More Updates

It seems a little weird at this point to continue the highlights from my last blog but here are some quick highlights.

Sunday Sept 19---Visited a temple with my host family.  It was a very interesting experience.  There were crowds of people inside and a priestess was doing ceremonial rituals and dances.  I think she was being possessed by the spirits of the ancestors.  There were also musicians inside playing music.  But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:

Afterward, they all got on a boat.

Oct 3---As I was leaving for church, my host brother asked if he could come.  It was the first time he had ever gone to church and I'm sure he was just as bewildered as I was at the temple.  Now why are these people singing? Why are they all of a sudden standing up and shaking everyone's hands?  Why are they lining up to eat bread?

Oct 7---Bryn and I attended a festival for Hanoi's 1000 year anniversary.

 A lot of people.

Oct 16---Bryn (the other SALTer) and I went with a colleague, her sister, and her sister's friend to Bat Trang Village which is a traditional pottery village.  It was a lot of fun.  We checked out ceramics and also got a chance to make and paint our own pottery. 

So another 1000 year anniversary for Hanoi has come and passed. For some reason I expected the day to be like New Years Eve at Time Square, thousands of people huddled together amidst fireworks and light shows. To be fair, there were light shows, fireworks, and performances, it was just too difficult to get to them.  Also, my family and friends had other plans, so I spent lunch eating at the house of a girl who I'm teaching English and dinner at my host family's cousin's house watching the ceremony on the TV.  It was a good time. For dinner, I got the chance to try snails and jellyfish for the first time. For lunch, mats were spread out and we ate together on the floor of the living room.  A couple days earlier my host family did the same for my father's friends from Loas who came to visit.  That was definitely an interesting experience.  Only a couple of them could speak Vietnamese so my father looked to me to speak English with the rest. I also enjoyed seeing other people as the guest for a change.

Here are some other highlights from the past weeks:

Last Thursday we had the day off because roads were blocked due to the 1000 year celebration.  I decided that I was going to try and go out of Hanoi.  My plan was to see the countryside.  Bryn had a gone a ways towards the outskirts of Hanoi with his host brother once and told me that it didn't look any less urban.  However, I was still determined.  A couple of days ago, Bryn and I talked with a student in a semester abroad program here.  He was surprised that Bryn and I had been here a month and had only seen Hanoi.  That encounter convinced me that I at least needed to see the outskirts.

I got on my motobike and decided to take a road that went Northeast.  I had soon driven off the edge of my map of Hanoi.  I went over a bridge and ended up in an area significantly less developed.  However, there were still dozens of shops squished together on either side of me.  However, these small shops soon turned into tall thin buildings, identical to the ones found around my area.  The road turned became surrounded once again by small shops and then once again by tall buildings.

Finally I saw fields on either side of me and small hills looming in the distance.  Sure, there were buildings about half a mile up ahead, but they were smaller and half constructed.  As the road turned into dirt and I passed by  buildings I grew more excited.  Up ahead the road dipped into trees.  I drove faster, anxious to see what awaited on the other side. Maybe this would be it, I would finally break out of these concrete confines and HOLY COW! WHERE DID THAT HUGE HOTEL COME FROM?!

After breaking free from the highly urban streets of Hanoi, I seemed to have entered a continuous loop.  I would drive through a rural type area with dozens of small shops until I hit open fields on either side of me for about half a mile.  There would be an old Vietnamese man or woman by the side of the road selling sunglasses.  Then I would enter into what I presumed was another town with tall, half constructed buildings and dirt roads.  Then I would drive by a big hotel or civic center.  I would pass temple and altar sights and then be back in a small rural area with dozens of small shops.  The road had become a mobius strip.  Shops, fields, old man selling sunglasses, construction, development, temples, shops, fields, old woman selling sunglasses, construction, development, temples, schools, shops, fields... I felt like Alice in Through the Looking Glass when she tried to run as fast as she could but kept ending up back where she started.

However, I realized that if perhaps I turned off the road, I could possibly escape into the "countryside" or at least into a significantly less urban area. But since I didn't have a map of the area, and my host family expected me home in a couple of hours, I kept going straight until I passed a sign saying "Welcome to Bac Ninh" and drove under a large overpass.  Later, when I would tell people that I drove to Bac Ninh (which is another province and the name of the capital of that province although I'm not sure whether I actually entered Bac Ninh the city or just Bac Ninh the province), they would ask if I heard any traditional singing when I was there because Bac Ninh is famous for its singing.  I would say, no I kind of just drove there and drove back.  Which is what I did.  Once I hit the overpass, I headed back.  

...(more highlights coming soon)

Every night, my host cousin and my host mom watch a specific soap opera on the television.  The soap opera is dubbed into Vietnamese.  However, the dubbing isn't particularly good.  In fact, you can still faintly hear the original voices (or at least what I thought were the original voices) under the dub.  At first, I thought this was an American soap opera because I would hear English voices under the Vietnamese dub.  But the English voices sounded strange.  They sounded like they were also dubbed.  Also, the situations in the soap opera were pretty ridiculous, even for a soap opera.  Finally, after a scene where a mariachi band appeared at a wedding, I realized that this was a Mexican soap opera dubbed into English and then poorly dubbed again into Vietnamese.  The telenovela is called "El Cuerpo del Deseo" and after doing some research I found out that it is actually filmed in Miami.  So.  I am watching a Mexican soap opera filmed in America that has been dubbed into English and then dubbed again into Vietnamese.

It's things like this that make me realize how much our world interacts with each other, albeit inderectly.  I can only imagine what Vietnamese watchers of that show think of life in Mexico.  I couldn't even tell that the actors in the show were Mexican.  They all have very light complexions and live in enormous mansions. In the same way, Vietnam is very different than the American perception.  Mention Vietnam to an American and they'll automatically think of Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket.  The Vietnam I'm living in is much different.  Also, the Vietnamese perception of the war is different.  The typical American view of the Vietnam War was that it was a terrible tragedy.  However, in Vietnam the war is seen as a victory.  Lots of people died, yes, but the Vietnamese mindset is that they kicked out colonialism once and for all. 

Anyway, thats enough stream of conscience ramblings for now.  I'm off to eat food that was actually grown within the country in which I'm living.

...Although some of it may have come from China.

Mid Autumn Festival

So I've been here for about one month.  In many ways, it doesn't feel like I've been here that long.  Whenever I meet another foreigner, they always ask if I've checked out a certain bar or park or cinema.  I always I reply that I haven't. I guess my situation is different than many other foreigners. Living with a host family means less time for exploration.  But at the same time, I believe that it causes me to have more contact with the culture.

Slowly but surely, I've been getting better at Vietnamese.  My host brother helps me study most every night.  However, at times it is frustrating how little I know.  Yesterday, a friend of my brother's invited me to go to a small gathering at his house for Mid Autumn Festival.  There were four girls and one other guy.  We sat on outside on the balcony, lit candles, played with sparklers, and ate moon cake, yogurt, fruit, chips, and fruit jelly type snacks that looked like otter pops.
 While my brother's friend was away getting something, I tried talking to one of the girls in English but her replies were very short.  At first I thought she was just being curt with me and I sat in silence while the other girls around me talked with each other.  But as I began concentrating on what they were saying I picked out the work "English".  I began to realise that they just didn't know English very well.  They were discussing what to say in English.  In Vietnamese, I asked one of the girls where she lived.  She seemed to light up when I spoke in the familiar language.  She replied that she lived near there.  She gave me a yogurt and asked how it was.  I replied "ngon" (tasty).  The other girls giggled at this reply.  But then I blanked.  I couldn't remember the other Vietnamese questions that I had learned.  The conversation that had sparked up died and I sat in silence again.  When my brother's friend returned, I spoke with him in English and had some funny conversations.  It was a fun time, but I felt somewhat detached from the group and I know that they biggest reason for this was the language barrier. 

Two days ago, I went with my father and my youngest brother to a festival, in celebration of the Mid-Autumn holiday, put on at the place where my father works.  Like most everyone on the other side of the Red River, my father works for the Vietnamese airlines.  Driving by the office buildings, I glimpsed many of these festivals being held for each airline department.  For example, there was a festival thrown by the cabin crew and a festival thrown by the mechanics.  My father works for corporate.  The festivals are geared towards children.  There were booths where kids could play games or eat moon cake.  There was also a stage where kid dance groups and singer were performing.  My father introduced me to one of his colleagues.  I began speaking to him slowly and carefully but he replied in perfect relaxed English.  It turns out that he had lived in San Francisco and Toronto for eight years.  I told him I was from Washington State and was relieved that I did not have to explain to him the difference between Washington State and Washington D.C. (which I've had to do a lot).  He introduced his two children.  He had a daughter who was 11 and a son who was 8.  While the son was shy, the daughter was very talkative.  She spoke English fluently and only knew a little Vietnamese.  As she and I talked, the son began to talk more as well.  I think they both very glad to talk to a native English speaker.  We talked about the random things that kids talk about such as the time she accidental punched her brother in the nose, the time their friend ran into a tree, their favourite TV shows and bands, and what they dressed up as for Halloween.  They were actually pretty smart kids.  They told me that their dad follows the stock exchange and they seemed to know a lot about different U.S. cities.  Even though they were about half my age, it was rewarding to just talk in English about what ever I wanted.  The problem when speaking with most English speakers that I meet here is that it always comes down to the same conversation.  What are you doing here?  Where are you from?  How do you like it so far?  With kids, you can jump right into a funny story that happened to you three years ago.

Anyway, in a nutshell: language is important, those kids were cool, and Mid Autumn Festival was interesting.  I have to head out now.  On the next episode I'll discuss my observations on the globalisation of soap operas. 

Chao tạm biệt.
      

How Many Innocent Guests Have Undergone the Vicissitudes?

That is a line from a Vietnamese poem that I had to edit at The Gioi, the publishing company I'm working for.  Not only does it somewhat apply to my current situation but it also just sounds cool. 

I am happy with my new host family.  At first, it was a little hard.  Although I had been there for only a short time, I had grown attached to my previous host family and the location that I was at.  But I like my new situation.  I have a host brother closer to my age (19) who has been helping me practice Vietnamese.  My host dad and mom are very nice.  My host dad is always full of smiles and is very eager to learn English and teach Vietnamese.  Those seem to be common characteristics with host dads of mine.  Living in the house is also another brother who is 15 and a girl, who I think is a cousin, who is 23. 

On Sunday, I will be playing music at church.  I'll be taking over the duties of another man named Nathan who recently left for the states.  I'm pretty excited to pick up the guitar again. 

I've been a little exhausted these past few days.  The combination of moving and having to get up at 6:00am is beginning to take its toll.  I look forward to sleeping in this Saturday. 

Oh yeah.  Teaching last Sunday went well for the most part.  The first class I taught was made up of only three girls around the age of 11.  I taught them present progressive sentences such as "I am wearing a hat," and "I am throwing a box."  I brought a box and a paper hat to class and them the wear the hat and throw the box.  I felt like I had actually accomplished teaching them something.

The second class was terrible.  Is was made up of 15 students from age 8 to 13 and they would not sit still or pay attention.  Finally, I just went up to each individual student and practiced a sentence with them. 

The third class was much better.  There were nine students. We went over numbers and body parts.  I would ask "how many hands are in this room?"  I also made more paper hats for students to wear.  I would then ask "how many hats are in this room?"  We did other similar activities.

I told the teachers that I would be able to teach on occasion but could not teach every Sunday. 

So that's what has been happening so far.  Today I drove a motorbike for the first time.  Since Bryn and I now live near each other, we can bike pool to work and language class.  I've also been going to the gym every day with my brother.  I'm not a big gym person, but it has been good so far.   

Quick Updates

--Last week on Saturday I moved in with my new host family.  They are very nice.  They have two sons.  One is around 9 and the other is 16 and is doing a foreign exchange program in Philadelphia.  At night I would watch HBO with my host dad and teach him random English words that were spoken on screen.  He would teach me Vietnamese in return.  I also helped teach give my host brother an English lesson.

--On Monday I found out that I couldn't stay with them.  Turns out the police were suspicious of the fact that they had a son in the US and an American in their home.  So the registration fell through.

--On Tuesday I moved back in with Derek and Ana, the MCC coordinator and his wife.

--Two days ago I got a call from someone who had gotten my number from the language school asking if I could teach English at a school on Sunday. 

--Today I met with them.  They offered me a salary to teach English every Sunday for three months.  I was pretty sure there was some MCC policy against getting a salary from another job and I didn't want to commit myself to three months of teaching.  Therefore, I told them that I would teach one time, tomorrow, for free.  Also, today I found out that MCC has found a new host family.  I will move in on Monday.

--Tomorrow I guess I'm teaching three half hour classes to students aged 10-14.  We will see how that goes.  I'm also going to meet with my ex-host family for lunch.  They said that they still would like to invite me over and take me out for picnics on occasions.   

Here are some more pics.  I took these from the top floor at the building where I work.  

Just the Usual Five o' Clock Traffic