in 1864. After the war, however, they went into decline and haven’t yet returned to their former glory. The gardens were still beautiful, but the animals were the main attraction for us. I think this is the closest I’ve been to the animals—especially the big, dangerous ones—at a zoo. If you really wanted to, you could reach your hand into the tiger and lion cages. The male lion freaked me out. I was going to take a picture of him (no flash) and he came running towards me. He must not like cameras. Then we saw elephants—yes, elephants Sarah! And we even fed them carrots. Pretty sweet, but unfortunately they weren’t wild elephants yet. We also saw giraffes and had some good pictures taken with dinosaurs. They were supposed to be Vietnamese-speaking dinosaurs, but they just stood there and didn’t move. We also took a Choo-Choo tractor-train ride around the park. We had been trying to catch that thing all did and we finally did just before we left. But what was the funniest part of our day was how we as three white, Western women were more of an attraction to the Vietnamese than the animals themselves. One group of business men asked to take pictures with us and one guy with his family was taking a video of me. Others just stared at us. It’s not as creepy as it sounds. They were friendly, but apparently they don’t see many Westerners.

After the zoo we went to Dong Khoi, this high-end street with expensive stores and restaurants, and ate at a cute, little French restaurant. Jenn wanted mashed potatoes because she’d been sick and they had real ones there with milk and butter, not pork fat. So we all got potatoes of some sort—many of you know how I’m obsessed with potatoes. It turned out to be an expensive dinner, but we got our money’s worth by sitting and talking there for four hours.

Today, Ellyn, Jenn, and I went to the oddest art museum ever. It was like an old haunted house. The building itself was this beautiful, golden-yellow French structure. The art was interesting, because much of it had to do with the Vietnam War. I noticed how it was already cracking and fading because there was no air conditioning and all the windows were open to let in the heat and humidity. But what was even more interesting was the dark, creepy corners in the museum that we explored. There weren’t many people there so we could sneak around. What made it even more surreal and scary was that a big monsoon storm had blown in heavy rains with lightening and thunder.

Well, that’s a relatively quick update on my lazy life these past two days. Hopefully we’ll have some real news tomorrow…we’ll see. Otherwise tomorrow I may go with one of the guys from our class to this German National Holiday celebration. He’s originally from Germany, so I may have a chance to speak German with people and get free food! Sehr toll.

Make Love Not War

2008-09-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Wow, I can’t believe tomorrow is already October 1st. August seems like a lifetime ago. In a sense it was another life compared to the one I’ve been living here. I feel like I’ve been floating in nothingness through this last week and a half. I had to check my cell phone to see what day it was. I’m definitely ready to accept a job and get out of this city. HCMC has grown on both of us, but I think it’s time for a change. We need to see another part of Vietnam.

I’ll try to make this update brief—well, briefer than my last—on what we’ve done this last week. Sunday our students from the CELTA class invited us teachers out for coffee. I thought we were just meeting in the café at our school, but it turns out that they had a whole-day outing planned for us. They took us by motorbike to the outskirts of the city where we visited a park. The first thing I noticed: A plethora of engaged couples in their wedding outfits getting pictures taken. Apparently in Vietnam couples have their wedding pictures taken before they get married. I mean the brides had on their wedding dresses and the grooms had on their tuxes. Later they actually have the ceremony and a big photo of the couple is usually displayed next to an arbor of flowers at the reception. We think it’s funny how over-the-top the wedding dresses are here. Many of them aren’t even white; they’re more like prom dresses in all sorts of bright colors. Some couples also wore traditional Vietnamese wedding garments which were interesting to see.

I never thought that Vietnam would be so full of romance (considering its war-laden history). But go to any park in HCMC after dark and it’s full of young couples cuddling or kissing on their parked motorbikes. Ellyn and I feel out of place walking through the parks after dark. If you don’t have a mate you’re not cool enough to been seen there. It’s an interesting and sweet cultural phenomenon.

Anyway, back to the park. It’s kind of like the U of M Arboretum where it’s nicely kept up and there are many different features to it; however, it obviously has a tropical/Asian flavor. It’s definitely a beautiful site for wedding pictures. They also have several high-end outdoor restaurants serving traditional Vietnamese food, cooked in the traditional way. We sat under one circus-like tarp to eat. Unfortunately the monsoon rains came not long after. Luckily we didn’t get too wet.

After that we drove to a more modern café for drinks. Did I mention that I love riding motorbike? I especially love riding fast on motorbikes. The student that drove me went pretty fast. We were way ahead of the others because he took all these back-alley shortcuts. Anyway, it was an enjoyable day to spend with everyone. Our students also invited us back to HCMC for the Tet Holiday in February. They’ll take us around to all the events and whatnot. I’m excited, but that’s a ways away.

Otherwise this week has been pretty mundane so far. Yesterday I went to the War Remnants Museum. I think I had a lump in my throat the whole time… All the unthinkable things that happen in war. All the innocent people who are murdered. Of course, the museum was from the Vietnamese perspective, but it was really eye-opening. I can see why it was so controversial back in the day. One of the main reasons why the Vietnam War had such a mass of dissenters back home and around the world was because it was the first time vivid, uncensored pictures were seen in the media on TV, in newspapers, and in magazines. And this museum was an archive of those pictures. What was even more powerful were the excerpts, statements, and captions that went with these pictures. I remember one picture in particular of villagers, mostly women, who were about to be executed. The photographer told the soldiers to wait a moment while he took the picture. As he turned his back he heard shots and from the corner of his eye saw people falling down. He never turned around. There were many similar stories.

Obviously, I didn’t live during the war, but in a sense, I feel the reality of it. The pictures I saw weren’t just pictures of people from some far off land. They are real people who I see and talk to every day. On the streets I see people permanently deformed and crippled from the effects of Agent Orange. In the orphanage we visited there are two huge rooms full of children who can most likely attribute their disabilities to the dioxin after how many years? Forty-some? How do they deserve this punishment for a war they had nothing to do with—a war that was resolved years ago? It’s also hard for me to grasp that these people could deserve such lasting punishments. In all my traveling they have been some of the warmest, friendliest people I’ve ever met. But, that’s life and war I suppose… What happens in it isn’t always fair nor does it always make sense.

Today Ellyn, Sam, and I went to the Xa Loi Pagoda which is where intense raids took place and Buddhist monks and nuns burned themselves during the war. I was very interested in seeing this site as well, but when we got there it was pretty much dead. I thought it would be a tourist attraction, but there were only a handful of workers and nothing mentioning the history of the site. Interesting and a bit disappointing, but also kind of nice. Somehow it’s refreshing to see a historical site without there being any mention of it being historical. Obviously the people who died there should be honored and remembered, but as a tourist attraction? I felt like we saw something few other tourists see.

So that’s an update for now. Not as short as I hoped. We’ll also update you when we actually get a job. We have an offer with the school we took our course with, but we’re also looking at another school that’s very similar. It’s a tough decision, but we’re hoping to have everything finalized by Friday. Stay tuned….

Tourist

2008-09-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

Ellyn Writing...
I'm back! :) So a lot has happened since I wrote last so I will try to just give a general overview and a couple good stories... Elsbeth filled everyone in on the Vung Tau experience. It was an amazing weekend packed full of new experiences. We are looking at going there to work as we have received a job offer from ILA to work there and may end up taking it. The job search is actually going very well. We received an offer from another company who wanted us to fly out a couple days ago to Hanoi and start this weekend. We turned them down because we really weren't ready to leave that soon and didn't know if we wanted to work in Hanoi. I have an interview with another company this week because I still want to see if it may be an option to move further up north. We will see what comes of the interview with a company called Apollo.

Ok so the last week we have become tourists...its like backtracking we went about it backwards but we are definitely enjoying our experiences. And we have started taking pictures so I will try putting some in here that will help tell stories...seeing as a picture is worth 1000 words. We did a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels and a Cau Dai Temple. The guide that took us around was probably the best tour guide I have ever had....and I have had a lot of tour guides in my life. He was a typical skinny enthusiastic Vietnamese man. He continuous kept spitting out expressions that you would just not expect to come out of a Vietnamese person like "Chill out" "shake a leg" "see you later alligator" and "are you ready Freddy?" He was wonderful! We went to the Cau Dai Temple first. Cau Dai is a religion that the Vietnamese created in the 1920's. As our guide, Slim Jim, tells us Cau Dai is a religion where they basically worship everything and everyone. He says that there are approximately 3 million people in Vietnam who follow the religion and most of them live near this religious center. Whereas most of the country is Buddhist, 75% and there are some Christians about 8 million Catholics and only 3% are Muslims. Cau Dai is a combination of Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Catholicism. The temple was perhaps the most fascinating religious place I have ever been. It was brightly colored and had aspects of many religions within it. I found it interesting that there was something like minbars which are what Muslims use place in mosques for the person who is doing the sermon to stand in. S there were Islamic aspects when Islam isn’t even one of the religions that they worship. When we were in the temple we were able to watch part of their worship and take pictures. The men and women are separated and they are in order of their ranking. They ascend closer to God’s eye the more years they are involved in practicing this religion which requires prayer, not eating meat or fish among other things.
We continued on to visit some of the tunnels that were used during the Vietnam War. The Cu Chi people that used these Cu Chi Tunnels were fighting against the south for the north even though they lived in the south. We crawled through small tunnels that were actually doubled in size for the fat foreigners. It was still small and a bit claustrophobic to be it there. We next moved on and paid some money to shoot n AK47! We were terrible at it and jumped every time a shot was fired. No one even hit the target circle…no prize of a scarf for us.

Our next tour was last Friday. We went along the Mekong Delta to My Toa and Ben Tre. We took a two-hour bus trip down to the river where we boarded a large motorboat that took us along some floating houses. Through the day we moved from place to place boarded several boats and saw many different people making various handmade things, such as rice paper, coconut candies, and wooden toys. We had a relaxing ride in a small canoe with a couple Ausies down the river.

Well I think that covers the interesting parts of the tours. I will throw in more about the culture as every day I learn something new about the people here. I have gained an extreme respect for this place. It is a wonderful place to be as a single female. I can walk down any alleyway in the middle of the night and feel completely safe. Another thing I have noticed is that the Vietnamese never sleep and always seem to be working. I think this is partially because I am in HCMC and not in some small town but there is always something going on.

I have started running again and it is a struggle to breath, I think that it will be a relief to get out of the city. However! I did get to play soccer today for the first time since being here. Some of the teachers get together every other day to play and it is just so great! So unfortunately I would not really have something like that in a smaller area but maybe I can get some little Vietnamese kids to play with me.

Till next time!

The Vung Tau Experience

2008-09-24T00:53:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing…

Okay, now to get to our Vung Tau experience this past weekend. On Saturday our school took us to Vung Tau to have a tour of the sister school where there are a few job positions open. Vung Tau is a small city of about 300,000 people on the Pacific Coast. It is a popular weekend getaway for Vietnamese, especially those living in Saigon, because it’s only about an hour away by hydrofoil and two hours away by land.

We took the hydrofoil down the Saigon River to the ocean. When I got out of the boat and onto the docks it was literally a breath of fresh air. I saw blue water and green trees! Everything was so much quieter and more peaceful compared to the city. I’ve gotten used to living in HCMC, but we’ve been dying to be in the outdoors and be able to swim again. Ellyn and I both want to live somewhere on the coast and this town seems like a good bet.

One of the guys from the school in Vung Tau picked us up by taxi and drove us the long way through the town to the school. The streets were so clean and most of the buildings were rich and ornately Chinese or French. Plus there was hardly anyone around. Few motorbikes were on the street. In fact it was so quiet compared to where we’ve been living for the past month or so that it seemed like a ghost town.

The school itself was nice—basically the same as our other school, which is modern, clean, and has many resources for both students and staff. Our tour guide from the school, who I believe is the boss, also seemed nice and laid back. Afterwards we ate lunch at Belly’s, an Australian restaurant, where many ex-pats hang out. Belly himself shook our hands when we came in. Ha, he was your stereotypical Aussie—a jolly, red-faced man, with a sleeveless, torn jean jacket and tattoos on his arms. The whole atmosphere of the restaurant made me miss NZ. We also had a perfect view of the harbor from where we sat—Ellyn and I sat closest to the open bay windows. It was fantastic.

After dinner we climbed up Jesus Mountain. There’s a huge statue of Jesus on the top of this big hill that overlooks the harbor. Kind of random, but neat. It was an exhausting, hot climb to the top. On the way there were other smaller Catholic statues and monuments to the saints. At the foot of the hill old women were chanting the rosary in Vietnamese while facing the statue. When we finally reached Jesus, we could climb inside, all the way to the top and walk out on his arms. It was a tight squeeze, but about four other Asian tourists and I fit on one arm and we took pictures. Plus I love heights, so it was a thrill to be up that high.

Afterwards, our two “tour guides” and two of our classmates left us and we waited for our students to pick us up. They had planned to take us to Vung Tau on the last weekend of the course; however, that was the same weekend that our school was planning to give us a tour of their sister school there. So we decided to meet our students on Saturday afternoon. While we waited for them we ventured down to the ocean for the first time. Again, it reminded me of NZ. The water felt wonderful and we climbed on the black rocks along the shore.

A little while later our students picked us up. I was surprised that they had rented an entire bus to drive us around for the weekend. First we went to our hotel—“Berlin.” Other than a painting of das Brandenburger Tor on the wall, it was nothing like the actual city. Before dinner we walked down to the beach and swam in the ocean. It was so warm and refreshing.

Then we went to dinner at a Vietnamese seafood restaurant. We ate squid, fish, and…snake! We even watched it being killed, but I won’t go into the gory details. Then three of the guys, Ellyn, and I drank shots of fresh snake blood and snake bile liquor! Ummy….

After dinner we again walked to the beach where our students had rented double bikes for us and we biked around the city. That was an experience. There was an odd number, so I ended up sitting on a third person seat that didn’t have pedals on the back of one of the bikes. I rode with one of the ladies from our class and a student. She was laughing so hard because we looked so ridiculous with three people piled onto a two-person bike. And because she was laughing so hysterically that made me laugh really hard. Plus, I didn’t know where to put my legs so they were dangling off the sides and getting hit by the pedals. I still have big bruises. Yet, that made her and the people following us laugh even harder. I felt like we were going to tip over because we were laughing so much. It was a lot of fun though. By the end I found where to put my legs and didn’t have to hang on. I just sat there nonchalantly. Oh, ha, I did get a chance to try pedaling. We waited half an hour for some people to catch up, so Ellyn and I took one of the bikes down the street. We were biking against traffic and almost ran head-on into a motorbike, which made me shriek really loudly. Everyone looked at us and probably thought “who is this crazy tourist who doesn’t know how to drive a bike.” That made laugh even more.

Then to finish the night we went again onto the beach and had a bonfire. The students bought us this strange sugary candy with peanuts rolled inside from one of the vendors walking back and forth along the beach. They also baked sweet potatoes—Kumera, I think—on the hot coals and we peeled and ate those. We played a couple campfire games and talked. It was a beautiful way to end our exhausting day.

The next morning we woke up early and went to a Buddhist Temple grounds. There were all sorts of statues dotted around the grounds. Also there was a colorful, ornately-decorated temple. At first I thought the monks were chanting inside, but it turned out to be a recording. Still it was a transfixing sound. It was so fascinating to visit this place since I’ve studied and have been interested in Buddhism. Ellyn was really fascinated, too. We even had a breakfast of tofu Pho on the side of the temple. It tasted so good.

After that we went to the beach and swam for awhile. It was a lot of fun, until this jelly-like thing started crawling all over me. I started screaming and laughing at the same time, because I couldn’t get it off, I didn’t know what it was, and it tickled. The others just kind of stood there and looked at me like I was crazy. Then one of the students came and helped me chase it away. After that most of us decided it was time to get out. We discovered that we all had these red scratches all over our bodies and many of us had felt something else biting us. Also, while in the water, we felt some sort of electric shock which made my and another girl’s back crack. Weird.

Soon we made our way out of Vung Tau. We stopped at another Vietnamese seafood restaurant where our students ordered for us again. We had two kids of fish and some sort of fried seafood—all fresh. Then we drove back to HCMC. We stopped along the way at this Lothamilk Market. One of the guys and I bought milk while the others bought ice cream. I hadn’t really had milk since before I left. It tasted good, but I drank too much of it that I think it churned my stomach. Ironic, the snake juice didn’t make me sick, but the fresh milk did….ha.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend. Our students were so fantastic (and so organized). They were the perfect tour guides and it was sad to leave them. We were really lucky to have that experience. As for Vung Tau…it’s definitely a possibility….

Updates on last week of CELTA!

2008-09-22T09:31:00.001-07:00

Elsbeth writing...

Wow, I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. It's been awhile and a lot has happened in that short time. Sorry, I should be more proactive about updating, but that's the way it goes when you're in a foreign country and would rather be outside enjoying yourself than inside spending hours on the computer.

Well, first before I get to the most recent news and events I'll update you on what I did the weekend before last since I know some people were interested. Let's see on Friday we went out for drinks and bowling with a bunch of people from CELTA. Ellyn told you about our second Orphanage outing on Saturday...such sweet kids. I'll miss them. We're hoping to do volunteer work wherever we go. Then on Sunday morning I took a motorbike to the Notre Dame Cathedral. First I have to say that I have come to I love riding on motorbikes. I took one for the first time the other week during lunch. I had to mail a postcard for a friend’s birthday and the only post office I could find was the big, old central one. So I got one old motorbike driver to take me. At first it was scary weaving through traffic but I soon got used to it. It's the best way to see the city and probably any part of the country or region. I can't wait to buy or rent my own and learn to drive it!

Anyway, I heard they have the only English mass in the city. I got there extra early to look around and get a seat, since I also heard it gets crowded. The cathedral isn't as over-the-top and spectacular as some cathedrals I've been to, but it's simple and beautiful. I sat in the midst of the local church members who were friendly. The service was interesting, but maybe it was the humidity or the fans droning because I was so sleepy.

It was also the Full Moon Festival--Tet Trung Thu--that day. This festival dates back thousands of years and is set on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. In Vietnam it is mainly a children's festival (a bit like our Halloween). It is a chance for parents to spend time with their kids, because they have been harvesting in the fields. The children parade around, sing songs, and carry lanterns in the shapes of fish, butterflies, and stars. They are also given moon cakes, which are made with ground beans, lotus seeds, orange peels, and a yolk in the center to represent the moon. There are also many folk tales that go with the festival and its origin as well. I was really excited to see this, but unfortunately it was raining and I hadn’t planning our strategy on where to go very well. We weren’t sure on the time, so Ellyn and I decided to go to the park nearby around 8 p.m. There weren’t many kids there. Only a few were dispersed around, carrying lanterns. It looked like there had been something there, but earlier. We later heard that there were celebrations in other parts of the city where two of our classmates had visited. Oh well, maybe next September.

The next week was very busy. We were all finishing up our lessons and last written assignment. My last lesson was on Friday—most people finished their lessons on Wednesday or Thursday. But no, I had to wait and plan all week, while everyone else was out partying. Of course, they liked to rub it in…. That’s okay, I had more time to plan and relax. Also, one day a group of us went out for lunch at this restaurant down the street. The owners were so excited to have a big group of Westerners come to eat. They showed us up a couple flights of stairs to a more private room. The menu was all in Vietnamese. We tried to translate it, but ended up pointing to things and expecting to be surprised. When the food came out, everyone’s looked so delicious, but then a camera crew came up and began video taping us! Apparently the dish another lady in our group and I ordered is famous. It was a piece of fried chicken with orange-dyed rice. It was really delicious and the chicken tasted like good, old fatty American chicken. The guy who was translating for us said it would go on Vietnamese television! Wow, we’ll be famous! I think they were taping us as a promotional thing—“Hey look at this group of Westerners happily eating here.” I can’t deny it was great food and excellent service. They kept bringing us things we hadn’t ordered, too, like French fries, salad, and Vietnamese iced tea. I want to go back.

Then on Friday we officially finished our CELTA course! It was so great to be finished, but as we were walking back to our hotel Ellyn and I looked at each other and asked “Okay, what now?” We still don’t know…

That afternoon we relaxed. I went with one of my classmates to an aerobic class in the park. Ellyn, her and another classmate had gone the two days before. It was so much fun. Everyone was spread out on the side walk with a stereo blaring music. The class was aerobics mixed with a little Indian dancing, belly dancing, and salsa. A good workout. I really want to take one of these classes once I have a job—they’re only $2-3 for a couple months. Then we went to an outdoor seafood restaurant next to the Ben Thanh Market where we met the rest of the class. They had huge toads hanging on a string, one on top of the other, awaiting their death to become fried frog legs. I have yet to try those—I’ve heard they taste like chicken. Afterwards we headed for a restaurant along our alley where we often go and had drinks.

The only sad part about leaving the course is leaving all our classmates who we’ve become friends with throughout this past month and our students who've been absolutely awesome. It’s been great. But we’ll see them around. Today we actually saw pretty much all of our classmates either wandering around the streets or ate a meal with them. Tomorrow some of the girls, Ellyn and I are going on a day trip to visit the Viet Cong tunnels. It should be fun. It’s crazy to be done. We’re all in the same place, asking ourselves what we’re going to do now. But hey, we’ll be spread throughout the country and region so we can visit each other and have free place to stay!

Okay, that’s enough reading for today. Jeez, sorry. I still have to update you on our very exciting weekend in Vung Tau, but it’s late and I need some rest for our next adventure tomorrow!

More Class.....

2008-09-13T02:29:00.000-07:00

Ellyn writing...
So our posts have already become far and few between... but I am back. We are going on a month being here and its quite hard to believe. In fact I frequently find myself taking a step back in my mind and being like hey..."I'm in Vietnam" still so hard to believe. Class is going quite well I think. I don't think its as hard as I had expected. It does take a lot of time and we will often be at school from 8:30 in the morning to 8:30 at night. But as long as you put the time in things go fine. We are starting to look into jobs and right now it looks like a pretty good option to stay with the company we have been working with because of all the resources and support it offers to the employees. It will be nice to start a job and have more free time on our hands. We are also happy to get out of the city. I have been dying to go for a run...I am definitely loosing all of my muscle.
The summer here is coming to an end therefore its cooling down. I never really thought highs of 88 would feel this cool. Seeing as every day at CELTA is pretty much the same I will go through a typical week day. Elsbeth and I wake up around 6:30 am every morning because there is either someone hammering next door, someone yelling outside our door, some loud TV on downstairs, or some old lady on the street yelling out "oranges" in Vietnamese (which to me sound sounds similar to the call call to prayer in a Islamic country). There are so many weird noises around here that they don't seam to faze us anymore. We get up watch some news eat some Frosted Cornflakes (or if we are out, we grab a pastry on our way to class). Right after we listen to the Bananas and Pajamas intro song we leave to walk to class (around 8 or 8:30). The walk takes 12 minutes...we are getting great at crossing streets. We get to class in the morning and either teach a lesson or watch a lesson. We were broken into group of 6 and put into 3 different level classes; elementary, pre-intermediate, and intermediate. Once this is done we go over our lessons with our tutor. We then have an hour break for lunch. There is a nice Western style restaurant on the top floor in our building where most people go to eat. I prefer to get out of the building and try the Vietnamese street food. I will either have pho (noodle soup) or go to a barbecue place were I can make my own spring roll type things, absolutely delicious and cheap! I grab some fresh pineapple on the street on my way inside for a snack later... all this for about a dollar. Once back inside we have class with our tutors where we have learned a variety of methodologies. We have also started to brush up on grammar and phonology through these classes. We have two in the afternoon and then around 4 we come back together with our groups to plan lessons for the next day. Once this is completed we are free to do whatever we want...aka work on lessons. We go to the computer lab and plan our lessons. We then walk home with anyone from the class who is done at the same time. We go out to eat along the street where our hotel is (most people live around the same area). Dinner normally lasts an hour or two at we ruminate on how the day has gone. Then we go home and crash only to begin again very soon.
So that's our day during the week. We do look forward to weekends when we have a chance to sit back and go a bit slower. As Elsbeth talked about earlier, we have also had the opportunity to visit an orphanage. We have now been their twice. It has been quite the experience and I would have to say it has been a bit difficult for me especially the second time. The first time through the terminally ill room it didn't hit me, I blocked everything out. Today however, we went through for a second time and it hit me. Many of their heads are three times the size they should be and they are in so much pain. They have tears in their eyes but do not cry out because its useless to do so. They lay there day and night with no break from their pain. But there are a couple of them that smiled, just to see us walk through there. I would love to work in there and would have loved to stay longer, but since we do not have the training they do not want us to play with them. We may end up creating more pain for them instead of helping them. They do have training sessions on Wednesdays where you can do physical therapy with them. I wish I had time to do this and I wish I could come more often, but unfortunately I will be leaving Ho Chi Mihn City soon. We had the opportunity to play with some of the toddlers today. I found this to be interesting also. These were children without any inborn developmental disabilities but when we went to play with them they were very mellow and didn't even want to leave our arms. Normally toddlers at this age would be impossible to control. We had about 15 toddlers in the room and only one was walking around getting into trouble. Before leaving the states I had the opportunity to do an internship with occupational therapist working with children with developmental disabilities. I would say that these toddlers were definitely at an extreme disadvantage in their situation and were developing at a much slower rate than children outside the orphanages. They were unwilling to play and only wished to be held. Its amazing what difference the human touch makes.
So I will leave it at that for the depressing portion of this blog. Sorry to bring it all down! To lighten it up a bit we are getting excited with one week left! ILA has invited us to go to Vung Toa this weekend to check out the school. So we will be leaving this Saturday. Some of us were also invited to do a tour with some of our students in Vung Toa. So we will be staying there this weekend I'm sure enjoying the beach! I hope everyone is well back home!

Orphanage Adventure

2008-09-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing...

I know, I know it's been a long time since we last updated. It's been a busy last week or two with our class. We're there all day from 8 a.m. to about 8 p.m. ...well, at least I am because I just want to get stuff done there. Then we don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 p.m. Sadly, we've even been going in on the weekends. It's actually not as stressful as what they said--that's probably because I just graduated from college. The class just lasts literally all day.

As you can probably guess there hasn't been much to update. Last Tuesday was a Vietnamese national holiday, which we had off from school. It was so odd to see red flags with the gold sickle and hammer streaming all over the city. It really makes your realize that you're in a communist country. I wish I could give you more facts about it now, but it's late and I've been so busy. Anyway, we mainly walked around and went shopping that day. I needed to get out. I was feeling so cramped from being sick, doing homework, and being at school all day. We mainly bought some basics. Then just as we were going to dinner we also bumped into one of the guys from our class who was going to get some pants he was having tailor-made. We'd been meaning to get some skirts and dresses tailored but hadn't found the time or energy, so we asked if we could go with him. We checked out the place, got a few ideas from catalogues, and found out the prices. We have yet to get clothes tailored, but we'll have to soon... We seem to run out of clothes so quickly.

Anyway, the streets were quieter than usual that day, but everyone was out in the park. There were so many cute kids out and all of them had some little toy that their parents had bought them from a vendor. Many of them had these fancy, Asian animal balloons which hovered just above ground. I've seen them before, but still we were amazed by them. I want one. Many people were also playing this odd type of hacky-sack only with a badminton type of ball with feathers. We were going to buy one from a little girl, but we decided to get it on the way back and then the girl was gone. Someone also invited us to play and I really wanted to but I think we were all nervous about screwing up. For now, I think we'll just observe and quietly practice; then we'll come out to play with the locals and show them our amazing hack-sacking abilities. There's always games going on here in the park. It seems to be a fad and national past time.

Then on Saturday Ellyn, I and two other girls from the class went to an orphanage on the outskirts of the city. The school set up the visit and one of the ladies who works at school and volunteers at the orphanage paid for the taxi and brought us there. Apparently we were the first CELTA class who actually wanted to go to the orphanage. No one had volunteered before, which really surprised us. I was so happy to finally get out of the city center. I'd been feeling so cramped lately. Mostly though we were excited to see the kids.

It was an eyeopening experience to say the least as you can imagine visiting an orphanage in a developing country would be. There are many kids there who are disabled in some way. We played with kids who had Down's Syndrome, some other mental disability, or were blind. They were fun, but they don't know their own strength. As soon as I walked in the room one of them tried to hug me and subsequently tore the string clear off my apron. A couple others tore chunks of hair right out of the other two girls' heads. I really enjoyed playing with them though. They definitely need the attention. Most of the day they are confined to cribs. They've never been potty trained so even the oldest kids who are nine years old wear diapers. They've also never eaten solid foods, because the orphanage can only afford to feed them porridge.

There was also a room called terminal room--and they mean terminal. Actually it was two or three big rooms filled with children in cribs who had some sort of deformity. Many of them have Hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of fluids in the brain (also called "water in the brain"). Basically this means that their heads were enormous in comparison to their skeletal bodies. It's difficult and shocking to see for the first time. These terminal cases are both untreatable and treatable. In particular, Hydrocephalus is treatable, however the orphanage is too poor to afford to give these children the necessary operation to drain the fluid from their brains. Something that's fairly routine in the U.S. It's definitely food for thought....

On a happier note, we also got to hold and feed the infants. Many of them were normal, healthy babies who will soon be adopted. There was one set of twins who had red strings through their ears. Apparently, when they were born their parents had their ears pierced; however, the parents decided to take the gold earrings and abandon their children. You wonder.

The first baby I picked up was a tiny one, who was slightly deformed, and suffered from hemroids. He had been crying, but the second I picked him up he stopped. I fed him, but he wasn't that hungry, he just wanted to look at me and everyone with these big, gorgeous eyes. Okay, my plan to adopt a kid one day (which I've been planning to do for a long, long time) has been officially sealed.

Anyway, it's late and I'm tired. I'm not sure when we'll have the time to update next, but we'll try our best to keep you up-to-date, especially on what will happen to us after this class ends in...jeez, two weeks!

The Start of Class...I thought I was done with homework!

2008-08-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing...

Hello everyone! Here's just a brief update on the last few days. Updates will probably be sporadic this month since this class is supposed to be intense. Besides that we probably won't have much to talk about since apparently our lives will be consumed by school and homework. I doubt we'll have much time for sightseeing on the weekends--only after the course is finished.

Anyway, Ellyn is updating you on all we did Friday. I'll give you a brief update on last weekend and this week so far. On Saturday we had dinner with our class, which went well. It was at the Barbeque Garden where we had a real Vietnamese dinner. It was...different, but good. Part of the dinner included cooking our food on the burners in the middle of our tables. We cooked things like beef wrapped around pineapple, ocher (sp? what they use to make gumbo out of), and prawn. We also had rice dishes, crab rolls, fruit, and vegetables. All the food came out in these little appetizer-like courses. Of course, that night we met our fellow classmates who are all very nice. It's a fairly even distribution of men and women in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s and from English-speaking countries like England, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S. Many of them are also staying at our hotel or nearby so we've been walking to and from school with them.

We definitely felt the Monsoon rains that evening when it started pouring like mad. The restaurant is completely out in the open (thus, "Barbeque Garden"). So to protect us from the rain the waiters grabbed long bamboo poles and pulled tarps overhead to cover us. It didn't protect us from the rain completely though. I had huge drops from some hole in the tarp dripping right onto my plate. Luckily the rains generally only last an hour in the evening. This cools everything down as well. During the day the heat is almost unbearable.

On Sunday we had our orientation for four hours in the afternoon. We got a ton of papers to read as well as a complementary backpack, binder (both of which are broken), and a bottle of wine (I think we'll be needing that later on :-). So now, Ellyn and I are loaded down for cheap Vietnamese wine, since we bought a $2 bottle on Friday. We also got a tour of the building. There's lots to remember. I'm still a bit confused.

Yesterday was our first official day of class. It went well--not too stressful. We had to teach a short lesson/activity in the morning. Then we had two classes and time to plan our lessons. We were divided into three groups of six people and each group has a class of Vietnamese students to teach. Today, though, I stayed home because I was sick with a cold. It's just a common cold, but I didn't want it to get worse. Who knows where I got it from. There's all sorts of places to pick up some illness here. Knock on wood, it hasn't been the food yet.

That's about it for now. The rest of the week seems pretty much the same--eat, sleep, school.... If something interesting comes up all let you know. Until then, I hope all is well at home.

Teacher, Teacher!

2008-08-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

Ellyn Writing....

So much to write so little time! So I am already falling behind from what I had hoped to do on here. It looks like it will be like this, however, because this class is extremely intensive. Quick overview of how the last couple days.

Friday we went to many sites and got more acclimated to the area where we are staying. We went and found the US embassy which was closed because it was a holiday...apparently Fridays are holidays. We also tried to get into a cathedral which was also closed for the day. We went to Pizza Hut on Friday...yes folks we broke down after only a couple days! I guess we needed some of that hearty American food. It was actually quite the cultural experience to see how the western culture seeps into every nation. The Pizza Hut was in a mall which seemed to be the hang out for all the rich teenagers.

After Pizza Hut we moved on to the Central Post Office, and who would think a post office could be so intriguing? It was a huge beautiful building where we took several pictures and bought some postcards....hopefully we can send some out soon! We also went to the Independence Palace, also named the Reunification Palace where the North (Vietcong) came to at the end of the war to reunify the country in the the mid-70's.

We got into the Palace for a dollar and then got a free hour tour! I love the prices here! The Palace was wonderful and helped me develop a bit of knowledge of Vietnamese history, which I need to continue to add to in the future. After the palace we went back and had some pho which is just a noodle soup that is very famous here. Women have a little cart where they make it and you sit on small stools on the side of the street and pay less than a dollar for a meal! And sooo great! I think I will be eating it a lot while here! And I will probably miss it when i have to come home.

Saturday and Sunday we pretty much stayed in except on Saturday night when we met the rest of our class for the first time during dinner and then a four hour orientation on Sunday. Meeting the class was so great! Meeting more people always help. Now we have many more people to rely on in this country. We have many different aged people in our group, the genders are quite balanced, and we have student from all over the world. It is so interesting and exciting to meet people from all different backgrounds. Orientation went ok, it was a bit of an eye opener in the intensity of the course. I think we may forget we are in Vietnam while taking the class because we will either be at school or in our hotel room studying. No time for anything else!

The first couple days of class have been extremely exhausting, I have already given two lessons. The first was not evaluated and all I had to do was a couple of get to know you activities with the students, which ended up being alright. I also gave a lesson today on grammar and I'm sure if you asked anyone close to me, they would tell you that grammar is not my strong suit. And indeed I did screw up on my lesson with a couple verb tenses, however this turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the lesson because a student yelled out "teacher, teacher I don't think that is right!" I stood back from the board looked at it again and laughed and said "You know what you are right, I am wrong" and we all laughed at the mistake. It was actually a nice ice breaker. I absolutely love the students we are working with, they are very receptive, energetic, and very helpful. You really couldn't ask for anyone better to teach to as a beginner.

Today I also had the opportunity to interview one of the students in my class for an assignment. I learned a lot more about her and the Vietnamese culture. She also volunteered to give me Vietnamese lessons in exchange for English lessons which I think I need to follow up. I really only know how to say hello, no, yes, and thank you. She also invited me to go with her to visit her hometown, which is about a 4 hour drive south from Ho Chi Minh City. She goes there every weekend like many of the other Vietnamese people living in Ho Chi Minh City. I think this would be quite the experience so I hope that I am able to find time!

Every day that I am here I find myself delving in further into the life and the people. As I become more orientated I see myself falling in love with this culture in the near future. I continue to hold the idea, however, that one month in Ho Chi Minh City is enough for me if only due to the pollution. I do love the culture, the food, and the people. I have found that they have such a high respect for teachers in this country, therefore, we are treated extremely well. Unlike in the US teachers in Vietnam are at the top of the totem pole, on top of doctors or lawyers. When we walk to school in our dressy clothes and our backpacks we are never asked if we want to buy anything or if we want a ride, as we are no longer seen as tourist. Many people will try to practice their English with us as we pass....I think we are becoming celebrities!

Well...that's all folks! I hope to attach my picture website very soon so stay posted! Keep the comments coming! Miss you all!

We're not in Minnesota anymore, Toto

2008-08-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

Elsbeth writing...

Well, I am finally able to get on the internet with my computer, since it didn't work at the hotel we stayed at last night. I was so excited to be able to use my own computer, finally, after not being able to access the internet with my laptop in New Zealand a few months ago. This is a blog I typed this morning (if you’re looking at the time it was posted), but the internet went down so I'm finally posting it now.

So I am suddenly here in Vietnam after only one week of deciding to go to Vietnam (immediately after graduation) and three short months of planning all the other details. Actually, though, I've wanted to teach abroad since middle school, but perhaps I didn't think I'd find myself here this quickly.

Thus far all has gone as well as can be expected, as Ellyn mentioned. It was just a bit overwhelming at first. All the sights and sounds and smells. The pollution and heat and people. I'm not used to taking so much in at once. It made me realize that I am definitely a country girl in an enormous city. I like my space, fresh air, and peace and quiet. Ho Chi Minh is a very different city from any I've ever been to. Although you could say I'm a pretty seasoned traveler, I've really only traveled to countries with similar cultures as mine. Still, I've always been interested in Asian cultures so this is a novelty for me. And this city seems to be classically Asian. Everywhere there are old women carting around their goods in baskets on their bikes or on a stick loaded at each end and hoisted on their shoulders. There are small shrines to Buddha with incense in each family-owned shop. There are ancient pagodas, palm trees, and small alleys packed with shops, hotels and neon signs. All the shops here seem to be little holes in the wall, including our hotel. But there are also plenty of new things. Many Asians dress very fashionably, especially the younger ones. I almost want to throw out my whole wardrobe and start again. There are glossy new banks, business buildings and condos. Those who have cars have very nice ones and most of those who have motorbikes have sleek new ones. This city is a cross between first world and third world. All the worlds combine to make it both a fetid mess and a highly fashionable city.

I think we’ll get used to this. But one month in HCMC will suffice for both of us. Personally, I'll need to live in a quieter place surrounded by nature (but still close to all the amenities).

Well, those are my first impressions of the city. I felt much better yesterday when we found our school (about a 20 minute walk from our hotel). The school was very nice and new, plus the people seemed friendly. Afterwards we ate at a Vietnamese fast food restaurant called Lotteria. It was delicious. We had rice and chicken, but there were also raw vegetables on our plate and before I thought I had eaten some cucumbers. Then we realized there was also ice in our pop. Oops. Well, we haven’t gotten sick yet. Oh well, we’ll probably get sick at some point, we might as well get it over with. On the way back we found several Marts and bookstores on or near our route. I was so relieved. I was starting to miss Wal-mart and this is a similar version. We bought some breakfast food for our little red fridge from there. We also bought plastic children’s bowls, spoons and a cup to eat from. When we got back we finally moved into our hotel across the street where we’ll stay for the rest of the month. It felt good to get unpacked and settle in. Our room is tiny, but cozy. Plus there are more amenities then the other hotel, including cable TV with international channels (i.e. CNN, MTV, and HBO). Today we’re going to find a few more important places and maybe find the Water Puppet Show…just exploring in general. If we can dodge the traffic while we’re at it :-).

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!

2008-08-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

Ellyn Writing.....

Here we are! Set up our blog! Which hopefully will be used enough to keep everyone updated. We reached our final destination yesterday Aug 20 around 11:00 am (11:00 pm Aug 19 for all of you back home). We reached our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City after about 30 hours of travel. Our trip actually went pretty smoothly, only 1-2 hour layovers at every stop. We found that having 2 people is very nice because we catch each other making mistakes. Example of one of my big mistakes....I did not print out a copy of our visa that they emailed us...big oops! Luckily Elsbeth had printed out 2 copies. The trip was long, we were able to get sleep on the 13 hour plane ride, so we had enough to get us by. A girl from the company we are working with, about our age picked us up to bring us to our hotel.

First Impressions of Vietnam....As we flew over the countryside of Vietnam we saw many rice fields as we would have expected. As we touched down we saw old war planes, not something I would have expected to see right away. The airport was actually very nice, we however feel very stupid because we do not know any Vietnamese and have to keep asking how to pronounce the most basic words. It sounds so different from any other language I have come across in all of my travels. Hopefully we able to learn enough to get by and look like we are trying. I also need to read up on my Vietnamese history! I know nothing, I will be doing that very soon! Driving through the city we are stunned. I do have the experience of Cairo to compare Ho Chi Minh City to, whereas Elsbeth really has seen nothing like it. Like Cairo the streets are buzzing with traffic, unlike Cairo however there is an outstanding amount of motorbike travelers. Everyone has a moped or a motorcycle. Traffic laws are not followed and you wonder how people aren't in more accidents. There is a constant honking noise going on. I had been wanting to get a moped and drive it around to school and elsewhere....I don't think that will be happening any time soon. The buildings here are pretty run down, the pollution is pretty hard to handle, everyone has big hats and some have masks (we asked the girl why that is and she says for the sun and pollution, we are ready to go get our masks for the pollution!), everyone is dressed pretty well so we were ready to be somewhere to clean up.

When we first arrived at our hotel we were told that we could not move in today because some of their guests were ill and were at the hospital. We could, however, stay at her friends place, which happened to be across the street. So we walk across our street and they bring us right up to our room. As soon as the door is shut there is silence and after a while I ask Elsbeth "What the heck are we doing here?" She answers "I don't know" So we start talking to remind ourselves what is is we are doing here besides...do we really want to do another 30 hour trip back home? :). We also realize how much we appreciate being with each other as we both had wanted to do this on our own but find that we would be hurting if we were on our own.

What are we doing here?

I will talk for myself. I graduated from Concordia College in May with degrees in exercise science and psychology. So why English and why Vietnam? My junior year of college I went on a study abroad trip that changed my life. I went to Malta a small country in the Mediteranean, and during this time had the opportunity to travel to other countries in the Meditteranean. While in Malta the group of students I was with was able to volunteer in a refugee camp to teach English to some young adults. Then when I traveled to Egypt during my spring break I met a couple who had just come from Korea after teaching for a year. They were traveling for a year after only saving up while teaching for a year. I knew that I loved teaching at the refugee center and that I loved to travel...I thought to myself "I can do that!" So the research began...I know I wanted to take a class because I needed to know how to teach before I could teach, might be helpful! :) So I found the Cambridge CELTA course. CELTA stands for Certificate in English Teaching to Adults and is the most internationally accepted certificate, therefore if I want to teach anywhere else, I would be more likely to get a position (even the US). So I decided it would be a good idea to take the class in a country where I would want to teach. This way through the duration of the class, 1 month, I could get a taste of the country and city where I was taking the class and decide whether it was a good place for me. Somehow in all the research Vietnam became a good option simply because of timing. Vietnam also had a certain appeal to me because of our history in the country.

Then the last question is how did I end up with Elsbeth? This was quite accidental, Elsbeth and I had met freshmen year when we lived down the hall from each other. We really only hung out a few times and then only ran into each other in passing in college. One day, towards the end of senior year we ran into each other and decided we should get together and swap travel stories...after a couple coffees we found that we both wanted to travel and teach...so why not together?! A lot safer and a less lonely! So it all came together and here we are! After a year of waiting I am back out traveling!

So that is why I am here with Elsbeth. After reconnecting to people back home with our internet and listening to music, and taking a shower I was reconnected and ready for more. I think its the whole two steps forward and one step back ideas. We went out to find a bank and some food. Somehow we stubbled upon the main ILA Vietnam office on our way. ILA Vietnam is the company that we are taking the CELTA course through and also the company that we may get a job through once we are done with the class. After stubbling across the building we find an ATM and some AMAZING Vietnamese food...we also grabbed some ice cream....2 for a total of less than 50 cents! I think we will be able to deal with these prices. We were beat by about 7 pm and it was getting dark! It gets dark at 7 here! Which was to our advantage last night because we were out by 7:30 and woke by 5:30...we hope to get on schedule and stay up till 8 or 9 tonight. Well sorry for the length of this post but I thought I would set everything up for future stories. Please feel free to comment we love to hear from everyone! Miss you and love you all back in the great state of Minnesota! :)