Sheish!! Okay - so realistically - writing about our life in Vietnam could be a full time job in itself. There's just so much, and it's so vastly different from our life in America. Plus we've been super busy with our actual full time teaching jobs, (which are going great, by the way. It's hard work but it's also very rewarding, and our kiddos are showing tremendous growth already!) Then there's the whole trying to figure out "life in Vietnam" thing. Add that all up and we just don't seem to be able to keep up on documenting the entire journey! So instead, we're hoping to at least capture a little bit of it by basically making this a random compilation of the various experiences, thoughts, observations, ideas, pictures and who-knows-what that we do manage to jot down. And of course we want all of you (yes, I think all 10 of you that read this,) to know what we've been up to!
So I'll go ahead and apologize right now for the run on sentences, the fragments and the otherwise poor grammar that would normally reflect poorly upon a teacher. I suggest you either get over it now, or stop reading now, because there's just not enough time to edit my stream of consciousness.
On a side note, I'm really starting to like Vietnamese music - who'd of thought?! Yeah....M-TV, probably sad, I know.
Road side fires - everywhere!
It's one of those things that we found really strange at first, but there are seriously random fires on the sides of roads everywhere. People burn stuff like crazy - everything and anything. At first we thought maybe it was just because of Tet but the fires are here post-Tet too.
One day we were pulling up to Metro on the motorbike and we saw this wall of smoke - I thought it might actually be a fire like we used to think of fires - unplanned and uncontrolled - you know, dangerous and alarming. Nope - there were 12 neat, small fires burning in a ditch. So weird. But people tend to them - I guess it's a good way to get rid of your trash....? And then there was the day that we were at jiu-jitsu - training as usual on a Saturday morning - and then all of the sudden you can smell the smoke - lots of it - so much that on a warm day in Vietnam we still decided to close the doors to the dojo. There were these two or three ladies outside all burning stuff - we speculated there could be a competitive edge to it - who can burn more junk? I think my favorite part of it was the plastic. Yes, you read that right - plastic - as in we could smell the plastic burning. How lovely. Seriously, there's nothing like breathing in carcinogens while you're exercising! Who wakes up in the morning and thinks - "hmm....I think I'll go burn some plastic today!"? Maybe next time they'll fill the plastic with styrofoam first - that might be a nice touch. In all seriousness thought it's not that big of a deal (I say that now while I'm cancer free - which is the way to be!) It's just different. But we haven't seen any of them get out of control - and people generally seem pretty responsible with them.
Update - (since I started this entry many, many weeks ago and never finished it. Which has happened 2 times over now - I resolve to press the post button before I get up, whether I'm done with it or not!) - Anyways, the update - since summer has started rolling in, it seems fires are at least more so at night, I imagine because of the heat during the day. I myself could not imagine going outside at night, when it's still 33 out (somewhere in the low 90s) and tending to a fire. I don't know how people do it.
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| A random roadside fire - nothing like the whole rows of them, but this is nothing uncommon. |
Milk
It costs approximately the equivalent of $8 a gallon here, which sucks, but we still buy it. It's cow's milk and somewhere in-between skim and whole, so it's drinkable for us, and it does a body good! It's just kind of expensive. Needless to say we no longer go through nearly as much as we used to!
Eggs
We've eaten a lot of different kind of eggs since we got here. We usually buy duck eggs, which are surprisingly harder to crack than the eggs we're used to at home. The quail eggs look cute, yet gross and are surprisingly tasty!
People
The people here seem different in many ways. And I don't just mean that for the first time since third grade that I feel tall. Or that short little me can look over the seas of people in a store or market and easily see my equally short husband several meters away because we're both a foot taller than everyone. (And that's with tons of ladies wearing 6" heels. Johnny wonders why they bother wearing them - after all, they're still only 4'10" with them on....) But what I mean is that the people here seem more communal. (Don't get me started on the "communal cup" thing though - yuck!) It's not my place to make any type of evaluation of society or culture, but it just feels like everyone has a bit more of a human component here. It's just an observation. Maybe it's harder to overlook people when you're living in a developing country - because they're just right there. The overwhelming differences in the have and have-nots is a little bit disturbing. Take for example where we live - Ciputra. Johnny and I are very fortunate to live in an such an amazing international city. We're a little spoiled here. We live in nice high rise (which our very American selves were scrutinizing at first - shame on us and our first world eyes.) The landscaping is gorgeous, not to mention immaculate - it compliments the fountains and statues beautifully. Our buildings are filled with great facilities, amenities and conveniences. Yet just outside the 24 hour guarded gates are some of the saddest shambles of homes that I've ever seen people live in. I won't go into our thoughts or theories, but it's just kind of sad and makes you really appreciate what you are fortunate enough to have.
And of course I didn't finish that entry, but I"ll finish it now.... :) (Read here, yet another time I didn't finish it - shame on me!)
Yeah, I was going to mention that it's a more trusting society and all the jazz but in short, you'll still get swindled and pick-pocketed very easily if you don't watch yourself and your stuff. (Hasn't happened yet, knock on wood or the next best thing - my head!) But you're way less likely to get stabbed or shot. Most of the "cops" (there are several types) don't even have guns. They have whistles and beating sticks :) Imagine America with cops that only have whistles and beating sticks! Anyhow, one more weird thing that I've noticed about the people in this environment - like I mentioned it's hard to overlook people because they're just right there - right next to you. (On a motorbike it's actually considered rude and inconsiderate not to creep up so that there's only 2 cm between you and the next bike - plus if you don't, someone else will!) but people really don't hold back too much. If you walk up while they're picking their nose (sorry Mom, I know you think it's gross to even talk about,) but if you do, they won't stop. They just keep on digging until they get what they went in there for. Then they'll brush off their boogers and go about their business as usual. Heck, they'll still be polite and shake your hand. People do seem to spend more time outside here too. I guess the upside to having that kind of "up close and personal"-ness with so many people is the helpful and kind human component. For example, when we saw a family drop their motorbike, everyone around them rushed to help them up and get back on it. No one tried to jack their groceries from their bags, everyone just immediately stopped what they were doing, got off their own bikes if need be, and went to help them. It was kind of refreshing to see.
And now some random pictures to hold your attention...
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| We're doing well - as strange and as happy as ever :) |
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| Sorry about the red eyes - I suppose I should fix it - but nonetheless, this the beautiful place we live. |
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| Here are my handsome guys! I'll have to take pics with all the flowers around now - but this place really is very beautiful! |
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| My tired guys trying to wait up for me :) |
Being US
Being us gets us noticed here, quite easily actually. People take random pictures of us - that took a little getting used to. Now we don't seem to notice as much, but it still happens. Sometimes I find it funny to just strike a pose when people are trying to be discrete (but not doing a good job.) I remember the first time I had my suspicion confirmed - it was at the fireworks show during Tet. I was wearing a bright yellow West Point hoodie, and I kept thinking this guy was sort of following me with his camera and taking pictures of me. Low and behold he was. I finally made a quick turn and saw him reviewing the images and sure enough, I could spot myself, front and center (in multiple photos.) He was surprised that I was watching him that time around, so he laughed uneasily and kind of flashed the screen review at me. I smiled and we went over and looked at the pictures - none of which were very good. So instead, so he could get a descent picture, we posed for him. We took pictures together too - he and his whole group of friends found it so entertaining and so interesting. People here love practicing their English with you too, although sometimes you're just not in the mood for it. Most of the time we're good sports about it, but I have also found that just switching to Spanish is sometimes helpful. The first time we had the whole weird picture taking thing happen, it was just to Johnny and he wasn't so keen on it. Some guy in Metro was following him around, taking his photo, and then when Johnny would look at him strangely he would continue taking pictures of oddball thing - trying to make it seem like that was what he had been doing the whole time. Well we mentioned to our friend Aaron, who is an Aussie that as it turns out, deals with the same thing. He swore the easiest thing to do is just throw up the peace sign and say cheese. If they have a kid, stick your arm around their shoulder with a thumbs up and let them take the darn picture. So we finally gave in and tried, and it is easier to just do it and get to move on with your life. Plus, if you give in to the picture and don't want to stay to talk, they're more forgiving and don't follow you around talking to you (read - making you feel like a jerk for having something else to do other than helping them with their English.) I think one of the best times was at a local park which we took Dex to - oh boy did everyone want pictures then! I'll let Johnny tell that story though. I finally asked for a photo with all them, which they got a kick out of.
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| This was at our Tet celebration at school. We volunteered to participate and were dressed up in traditional attire. |
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| Even the Vietnamese staff that we work with everyday wanted pictures with us that day. |
There's so much more to write about - like Dexter practically being a circus dog, about how when I run I feel like I'm chasing butterflies in a tropical paradise garden (providing I'm not nearly dying because of the humidity and heat,) the driving, the amazing and wonderful people we've met, Johnny's new hog (he no longer says "Hop on my piglet babe!" Now we actually have a nice motorcycle which we have adoringly named "Bacon." Anyways, all that more to come. Make sure to sign up for these thing and who knows, maybe we'll actually start getting better at updating it!
Oh and at least an extra picture or two - here you go!
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| Johnny chillin' on the piglet |
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| Johnny's new hog! More pictures to come :) |
Next time will be more pictures, but for now, I will at least press the post button!
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