Saigon - Tet holiday
Trip Start
Feb 17, 2007
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53
Trip End
Sep 06, 2008
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Saigon,
Vietnam
Thursday, February 22, 2007
I landed safely in Saigon - all the 3rd world smells are hitting me in the face again. It's surreal to be back - this time to LIVE!!! I can picture 2 years here pretty easily.
I am enjoying it here immensely. There are challenges, of course, but overall it's been extremely rewarding. I can easily envision myself extending my 18 month contract.
I accelerated my start date so I could catch the biggest holiday of the year, TET. It's a four day celebration that the entire country recognizes. Imagine putting Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Easter back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Quite a party. One of the other tour leaders took me around downtown Saigon. Large boulevards barricaded for pedestrian traffic only and decorated with colorful signs, flowers, etc. Lots of families strolling around in their Sunday best. The Vietnamese follow the Chinese lunar calendar. 2007 is the year of the pig, one of the luckiest. So many marriages and babies are on the way now.
The following day I returned on my own to discover a large park situated between the former Presidential Palace (remember the tank photo) and Notre Dame Cathedral. The main stage featured several young boys and girls dressed in traditional costumes. Some sang, some just paraded. It was fun to watch the celebration. In the central courtyard was a crowd with something bouncing in the middle. I got closer and squeezed through the people. It was a big dragon, one of the four most symbolic animals in Vietnamese culture. Actually it was several male gymnasts dancing underneath. Very exciting to see it come to life. But that wasn't the end of it. They actually jumped in unison from one small platform to another about 8 feet off the ground. I was impressed!
One of the best parts of returning to Vietnam has been visiting old friends. They are a little surprised I can keep visiting every few weeks. So each time I try to impress them with what I've learned during my leave. In HaNoi, I was working with a diminuitive local guide who was under duress carrying many bags for passengers. I asked her if she needed help. She replied no. She is 'khoe nhu trau' (strong like buffalo - another symbolic animal). Later, I was in central Vietnam visiting my host father from a few years ago. When he indicated he was sick, I told him in Vietnamese to be strong like buffalo. For some reason, that's only polite to say to youngers. In spite of my continuing offenses, he's always been a champ.
At one hotel in central Vietnam, a housekeeper taught me 'chuc em ngu ngon' the polite way of saying goodnight. I practiced it on her everytime I passed by. Upon finishing that tour in the northern region, I went into our office there to process some paperwork. I tried to impress the three women working there with my new saying. Apparently I called my associates 'stupid'. Fortunately, Vietnamese are very understanding.
I expected the biggest challenge for me here would be the weather. It got over 100 degrees hiking through some of the temples in Cambodia. Whew! But that's not the worst. For me, that'll be the rainy season this fall. I got caught in one storm already. My umbrella was worthless so I took cover under a bus stop to wait for a taxi home. I was already drenched. After a few minutes, I flicked away a mosquito from my left ear. I felt it again on my right ear...so I twirled around quickly. Nobody around for 50 meters. Down on the ground I saw a two inch cockroach scurrying away. Outside the drainage gutter was a dozen of them slowly crawling upstream.
The people, culture, food and climate are the four main reasons I came to Asia to work. The one thing I really miss is the performing arts. No more Pacific Northwest Ballet for a while. The closest I've come is a Khmer dance performance. The costumes are beautifully colored and exotic. Picture a pirouette in slow motion.
Next, life as a tour leader.
Tam biet,
Eric
