vietnam

Phu Quoc - paradise!

2005-07-22T04:59:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this from the departure lounge in Kuala Lumpar, on my way back to England. I've paid to go in one of the fancy lounges because I can have a shower, and there's free food and drink! I've just got back from an amazing few days on the island of Phu Quoc, which is off the south coast of Vietnam, quite near Cambodia. It's a 40 minute flight and dirt cheap, and I'd heard great things about Phu Quoc so I decided to treat myself to a one-year anniversary present to myself!
People weren't wrong in there descriptions of Phu Quoc - it really is paradise. It is only just opening up as a tourist resort so it is completely unspoilt. I stayed in a lttle hotel which was right on the beach and every day I had the whole beach to myself. The sound of the waves lulled me to sleep every night and I whiled away the days reading and sunbathing. I really wanted a few days away as I was feeling very tired and drained from quite an intensive two months of living out of a suitcase in various places doing workshops. I loved that, but I needed some quality me time to chill out before coming back, as I didn't want to arrive back to people telling me how tired I looked! I spent five days there, quite literally doing nothing, but I feel so much better for it. I ate fresh seafood every day and went for a couple of runs along the beach during my more energetic moments. I also met some lovely people at the hotel who were travelling around Vietnam and even won a game of scrabble on the last night!
So, I'm now fully refreshed and very excited/nervous about coming back to the UK tomorrow. It's interesting the difference I feel between when I came back for Christmas last year and coming back now. On both occasions, I've obviously been dying to see family and friends again as I miss you all so much. Yet, at Christmas, when I was still not yet settled in Yen Bai, I was longing to come back and always referred to it as going home. Yet now, I am much more settled, and since being in Phu Quoc, I've had text messages and calls from my Vietnamese friends telling me that they miss me. A few have texted me to ask me when I'm going home. I've found this question strange as they all know that I'm coming back to Yen Bai on 30 August with my mum and sister, and then I realise that they mean back home to the UK, not Yen Bai. Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of extending my stay in Vietnam or living here, but for now it's home.

One year on

2005-07-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been reflecting on my life and experiences in Vietnam, I think because I've just got my visa for a second year here, and I found it hard to believe that I've been here for nearly a year already. I have to say that at times, it's felt much longer, but on the whole it seems to have flown by. I'm coming back to the UK for three weeks on the 23 July, and I'm obviously really looking forward to seeing my family and friends again. I'm also a bit aprehensive about coming back, as I feel very much out of the loop. I was speaking to my mum on the phone the other night and saying that she's going to have to help me when I get back in case I behave or say anything inappropriate! I was joking that I might get funny looks when I flick my fish bones, skin and anything else I don't want to eat onto the floor of a restaurant, ask people very personal questions on first meeting them, and I am sure I have lost all dress sense!
I'm in Hanoi now, but for the last few weeks I've been working in some remote districts in Yen Bai. A new English textbook is being introduced for grade 9 students so the workshops were based on teaching the new book. They went very well, and I really enjoyed getting to know the teachers as many of them I hadn't met before. The first week, I was lucky enough to stay in a hotel and I was sharing a room with a teacher from the college who is my closest friend in Yen Bai. We had a really great time together and in the evenings we were usually invited to eat at a teacher's house. At the end of the six days, I was exhausted as we were working long hours and we usually sat up chatting until quite late, but it was well worth it. There were a couple of blips, as I had some problems with leery men and rice wine - the usual story! I have now found the ultimate way to avoid drinking rice wine though and I truly believe I will never experience these problems again. In the end it was quite simple, but found out purely by accident - the key was to cry! On the last day of the first workshop, there were a lot of men pressurising me to drink and I think I was a bit tired as well, and I felt angry that the other male college teachers were not doing anything to help me. The women couldn't do anything, because they are women, but the older men could have helped me, but didn't and I ended up bursting into tears at the dinner table. Crying is very socially unacceptable in Vietnam and nobody knew what to do. The trouble was that once I'd started I couldn't stop! In the end my friend told me that maybe I should go back to the hotel room.
There was also another problem as I had planned to stay with one of my students and her family for the second week, because I was doing another workshop in a district nearby, but I knew that the living conditions there were very poor. Also, my friend was going back to Yen Bai and another college teacher was coming to do the second workshop with me, and we don't get on so well so I really wasn't keen to stay there. In order to stay with a Vietnamese family here, permission is needed from the police, but as my student's father is a policeman, this wasn't going to be a problem. Also, my student had offered to take me to work every morning and collect me every evening by motorbike (about 10km each way). However, some of the college teachers disagreed with my plans. After my dinner table outburst though, I was given permission to stay there! I'm so glad I did as I had such a good time. Her family were so incredible welcoming and really made me feel like part of there family. In the evenings, we'd all eat together (and her mum is a seriously good cook!) and then watch TV, or go to a coffee bar. They had a nice house and a western-style toilet which is always a big bonus! I felt really comfortable there and even got used to sleeping without a mattress! By the end of the second week, I was really quite sad to be leaving, and on the last night, her mum got a photographer to come and take photos of us all. When my mum and sister come to Yen Bai at the end of August, they've arranged so that they will be in Yen Bai City so they can meet them and eat with us. This means them getting a couple of days off work and travelling over two hours by motobike, but they insisted that it was no trouble. It's times like that which really make me feel in awe of Vietnamese hospitality and kindness.
The second week also saw a major breakthrough in the problems of rice-wine drinking. For the first couple of days after me crying, the male college teachers seemed quite embarrassed around me and would often giggle and hurry off every time they saw me. Halfway through the week we had another lunch with some people from the education authority and of course there was rice-wine. This time though, I wasn't even given a glass and all of the college teachers made sure that nobody even asked me to drink. I was obviously relieved as rice-wine is so disgusting and drinking it makes me gag. It's all home made and so strong, it feels like it burns the lining off my stomach! Also, one of the male college teachers who'd been with me the week before came over and apologised for not protecting me from the men asking me to drink, I think he felt a bit guilty! However, I felt bad because the other female college teachers were not so lucky and they had the same problems that I usually have. So on the last day when we all had lunch together again, I was so happy when I saw that very table had three cans of 7up so that we could use this instead of rice wine - much more pleasant!
All in all, it was a very successful two weeks, and I've made a lot of nice friends and had a lot of lovely experiences. I'm now in Hanoi and I'm going down to the south of Vietnam tomorrow for a week before flying back to the UK. I'll be in England for three weeks and then my mum and sister will be coming back to Vietnam with me for three weeks, so I'm really looking forward to a great couple of months.

Don’t let the bedbugs bite!

2005-06-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last month, someone from VSO came to Yen Bai for a meeting as I was having a few problems with work, mainly that I didn’t have enough. I know that you are probably thinking that I must be crazy to complain about having too little work, but in a place like Yen Bai, you don’t want to have too much freetime on your hands! Don’t get me wrong, I love living here and it’s incredibly beautiful, but there is nothing to do here and it was starting to drive me stir crazy! I have never read so much in my life and I started feeling a bit homesick and generally down, but with work to do I feel fine. The meeting was a success and when I came back form Sa Pa and Bac Ha, my boss came to inform that he had organised an extra one-week workshop for me in a nearby district.
I had a week to get prepared and a teacher from the college was coming with me and running the first day of the workshop. I didn’t know this teacher very well so I was looking forward to getting to know her better.
We arrived early Monday morning, and it was an easy day for me as it was Binh who was training. The whole district of English teachers turned up and the first thing we had to do was find a bigger room as there were 50 teachers in a classroom which could only accommodate 30 at a push! In the end, we moved all the desks and chairs into a classroom the other side of the school playground. The teachers were great, the best I’ve worked with so far. They all had a very good level of English so there was no need to translate as there is in some districts, and they were super-keen.
I was running the other sessions for the next three days, and it all went well, with one teacher saying that it was the best workshop she’d been to. However, Binh turned out to be quite lazy! I think she thought that after the first day, she could just sit and listen, and one particularly busy afternoon, I couldn’t find her anywhere. When she finally came back in she told me that she’d felt tired and had gone for a nap in one of the classrooms - I had to admire her honestly!
The conditions were difficult as we rarely had electricity so it was unimaginably hot, yet despite that the teachers all worked exceptionally hard. Electricity is a big problem at the moment as in the north it is generated by a hydro-electric plant but there hasn’t been enough rain so power cuts are frequent and lengthy. This district was particularly bad and we usually didn’t have electricity until about 8 p.m. and then it would go off again at 7 a.m. The only good thing was that we slept ok because we could use fans at night.
I had been warned that conditions would be very basic in this district, however, I struggled to believe that it could get any more basic than sharing a bed with a teacher and her daughter and washing in cold water in a bowl in her kitchen. I was very pleasantly surprised as there was a proper toilet and a shower – the first time I’ve had either. And it wasn’t that stinky – amazing! With the weather so hot, it was such a relief to jump under a cold shower about three times a day! In the evenings, the teachers wold usually come to visit us, and we went to the lake a couple of times and stood on the main bridge eating ice cream as it’s the only place where there is a cool breeze.

As you might have guessed from the title though, there was one bad thing! While reading by torchlight on the first night, I discovered all sorts of creatures living in the mattress, and silver fish darting about as well. There was little I could do, but lay a blanket that I found over the top and sleep on that, in the hope that they would climb through and bite me. Thankfully it worked, but I am now prepared for that eventuality when I go to another district today, as I bought a silk sleeping bag in Hanoi so that I don’t have to sleep against any more bug infested beds!

Has anyone got a shoe horn?

2005-06-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Reading this title, you might think that I went shoe shopping today. Unfortunately it was much much worse!
A couple of months ago some local English teachers came to see me about doing an evening class to improve their fluency in English. I was happy to help and we have been having lessons once a week since then. I don’t accept any payment for these lessons, and they said on Friday that they would like to take me shopping to say thank you for my help, as the lessons are stopping for the summer. So today I was picked up by one of the teachers and we went to a nearby clothes shop. I was told that they wanted to buy me a top and a bottom, so we started looking at tops and blouses. I tried on a couple but none looked right so we went to another shop which was much bigger. We had instant success and I found a lovely pink t-shirt top. Full of new-found enthusiasm (it was very hot and we had started to wilt) we started looking at trousers. I am often complimented that I look like a Vietnamese person, however, when people say this, they usually haven’t looked at my rather large backside! There was an occasion (which I try to put out of my mind!) when I went shopping in December. My friend insisted that I tried on some trousers which I knew would be too small. I told her my bum was too big to get into them but she insisted they’d be fine and pushed me into the changing room. On hearing me giggle, she opened the curtain to find me with the trousers only just over my butt and the button nowhere near the hole. She laughed as well and then proceeded to tell the people in the shop that yes, I may look Vietnamese but I do have a big butt. I just hide it well!
My friend today was slightly more sensitive, but after having tried on loads of trousers, all too small, we were starting to get disheartened. I think my friend was under orders from the others that everything must be bought today, and we nearly had some luck when I tried on a medium which was too big. With a flourish, we grabbed a small off the rack but once again the button and hole were strangers. I was pulling my trousers back on when my friend told me to hang on. She then came back and pushed a final pair of trousers into the changing room. I tried them on and they fitted perfectly; my friend was elated and said I looked wonderful (although I’m sure she’d have said that whatever just so that we could go home!). They did look quite good, however there is a very clear reason why these trousers fit when all others didn’t – they have a very big elasticated waist!
Shopping humiliation over, we went and had a much-needed sugar cane juice before going home.

The northern mountains of Vietnam

2005-05-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Yen Bai is a mountainous region but the province to the north, which also borders China, is even higher and more mountainous. I was lucky enough to visit another volunteer who lives in a place called Bac Ha, quite near the Chinese border. She is a pre/primary school teacher trainer and has done some great work since arriving there. The area is poor and is mostly an ethnic minority called H’Mong. Her main achievements so far have been setting up libraries in lots of schools and equiping them with books and games. She has trained teachers to organise and run the libraries and start after-school clubs, and got the local community involved in building a playground. She faces different difficulties than I do, one of which is persuading parents to send their daughters to school and keeping them in school. H’Mong women are often married by the age of 14, to boys aged 12. In reality this isn’t a marriage, but a family gaining a daughter-in-law and so an extra pair of hands. I visited some of the schools that my friend works in, and the poor conditions that these people live in are apparent. However, it must be very satisfying for my friend to see them enjoying the libraries, books and after-school clubs which she helped initiate.
At the weekend, I went to a place called Sa Pa which is a tourist hotspot and was a popular summer destination for the French when it was a French colony. It has magnificent landscape and is famous for its agreeable climate – not too hot in the summer and nice and cool in the evenings (although very cold in the winter, and the only place that gets snow). It also has the highest mountain, Fan Si Pan, which I am intending to climb later on in the year – hopefully!
In Sa Pa, I went on a trek to some of the surrounding villages. This area has a large number of ethnic minority groups, particularly H’Mong and Red Dao. Their traditional costumes are beautiful, and they are all around Sa Pa selling embroidered table cloths, blankets, etc. My guide for the day was a local H’Mong girl aged 16. She has never been to school and yet her English was outstanding, learnt simply by listening to and conversing with tourists. She cannot read or write in English and is now attending some evening classes to learn to read and write in Vietnamese (as her first language is H’Mong), and I think she is probably the main bread-winner in the household, as her parents work in the paddy fields. The trek was amazing, I am a converted mountains person now! We stopped to have lunch by a bubbling river where local children were running and bombing into the river and generally having fun, and it was great to watch. I also learnt a lot from speaking to her about her customs and culture and how it is changing with tourism and development.
We had excellent weather and it was warm and sunny – stronger than I thought as my face and arms burnt. When I arrived back in Yen Bai, the look on my friend’s face was a picture. Vietnamese women go to great lengths to keep their skin white, by wearing ‘sun gloves’ – long gloves to cover all there arms, or their husband’s shirts over their clothes, as well as using a hat/umbrella and skin whitening lotion (I have also seen skin whitening roll-on deodorant?!). She didn’t say anything immediately, but when my other friend mentioned it over dinner, I told her that the sun was strong in Sa Pa but not to worry as it’d be brown by tomorrow. At this point my friend sucked in her breath in horror, saying ‘What a pity, dark skin, so terrible’ or words to that effect. I have told her numerous times that a tan in the western world is usually viewed as a good thing as we say that it makes us look healthy, but in Vietnam it is a sign of poverty. Farmers and manual workers have dark skin due to working outside, so therefore pale skin is a sign of affluence.
All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, and as it’s only about 4 hours away from Yen Bai, I think I might be popping up there a bit more often!

Massage in Hanoi

2005-05-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to Hanoi for the weekend, the main reason being that my computer broke and couldn’t be fixed in Yen Bai, and the other reason being that after a month in Yen Bai, I start going a bit crazy and need a weekend away! It’s five and a half very painful hours to Hanoi, but worth it once a month as it is an amazing city. My usual itinerary is to have lunch with the VSO staff (as I arrive at lunchtime) and then do some shopping, stocking up on all the things I can’t get in Yen Bai. There are quite a few volunteers who work in Hanoi, so I spent the rest of my time meeting up with them and eating all the food that I miss. The last two times I’ve been in Hanoi, I’ve also had a massage, as all the hand-washing over my bathroom tap kills my back!
The first time I went with a friend who’d been recommended a place by another friend. It was, quite literally painfully naked! We were in a small room separated by a partition, and we both opted for the hot stones massage which is good for muscle ache. I should have ran the moment I heard my friend scream in pain, but no, glutton for punishment, I gritted my teeth and wriggled around as boiling hot stones were put on the soles of my feet – I kid you not! The massage lasted a painful hour and a half, during which time, boiling hot stones were put on various places on my back - ouch!
As I said, it was also a very naked experience for me, something I feel quite uncomfortable with being from prudish England. I find it strange that Vietnamese women, who are so conservative in dress and behaviour, seem fine with nakedness, particularly in a very confined space. I am used to non-naked massages in the UK, where I get down to my underwear and put a towel round myself before the masseuse enters, and the towel covering me at all times. Therefore, when I strip down to my underwear here, and she tells me to take everything off, and put a small pair of men’s boxer’s on, imagine my horror!
However, I felt it unfair to be put off by one bad experience, and my back was aching a bit, so I decided to have another go but at a different place. I regular go to a café near my hotel, and I’ve seen Thai massage advertised in the hotel next door, so I thought I’d give it a go. Thai massage is the closest thing to what I have back in the UK (how I miss Mr. Hersey!) as it involves massage and then cracking of the joints in my back. It sounds painful but it’s actually a big relief.
It seemed quite professional as it was in a big hotel, and I paid beforehand and was then led into a room with a friendly Vietnamese girl. I have accepted the fact that nakedness is obviously something I have to expect from a Vietnamese massage and just try to jump face down onto the bed as fast as I can (I can’t help it, I’m conditioned this way!). She gave an excellent massage although I was slightly perturbed when she started using her feet and knees! She cracked all my joints and I felt a lot better. We chatted a bit in a mix of Vietnamese and English, and I was planning to come back here again. Getting dressed was a bit of a nightmare as she attempted to help me put my underwear on – this way exceeded my comfort zone. I intended to leave a tip and I felt that she expected it as well, which is fair enough. I paid 100,000 dong for the massage. This is quite a lot of money for a massage but the going rate in hotels. I planned to leave 10-15% tip and I was given a piece of paper to give my opinion of the massage and a place where I can write the tip I want to leave. In my purse I only had a 10,000 dong note some very small change and some 100,000 dong notes, so I looked in my purse and took out the 10,000. When I gave it to her and said thanks, she peered in my purse and asked if I had anything bigger! She told me that apparently most people leave 50,000 dong as a tip. I replied that most people must earn more money than me! At which point, she left the room, never to be seen again – a shame because I really wanted to go back there again, but a 50% tip seems quite excessive. Oh well, the massage saga continues, I’ll keep you informed!

The Weather

2005-05-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

Being British, I like talking about the weather, and living in the north of Vietnam gives me almost as much to talk about as living in the UK. In the south of Vietnam, there are only two seasons – dry and wet, and the temperature never falls below the mid 20’s, but in the north it is very different.
I’ve been told numerous times that there are four seasons in Vietnam, but I am not convinced, unless one season can last about two weeks! I moaned terribly about the weather from January to mid-April (as those of you who spoke to me will know very well!) which I can honestly say was the worst I’ve ever experienced in my life. The temperature never dropped below about 5 degrees, which is not that cold compared to frosty mornings in the UK. But there are two very big differences about a Vietnamese and British winter, the first being the humidity. I lost the fight against mould in about March, when I came back from a week away to find black kitchen top surfaces, black wash basins, and mould growing on my laptop, water filter, flip flops, and any other surface that could harbour mould. I can live with mould though, but I can’t live with the damp. At night, I would get under my 2 duvets and they would feel damp, I would wear 5 layers of clothing but the damp would seep through, and washing took two weeks to dry, and then often had to be washed again because it smelt. My friend in Hanoi described the damp as like living in a horror movie with the walls streaming – it really has to be seen to be believed!
The second big difference about a Vietnamese and British winter is central heating. Oh, how I dreamt of central heating during those months! The fact is that heating doesn’t exist here, and although I managed to buy the only heater which seemed to exist in Yen Bai, it did little apart from warm my toes a bit. People still sat with their front doors open because it made no difference, and I once described it to my sister as feeling like I’m permanently camping. My house is my tent and my bed is my sleeping bag, and I really felt like lighting a fire in the middle of the room! I think what I found the most difficult was not having any escape from the cold, day or night. I quite frequently went to bed in hat, scarf and gloves, and numerous pairs of socks because cold feet keeps me awake. During the day I would have to soak them nearly every hour to get the blood circulating in them again, and at night I would sit in a bowl of hot water (I have no bath) in an attempt to warm up. I would sit at my desk and be blowing white steam out of my mouth!
To be honest, my coping mechanism was to sleep, and I did lots of it under my two duvets. The TV and DVD player got moved into the bedroom and I spent as much time as possible in bed with my hot water bottle and a film!
It’s all over now though and it is scorching hot. It went from the cold to the hot with maybe two weeks of what we would describe as mild weather, and was called spring here. It now hits the late 30’s during the day and has reached 40 a few days, and the air conditioning is on full power. I am not complaining though and I refuse to, because however unpleasant the hot is, it is nothing compared to the cold. The main difference being that I can escape into my air-conditioned bedroom and cool down. The other day I was thinking of the advantages of the hot weather (as I was feeling hot and bothered and reminding myself of how awful I felt in winter) and the list was as follows:
In summer:
- I don’t have to hairdry my underwear dry every day
- I’m getting a tan (to the horror of my Vietnamese friends!)
- My hair is lightening therefore my highlights growing out is less noticeable.
- Clothes dry in hours rather than weeks
- It is not painful to be too hot
- There is a much wider variety of fruit

The only disadvantage I can see is that I do a lot more washing as although I wear less clothes, I actually wear more, if that makes sense! All in all, summer, however hot and sticky, is far preferable!

Dog Meat

2005-05-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

As a dog lover, it’s difficult living around the corner from what I have named ‘dog meat alley’ – a long street full of dog meat restaurants. In my head, I rationalise that I eat beef, pork, and fish (not chicken anymore due to bird flu) so therefore I cannot object to people eating dog meat, but it’s really hard. I find it especially difficult when I see the dogs arriving at the dog meat restaurants in the morning (alive and in cages) and think it very disturbing that all dog meat restaurants have a guard dog. One of the first things I noticed in Vietnam was how timid the dogs are, avoiding people and generally being very subservient – not surprising really when every person is a potential dog meat eater sniffing out a tasty canine to skewer! I bring up this topic because my day at the teacher’s house for the celebration of his grandfather’s death featured dog meat prominently.
Don’t get me wrong, I had a great day and really enjoyed spending the day with their family. Their hospitality was overwhelming and I was made to feel like one of the family. However, the meal was slightly traumatic! It was a dog meat feast. A dog was roasting on a spit over a fire, and the smell is very distinct – it is disgusting! Nothing is wasted in Vietnam so on the table was all parts of the dog – meat, intestines, stomach, you name it! The grandmother (thank god!) doesn’t eat dog meat so I had to go back on my no chicken rule and eat the only dish that wasn’t dog meat – chicken. I smiled and ate but I have to say that I felt the bile rising when I saw the two teenage daughters fighting over who was going to eat the tail and who was going to eat the leg of the dog, and then seeing their dog fat smeared faces as they were chomping into it like Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble!
The afternoon was less traumatic and I spent it chatting with the family and eating yoghurt (lovely!) I ate dinner with them in the evening (no dog meat!) and really enjoyed being in their company, and experiencing daily family life. I brought up the subject of dog meat with the teacher, as we were talking about different customs and traditions, and in defence of dog meat eating he said, ‘but Koreans, they eat loads of dog meat!’

LIberation Day

2005-04-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

Fisrt of all, apologies for not blogging for so long. I was on holiday for two weeks and then suffering a bout of post-holiday blues!
Today is what they call Liberation Day in Vietnam - the 30 year anniversary of the end of what is known here as the American War. The 30th of April is the day when the Vietnamese tanks entered the Presidential Palace in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the Americans surrendered. Celebrations have been going on for over a month, as different areas of Vietnam were liberated at different times, however, the 30th April 1975 was the official end to the war.
I have to say that I have really enjoyed the last week, which has been full of events as part of the build-up to today. At the college where I live and work, there have been performances every night of singing, dancing and plays, and the tv has been full of programmes of the war, most of them unseen before as they have only recently bought from French tv programme makers. However, behind all the jubilation, it is clear to see that for many, the war still holds horrific memories. Despite the celebrations, few people actually talk about the war other than in terms of a factual account. Nearly ever man over the age of about 50 was no doubt a soldier and I would say that most families lost a relative, friend or neighbour during the war. The only sign of this that I see are black and white photos of soldiers hanging above the ancestral alter in people's houses. I spoke with a close friend about this and she simply said that it is too soon for people to talk about it. On TV there are numerous programs about the war, and particularly about the horrrific effects that Agent Orange has had on generations of Vietnamese people. Agent Orange was a defoliant that the Americans used to clear large areas of forest in order to try and locate the North Vietnamese soldiers. Some soldiers who were exposed it it died, and many (both Vietnamese and American) went on to have children with serious birth defects. Some are severely physically or mentally disabled, or born without limbs, others have disfiguring skin disorders. For years, the Vietnamese have been trying to get compensation from the chemicals company which produced Agent Orange, and only recently they lost their court battle.
In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, there will be huge celebrations this evening, however, I have chosen to stay in Yen Bai among my Vietnamese friends as I feel it is a unique experience that I have been invited to take part in. Tomorrow I am spending the day with a teacher who works at the college as he has invited me to celebrate the death of his grandfather with his family and I feel honoured that he wishes me to be part of it. I'll blog soon to tell you all about it!

Fame at last!

2005-03-24T20:35:00.000-08:00

This blog is a bit late in writing, but I still want to wallow in my new-found fame. Yes, I was on national TV! I’m on local Yen Bai TV quite a lot as whenever I attend any sort of official ceremony for Women’s Day or New Year, the local camera crew are there, and of course cannot resist a big close-up on the only westerner, especially as she has blonde hair, a source of fascination here. I regularly get people saying, ‘I’ve never met you, but I’ve seen you on TV’ and I think this is quite usual for volunteers who live in rural areas.
However, this time, I hit the big time with my primetime spot on VTV1. It was a programme about the British Council conference which I attended in Ho Chi Minh City in December. I think my blog focussed more on the karaoke than the content of the conference! This programme was focussing particularly on Yen Bai and my head kept popping up all the time! I actually got to watch it but it was sheer luck, as the evening that it was broadcast I was at my friend’s house and she had the TV on. We recognised a teacher who works in Yen Bai, and then suddenly my face appeared! Quite a lot of the VSO volunteers who attended also share my fame, but unfortunately nobody has video recorders here so I haven’t got it on tape.
The next day I got a few phonecalls from my friends in Yen Bai saying that they saw me on TV, and the head of the English department said, ‘Sarah, you look very beautiful on television’ – compliment or insult?!

Utopia (despite the 4.50 a.m. wake-up call!)

2005-03-20T22:36:00.000-08:00

Last week I went to Trạm Tấu, the second most remote district in Yen Bai, high in the mountains of north Vietnam. To be honest, I was dreading it, as every time I mentioned that I was going here, people would give me a concerned/worried look and tell me that I was very brave. I think it’s always better when you are expecting something to be terrible, because it is nearly the opposite to what you expect – this was most definitely true in my case.
We travelled in a big green Russian army jeep packed with every article of warm clothes that I have! It took us about three hours on roads which wound up and around the mountains, with hairpin bend after hairpin bend. Numerous signs depicting falling rocks and cars falling off the cliff caused my muscles to remain tight for the majority of the drive, but I felt better that our driver was an older man, so not in need of impressing me with his ‘need for speed’!
The first and only thing that struck me was the amazing scenery. I cannot think of words to describe the colours and shapes, which were stunning, and which no photo could ever do justice. Lush green paddy fields, forests, bubbling streams …. It was idyllic.
We arrived early evening and were taken to the education authority offices to meet the vice directors. They were responsible for us during our stay and were incredibly hospitable. They ate with us at every meal and made sure that there was food that I liked i.e. not just dog meat! They also arranged for me to have a bath every morning, although their bemused look on their faces was amusing! We ( me and another English teacher from the College) were staying in a room at the education authority but there was no bathroom there, just a toilet. Actually, I don’t think anybody has a bathroom, because in this area there are hot springs. It’s nothing so picturesque as a rock pool full of bubbling hot spring water, but the town has a public bath house and the water is from the hot spring. There are lots of little cubicles with a big tap, a big bowl to stand in or sit in (?) and two saucepans, I think to assist in washing hair. The water is lovely – very hot and soft, as my hair and skin felt lovely after bathing in it. I was also the only person there because no one else would ever dream of washing at that time apart from the weird westerner! It wasn’t even open, but the key was given to the person who collected me so that she could open up.
Everybody bathes in the evening, as I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, but I don’t start the day right if I can’t have a shower of some kind. Therefore, they kindly arranged for someone to collect me and six thirty to take me to the bath house. You might think that that it very early, especially for me. However, I had been awake on and off since 4.50 a.m. Why? Because that’s the time that the national anthem is broadcast through loud speakers to everyone living there, followed by the news and then some singing – I’m not joking!
The work we did was very productive and I was very impressed with the level of teaching here. We conducted a one-day workshop and then spent the rest of the week observing lessons and giving feedback. The teachers were very keen to learn and were trying the ideas we suggested in lesson that we observed. We travelled to a few schools to do observations, and I absolutely loved it. We were on the back of a motorbike, on dirt tracks, with the most magnificent scenery you can ever imagine. We passed young boys riding on the back of buffaloes, and H’mong people (an ethnic minority in this area making up 70% of the population) with their amazing traditional costumes working in the fields.
By Friday, I didn’t want to leave! On the Thursday night, all the teachers came to our room as they had organised a ‘sweets party’ – fruit, sweets, cakes, and soft drinks. They also presented us with some gifts. I thought someone said that they had bought us some chickens, but I didn’t believe it at the time. However, after I left I looked in one of the boxes and saw what looked like two chickens. I said to my friend, ‘so they really bought us two chickens, but they are dead, right?’ I was wrong. These chickens were very much alive! One of them was a black hen, and very rare, and they slept with us in our room until one thirty, when we finally couldn’t take the noise they were making and dragged the box outside. I did feel guilty, as the chickens were in a very small place for a very long time. They travelled all the way back in the car with us (and stank the car out!) but amazingly the hen laid an egg! On Sunday my friend invited me to dinner – we ate the cockerel (and it was delicious!) My friend is keeping the hen at her mother’s house as it lays an egg everyday, and being so rare, she wants the hen to have some chicks.
The trip back was slightly hair-raising! We had to stop in the nearest town as the driver was not happy with the brakes on the car. In the end it took four hours to fix, but I didn’t complain, as the alternative would be driving with dodgy brakes, and as it was all downhill, I felt that it was quite important to have good brakes! Unfortunately, it meant that we were driving back at night, and it had started raining – the worst conditions for driving. Somehow, the two other people in the car managed to sleep but I was sat bolt upright doing some back-seat driving. The driver lost control of the car once, and we went swerving from side to side a fair few times until he got it under control – luckily it was not at a point where there was a sheer drop! I was very happy to be back in Yen Bai in one piece and I had a lovely lie-in the next day with no 4.50 a.m. wake-up call!

Do as I say, not as I do!

2005-02-26T20:39:00.000-08:00

In Vietnam, everyone is encouraged to have a maximum of two children, and there are big posters everywhere with the slogan, ‘one couple, two children’. If families have more than two children then they have to pay some sort of tax, and some people have been known to have lost their jobs over it. There are still quite a few families that have three children, mainly because the desire to have a son is so strong.
Women always seem to be blamed if they have daughters, despite me telling them that it is the man who determines the sex of a baby. Apparently though, some women have ‘bad soil’ and this is why they can’t have a boy. I have to bite my tongue.
There are many ethnic minorities in Vietnam and in Yen Bai we have many different ethnic minorities living in the mountainous areas. These people are generally still having many children as they don’t know about or have access to birth control. My friend told me that a while back someone was sent into these areas to teach them about birth control and give them condoms. He had to give a demonstration on how to put on a condom and used his thumb. A year later he returned to these areas and was disappointed to see that many of the women were pregnant or had given birth. They said that they had done everything he’d showed them but it just hadn’t worked. When he investigated further he found out that these people had been putting a condom on their thumbs before sleeping together – amazing but true!

Happy New Year!

2005-02-21T16:41:00.000-08:00

On the 9th – 7th of February this year it was the lunar new year, called ‘Tet’ here. It is the biggest holiday of the year and a real family occasion. There are huge preparations beforehand, including cooking special food, spring-cleaning the house, and visiting relatives and friends. I’ve eaten loads of ‘trung cake’, a Tet speciality which consists of sticky rice filled with some type of bean and meat. I actually quite liked it until I read on my friend’s blog that it is stuck together with animal fat – nice!
I decided to go on holiday for Tet, mainly because I really needed a holiday, it’s freezing cold in Yen Bai (although my friend in Mongolia did remind that I didn’t know what cold is as she is living in -40 degrees conditions!) and everything closes down for about a week and I thought it could be a bit boring.
January had been quite a stressful month for me as I had a big provincial-level workshop to organise and the preparations didn’t exactly run smoothly! It all turned out well in the end and the teachers all enjoyed the workshop, but I was definitely ready to get out of Yen Bai for a while! I went down to the south coast of Vietnam, where the weather is perfect at the moment. Humidity is low, the temperatures are in the late-twenties and there is a lovely breeze. I went to a place called Mui Ne, which is just opening up to tourism. Germany and Russia seem to be ahead of the English in discovering this place as a really lovely little resort. It hasn’t been overdeveloped yet and there are still loads of little cheap Vietnamese places to eat and drink across the road from the beach. I sunbathed swam, ate, drank and really recharged my batteries. My idea of a perfect holiday!
Before travelling back to Hanoi, I decided to do a day-trip from Ho Chi Minh City. I went to a place called Tay Ninh, which is a province near the Cambodian border. It’s famous as that was where the girl was photographed running down the street naked after a napalm bomb attack by the Americans. The girl who was burned was a member of a religion unique to Vietnam called Cao Daism. It’s a new religion founded only in the 1920’s and incorporates aspects of all the world’s religions into it. Saints of this religion include Louis Pasteur, William Shakespeare, Joan of Arc, Winston Churchill, and Napoleon. The main temple is based in Tay Ninh and is a really magnificent site. It is extremely colourful and while I was there I was trying to think of a word which I thought best described it – the best I could come up with was sharky!
After watching the noon ceremony there, we went on to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These were built by the Vietnamese fighting against the Americans in the war. There are 250 km of tunnels which were all built by hand, and consist of meeting rooms, wells, kitchens and make-shift hospitals on four different levels. Some of them are only 80cm by 80 cm, and there was no lighting, so some of the soldiers who spent a lot of time down there suffered from temporary blindness when they came out into the light. I found it absolutely fascinating, and we even got to go down a short part of one of the tunnels. Shamefully, they have enlarged that part of the tunnel for all the ‘larger’ tourists who visit the site. It is still extremely small and very hard to imagine people living down there for any length of time.
But now it’s back to reality! I had a really lovely holiday, and I thought that I might dread going back to Yen Bai. However, when I arrived at the station, my friend was waiting for me and took me back to her house where she has prepared lunch for me, and I realised that I have a lot to come back to here in Yen Bai.

Bang, bang, bang at the door

2005-01-23T15:04:00.000-08:00

People in Vietnam get up early, even at the weekend, so I have finally got used to the end of a weekend lie-in that I used to enjoy back in the UK. There is a hive of activity most early mornings, and I am very adept at sleeping through that, yet the insistent banging on the door usually sends me flying out of a beautiful dream. I don't usually open the door when someone knocks and I'm still in bed, but hide under the covers. This is necessary as most people peer through the door to see if I'm in - I have the smear marks at various heights on my glass doors to prove it. I then lie under the covers panicking, 'Did I lock all the doors?' (I have three doors). I have to ask myself this question because after this person has knocked all the doors (very loudly) and peered through them all, they then proceed to check if all the doors are locked.
You might then ask what they do if they find the door unlocked - they come in!

I had a very embarrassing situation recently to do with this. It was the afternoon and I was in the bathroom. I walked out of the bathroom, holding a book in my hand, to find a teacher who works at the college in the kitchen by the bathroom door. I naturally jumped out of my skin, and she waited for me to recover before asking me, 'Why do you take a book into the bathroom?' - What could I say?! I suppose with most people having squat toilets, reading on the loo is not the done thing.

The last two weeks, I've been preparing for a workshop I'm doing next week so I've been working mostly from home. This is why I mention all of this, as it has been happening on a daily basis! Another teacher (male) at the college seems to have an amazing knack of knocking my door when I'm in the shower. I rarely hear the door when I'm in the bathroom and if I do, then I don't answer it. He then usually comes back a hour later and when he asks where I was I tell him I must have been in the shower. Well, a couple of days ago, I was in the shower and I heard a knock at the door. I chose to ignore it, but ten minutes later (I have long showers as it's really cold here at the moment) someone knocked the door again. It was quite persistent and finally I heard my friend call out my name. I grabbed my dressing gown and wrapped my hair in a towel and answered the door, thinking it was important. There she was outside, but also with the other male teacher. She apologised and then told me that this teacher didn't believe that I was in the shower. Vietnamese people never shower in the morning and so he obviously thought I was avoiding him. He was suitably sheepish (but also quite bemused) when he saw that I quite clearly was having a shower and has promised not to knock at that time again.
All I can say is that it's a good job that I'm not one for walking around naked!

The Curse of the Cheekbones

2005-01-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to a wedding reception - a very different affair from one in England! First of all, I didn't know the bride or the groom, but apparently the groom's father works in the administration department at the college so that's how I got my invite. It is normal here to invite 200-400 people to a wedding reception, and although all invites to married couples include both partners, only one ever goes, it is the unwritten rule! (Otherwise it would be 400 - 800 people!).
It also only lasted a hour. We went to the hall and waited until we had six people so that we could then go to a table and eat. About eight dishes were placed in front of us and we ate, and various people came round so we stood up and toasted about fifteen times, as is the custom. We then ate an orange, drank some green tea and left.

There was a woman who was sitting at my table who is a music teacher at the college. I think that she is strikingly beautiful yet she does not have the same characteristics of a typical Vietnamese woman. She has these amazing cheekbones and wonderful bone structure, and reminds me of a Thai woman. I commented to my friend about how beautiful I thought this woman was, and my friend agreed. However, she told me that most people don't like her looks and apparently she had had great difficulty in getting married. She is married now, but didn't marry until she was in her thirties (a big no-no here!) and her husband is apparently not a good husband and unemployed. My friend then went on to say that unfortunately she could expect no better, so naturally I asked her to explain as it didn't make sense to me. It's all down to her cheek bones, as the Vietnamese believe that anyone who marries a woman with high, pronounced cheekbones will die young. I think the tragedy is that anyone with these beautiful cheekbones must have such a difficult life due to this stupid superstition. Maybe there should be a way for these women to emigrate as I'm sure most modelling agencies would snap them up!

What not to say to your examiner

2005-01-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick blog about something that happened while I was helping to examine a speaking test - it really made me chuckle!
I teach one English class at the Junior Teachers' College for students who are training to become teachers. They are 46 of them in their first year (of three) and had their end of first term tests this week. As I had a bit of free time, I offered to help with the speaking tests, so I was one of two examiners who were conducting the test. The other examiner is also an English teacher at the college and the assistant head of the English department.
Each student came into the room and had to read a text aloud and answer questions based on it. They then had to speak about a given topic and situation, and at the end I asked them a couple of general questions. I kept them easy and asked them things like, 'Tell me something about your family', and 'What do you usually do at the weekend?'. However, when we were down to our second to last student, the other examiner asked if he could ask a question, and proceeded to ask the student to describe him. The student very sensibly answered that he looked like a kind and friendly man, however, the teacher persisted and asked the student to describe his appearance. At this point, I started to get a bit nervous and was praying that the student would just describe eye and hair colour. It was not to be and she quietly said (as she is a very shy student and also very nervous), 'You're quite fat and going bald'. At that moment, another teacher had walked in and burst out laughing at her answer, which at least meant that I could laugh openly, and to be fair, the examiner was laughing as well. If that was not enough though, he then asked her if she thought he was good-looking, to which she meekly replied, 'No, not at all'. He did ask!

It doesn't rain but it pours

2005-01-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

I'm now back in Yen Bai after a whirlwind two weeks in the UK. It was so lovely to see everyone again but that much harder to say goodbye (again). My apologies to those that I didn't see. I have to say that I don't know where the time went, and of course, I got the obligatory christmas flu which knocked me out for a couple of days.

I have now returned to my parrallel universe! I find it so strange that my two worlds can exist at the same time. Two weeks ago, I was eating quite a lot in restaurants, having baths, not appreciating the wonder of central heating, texting my friends and jumping in the car to go to Tesco's to stock up on casserole mixes. I am now sitting in five layers of clothing, waiting for my clothes to dry which have been outside for over a week, and getting on my bike to go to the market to buy some raw materials for dinner!

I have to say that the first few days back here, I did think, 'what am I doing?'. It has got incredibly cold since I left and it hasn't stopped raining in days. By cold, it is only about 8 degrees, but without central heating and with the humidity, the cold gets right to my bones and I wear a ridiculous amount of clothes. One student commented that she thought I'd lost weight yet I was amazed at how she thought that considering that I look like the Mitchlin man with all my layers on! The last couple of nights, I have actually been breathing out white mist - in my house!

I have also been ill with a cough. I was getting better but I think the damp caused it to deteriorate and Monday was one of those days. I hadn't slept much with my cough and then I woke up and felt sick, before finally putting my head down the toilet for quite a while. Then to top it off, my boss (one of the leery variety) turned up unannounced. During this meeting, my friend, Hoa (my life saver) came round and near tears I told her that I think I needed to see a doctor - a brave decision in Yen Bai! That afternoon we went to a private doctor, but he wouldn't even look at me. I tink he was terrified that if something happened to me he'd be in big trouble. In the end, I went to Yen Bai hospital as my friend's husband knows a doctor there. He was reluctant to look at me, but he finally agreed.

Well, Yen Bai hospital was certainly an experience! I think I was in the A&E department, yet it was just a small room, which was the doctors' office, waiting room and examination room. While having my temperature taken and having my chest listened to, a man on a wooden table was moaning and bleeding as he'd been hit my a motorcycle. Luckily it didn't take long and I was given a prescription - 6 different types of tablets! When I got home, I checked them all on the internet and most of them were useless - he'd even prescribed me some vitamins! I was given some antibiotics but the side effects were long. I decided to wait a day and see how I felt while taking a herbal cough medicine that my friend had bought for me and many swear by. The next day, I was coughing a bit less and so after all that I decided to not take any of the tablets. I am feeling much better now, and have learnt an important lesson. If I'm ever ill, get on the first train to Hanoi to the lovely clinic full of Australian doctors!

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

2004-12-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

Last week I was in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon, and much easier to say!) which was the capital of South Vietnam before Vietnam was reunified.
It was an all-expenses paid trip courtesy of VSO as a British Council conference was held there. The conference was excellent but I won't bore you with the details, but for any EFL teachers out there, Peter Moor (Cutting Edge) and Mario Rinvolucri were guest speakers.
By far the best thing about the trip was meeting up with other volunteers. I got to know many volunteers who I hadn't met before, and there is something very special about the relationship between volunteers, as within 5 minutes and a beer or two, I have that feeling that I've known these people all my life. In the UK, I can honestly say that I would never be jumping around singing 'I will survive' with people I'd only known for one day!
As you might have guessed, karaoke was one of the highlights of the trip! Volunteers have no inhibitions about singing, mainly because we get asked to sing at every opportunity - in the classrooom, workshops and even formal meetings! So on the first night, after a couple of beers, we found the nearest karaoke bar. We only had an hour before it closed, but I have to say that it was the funniest hour of my life. We did all the classics, 'Hey Jude', 'I will survive' 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' while dancing around doing lots of air guitar and for 'Country Roads' we did some brilliant air banjo, lasso throwing and horse imitations - the Vietnamese staff were bemused! We were certainly hoarse the next day (most of us could hardly speak) and Bonnie Tyler would have been proud ('Total Eclipse of the heart' was one of our best!)
We left after the hour with a final song of the Hollies 'It ain't heavy' and then went to a bar near the hotel. It was just great to chat with the other volunteers and swap funny stories and we also invented a new word - 'to shoe something, e.g. a rat'. The inspiration for this word came when we watched the bar staff at this bar chase a rat into the toilets. They proceeded to play 'rat football' and 'shoe the rat to death'. We saw the evidence in a bloody plastic bag - lovely! Unfortunately, this was not the only rat experience, as on the last morning me and my friend Domini felt like we were in an episode of Faulty Towers. We were in the hotel having breakfast when this enormous rat bounded out of the kitchen, followed closely by the chef wielding a knife of some sort. The waiting staff then proceeded to peer round some corners to see where it was hiding - hilarious! The funniest thing was people's reactions, as the Vietnamese didn't even pass comment on it, me and Domini found it quite amusing, and the tourists look horrified!
The other evenings pretty much followed the same pattern as the first evening, although we did manage to get some of our Vietnamese counterparts who we brought with us to come and join us. This is quite an experience for them as most of them have never socialised with westerners before, and I think they really enjoyed it, although most bailed out by about 10 p.m. - no stamina! One of the volunteers told me that his line manager loves going out with foreigners as he learns so much. Apparently, after one occasion where he had gone out with volunteers, he announced that he was going to treat his wife better after a conversation with one of them.
All in all, it was a great trip where I met some amazing people and chatted more in four days than I have in about three months! It was just what I needed to recharge my batteries, and worh feeling absolutely shattered the next day! (I took a very long nap on Monday!)

England in Vietnam's eyes

2004-12-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

When Vietnamese people ask me about England, they invariably ask me if it is really foggy every day. I have to break the news to them that it is not actually foggy every day, and only occasionally in the mornings in winter. The look on their faces is similar to if I was telling them that the person they thought was their mother actually wasn't - they are devastated! The Vietnamese have the Sherlock Holmes picture in their heads of men in top hat and tails, swinging a black umbrella whilst walking in the fog and the ancient text books which are used in schools support this vision. It takes quite a lot of convincing before they actually believe me!
I also get asked some unanswerable questions and had one conversation which went like this: 'Who washes your hair?' I answer, 'I wash my hair'. 'Why do you wash your hair? I answer .................'I don't know, who washes your hair?!' I later found out that most Vietnamese women go to a hairdressers once or twice a week to get their hair washed. I was invited to have my hair washed and have to say that it was a very relaxing experience as there was a long head massage and my hair has never felt so soft. However, my western hair needs washing more than once or twice a week unfortunately!
Another question that stumped me was, 'When do you have a shower?' I answer, 'I have a shower in the morning and a quick shower before I go to bed.' 'Why do you have a shower in the morning?' I answer ..........'Because I do!'
I think they find my excessive washing quite a mystery!

Well, I'm off to Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday for a British Council conference and I'm really looking forward to it. Primarily because I get to meet up with the other volunteers who I haven't seen for three months and it'll be great to catch up (and also give my phone bill a rest!) I'm also interested to see what HCM City is like as I have heard mixed reviews about it. It is definitely far more cosmopolitan and westernised than any other city in Vietnam and the traffic is supposed to be worse than in Hanoi (although that is hard to believe!). The great thing is that it'll be hot, as it's getting quite cold in the north now and I'm in my pyjamas, thermal socks and big duvet at nights. I have also found out that the hotel that the conference is being held at has a swimming pool, sauna and steam room so I'm packing my swimming cozzie!

Then I'm back to England and I can't wait! I like being in Vietnam but I do miss everyone terribly. It is a very strange experience to be in a country where there is no build up to Christmas, as I am used to christmas songs and shops packed full of santas from about August onwards. It's actually quite nice to miss it but be thrown in at the last minute to do my Christmas shopping. And I can't wait for my first mince pie!

My very Vietnamese experience!

2004-11-26T17:45:00.000-08:00

I've just got back from Thac Ba, which is in one of the seven districts of Yen Bai province. The thing I love about my job is being able to travel to so many places and as Yen Bai is mountainous, many of the places I go are very remote, along bumpy dirt tracks.
Thac Ba is actually hoping to develop into a tourist resort, as it has a massive man-made lake which has about 1,000 islands in it. It was created when they built a dam and hydroelectric plant in the sixies, which was the first in all of South East Asia. Unfortunately, I only managed to visit it briefly as it has been pouring down with rain - the Vietnamese weather has obviously decided to prepare me for my visit back to the UK! It's actually called 'Storm 4' which is affecting parts of South East Asia and has badly damaged some areas, but it's just cold, grey wet, and miserable here.

I have to say that the teachers at the school in Thac Ba couldn't have made me feel more welcome and were very keen to practise their English and ask me numerous questions about life in England. I was supposed to be staying in the principal's office, which had a bed behind her desk, but at lunch on the first day, a teacher insisted that I stay at her house as I would be lonely at the school at night. Her husband is a soldier and often stays away and she has a three-year-old daughter so she said she was glad of the company.
After the workshop on the first day, I collected my things and we went to the market to buy food for dinner before going to her house. Compared to others in the area, she lives in a very nice, comfortable house which had a gas cooker rather than using fire. I helped to prepare dinner (I am getting very good at squatting as all preparation is done on the kitchen floor) and then I did some work for the next day. She asked me if wanted a bath, to which of course I said yes! The bath consisted of a small metal bowl with warm water and I washed in the kitchen as there is a small area where all the washing-up/washing is done. Not exactly a bath but at least I was clean! In the morning, Vietnamese people rarely wash, but just comb their hair and brush their teeth (although I managed to quickly wash my face as well!) The toilet was a whole new experience! I asked her to show me where the toilet was as I had guessed that it was outside. She told me it wasn't modern but I told her I didn't mind. She led me out to a small shed where there was a squat loo (no flush but a drain) but hilariously it looked out onto the pig pen so I went for a wee while watching the pigs have their dinner!

In Vietnam, few people have a spare bed, so I slept in a double bed with her and her daughter - very cosy! If someone had told me a couple of months ago that I would be tucked up in bed with a Vietnamese family watching a Chinese film, I'd have never believed them! I actually slept well and got up at 5.30 the next morning to go for breakfast. She had asked me the night before what I like for breakfast as I told her that I liked beef noodle soup, but on the way to breakfast, she casually dropped into conversation that they'd probably only have pig's heart or stomach! I told her that I definitely couldn't eat that so managed to get some with some pork in the end - phew! I worked all day on Thursday and then went back to the teacher's house again to help prepare dinner. We then did a bit of karaoke! Singing is a national sport in Vietnam so I'm learning to get over my inhibitions! Then it was bath time, Chinese film, and off to bed again.
I have to say that this afternoon I was very sad to leave, as I felt I had really got to know the teachers and especially this teacher who had welcomed me into her home, fed me and gave me a bed, and refused to accept anything in return. It was a truly amazing three days!

My apologies to all tidy British people, but I am being punished severely!

2004-11-15T13:30:00.000-08:00

In general, I am quite a tidy person and due to the large number of ants, cockroaches and other nasties, I keep my rooms as clean as possible. However, yesterday I think I managed to completely convince the parents of a student that I teach that British people are slobs! If only they had come five mintues later!!!!!!!!
At about ten o'clock last night I was finishing off my lesson preparation and sorting out things for the next day. I was thinking to myself that I should really do the washing up when I noticed that my jug of water was leaking and there was water all over the kitchen floor. At this moment, there was a knock at the door and it was a student who regualrly comes to visit me, with her parents. I welcomed them in and they started taking their shoes off. I told them not to as my floor was covered in water but it was too late and they waded through into the bedroom (with my unmade bed) and into the lounge. As I walked in I suddenly remembered that I had coloured paper all across the floor which I was using the next day, so I rapidly threw it all to one side to make a path for them to get through.
They were incredibly friendly and apparently desperate to meet me as I am the first foreigner they've ever seen in the flesh. I'm sorry to say that it was not a pretty sight - I had food down my trousers, I hadn't washed my hair and I was sweaty! The mother kept touching my skin and hair and they stayed for about half an hour. Unfortunately I was unable to offer them a drink as all my drinking water was strewn across the kitchen floor!
Well, they got up to leave and waded back through the kitchen. The father examined the jug and told me the water was too hot and that's why the jug had cracked (I have to boil all my drinking water). While he was doing this I could see the mother checking out the kitchen in horror - dirty plates stacked in the sink and the counter covered in dead ants as I had recently fly-sprayed the whole room due to the army of ants that had invaded this weekend. She looked at me kindly in a way that expressed that I obviously need help and they finally put their shoes on and left. As I was waving goodbye, I noticed that the mother had accumulated a post-it on the sole of her foot.
It took me exactly five minutes to make my rooms look neat and tidy again after they had left, and I was desperate to grab them back and tell them that I'm not really a disgusting slob, but I fear the damage has been done!

As I mentioned in the title, I have been punished most severely for the damage I have done to the British stereotype - I have a mouse! I came back from teaching this morning, went into the kitchen and I heard a noise and then a packet of pasta fell off the rack. I approached cautiously, thinking that it was a cockroach and there I saw a horrible dirty brown mouse sitting on all my cutlery! Now for all those people who are going to tell me that mice are not dirty or horrible, I would like to see what you'd say if you saw it running all over your eating things. I threw the door shut, grabbed my dictionary and headed for reception. I pointed to the word 'mouse' with a look of horror on my face, to which the woman replied, 'dead?' I told her that this mouse was most definitely not dead and she promised to send someone along to sort it out. She obviously does not realise how serious this problem is as it is now 3 and a half hours later and I haven't seen a mouse-catcher!
After two hours of waiting I finally plucked up the courage to re-enter the kitchen, mainly because I have to go through the kitchen to get to the bathroom, and I was ready to burst! I was also quite hungry. The mouse was nowhere to be seen but I have spied an entry hole and I've also seen that he has scratched the steam hole of my rice cooker. I'm off to Hanoi on Wednesday and I am just hoping and praying that they will dispose of my problem while I'm away! I'll keep you posted!

My work

2004-11-12T23:08:00.000-08:00

First of all I must apologise for my lack of blogs over the last few weeks. I now have internet access in my room so it's going to be much easier to e mail and blog.

I haven't really talked much about what I actually do so I thought I'd describe my job as I have two jobs really. On Monday and Tuesdays I teach at the Junior Teachers' College, which is where I also live. I teach first year students who are training to be English teachers. The students are mostly eighteen or nineteen years old and study for three years to become teachers. I teach them listening and reading skills and I run an English-speaking club one afternoon per week. There are 46 of them in the class which is quite a challenge for me as I've never taught such a large class. I also have very few resources apart from a blackboard and some paper. I can photocopy but the students have to pay for any photocopies that I do so I'm loathe to do that very often When I do photocopy I usually pay for it myself as these students have barely enough money to buy their meals every day. Gone are the days of endless photocopies, overhead projectors, lovely clean whiteboards and computers!
Their English level is low at the moment but they are improving fast and are, on the whole, very hard-working and enthusiastic.

My main job is as an in-service teacher trainer. Every week I go to a different secondary school in the province and spend three days working with about 10-18 teachers at a time in areas where they have most difficulty in teaching. At the moment, many of the teachers still use very traditional methods of teaching which involves the teacher doing all the talking and the students remaining very passive. As a result, many of the students are unable to string even a basic sentence together in English as they have had no practice in speaking English so my job is to introduce a more communicative methodology. I also observe about 6 lessons a week and give feedback and I teach a demonstration lesson which the teachers choose for me so that they can observe my teaching methods. This is quite nerve-racking as I've never taught 12-14 year olds before and as it's a demonstration messon it's quite important that it goes well!
The teachers are mostly very keen to improve their teaching and eager to learn about the new teaching methodology so I am finding my work very rewarding.

In October I was working in Yen Bai City, which is where I live, but this month I have been working in a district called Yen Binh. There are seven districts in Yen Bai province and every month I work in a different district. Two weeks ago I went to a place called Bao Ai and this was the first time that I had to stay over for the three days as it was too far to be taken and collected each day. I had been warned that my accommodation would be basic and I prepared myself for the worst, which was probably the best idea as it came pretty close!
The location was amazing, as it was surrounded by mountains and paddy fields. Buffalos were in the fields and walking along the roads (as well as on our plates!) and the mountains were covered with lush green vegetation.
My accommodation was actually a small room in the school which had a bed and a desk. They had very kindly bought me a mosquito net which I was very thankful of when I counted 10 spiders in the room! I had a bowl and in the morning I went and used an outside tap to get water to wash with and I would like to say that I still managed to wash my hair, albeit with difficulty! The caretaker was bemused as I went back for my third bowl of water, and I very cleverly kept my drink bottles so that it was easier to wash the shampoo out.
Unfortunately, I had to use the communal toilets which were grim to say the least. They were squat toilets which really smelt bad, and were very dirty. There were lots of flies, moths and cockroaches and let's just say they are a rival to immodium as nothing would make me want to spend any more time there then I had to! I found it really amusing one morning when I saw the caretaker go into the toilets with a mask on!
Despite all of this, I really enjoyed my three days there. The headmaster was quite embarrassed by what he could offer me yet I managed perfectly well. If I had wanted a nice hotel room with en suite then I wouldn't have applied to VSO. The people here are poor, and I find it hard to believe that 25km outside of Yen Bai City it could be so different. Many of the children do not wear shoes and some of them have to walk 10km to get to school every day as they live the other side of the mountain, so as you can imagine, it is difficult to keep these students in school. The people were so hospitable and did everything they could to make me as comfortable as possible.
It was quite awkward on the first night as they took me for a welcome dinner and served me up dog meat. As easy-going as I might be about food now, I just couldn't bring myself to eat it and the next day they kept apologising as they said I must have gone to bed hungry. I kept reassuring them that I hadn't been hungry (I had brought a secret stash of food!) but the next day they proceeded to feed me until I was ready to burst!
Before this trip, I had been feeling quite homesick and generally a bit down. On arriving I thought that the three days would probably make it or break it for me and I have to say that it definitely made it. I was bowled over by their hospitality and generosity and I really felt like I could make a difference, which is the reason why I'm here. Having said that, I was very glad for a hot soapy shower and my comfy bed at the end of it and I will never ever complain about my flat again!

apples, knives under the bed, and 'cakes'

2004-10-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

As tinned, frozen or processed food (apart from the Vietnamese equivilent to pot noodle) doesn't exist in Yen Bai, I have been eating very healthily. I go to the market every other day and stock up on fruit, vegetables, and, if I'm brave, meat. Everything here is very fresh. My fish is still alive until I purchase it and the same for chickens if I want to (although I always buy dead chickens, I find it hard enough stripping meat off it, let alone seeing it killed and plucking it!). The carrots are all muddy and still have the green tops on like Bugs Bunny's and they taste much better. I have also noticed that I feel much better in myself, I think a lot due to the food.
Well, on Thursday I went to the market and stocked up on fruit. I bought six apples, which was quite a lot as I had one left at home, but it came exactly to a kilo and everything is priced in kilos so it was easier just to buy the six. In the evening I had a visit from a teacher who brought her niece along as she wants me to help her with her English. She also brought six apples as she knows that I like apples. Later that evening, I had a friend visit me who needed help in spell-checking an English exam, and to thank me for my help she brought me, yes, seven apples! So as you might have guessed, I have a fridge full of 20 apples!

On Sunday, I was invited to this teacher's house for lunch. She picked me up at 9 and we went back to her home so that I could help her prepare it. My job was chopping vegetables so I went into the kitchen and took up the crouch position on the floor (people do all the preparation on the floor, mainly because there is no where else to do it), but she couldn't find the knife. We had a good look around and then she suddenly realised where she had put it - under the blanket where her son sleeps! I must have had a curious look on my face as she whipped out this massive chopping knife wrapped in newspaper from the bed so she explained the reason why. Apparently, last night her son was crying in the night and it is believed that children cry at night when the spirits are teasing them, so they put a knife under the child to scare thethem away. She told me that it does work although personally I think the child probably stopped crying because it was terrified of the knife!
It was a very good day though and I learned how to make spring rolls, a Vietnamese speciality. I ate lots as the Vietnamese really push food down my throat. I keep telling them that I'll come back as fat as a barrel but they tell me that as they've cooked all this food for me, I have to eat it all! Let's just say I was seriously stuffed at the end of it! Later, I went to her parents house and then to the market before going for some ice cream. I have been really craving sweet stuff so I didn't think about all the power cuts in the night that we've been having that would have melted the ice cream in the freezer, and tucked in to a vanilla and strwberry ice cream pot. When I finished, my Vietnamese friend asked me if I wanted to try a cake. I very foolishly agreed, failing to realise that my idea of cake and theirs is very different. I was handed a round thing in a paper towel and I asked what was in it - pork and onion, of course! I ate it politely, making a mental note to next time just say that I'm too full. It actually tasted ok but was not filled with cream or jam as I'd dreamed.
All in all, it was a really great day and I am in awe of the hospitality of the Vietnamese. As my friendly said to me yesterday, 'We are poor but we are generous' - I definitely have to agree.

shaving and feminine stuff!

2004-09-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

(Sorry, this blog has quite a lot of references to 'women's things' so men might want to skip those parts!)

I live at the junior teachers college along with quite a lot of the students studying there. In Vietnam, everyone leaves there door open in the evenings when they are up so people often wander in and out of each other's houses. I have also taken to doing this so quite often I have students popping in, usually wanting to practise their English. There is one student, who's training to be a nursery school teacher, who has come by a few times and often stays quite a while. On monday night she visited me and we had a chat while I was cooking my dinner. She asked to use the toilet, which is next to the kitchen, and when she came out she was brandishing my 'venus' razor. I looked at her and she said with a look of total amazement, 'Sarah you .....' and made the action of shaving my face! I obviously said no but she looked quizzical so I told her it was for my leg and underarm hair. She then started examining her own leg and armpit hair and came to the conclusion that English women must be hairier than Vietnamese women as she didn't need to shave.
She then came to me and said, 'Sarah, every woman one time per month have ...... I need something.' I understood this as she had started her period and wanted me to give her a sanitary towel. Well, I knew before I came here that it's impossible to buy tampons in Vietnam so I brought a big stash with me to last until Christmas. I tried to explain to her that what Vietnamese women use is different to what a lot of English women use but she didn't understand, so I showed her my bag of tampons. There was still no recognition that she had understood as she took one and unwrapped it and played with it with a look of bemusement on her face. She then said that I must have misunderstood and looked up the word for 'period' in the dictionary. I told her that I did understand and then she looked at the tampon and said, 'So, what is this?' I tried to explain how's it's used, but she looked at me with total and utter horror and left my room straight away - I haven't seen her since!

Some more weird and wonderful observations!

2004-09-23T02:51:00.000-07:00

I've now started writing these down as there are so many and I keep forgetting. Some of them are not for the weak-stomached!
In my last blog I mentioned feet and linked to this, which I forgot to mention before is fingernails: men have long fingernails. To be precise it is their thumb nail which seems to be the longest although the others are usually quite long as well. They are also disgustingly dirty. I'm still not quite sure why, whether it is a fashion or a custom, but I have my suspicions. On my car journey, the driver seemed to be making very good use of these long nails to dig for nuggets of gold up his nose. Openly picking your nose is common and widespread and he was quite happily picking, rolling then flicking - nice! He then started scratching his head and the sound of his fingernails again his scalp was horrible, as I said in my last blog, I will never moan about the train!

Burping: This is also perfectly acceptable and can happen at any time, often while the person is speaking. I have great difficulty in keeping a straight face as it comes as such a shock! Let's just say that I'll fit in well!

Red faces: this is one that really makes me laugh. When Vietnamese men drink alcohol, their faces goes red, and I mean really red, like they've just run the marathon! This is very useful for the wives to know whether their husbands have had a sly one on their way home from work.

Skin: White skin is a sign of beauty here and the whiter the better. I'm glad I bought my own face and body creams as all creams here are whitening creams - I've even seen a whitening deodorant (which was Nivea!). When women go out on their bikes, they are decked with a hat, face mask, long gloves to cover their arms and often a shirt over the top. Despite the heat, you never see a woman without these. That might explain the strange looks I get when I go out hatless, gloveless, and arms out in the hope of getting a bit of a suntan!

Twinsets: Twinsets are definitely in at the moment! Every woman wears them as their house clothes, old and young. The brighter the better seems to be the policy, I might have to invest in one!

Staring: I have always been told that it is rude to stare, but I have realised that Vietnamese people don't have a problem with it. I have never been openly stared at so much in my life. People will slow down on their motorbikes to get a good look and regularly turn around until I am out of sight. I went to the market the other day and on the way back this little boy started shouting 'Tay' which means westerner, at the top of his voice so that all his family and neighbours came out to have a good gawp. This place is not good for anyone who has a complex about their appearance!
Linked to this are questions about beauty and weight. I'm reading a book which say that the Vietnamese are a nation of 'skinny people obsessed with food' - this is so true! I regularly get asked my weight and height. I then get told that so-and-so is the same size but two kilos lighter and in that photo I look fatter than in that photo etc etc. Yet when I go to dinner, they are constantly stuffing food down my mouth - bizarre!
They also often compare beauty and will ask me which one of their friends is the most beautiful, or whether I think her or her mother is most beautiful - a minefield! I diplomatically say that everyone is beautiful. I've also had awkward questions over dinner where someone has asked me whether I think so-and-so is handsome - I can't exactly say no, especially when it's my boss! I read somewhere that most people tell one lie a day (and students apparently tell 2 a day) but my lie quota is much higher at the moment!

Dubbing: I miss English television a lot and anyone who thinks that English tv is bad should come here. I have a tv in my room so I often put it on as a bit of background noise. I found out that 'friends' is on every night at 6 pm so I watch that most nights. However, when the Vietnamese dub programmes, they use the same voice for all the characters, regardless of whether they are male or female, old or young! At the beginning I thought that maybe they just did this with 'friends' but after watching countless Korean and Chinese soap operas, I've realised that this is how they dub. I am now also quite an expert on Asian soap operas - Korean ones always end with someone dying of cancer, it's never a happy ending, and Chinese ones have to have gangsters involved someone.

That's all for now, but I'll keep writing them down as they happen and keep you informed!

My birthday

2004-09-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Yen Bai on Sunday, after a white-knuckle ride of a car journey. I swear that I will never complain about the train again! I t might be slow and I might get stared at constantly but at least I do not fear for my life after near misses every five seconds. I ended up just closing my eyes and hoping for the best!
I went out for a meal with two Vietnamese girls on Sunday night and then went to watch an audition for a competition being held in Hanoi soon. It was very interesting as there are a lot of ethnic minorities in Yen Bai and in the songs and dances they were performing, they were wearing the traditional costumes.
Wednesday was my birthday and also the opening day for the college. On Tuesday afternoon, one of the teachers at the college took me out to buy an 'au dai' which is a traditional Vietnmaese dress. They are very pretty and consist of a pair of loose trousers and a long tunic going over the top. I picked out a pretty pink one which I was told to wear on the Wednesday morning for the opening ceremony.
As it was my birthday, I had decided to be pro-active and on Tuesday night I phoned up three Vietnmamese friends that I've made and invited them out for dinner on the Wednesday night. It was all agreed and time and place arranged. However, on Wednesday morning my boss decided that he had other plans. He came to my room before the opening ceremony to pay me (a million dong in 10,000 dong notes - it's a serious wad of cash!) and told me that he'd arranged for me to attend an English class in the evening as they wanted to talk to me for about half an hour. I informed him that I'd made other plans, which he then rearranged so that he attended the meal with another colleague, and my three friends. Don't get me wrong, my boss is a lovely man who has helped me a lot since coming here, however, I just wasn't in the mood for fake smiling all night.
Firstly though, I had the opening ceremony to attend. It was in a large hall and I had to walk down the centre with about 500 students gawping at 'the westerner in the ai dai'. There were lots of speeches (and apparently I was on local tv) which were then followed by a dinner (at 10.30 a.m.!).
I sat on a table of female teachers who were all very friendly and the food was good, although I didn't get to eat much as it is the custom here for the 'important' people to go round and say 'cheers' to everyone on each table, so evey five seconds we had to stand up, clunk glasses and shake hands with the person. The men going round were all drinking rice wine (don't let the word 'wine' fool you, it tastes a bit like bad tequila) so after an hour they were all quite drunk. That's when it all get very leery and one on the teachers suggested that I excuse myself and say that I was tired (at 11.30 a.m.). I was very cross as they were making what are inappropiriate offers here, like offering to take me swimming. I think word got round about it as one of the teachers asked me about it on Sunday when I had lunch with her and I expressed my discomfort about the situation also making clear that I knew that if I was a Vietnamese woman then he certainly wouldn't be asking me that or speaking in the way that he was. I blame porn, which is unfortunately finding its way into the country. The problem is that it is all Western porn so there is this preconception that all Western women are loose.
As I had a lot of time free, I decided to ring one of friends who is also a volunteer and we had a nice chat. I then made a cake in honour of my birthday. The afternoon was spent with another teacher who invited me to her house for a drink and some watermelon, so the day was definitely picking up.
At 6, I went to dinner and I was told to wear my 'au dia' again, so offer were the comfortable jeans and t-shirt. The meal was nice and I got lots of lovely flowers and a conical hat (as they are all concerned that I don't wear a hat in the day). I then had to attend this meeting, which consisted of a lot of VIP's, so I had to be on my best behaviour and the only thing that got me through was the thought of speaking to my mum, who I knew would be ringing me at 10.15 p.m.
At 11 pm, after no phone call, I knew something was up so I rang home (near tears) to find out why they hadn't called. Apparently, the number I'd been given was the wrong number.
Well, the next morning I think my boss knew that I was upset and after finding out about the problem with the phone number, he promptly sent someone out to find the right number and my mum rang the next day. All I can say is that it wasn't the ideal birthday but there's always next year!

Karaoke - Vietnamese style!

2004-09-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

The wednesday before I left for Yen Bai, we all decided that we needed to 'do' karaoke. Karaoke is HUGE here and karaoke bars are everywhere. When meeting people, one of the first questions they ask (after 'how old are you?' and 'are you married?') is whether I can sing. Being my usual cautious self, I always say no although this doesn't put them off trying to get me to sing a tune.
I was a karaoke virgin until now as public humiliation is not really my thing! I am perfectly aware of my less than adequate singing skills but as it is so popular here we decided to give it a go, all seven of us who are new VSO volunteers in Hanoi. We also brought a Vietnamese friend to show us the ropes.
One thing I realised quite quickly is that karaoke is VERY different here. Firstly, people take it very seriously and bad singing is not amusing as it is in the UK. Secondly, it is not a public activity but rather a room that you book with a group of friends, and thirdly, people don't get drunk to do it (although we did have a couple of beers to oil the vocal chords!).
The first task was to find a bar which had English songs as many of them are just Vietnamese. We then got led down a dark corridor, up some stairs to a room which was something out of the seventies. It was quite small and had a black plastic leather sofa all along the walls and a big table in the middle. The walls were cushioned and had that awful wall paper that you can only find in old people's houses (sorry Grandma!). There were also two tv screens and two microphones.
Well, we picked out some songs from the catalogue (the usual beatles, abba etc.) and they then started coming on the screen. We don't some group singing to warm up and hilariously, the words often didn't match the song. The other thing that I couldn't get over were the videos which accompanied the song words. For every song, there would be a woman, scantily clad usually in a bikini, running her fingers through her hair and such like - the Vietnamese equivilent to soft porn!
As confidence rose, we started doing solos and the look on the Vietnmaese girl's face when I did my rendition of "I Will Survive' was priceless - it was a mixture of amazement and horror! I don't think she thought I was a good singer! We also did the classics like 'Bridge over Troubled Water' and a couple of Tom Jones' hits (which the American volunteer didn't know!)
At various points, there would also be random songs that none of us new (and hadn't picked) which we of course sang along to, making it up as we went along (once again, our Vietnmaese friend didn't know what to make of it).
After about two and a half hours we left with a lot of funny memories and hoarse voices. Hilary, the American volunteer now says that she can't look at me without remembering my face while singing 'I Will Survive'- what can I say - it's a great song!

Our Vietnamese 'Exam'

2004-09-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a Vietnamese exam which was an evaluation of the fou and a half weeks that we've been studying. I was quite worried despite reassurances that this was an evaluation of the teachers and not us, as I've found the course a bit of a nightmare. One of the biggest problems is the amount of new vocabulary which has been introduced into every lesson as the pace has been very fast. It hasn't helped that average teacher-talk time has been hovering at about 90% and pronunciation and speaking practice has been almost non-existent. I have also had quite an issue with the teachers' correction techniques as most of us have felt humiliated and demoralised when we've attempted to say something and been slapped down for our error. Common examples on the board have been 'My Vietnamese is very bad'- nice! It has certainly been an insight into what to expect when I start work.
Well, we knew nothing about the content or format of the exam but we knew that another teacher would be coming to conduct it, as obviously it wouldn't be a fair evaluation of our teachers if they were the ones conducting it. We were quite surprised when we came downstairs to find the Vietnamese man who we are living with (who is also a Vietnamese teacher, but not ours) sitting there holding our exam papers. He grinned at us telling us that he was our examiner and explained the format of the exam (naturally, there wasn't a speaking part). After about five minutes, he then started going round to each one of us telling us all the answers that we hadn't got and correcting our mistakes. He also made the very useful suggestion that we should do it in pencil first! At first it was hilarious as it was the most surreal exam experience I've ever had, but it was also very dissatifying as I think I could have got about 70% of it right if I'd had the chance to do it myself. I also felt in a very awkward situation, because if I hadn't known (and lived) with him then I would almost certainly have said something, but I felt this was very difficult to do. As you might imagine, we all got full marks. It was Vietnamese cheating at its very best (or worst?).

Titanic

2004-09-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Last night was our first experience of a night on the town in Hanoi. We met up with three new volunteers who arrived on Friday and a few old volunteers. We first went to this awful bar. Awful in the sense that it was empty, seriously overpriced and was full of white fluffy cushions (apparently it was supposed to be heaven-like).
Well, on VSO's wages we had to leave after one drink and someone suggested going to Titanic. As you might have guessed - it is a boat on the river. It's on the Red River, which is actually red and it is a beautiful location with great views. The boat is a bit rough around the edges but it had a great mix of Vietnamese (middle class and above) and ex-pats and it was just great to listen to Western music - Vietnamese pop just doesn't do it for me! What really made me laugh was that people were actually dancing on the pool table - all night!
Apparently it doesn't close until sunrise and you can watch it from the boat but tiredness beat us and we went home early. Definitely a place I would go back to again.

Pigs on motorbikes, hairy moles and feet

2004-09-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog is about some of the weird and wonderful things I've observed so far in Hanoi.
Pigs on motorbikes: this is no word of a lie, I've seen little mopeds with three whole pigs strapped on, usually at the front where you put your feet. It's a bizarre sight and I've seen it with dead and live pigs. On the topic of animals, chickens are always cooked with their heads still on which does put me off a bit, and giblets are a bit of a delicacy - yum yum!
Hairy moles: this is an intriguing one and I hope to find out more about this. I've noticed that men grow the hair that grows from facial moles. I'm not talking about one or two hairs poking out but a serious amount of hair, often about 10 cm long! I'm not sure if this is considered attactive in Vietnam, I need to build up to asking someone. I'll keep you posted.
Feet: now this was a big eye-opener on the train. For those of you who know me well, you know that I hate feet. Well, I might need to get over my feet phobia as on the train, everyone took off their shoes and rested their feet on the chair opposite them - even though someone was sitting opposite them! Even well-dressed men wearing shoes, took off their socks and shoes. I also saw random people picking at their toes then scratching their face etc. etc. - lovely!
On the topic of hygiene, my other observation is that people are obsessed with keeping their floor clean. Whenever you go to someone's house, you have to take your shoes off and put on a pair of indoor shoes which they provide. However, it's perfectly acceptable to eat on an ant-infested table and pick at your feet then stick your finger up your nose. Very interesting.

I'll keep you blogged on other observations.

Yen Bai Visit

2004-08-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

I went to Yen Bai for the first time on thursday to meet my employer and all my colleagues and to get a feel for the place. The train left at 6.15 a.m. although at that time of the morning, everything is buzzing apart from me! My line manager was actually in Hanoi so he accompanied me to Yen Bai with another man, who also acted as a translator as my line manager speaks no English - should be interesting!
It was a good train ride actually as I got to see some amazing scenery. Once again, I was a tourist attraction with people staring at the white blonde-haired girl. Had breakfast on the train which was 'interesting'. I was told that it was soup but it was more like porridge and let's just say that it was the colour and consistency of male bodily fluid - sorry to be gross but it was the first thing I thought of! It has various meat and fishy things in it and once again my British politeness forced me to finish it while I begged my stomach to remain strong.
It took five hours to get to Yen Bai and I was whirled off to a lunch of spring rolls and fish. I was then given a brief tour of Yen Bai. First impressions are that it really is a stunningly beautiful part of the country with the mountains rising above and it's very green.
The other thing that really touched me was how incredibly friendly people are there. These people really don't have much but were the kindest and most hospitable people I've ever met. In the evening two female teachers and the husband of one on them took me for a meal, which they insisted on paying for. We then stopped to have our photo taken by the town square and then had ice cream at one of the teacher's houses. It was really a room that served as a living room, bedroom and kitchen, but once again, I was made very welcome.
I was then invited for 'pho bo' (beef noodle soup) at 6.30 the next morning and once again my stomach remained strong!
I also went to see my accommodation which was very nice. There are four rooms: a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom and I have a proper toilet! (I was dreading a squat loo!) I also have air conditioning in my bedroom which is a big bonus.
My line manager invited me for a meal that evening at his house, and his wife had cooked a feast! I ate lots of fish and the obligatory rice. I was then offered what looked to be beef. I accepted and as I was putting it in my mouth, I stupidly asked what it was (this is a question I've learned never to ask as the answer is usually not what I want to hear). It turned out to be pig's heart, and by that time it was too late, so I graciously continued chewing!
The final day was spent looking round the supermarket and market so that I could check what I can and cannot buy in Yen Bai. It's a reasonably big town so I think that I'll be ok. All in all it was a great trip, although the journey was a nightmare as I was unaccompanied and was stared at constantly on the way back. The wooden seats also equated to a very sore bum at the end of the journey! A cold shower and a lie-in the next day sorted all of that out though.
One of the other volunteers was talking about a quote she liked and I really felt this was true in Yen Bai, 'There are no strangers in the world, only friends we haven't yet made'.

Host family weekend

2004-08-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Just back from the family visit after a very relaxing weekend! I was staying with a lovely family - my host mum used to work for VSO Vietnam so her English is perfect (big sigh of relief!) and she has two lovely children aged 15 and 7. My visit compared to the other two volunteers was completely different. They've been out and about in Hanoi all weekend seeing the sights whereas I've been at home all weekend with family members coming round and a serious amount of food! To be honest, it was exactly what I needed as I felt a bit burned out on Friday and as my placement is quite near Hanoi, the sight-seeing can be spread over two years.

It was my first experience of riding pillion on a motorcyle (mum, don't read the next bit!) It was mad!!!!! What I would consider a 'near miss' in terms of a traffic accident is definitely not what they would call it otherwise they are happening every three seconds! People drive so close to each other, I had to push someone's shopping that they were carrying on their motorcylcle away from me as it was so close! The first ride was terrifying and done mostle with my eyes closed, and I felt sick at the prospect of doing it again. Gradually though, I came to really enjoy it (but I would NEVER ride without my helmet!). 46 deaths in Hanoi in one month is a big enough deterrent for me despite the heat.

It was lovely to be in a family environment for the weekend. Of course my British politeness made me eat food I'd never contemplate eating in the UK. For those of you who know me well, it includes river shrimp (where you eat the head tail and eggs all in one), crab, pork gelatine (don't ask!) and custard apple swarming with ants - yum yum! Touch wood though, the stomach has tolerated all of this!

Amusung moments include when they told me the name of one green vegetable - morning glory! I couldn't stop myself sniggering and eventually told them want it meant in the UK, to much laughter!

The nicest part of this weekend is that I'm definitely going to keep in touch with the family I stayed with and I've been invited to join them for dinner any time - this has unexpectedly been one of the best experiences for me in Vietnam so far.

Week Two

2004-08-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for lack of blogging this week, just quite exhausted from the lessons and busy afternoons. Nothing too exciting this week but had a treat on thursday as we had a free afternoon so decided to go swimming at the Army Hotel. It's a salt water pool and we spent the afternoon there relaxing and reading. The programme is a full one and free afternoons are scarce and I think we needed an afternoon off! We are going to stay with a Vietnamese family this weekend which I'm feeling apprehensive about - hope it's not an weekend of awkwardness and excessive poiteness! It'll be great to get more of an insight into a typical Vietnamese family.

Our weekend away

2004-08-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

Had a really lovely weekend! We went to Halong Bay which is on the coast about 3 hours drive from Hanoi. It's basically about 2000 islands which look like massive rocks sticking out of the sea - I thought is was magnificent! We were on a boat sailing around them and visited a beautiful cave. We then went swimming in the sea which was heaven after a week of oppressive heat in Hanoi.

The evening was spent on Cat Ba island. Unfortunately we didn't have time to look around the island as we arrived in the evening and left in the morning but we had a meal and sat drinking beer at a local Bia Hoi (pub) with some lovely people. (I took your advice Steve!).

Unfortunately, one of the people on the trip got stung by a jelly fish during a swim on the way back but was luckily ok. I found it amusing though how 15 people whipped out various creams, potions and pills in true traveller style! Most of the people on the trip were backpackers here for two or three weeks so it's always funny when they ask how long we're staying and the double take that they do when we say 2 years! I keep telling myself that it's not long and it'll fly by!

Well, I'd better get on with my homework before tomorrow's lesson!

Settling in

2004-08-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Finally starting to know my way around now. It is VERY humid! My clothes are permanently damp and I'm certainly glowing! Thank god for air-conditioning! Unfortunately there was a power cut last night though so it was a bit of a sleepless night.

The lessons are going well although I'm finding it very difficult. Tonal languages are not easy! Trying bits out when I'm shopping but mostly get blank faces looking back at me so god knows what I'm saying!

VSO have planned things most afternoons so we=re kept busy. We had a talk by a professor (can't think of his name at the moment) who is very well-known here about the history of Vietnam. He has written many books and speaks English, French and German. Apparently he's in his eighties and I was in awe of him - he was so incrediblely knowledgeable.

We've booked a nice touristy trip for this weekend! It's our only free weekend so we're going to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island which are supposed to be very beautiful. I think it was the swimming that attracted us though!

First few days

2004-08-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Well, all is well so far! We went for a tour round Hanoi yesterday with two current volunteers and saw some of the sights. The old quarter is really beautiful with lakes and parks. In the evening this lake is full of young couples who go there to hold hands and snog etc. as they can't do it publicly!

We also went to a fantastic restaurant, it's really beautiful with a plant-filled terrace and it's a non-profit organisation. All the people who work there used to be street kids and they have been trained to work in restaurants. The food was amazing!

We had our first Vietnamese lesson today - definite brain overload by the end of the three hours and I'm not sure it helps that it starts at 8.30 a.m. - I'm not a morning person! It was very useful though but also quite depressing at how hard it's going to be! I practise as much as I can despite the laughs from the locals!

I'm here!!!!

2004-08-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

After a very eventful journey I am finally here (just a day late)! Our flight was delayed so we missed our connecting flight to Hanoi, however, this was a blessing in disguise as we spent the night in the plushest hotel I've ever seen. We even had a walk-in shower and tv in the bathroom! We managed to get another flight on Saturday morning and so here I am!
The accommodation is far better than I could have ever imagined as we are living in a big house with a couple who usually rent rooms out to uni students. I have a massive room with a double bed, balcony and air con, which is sooooo nice!

We've spent the afternoon wandering around (don't ask me how we get back!) and we've managed to have a coke in a cafe and buy some stuff from a supermarket. The traffic is crazy and crossing the road is the scariest thing I've had to do in my life, you literally have to just keep walking and pray that nothing hits you! Looking forward to the language training and I feel so ignorant not being able to say anything in Vietnamese. There are a lot of activities planned as well, so I'm looking forward to the next five weeks.

2004-08-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

With only three days to go, I am feeling very nauseous due to permanent butterflies in my stomach! The enormity of what I am doing is finally sinking in but I am very excited.
I keep wishing my suitcase would lose a couple of kilos but it's not happening at the moment despite daily weigh-ins!
Well, I'm off now to buy more bits and pieces that I remembered I needed in the early hours!

2004-07-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

This is going to be my on-line diary which I intend to keep up-to-date (though don't hold me to it!)
Only joking! Here you can read about all the weird, wonderful and horrible things I've done, seen, tried, eaten... etc.

Keep in touch