A Hue we go!

  
 

             

 

VN 21.6.09

 

Checked out of hotel. Went to Hanoi Int’l Airport. I checked lost and found for my journal, no dice. Then we all checked in and flew to Hue.

We all checked into our hotel Ngoc Huong. Then we all went to the Thuan An beach. Dep qua! It was such a beautiful sight.  If you could only see some of the looks I’ve been getting while I was on the beach.

That had to be the nastiest tasting water I ever had in my life (not intentional mind you). Children selling snacks on the beach are very persistent… Go to respect their hustle… 

Then we (Kathie, Amy and I) went out to eat dinner. Had first bowl of Bun Bo Hue as my first meal in Hue. 

VN 22.6.09

First breakfast at hotel was nice. It was buffet style. They even had Bun Bo Hue, the lady told me it was the best dish in the country… Which may or may not be true, not trying to judge, so I went ahead and tried it. The one I had the previous day was better, much better.  Had breakfast with James and our TA Hoang Ngo. 

Welcome reception to Hue University, College of Foreign LanguagesWe have had three days of classes so far. Very interesting lessons about the history of Vietnam by Professor Giebel.

       

Last days in Hanoi

  

Hanoi 19.6.09

Sorry fam that it is taking me a little more time to add new posts to my blog. Visited and had a guided tour of the Vietnamese Museum of Ethnology. It was really nice. Our tour guide was actually a former student of our professor. He was working on the famed Highway 9, East-West Economic corridor exhibit.  Really nice museum. A lot of this museum had information on the war and the UXO (unexploded ordinance) that was dropped during the American Conflict in Vietnam. Which is nice to see so that we can see some of the actual UXO that was dropped, actually helps one to imagine the magnitude of the devastation and despair within the region we are going to assist. All I can say is that it is pretty sad..

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Chua Quan Truoc (Quan Truoc Temple) “alleged” oldest Theravada Buddhist Temple in Viet

nam. Dep qua. While here there was a funeral going on, tree of enlightenment for Buddha. However, one of the coolest things we saw was the "John McCain Marker." Which means the place (lake) where he crashed and then subsequently rescued by the local people. Just think what would of happened if they would have let him drowned...  

 

Famed Hanoi Vietnamese Water Puppet Theater. Traditional French style marionettes performing in water. 

 

 

VN 20.6.09

 

Took a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake. Very interesting to see public parks used for mass tai chi exercises. Nice to see Viet people very active, especially the women… Even the men were lifting weights like it was Venice beach. 

I thought about meditating…. And even running, but the humidity and heat is brutal… reminds me so much of Cuba.

 

Meet with Jodi Charles (UW alumn who works with VN CDC/Embassy) at Paris Deli.

 

Lunch at the famed Highway 4 restaurant, where we ate steamboat soup with tiger prawns, pigeon, crocodile and skewered wild horse, cua rang me (soft shelled crabs with tamarind), crickets with tamarind sauce, and many more...

     

Walking tour of the French Colonial Quarters in Hanoi.

  

History Museum, Vietnamese Communist Party Museum.  

Political Epicenter of Vietnam

    

Vietnam Day 2: Political Epicenter of Vietnam

 

So today we visited the political epicenter of Vietnam, which is pretty much in the old quarter that is downtown Hanoi. It was once known as Thanh Long (City of the Soaring Dragon), for Hanoi has traditionally been the seat of political, cultural, economic and educational power for last 1000 years. It is truly amazing to see how it has survived all the different wars and conflicts over time.  Today was very interesting; it started out innocently enough because we embarked to see the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (from here on out referred to as Uncle Ho) around 8:30 am. However, one of our three cab drivers had the idea to take one of the groups around the city to earn extra monies. What should have taken ten to fifteen minutes tops, turned into a forty-five minute affair making our professor very angry. Needless to say it wasn’t a pretty picture, this is why I posted a picture of the inside of one of the taxis in my post.

 

So we went through this enormous line walking in “columns of two” to see the preserved body “in repose” is the technical term for him on ice. I would have posted pictures of him, but cameras and taking pictures of him are forbidden. You have to check in your camera and have two walk in “columns of two.” It is very strict, under armed guard; you can’t even smile or wear sunglasses (as a matter of fact, one of my classmates was getting sweated over wearing his prescription sunglasses, which he eventually took off. I hope it didn’t stop him from seeing where he was going) for this is deeply disrespectful. I must admit that I really thought about taking pictures of him from my iPhone, but at the risk of making an international scene (not another study abroad student from UW), and disgracing my family I chose the wisdom of the turtle and decided against it. Neither fame nor fortune is worth doing twenty to life for a picture that I could probably find on YouTube…

 

However, I have posted a couple of different pictures of the Mausoleum from the outside, I hope you enjoy some of the scenery that is North Vietnam; Hanoi and all of its splendor. We saw his living quarters, which is said to have been in the servants quarters, because he refused to live in the presidential palace (big yellow building with red trim), his spot was on the stilts (green)…  Whether one wishes to believe this sentiment or not, it was a genius move politically because it endeared him to the people of Vietnam that all shared in the same struggles, not just symbolically.  We also saw a huge Lenin statue, only one of two that I believe still exist in the world. Ironically, the other one is in Fremont,  a Seattle suburb near UW, by the Royal Grinders sub shop.  I hope to go back there and take a closer photo of it.

 

However we had a great Vietnamese lunch buffet. It was phenomenal, only $200,000.00 VN Dong, which is equivalent to $ 11.00 US dollars.  I have posted some pictures of this as well.  So much food to name, just look at the pictures!!!!

 

After lunch, we went to the US Embassy. We were privileged enough to spend over two hours with the Second Secretary Jane Bocklage. She was very cordial and the discussion was very interesting. However, I wasn’t putting too much stock into her answers, they seemed to tow the typical US hegemonic, “Big W,” Western Ideology of how inadequate the Vietnamese were and how they are trying to ensure that the rest of Vietnam is developing properly, all the while ignoring why they are still developing. Anyways, I will try to stay of my soapbox and tangents, that is for another day and time…  There is a joke that the US Representative told us as we visited it today, that most cab drivers here will tell you “We can still work with the US because we only fought with them for 10 years, so then we fought the French conflict for 100 years, but China we had to fight them jokers for ultimately 1000 years. So we are okay with the US…” She said that most people here are under the age of 35, so poverty shouldn’t be a problem. Vietnam has always fought and struggled for their own independence and sovereignty.

 

After coming back from the embassy, we went out and ate some delicious street food. You can see one of the photos. I will post more later…. Chao…

From Seoul to Church Hotel to Temple of Literature

여보세요 친구 In other words, hello. I would have spelled it phonetically, but I had trouble spelling ana-sayo. That still probably is not correct. In this page you will see us at the Incheon International Airport in Korea. The airport was a little confusing; we almost processed through customs, if it had not been for me asking questions like I do. The picture I took from the plane is us flying over Kamchatka, Russia. I had never flown over the Pacific Ocean, which was kind of cool.

One of the cool things about Korea Air was that they had this ingenious little invention that they connected to the wall like a little baby bassinet! You can check out the picture. The flight took forever, even longer than the one I took to Rome, but at least the food was better, plus you got to love the customer service. I wished I only realized that I forgot my journal earlier. Later the night we got into Hanoi around 10:00 pm. It was really hot! Here are some pictures of us picking up our luggage and getting taxis. We are staying at the Church Hotel in Hanoi; it is pretty modern with A/C. It is really close to this 17th century church.

Didn’t sleep much the first night. Here is a view from our apt over looking Hanoi. Have a nice complimentary breakfast of bacon and eggs with ca phe sua da (Viet coffee with condensed milk over ice). I really love that stuff. Then we had lunch at the KOTO: Know One, Teach One restaurant. It is a really cool education Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) designed to rehabilitate people and help them turn their lives around. Food was fine; I had the Chao Tom (ground pork and prawns with rice paper). Interestingly enough, our waitpersons did not seem fit to give us hot water to make the rice paper pliable. Some of us thought that this was kind of strange. We visited the famed Temple of Literature where they trained most of the famed Vietnamese educators, philosophers and politicians. It was pretty cool to see the wisdom of the turtles.  

 

Traveling to Vietnam

                                                                  

Hi all, I just wanted to say that I made it too Vietnam with relative ease. The only thing that upset me was that I forgot my journal on the last plane when we landed in Hanoi.  I have to say that flying on Korea Airlines was really nice, they know how to hook a brother up. Constantly feeding you, very attentive. Our inflight meals were Bibimbap, and Chicken Bulgogi... Pretty tasty... Free blankets, pillows, headsets, water... When I have to travel to anywhere in Asia, I will definitely use them again...  I will blog more later, must get rest...

Family & Commencement

Xin Chao gia dinh! Simply translated hello family (I just didn't put the accents on there). I just wanted to post a public cam ong (thank you) for all my family and friends that able to make it to my commencement at UW. For those that weren't able too, no worries, I understand how life works and it is okay. I am sure your world is much larger than me anyway. It is greatly appreciated! I know that this post is about a week late, but I have been busy with school and getting ready to travel to Southeast Asia for the first time. Please enjoy some of the pictures that I took from the different ceremonies. By the time you read this, I will most like be on the ground in Hanoi, Vietnam. Know that I love and appreciate all your efforts. Peace....