They say this is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Wouldn't you agree?
Saturday, February 25, 2006
The Market
Shopping in Viet Nam is quite an experience. I can find just about anything in an outdoor market or along the sides of the streets. The other day we bought plastic hangars for our room for under thirty cents. Communicating with the vendors is still pretty difficult, so when I ask about the price, the woman (yes, it's almost always a woman) either shows me the correct bill or types the price in to a calculator. It would be perfectly acceptable to try to get a lower price, but I figure a few cents is worth so much more to them than it is to me- so I always give them the asking price if I want the item.
Friday, February 24, 2006
My Typical Day
My day starts with going down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Usually, I choose a noodle soup. Also, Viet Nam has the most spectacular coffee. It is very thick, and it is served with sweetened condensed milk. It's amazing.
At about 7:20, I start walking with some other girls to the university. It takes us quite a while to get there because we sometimes have to wait a while at the street corners in order to get up enough nerve to cross the street.
I attend Vietnamese class from 8:00-10:00 and its one of the best parts of the day. It really feels like we're singing sometimes. We have two teachers who switch off each day. The female teacher is very graceful and poised. The male teacher speaks English with an Australian accent and he's pretty funny.
At 10:00, we attend lectures on various topics related to Vietnamese culture and development. Today, a professor lectured on the five different stages of Vietnamese urbanization. Yesterday, we attended a lecture on Confucianism.
When we are let out of class at 12:00, we eat at the canteen at the university. The first two days, the food there was a novelty, but now it's getting really old. It's very fatty and bland- like cafeteria food anywhere, I guess.
After lunch, it is extremely hot. We walk back to our hotel and sit in air-conditioning for at least a couple of hours. We have between fifty and seventy pages of reading to do each day. On top of that, I need to study my vietnamese. In addtion, I need to have a firm idea of what I would like to do my Independent Study Project on by early next week. So, I spend a good amount of time in the afternoons studying.
Otherwise, I've been walking around the city, trying new restaurants, checking out the markets, hanging out at internet cafes and hanging out with the other students.
Anyway, I just wanted to give you all a little picture of what I've been doing lately.
At about 7:20, I start walking with some other girls to the university. It takes us quite a while to get there because we sometimes have to wait a while at the street corners in order to get up enough nerve to cross the street.
I attend Vietnamese class from 8:00-10:00 and its one of the best parts of the day. It really feels like we're singing sometimes. We have two teachers who switch off each day. The female teacher is very graceful and poised. The male teacher speaks English with an Australian accent and he's pretty funny.
At 10:00, we attend lectures on various topics related to Vietnamese culture and development. Today, a professor lectured on the five different stages of Vietnamese urbanization. Yesterday, we attended a lecture on Confucianism.
When we are let out of class at 12:00, we eat at the canteen at the university. The first two days, the food there was a novelty, but now it's getting really old. It's very fatty and bland- like cafeteria food anywhere, I guess.
After lunch, it is extremely hot. We walk back to our hotel and sit in air-conditioning for at least a couple of hours. We have between fifty and seventy pages of reading to do each day. On top of that, I need to study my vietnamese. In addtion, I need to have a firm idea of what I would like to do my Independent Study Project on by early next week. So, I spend a good amount of time in the afternoons studying.
Otherwise, I've been walking around the city, trying new restaurants, checking out the markets, hanging out at internet cafes and hanging out with the other students.
Anyway, I just wanted to give you all a little picture of what I've been doing lately.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
3.5 Million Scooters
There are 3.5 Million motorbikes in Saigon. Nothing can prepare you for what that looks and feels and smells like!
Forget diarrhea, typhoid, mosquitos, side-effects of Malaria pills and rabies- the most dangerous part about living in Saigon is the traffic! The streets are filled with motorbikes. They are often are often at least 12 motorbikes across a lane- each direction. You can't wait for a lull in the traffic here- it will never come. You must simply walk out in to traffic. It is the responsibility of the driver not to hit you. It is completely counterintuitive to put so much trust in to dozens of motorbikes going at a good pace, swirving and accelerating. Honestly, sometimes I have to just look at the ground in front of me and not even take notice of what is coming at me. The worst thing I could do would be to freak out and either stop in my tracks or start running across the road. Sometimes it feels as though the red sea is parting as I walk out in to a sea of motorbikes and I don't get hit.
More dangerous is the crime that comes with all of the motorbikes. It is very common for someone riding by on a motorbike to grab a pedestrian's bag. If the bag is slung over your shoulder, you would very possibly be dragged with the bag. Americans have gotten seriously hurt in this way in the past. On our first night in HCMC, one girl's bag was snatched (it had a very flimsy strap, so it just broke) and another girl's bag was almost snatched but she was able to swat the driver's hand away.
Because of this danger, I avoid carrying a bag when at all possible. If I do need to carry a bag, I carry it on the opposite side of traffic, I hold on tight, and I certainly don't wrap it around my body.
Forget diarrhea, typhoid, mosquitos, side-effects of Malaria pills and rabies- the most dangerous part about living in Saigon is the traffic! The streets are filled with motorbikes. They are often are often at least 12 motorbikes across a lane- each direction. You can't wait for a lull in the traffic here- it will never come. You must simply walk out in to traffic. It is the responsibility of the driver not to hit you. It is completely counterintuitive to put so much trust in to dozens of motorbikes going at a good pace, swirving and accelerating. Honestly, sometimes I have to just look at the ground in front of me and not even take notice of what is coming at me. The worst thing I could do would be to freak out and either stop in my tracks or start running across the road. Sometimes it feels as though the red sea is parting as I walk out in to a sea of motorbikes and I don't get hit.
More dangerous is the crime that comes with all of the motorbikes. It is very common for someone riding by on a motorbike to grab a pedestrian's bag. If the bag is slung over your shoulder, you would very possibly be dragged with the bag. Americans have gotten seriously hurt in this way in the past. On our first night in HCMC, one girl's bag was snatched (it had a very flimsy strap, so it just broke) and another girl's bag was almost snatched but she was able to swat the driver's hand away.
Because of this danger, I avoid carrying a bag when at all possible. If I do need to carry a bag, I carry it on the opposite side of traffic, I hold on tight, and I certainly don't wrap it around my body.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Lost and Alone in Da Lat!
After a 21 hour flight an 8 hour layover and another 3 hour flight, I (finally!) arrived in Saigon. Immediately it felt great to be here. I know I'm going to have an amazing semester.
The first night we had wonderful Vietnamese food (my chopstick skills have greatly improved in the last five days!) and our Academic Director informed us that we would be leaving Sai Gon for Da Lat the next morning for a four day orientation.
As soon as we got to Da Lat we started our first Field Study Seminar activity. He gathered us on the bus and informed us that we would be dropped off at a location and we would be given a sheet of paper with a time and place that we were supposed to meet and a topic to research along the way. And, we would be dropped off all alone. So, there I was on my first full day in Viet Nam alone and lost in Da Lat without a map or phrasebook. I was a bit shocked as the bus pulled away out of sight!
Of course, I made it to the meeting place in plenty of time. I picked up a map from a hotel, and I was able to ask directions from the schoolchildren who speak wonderful English (but I could hardly hear it for all their giggling!)
Tomorrow we start classes. I am very excited. We have vietnamese for two hours each morning and then we have a lecture on one of five topics: Pre-colonial History, Modern History and Politics, Religion and Philosophy, Vietnamese Society in Transition and Development. In two weeks we will take a week-long excursion to the Mekong Delta. Then, we begin a five week homestay. We also take a week-long excursion to Hue and another to Hanoi. The last four weeks we have free to do our Independent Study Project where we can travel anywhere in Vietnam to do our research. After the program is done, Zakcq and my mom and dad are coming to Saigon (Yay!!!)
I just got back to Saigon, so I'm going to go unpack in my hotel room and have dinner with the group. I promise to blog often. :)
The first night we had wonderful Vietnamese food (my chopstick skills have greatly improved in the last five days!) and our Academic Director informed us that we would be leaving Sai Gon for Da Lat the next morning for a four day orientation.
As soon as we got to Da Lat we started our first Field Study Seminar activity. He gathered us on the bus and informed us that we would be dropped off at a location and we would be given a sheet of paper with a time and place that we were supposed to meet and a topic to research along the way. And, we would be dropped off all alone. So, there I was on my first full day in Viet Nam alone and lost in Da Lat without a map or phrasebook. I was a bit shocked as the bus pulled away out of sight!
Of course, I made it to the meeting place in plenty of time. I picked up a map from a hotel, and I was able to ask directions from the schoolchildren who speak wonderful English (but I could hardly hear it for all their giggling!)
Tomorrow we start classes. I am very excited. We have vietnamese for two hours each morning and then we have a lecture on one of five topics: Pre-colonial History, Modern History and Politics, Religion and Philosophy, Vietnamese Society in Transition and Development. In two weeks we will take a week-long excursion to the Mekong Delta. Then, we begin a five week homestay. We also take a week-long excursion to Hue and another to Hanoi. The last four weeks we have free to do our Independent Study Project where we can travel anywhere in Vietnam to do our research. After the program is done, Zakcq and my mom and dad are coming to Saigon (Yay!!!)
I just got back to Saigon, so I'm going to go unpack in my hotel room and have dinner with the group. I promise to blog often. :)
Monday, February 13, 2006
Leaving for Saigon
I will be on an airplane heading for Hong Kong in just twelve hours. Yikes!
I have to say I'm a little nervous. But, who wouldn't be nervous moving to the other side of the world for five months? I'm excited to take vietnamese courses and to make vietnamese friends. Also, I'm going to try and see if I can take some martial arts classes. I'm a black belt in tae kwon do, so I think it would be really neat to take some other martial art. Also, that would be a great way to really immerse myself in vietnamese culture and language.
Anyway, all of you, please take care of Zakcq while I'm gone. Make sure he doesn't get too lonely.
I have to say I'm a little nervous. But, who wouldn't be nervous moving to the other side of the world for five months? I'm excited to take vietnamese courses and to make vietnamese friends. Also, I'm going to try and see if I can take some martial arts classes. I'm a black belt in tae kwon do, so I think it would be really neat to take some other martial art. Also, that would be a great way to really immerse myself in vietnamese culture and language.
Anyway, all of you, please take care of Zakcq while I'm gone. Make sure he doesn't get too lonely.
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