Hello, Hanoi

I just got back to Bangkok from a five-day stay in Hanoi, Vietnam. I have been planning the trip for a while, but it was a little bit complicated getting the visa- it required several trips to the Vietnamese embassy, money, time, and paperwork.

When I left Bangkok at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, it was already getting hot. It's been in the 90's Farenheit lately. I was in for a shock in Hanoi- it was so cold and I was completely unprepared! The flight takes less than two hours, and Vietnam is so close to Thailand that I didn't bother to check the weather, I thought it would be similar. I guess I didn't really realize that I'd be flying north for pretty much those two hours. It was only in the 50's when I landed on Sunday morning, and all I had packed were shorts and t-shirts!

I was a millionaire

After Zimbabwe, Vietnam has the lowest-valued currency in the world; $1 is equal to 20,000 Vietnamese dong! $50 will make you a millionaire in Vietnam.

After I checked into my hotel, the friendly staff recommended some local cuisine called "bun cha"- grilled pork with noodles, fresh vegetables, and spring rolls on the side. I spent the afternoon walking around the Old Quarter's Hoan Kiem Lake area. It was cold and a little rainy, but there weren't many tourists around.

Hanoi "cyclo" drivers

Hanoi is over one thousand years old. It was an old imperial city and was important during Vietnam's Chinese period. It was the capital of French Indochina until 1954, North Vietnam until 1976, and the reunified Socialist Republic of Vietnam up to the present.

most places I've been have torn these things down already

Yes, Vietnam is still a communist party state, and one of the more successful ones at that. I was a little bit concerned about experiencing some anti-American sentiment before I got there, but I didn't find that to be the case. I found the Vietnamese people to be really warm, friendly, and excited to meet a foreigner. I even made some friends. While you can't escape reminders of the "American War" (also known by the less politically-charged name "Second Indochinese War"), I just took some famous advice from Basil Fawlty: "don't mention the war."

posters like this were a common sight all over Hanoi

In Hoan Kiem Lake, 300 year-old Ngoc Son Temple sits on a little island connected by the "Morning Sunlight Bridge." The legend of Hoan Kiem lake tells of an ancient emperor who was given a magical sword to defeat the invading Chinese armies. After the battle, he returned the sword to Hoan Kiem Lake, where it was taken to heaven by a legendary turtle. One remaining giant turtle still lives in the lake, and its rare appearances are seen as signs of extreme good fortune. Ngoc Son Temple houses the embalmed remains of another giant turtle, a sacred symbol in Vietnamese culture.

Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake

Of course, you can't visit Vietnam without eating all the amazing local food. On my first night, I went out for a walk as the rainy city was getting dark, and wandered into a tiny little pho shop in the Old Quarter. It was warm and dry inside, and I ordered a hot bowl of pho bo, beef noodle soup.

beef noodle Pho

Hanoi Old Quarter

It was still raining on Monday morning, but not enough to bother me. Thanks to the map my hotel provided (and Google Maps), I was able to navigate the confusing Old Quarter on my first "museum day." The first sight that I really wanted to see was Hoa Lo Prison, the "Hanoi Hilton" where American POW's including Sen. John McCain were held during the war. Most of the prison was demolished in the 1990's, but some of the main buildings have been preserved a museum. One very large part of the museum was dedicated to telling how poorly the Vietnamese were treated when Hoa Loa was a French prison, and a very small part of the museum told how well the American POW's were treated. 

"Hanoi Hilton"

The amount of propaganda here was a little surprising. The museum even went so far as to say that that the POW's sincerely called it the Hanoi Hilton because the amenities were so nice. I think John McCain might disagree with that one. One video told that "the US servicemen appreciated their humane treatment during their short stay at Hoa Lo Prison." and that they were happy to learn that they were wrong about their "enemy."

Still, despite this, the museum was very interesting. One of the creepiest rooms that I had to walk through had life-sized mannequins shackled together, and there was even a real French guillotine displayed alongside other torture equipment.

Ok, enough of that. One of the most famous and striking landmarks in Hanoi is St. Joseph's Cathedral. Communism would never have taken hold in Vietnam if the Party had tried to outlaw religion the way the Soviet Union did. 80% of the population is religious, with about 10% of the population practicing Christians (mostly Roman Catholic). St. Joseph's is always packed during Sunday mass, with people filling the square on their motorbikes to listen to the sermon outside the church. 

St. Joseph's Cathedral

Senior Trip: Hua Hin

The graduation ceremony has really come up quickly - it's tomorrow! Today was our last day in the English office. It's unbelievable that things are really coming to a close for the year. 

Earlier this week we had the M6 Senior class trip. I was invited to go along, even though I don't teach M6. I'm definitely not going to say no to a free vacation, especially if it gets me out of the office for a few days.

Our destination was Cha'Am, near Hua Hin. It's not too far away from Bangkok, just two and a half hours or so to the south, on the Gulf of Thailand. Of course, no Thai road trip is complete without numerous stops along the way to take pictures.

Our first stop was a floating market near Hua Hin. We arrived on Monday around lunchtime and spent a few hours there for shopping and eating lunch. It was really hot, so we just walked along the boardwalk for a while, and had some cool drinks in the shade.

Next we visited a temple. In Thai Buddhism, certain monks along with members of the royal family are revered alongside the Buddha. This was a temple dedicated to a monk. I asked one of the Thai teachers about it, and she said she didn't know who he was or why he was famous, but that he was definitely important. It didn't matter though, everyone had to take pictures with the statue! If you look closely at the platform the monk is sitting on, you can see Queen Sirikit's monogram under a crown. Maybe that's why we stopped there.

By mid-afternoon we had arrived at the place we would stay. Everyone cooled off with iced palm-sugar drinks, and we put our stuff in our rooms. In the evening the students were broken into groups for team-building activities; this type of thing is super popular in Thailand. I worked a relay race station. Even though it was hot outside, the students had a blast. By 6:00 it was dinnertime. They served a traditional Thai seafood dinner, fresh from Hua Hin. The best part was the dessert though; they served my favorite, mango sticky rice!

seafood dinner

mango sticky rice

The headmistress also brought another special dessert. It was another sticky rice dish made with a type of Thai potato, although it tasted more like fruit. She told us to eat it all because it's rare. Apparently, the potato has to be cooked a very specific way or it can make you sick. She said it would make you feel drunk if it was prepared incorrectly!

After dinner the students gathered for a farewell activity. I'm not sure what exactly what words  said, but at the end, each student got a candle and sat in a circle while the headmistress addressed them. The next part was a little awkward for me. Each teacher was given several white string bracelets. We were then allowed to go around the circle and tie the bracelets around our students wrists and tell them some advice or give them encouragement for their future. The problem was, I don't teach M6. In fact, I only knew one student, and that's only because she hangs out in our office sometimes (she's a native speaker and likes to speak in English from time to time). Anyway, I gave her a bracelet and wished her luck. At least everyone else was moving around at this time, so I don't think anyone was paying attention to the fact that I only gave one bracelet! There were lots of tears.

It was really late after that, but they had lots of snacks and I think the students were getting ready for some Thai karaoke. We got some of the snacks and headed back to our rooms.

candlelight ceremony

The next morning after breakfast we visited one of the King's special projects, a farm where they experiment growing different crops in arid land. We took a tour, but it was all in Thai. I did find out that pineapples grow on little shrubs in the ground. Maybe that's common knowledge, but I always thought they grew on trees!

We made it back to school just in time to run and catch the van as it was leaving to take our american colleagues from the primary school home. Perfect timing!

A cool temple we passed on the way back home to Bangkok

Wrapping Up

Our school is getting ready for graduation next week! There's not much to do around the office; I've been going in in the morning and staying for the free lunch, then leaving. We've been done with work at the secondary school since mid-February. I feel kind of bad for the primary teachers who just had their final exams this week. (Not bad enough not to enjoy all my free time though!)

We are supposed to wear blue suits for the graduation ceremony, but since I'm staying on next year the school gave me the material to make an official school blazer. It's really nice of them, and with the help of three Thai teachers, I was able to get fitted and order my suit. I hope it'll be ready for the ceremony.

This week I helped my boss count coins. Every year, Geoffrey sets out a bank to collect change to donate to the school in Mae Sot. It's really amazing how quickly quarter and half-baht coins can add up. This year we got B1918 -  nearly $60 for the school. I want to go back to Mae Sot next year... although I'd really like not to have Dengue Fever next time.

I'll be going on the M6 senior trip next week. I never taught any of them, but I was invited along. I won't turn down a free vacation! We're going to Cha'Am, just south of Bangkok on the gulf. It'll be nice to get out of the city for a while; I haven't left Bangkok since January. 

So I'm heading home soon (early April). The school has booked my flight through Seoul, and I'm looking forward to spending some time in what a lot of people consider to be the nicest airport in the world (Incheon). Except for a few political issues, this year has been great. Forget the protests though, the worst thing about Thailand are these guys:

It's a water monitor. They live in the moat surrounding where I work and it freaks me out every time I see them. They're really huge, and they remind me of Komodo dragons! Since it had been cool, they weren't around much in the last few months, but now that it's getting hot again in Bangkok, they've been more active. They just walk around the grounds like they own the place. I don't like it.