This morning I got up early to go for a run. Don't be impressed, it was a rare moment of motivation. But as I walked down the stairs I was surprised to see that my family hadn't left yet. I stopped by the living room to say Hi and next thing I knew I was on my way with them to go get Phỏ for breakfast! Cô Sa was clearly confused by the fact that I thought I needed exercise again today when I just did aerobics yesterday. She thought that I should go with them instead. So I did! They went by xe máy (moto) and I followed on xe đẹp (bike). The place was just a few blocks away and is one of those that is set up outside with tables across the street. I enjoyed a delicious bowl of phỏ bò (beef pho) and a lovely morning meal with the fam. All this before 7:15am!
This is one of those moments that reminds me of the fact that I can't plan life and schedule building relationships with people. So often it is the little, random things that end up making situations and friendships great. In my attempts to find balance here between living with a family and establishing what feels like a normal everyday life I keep finding myself scheduling everything out: "I'll be home for dinner these nights, and I'll go to aerobics every week on these nights". Yes, some of that is necessary (who would want to miss doing aerobics to the MOST random compilation of music ever-last night we enjoyed Blue, hello jr. high!) but I am trying to not over schedule and therefore leave no room for the everyday kind of moments. The kind that steal my morning run but also remind me that I may be in Việt Nam, but life happens here just as it does in Seattle--in small and unexpected ways.
It's the best and worst idea I've had
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Embarrasment Comes in Many Forms...
I have gotten a bit used to constantly knowing that I'm making a fool of myself. When you struggle to both rememeber words and to pronouce them and you don't know what is going on the majority of the time, it just becomes normal life. But yesterday I found a whole new way to embarrass myself--playing tennis with a group of 15 Vietnamese Men.
It all started a few weeks ago actually. Chu Hùng (host dad) plays tennis every week with his friends and he noticed that I've played (only once, but it's something, right?!). He seemed excited about inviting me sometime. The time came this last week. He invited both Derek (my MCC boss) and me to join him on Sunday. In true miscommunication fashion, I was able to discern only a few details, which mostly turned out to be wrong in the end anyways. He said they met at 1:30 and that they go about 3km away. I asked Derek and he said he was up for it so I confirmed with my host Dad. That is when it turns out that they "meet" somewhere 3km away, where a car picks them up and drives to the courts, which are actually on the other side of the Red River. My thought was, "oh no, is it too late to back out?" But it was. Derek and I were in.
So 1:30 Sunday afternoon, Derek and I met Chu Hùng and a few of his friends at a cafe (which was actually further than 3km away). We sat there for about 45 minutes before loading into the cars and driving. We then preceeded to drive about 30 minutes out of Hanoi to a new housing development with few people and two shiny new tennis courts. Car after car of people arrived over the next hour, totalling about 15 men I would guess. So we play. I warned Chu Hùng that I am "không tót" (no good) at tennis but maybe he thought I was just being modest. Trust me, I wasn't. I'm BAD. But I played and I gave it my all. The first game I played not so bad. Not good, but not horrible. The second one though...it was bad. If I was lucky enough to hit the ball it didn't go anywhere near the right direction. My serves all failed to the point that they started giving me 3 tries instead of the normal 2 and if it was anywhere close they would just play it. When I did anything right they would cheer for me. Luckily I can just laugh because if I was a more competitive person (which I have my moments of) I would not have still been smiling after that game. I did have one dignity saving skill, when they would throw the balls to me for serving I successfully caught them. At least I showed the potential to be coordinated! I only lasted those two games until my arm was completely exhausted and I could barely lift a water bottle anymore. In fact, typing this now kind of hurts my forearm and my whole body is sore today!
The fun didn't stop with tennis though. After four hours of playing we started towards home but instead of going back they decide we should go out to dinner. Derek couldn't stay any longer because he had to get home to his family (which was an ordeal in itself. He ended up having to take a taxi back...so complicated!). I hoped to go with him because after already being out for 5 hours I was exhausted. But Chu Hùng seemed really disappointed that I was contemplating leaving. He finally asked, "If you have free time maybe you come eat with us?" Which is about as direct as the Vietnamese get when they want something. So I hesitantly agreed to join the 8 middle-aged Vietnamese men for dinner.
Fortunately the man sitting next to me spoke really good English and so I wasn't totally lost. As the rice wine and beer flowed, they all found it was increasing entertaining to talk to me. The oldest of the group was their favorite to joke about, even though he was only older by about 2 years. They told me he has 3 wives, that he swam the rivers and that he climbed mountatins (maybe because he was so old there are no roads?). Then later they were very concerned that I understood they were only joking. Overall it was really funny and I was thoroughly entertained. I'm glad I went. If nothing else the interaction with my host dad was a step towards feeling more like a part of the family and less like the house pet.
The night should've ended here, at about 8:30. But when we returned to the cafe to pick up Chu Hùng's xe máy the back tire had gone completely flat! And being that it was a Sunday night, nothing was open. We had to push the bike to a closed repair shop and then wait for a while for the man to show up. How we contacted him to say we needed help I have no idea, but it worked out. An hour later we are on the road home. But my bicycle was at Derek's, so Chu Hùng had to drive me there so I could ride my bike the rest of the way home.
And so there is the story of my epic day of "playing" tennis. I'm determined to get better at it. Maybe someday they'll invite me back (out of pity more than anything else!) and I'll have practiced and be able to to hold my own. Maybe not though. Good thing I'm getting used to the embarrasment :)
It all started a few weeks ago actually. Chu Hùng (host dad) plays tennis every week with his friends and he noticed that I've played (only once, but it's something, right?!). He seemed excited about inviting me sometime. The time came this last week. He invited both Derek (my MCC boss) and me to join him on Sunday. In true miscommunication fashion, I was able to discern only a few details, which mostly turned out to be wrong in the end anyways. He said they met at 1:30 and that they go about 3km away. I asked Derek and he said he was up for it so I confirmed with my host Dad. That is when it turns out that they "meet" somewhere 3km away, where a car picks them up and drives to the courts, which are actually on the other side of the Red River. My thought was, "oh no, is it too late to back out?" But it was. Derek and I were in.
So 1:30 Sunday afternoon, Derek and I met Chu Hùng and a few of his friends at a cafe (which was actually further than 3km away). We sat there for about 45 minutes before loading into the cars and driving. We then preceeded to drive about 30 minutes out of Hanoi to a new housing development with few people and two shiny new tennis courts. Car after car of people arrived over the next hour, totalling about 15 men I would guess. So we play. I warned Chu Hùng that I am "không tót" (no good) at tennis but maybe he thought I was just being modest. Trust me, I wasn't. I'm BAD. But I played and I gave it my all. The first game I played not so bad. Not good, but not horrible. The second one though...it was bad. If I was lucky enough to hit the ball it didn't go anywhere near the right direction. My serves all failed to the point that they started giving me 3 tries instead of the normal 2 and if it was anywhere close they would just play it. When I did anything right they would cheer for me. Luckily I can just laugh because if I was a more competitive person (which I have my moments of) I would not have still been smiling after that game. I did have one dignity saving skill, when they would throw the balls to me for serving I successfully caught them. At least I showed the potential to be coordinated! I only lasted those two games until my arm was completely exhausted and I could barely lift a water bottle anymore. In fact, typing this now kind of hurts my forearm and my whole body is sore today!
The fun didn't stop with tennis though. After four hours of playing we started towards home but instead of going back they decide we should go out to dinner. Derek couldn't stay any longer because he had to get home to his family (which was an ordeal in itself. He ended up having to take a taxi back...so complicated!). I hoped to go with him because after already being out for 5 hours I was exhausted. But Chu Hùng seemed really disappointed that I was contemplating leaving. He finally asked, "If you have free time maybe you come eat with us?" Which is about as direct as the Vietnamese get when they want something. So I hesitantly agreed to join the 8 middle-aged Vietnamese men for dinner.
Fortunately the man sitting next to me spoke really good English and so I wasn't totally lost. As the rice wine and beer flowed, they all found it was increasing entertaining to talk to me. The oldest of the group was their favorite to joke about, even though he was only older by about 2 years. They told me he has 3 wives, that he swam the rivers and that he climbed mountatins (maybe because he was so old there are no roads?). Then later they were very concerned that I understood they were only joking. Overall it was really funny and I was thoroughly entertained. I'm glad I went. If nothing else the interaction with my host dad was a step towards feeling more like a part of the family and less like the house pet.
The night should've ended here, at about 8:30. But when we returned to the cafe to pick up Chu Hùng's xe máy the back tire had gone completely flat! And being that it was a Sunday night, nothing was open. We had to push the bike to a closed repair shop and then wait for a while for the man to show up. How we contacted him to say we needed help I have no idea, but it worked out. An hour later we are on the road home. But my bicycle was at Derek's, so Chu Hùng had to drive me there so I could ride my bike the rest of the way home.
And so there is the story of my epic day of "playing" tennis. I'm determined to get better at it. Maybe someday they'll invite me back (out of pity more than anything else!) and I'll have practiced and be able to to hold my own. Maybe not though. Good thing I'm getting used to the embarrasment :)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Keeping my Priorities Straight!
Some of you may be tempted to think, "Poor Alicia, she is in a far away country all by herself, she can't speak Vietnamese and she is the same height, if not taller, than most men in Việt Nam, how will she ever get married now that she has graduated college?!" Well dear concerned friends, never fear! I have learned some handy phrases recently to overcome the language barrier (although I haven't found a solution to the height issue yet...):
Cái nhìn đầu tiên
(Love at first sight)
Em yêu anh cả đỏi.
(I'll love you for all of life)
Em cảm thây anh thay đổi.
(I feel like you've changed-Vietnamese way of breaking up)
Khi yêu, dau tim.
(When you love, your heart hurts)
I couldn't quite write this one down, but Chú Hùng (my host dad) sang for me a song about a man who would follow his love to the ends of the earth.
I also could tell you the words for get married (kết hôn), get engaged (đính hôn), boyfriend (bạn trai), ex-boyfriend (bạn trai cũ), handsome (đẹp trai) husband (chồng) and wife (vợ).
Clearly, I am now fully prepared to find my long lost soul mate...yep.... :)
Cái nhìn đầu tiên
(Love at first sight)
Em yêu anh cả đỏi.
(I'll love you for all of life)
Em cảm thây anh thay đổi.
(I feel like you've changed-Vietnamese way of breaking up)
Khi yêu, dau tim.
(When you love, your heart hurts)
I couldn't quite write this one down, but Chú Hùng (my host dad) sang for me a song about a man who would follow his love to the ends of the earth.
I also could tell you the words for get married (kết hôn), get engaged (đính hôn), boyfriend (bạn trai), ex-boyfriend (bạn trai cũ), handsome (đẹp trai) husband (chồng) and wife (vợ).
Clearly, I am now fully prepared to find my long lost soul mate...yep.... :)
Friday, October 16, 2009
Lunch at the office!
Like any good office, MCC has birthday parties about once a month for people's birthday that are close together. MCC doesn't exactly have a lot of employees, so I can't imagine this will continue very frequently all year, but I really like it! MCC has workers both in the office and doing various things in the city, so it's a great chance for everyone to get together. And there is always cake :) Yesterday we celebrated Hiro and Van Anh's birthday. I took some pictures so you could see a little more of MCC, my work day and food! On a normal work day there are about 6 people for lunch, so imagine a slightly smaller gathering for an average day.
This is Co Thu, the cook! She is fantastic. I really enjoy most of the food we eat everyday! I'm going to try to start helping out a little so I can learn to cook great Vietnamese food.
There are always a lot of different foods at one meal. Sometimes it follows what feels like a normal pattern to me with one meat, one vegetable, plus rice and always a Vietnamese soup. But other times it seems like there are a lot of options and a lot of equally main dish like things. For the party we had some sort of meat, although it looked more like bones than meat. I'm still working on enjoying eating meat like that, so I'll admit that this meal I skipped that part. We also had fresh spring rolls, which happen to be one of my favorites! And pho, which I have come to enjoy. I haven't eaten it that often, but my teacher at school eats it every day! It is definitely a Vietnamese staple.
Pho is always a little better if you add lime and maybe some ground pepper
I'm not a big fan of soups so Pho, along with many other Vietnamese dishes, has required some getting used to. And even when I like the soup I have a hard time finishing a whole bowl of it. Sometimes I think I get bored of eating before I actually am full! This might have been the first soup I have actually comletely finished!
And it's time for dessert! Yay birthday cake! This one was store bought, but still pretty good. You never quite know with Vietnamese sweets, especially flour based ones. But you can always count on the cutesy decorations. The Vietnamese love their cutesy things.
This is Co Thu, the cook! She is fantastic. I really enjoy most of the food we eat everyday! I'm going to try to start helping out a little so I can learn to cook great Vietnamese food.
There are always a lot of different foods at one meal. Sometimes it follows what feels like a normal pattern to me with one meat, one vegetable, plus rice and always a Vietnamese soup. But other times it seems like there are a lot of options and a lot of equally main dish like things. For the party we had some sort of meat, although it looked more like bones than meat. I'm still working on enjoying eating meat like that, so I'll admit that this meal I skipped that part. We also had fresh spring rolls, which happen to be one of my favorites! And pho, which I have come to enjoy. I haven't eaten it that often, but my teacher at school eats it every day! It is definitely a Vietnamese staple.
Pho is always a little better if you add lime and maybe some ground pepper
I'm not a big fan of soups so Pho, along with many other Vietnamese dishes, has required some getting used to. And even when I like the soup I have a hard time finishing a whole bowl of it. Sometimes I think I get bored of eating before I actually am full! This might have been the first soup I have actually comletely finished!
And it's time for dessert! Yay birthday cake! This one was store bought, but still pretty good. You never quite know with Vietnamese sweets, especially flour based ones. But you can always count on the cutesy decorations. The Vietnamese love their cutesy things.
Just because you have cake doesn't mean you don't get fruit, the normal dessert, too! Today we had apples and pomelos. I think I've eaten pomelo almost everyday since arriving here, the Vietnamese love it! It's is kind of grapefruity, but not at the same time. At first I didn't love them, sometimes they can be rather flavorless, or even kind of sour. But other times they are great!
And there you are, a little office lunch tour. I have to admit that I definitely miss food from home. Just the normalcy of it. And the ability to cook for myself and eat the amount I want. Sometimes I feel like I have to gear up to eat a meal here, because it's like eating out every meal in that it always feels temporary. But I am getting more used to it and I do legitimately enjoy most of it! I've also gotten much better at eating only the amount I want to. The Vietnamese are GREAT at putting food in your bowl for you when they think you should eat more, even if you feel like you've already eaten half of the food that was on the table. Oh the culture of food...how interesting!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Oregon Rainy Day
Today is a very normal day. I woke up, had some yogurt and toast, went to work, made myself some Earl Grey Tea, stalled actually working by sending some emails, worked on creating a masthead (which I recently learned is the title bar on a website) for one of Max's website with his new logo, ate lunch, worked some more, helped people adjust to using the new computers that I worked on setting up last week, read the paper (always entertaining to read the English version) and now I'm home. All of this to the background of an overcast day with an unrelenting drizzle. If I didn't know better, I might think I was back in Oregon, making the normal post-college transition to a the life of a big girl. And yet I'm in Viet Nam. Sometimes that fact still surprises me.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
This is the life!
We rode up on xe mai, aka motos, or bikes, or scooters (although not motorcycles). Xe Mai might be my new favorite thing about Viet Nam. So much so that I would like to think that when I come back to the states that is how I will get around! There was this moment while driving up where the air got suddenly crisper and we were driving next to a mountain so we were in the shadows and I got this overwhelming feeling that it is Fall. It was a beautiful moment.
We made up an interesting group, there was my Canadian friend, two of his roommates, one from New Zealand and one from Vietnam, then the roommate's friend from Switzerland and me. Two of the guys had worked there earlier this year, so they knew lots of the staff and various people around the town. We stayed with a family that they knew in a Stilt House, which is set up for tourists but is also the traditional housing style of the area. There is one long room in the front and then a back room, which seemed to be the kitchen and where the family slept. Oh, and it is set up on stilts and made completely out of bamboo. They were really cool houses. For some reason this weekend there wasn't power during the days. What was amazing to me is that is had little effect on our experience. Really, we didn't need electricity to do most of the things we did.
The weekend was filled with good things. Riding out of the village and exploring a suspension bridge, having the time to be intrigued by a pond on the other side of a field and actually go see it, Vietnamese food, lots of coffee, a few card games, a trek through the rice paddies (during rice harvest even!), a lot of laughing and just an overall break from city life. I look forward to many more weekends here in Viet Nam!
PS I have finally added some pictures to facebook. So for a couple more from this weekend, and other various times over the last two months, check out this album.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Mid-Autumn Festival
Happy Moon Day Everyone!
Ok, well, it's a little late. Technically Mid-Autumn Festival, or moon day as I like to call it, was Saturday. It's the full moon, and mid-fall...that is about all I know of it. But it was fun. It is kind of their version of Halloween, it's about little kids, and mooncake (this super sweet dessert) and little toys and masks. How it is already mid-fall I have yet to figure out. It did cool down a bit here last week temparture wise, and I notice a few leaves are yellowing, but that's about it. Somehow though, it is fall!
I celebrated moon-day at a party at Calah's host family's home. It was fun. Not quite what I was expecting. People kept saying that Mid-Autumn Festival is about kids, but I kind of assumed that, like Halloween, adults still did things too. But no, this party was thrown for us (the foreigners) and the kids! We played games, sang songs, won prizes, ate a lot of food, overall had a great time. I felt just like a kid at a birthday party :) Loved it!
Ok, well, it's a little late. Technically Mid-Autumn Festival, or moon day as I like to call it, was Saturday. It's the full moon, and mid-fall...that is about all I know of it. But it was fun. It is kind of their version of Halloween, it's about little kids, and mooncake (this super sweet dessert) and little toys and masks. How it is already mid-fall I have yet to figure out. It did cool down a bit here last week temparture wise, and I notice a few leaves are yellowing, but that's about it. Somehow though, it is fall!
I celebrated moon-day at a party at Calah's host family's home. It was fun. Not quite what I was expecting. People kept saying that Mid-Autumn Festival is about kids, but I kind of assumed that, like Halloween, adults still did things too. But no, this party was thrown for us (the foreigners) and the kids! We played games, sang songs, won prizes, ate a lot of food, overall had a great time. I felt just like a kid at a birthday party :) Loved it!
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