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November 30, 2008
48 - Ho Chi Minh City
Given how the Arab world's most prominent TV station has been demonized in the States, I figured the image above would get the attention of any Americans browsing this blog. Anyway, now that you are already reading, check out the link below to watch a short video on Saigon from Al Jazeera's travel show, 48. I promises that it focuses on Vietnam and is free of commentary on US-Arab relations.
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/48/2008/11/20081178436486367.html
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November 29, 2008
Thanks Giving Face
Thanksgiving is one of the things that makes me proud to be American. I love the idea of a holiday where family and friends get together to enjoy a tasty meal and reflect on what they are thankful for. When I studied abroad during college, my flatmates and I organized a Thanksgiving feast for our European friends. We bought sliced turkey from the supermarket, and I even used my mom's recipe for baked yams. With Spanish wine flowing, the dinner was a success that the public affairs of the US Embassy in Madrid should have been proud of - some good citizen diplomacy.
With Thanksgiving approaching last week, I decided to plan another Thanksgiving dinner for my Vietnamese friends here in Saigon. The only turkeys I have seen here in Saigon are in the advertisements from hotels like Sheraton for an authentic Thanksgiving dinner for $50 per person. I asked one of my colleagues if he knew what a turkey was, and he replied "isn't it like a big chicken?"
With the Sheraton out of my price range, I decided to host Thanksgiving dinner at Vy Vy restaurant, which is near my office. I know the staff because I park my motobike there (no room at the office) and I often head over there for lunch. I planned on inviting over twenty people, and told the manager of Vy Vy that I was expecting somewhere between ten and fifteen. He assured me that he would have a tasty meal prepared for us.
While the manager came through with the food, I failed to deliver the people. I gave most people less than one day's notice, and my friends ended up having other plans. Seven of us ended up sitting at a table that had enough food for twenty people. A group our size of Americans (sorry!) might have been able to polish off the spring rolls, fish hotpot, and fresh noodles, but my Vietnamese friends and I barely put a dent in the smorgasbord.
After my friends left, the motobike attendants invited me to sit with them outside and finish one of the fish hotpots that was left over. By that time, it was already 10pm, and I suspect that they were not really hungry. I think that they felt a bit sorry for me and wanted to "give face" to me by enjoying the food that I had bought. I felt a bit guilty because the $80 I spent on dinner that night was nearly a month's salary for one of them. My mistake for not doing a better job of finding out who was actually going to come to dinner.
Their effort to give me face made my Thanksgiving. I feel fortunate to have friends like Tang, even if he does give me a hard time for not having a Vietnamese girlfriend yet...
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November 22, 2008
The Collapse
Last Friday I woke up in the disoriented (and relieved) state that follows a night of strange dreams. Whence the images of injured people that disturbed my sleep?
The previous night, a second floor balcony collapsed onto the sidewalk about 5 meters from the office I had exited less than one minute before. As my motobike circled the roundabout at the intersection of Le Loi and Nguyen Hue in central Saigon, I heard a deafening CRASH and looked back in time to see falling debris and a rising cloud of concrete dust.
I immediately turned around and went back to the scene to find a growing crowd of onlookers. One woman was staggering away, injured by the toppling concrete and wet from the spray from broken water pipes. The security guard who had been watching the entrance to the garage was trapped under concrete and tin roofing, separated from us by a tangled mess of electricity cables. While I hesitated, a group of three local men risked their own safety to drag the man out from under the debris. Although freed from being pinned down, he emerged with a dazed look on his face, a bloody nose, and a rigid body that suggested broken bones and internal injuries.
I will take the experience as another reminder that life is fleeting and that anything can happen. With more poverty and less regulation, the developing world sends seems to send more of those messages...One more reason to include a cliche like "live life to the fullest" in this entry...
I passed by the scene the following morning, and the collapse had already been cleaned up. Makes sense, given that this is the heart of Saigon's tourist district...
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November 16, 2008
In Stitches
Typing without the all important index finger of my right hand makes blogging a time consuming endeavor...Why the bandaged digit? The knob on the door to my room is broken, and when the door shuts, the only way to open it again is to pry the latch out with a small flat object. This morning I chose to use my Leatherman knife to that end, and (not surprisingly) when my hand slipped, the blade cut right into my finger. Oops...
Instead of spending Sunday morning relaxing at home, I took my bloody towel wrapped hand to find medical care here in Saigon. The cut seemed fairly serious, so I went to the Singapore run clinic at the posh Diamond Plaza shopping mall.
My experience with urgent care in the US involves a lot of time spent in waiting rooms reading back issues of Golf Digest. However, at the clinic this morning, within less than two minutes of walking in the door, the nurse was cleaning my wound and telling me to relax because my face looked really pale. About thirty minutes later, the Filipino MD who had stitched the cut on my finger was sending me out the door with some antibiotics and reminding me to come back the next day to have the nurse change the bandage.
So, does this mean that health care in Vietnam is an efficient and world class operation? The crowd I see outside the public hospital on my way to work in the morning suggests otherwise. Quality care from American and European doctors is definitely available to those who are willing to pay for it. However, my medical bill today was more than the average blue collar worker's monthly salary. I suppose that this is my chance to test the insurance that PiA provided for me. Whether or not I am reimbursed, I feel fortunate to have access to good medical care immediately, unlike most people in Vietnam and the rest of the world.
I have two final comments for this entry. First, I feel like an idiot every time I explain why my finger is bandaged. I wish I had a more exciting, heroic story. Second, I am calling my landlord tomorrow to ask him to fix the door.
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November 9, 2008
The Latest News from Vietnam
Some may call it tasteless to include this news story in my blog, but I could not resist. It has been one of the running jokes around town for the past couple of weeks...
Vietnam Halts Plan to Ban Short and Flat-Chested Motorists
HANOI (AFP) - Communist Vietnam has suspended a much-criticised plan to ban very short, thin and flat-chested people from driving, state media reported on Wednesday.
The new draft guidelines on motorcycle and car drivers had drawn widespread criticism and ridicule from motorists, newspaper readers and bloggers since they were published by the health ministry two weeks ago.
Under the 83-point plan, people shorter than 1.5 metres (4.9 feet), lighter than 40 kilogrammes (88 pounds) or with a chest circumference of less than 72 centimetres would no longer qualify for new drivers' licences.
The proposal worried many in this nation of slender people and spurned jokes about traffic police with tape measures enthusiastically flagging down female motorcyclists, and predictions of a run on padded bras.
The justice ministry has asked the health ministry to temporarily suspend and review the plan, the Vietnam News daily reported.
"After receiving public opinion about the decision, the health and transport ministries agreed there had to be changes," senior health department official Tran Quy Tuong was quoted as saying by the state-run daily.
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November 7, 2008
My Hood
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Better to Not Discuss Politics...
...especially on a public forum like this one. As we all know, politics brings up intense feelings among Americans, and political debates often become personal.
Here in Vietnam, talking about American politics is fine, and all of my local friends have been following the election. However, the subject of domestic politics is taboo, and as my Vietnamese teacher stated, expression of contrarian opinions can be "dangerous." When I asked what happens to people who who speak up against the leaders of this country, she said that they could be thrown in jail. Dangerous enough for me...
Back to the US election, many of the European, Australian, and Canadian expats I spoke to were overjoyed about Obama's victory. One friend sent me a text message stating that this was a "victory toward a better world." However, I know plenty of Americans, Vietnamese, and others who are disappointed that McCain lost. For international trade policy, some people expect Obama to be more protectionist than the current administration, which could hurt Vietnamese exports to the US. I will keep my own political opinions to myself and leave this entry at those observations...
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November 4, 2008
Election Day in Vietnam
At the gym this morning, I flipped through the stations on the TV in front of the elliptical machine that I was using. From BBC to DeutchWorld to NHK, all of the news stations were covering the US election.
Later today, I am headed to lunch at an Irish Pub where a group of Americans plans to watch the election results. My two Vietnamese colleagues are interested in the election and plan to join us.
As for voting, as you can see, I used an absentee ballot and faxed it in two weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how it goes...
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November 1, 2008
Drinking: For the Boys
I have found that "Khong say, khong ve" is one of the most important phrases to know here in Vietnam. Literally, it means "If you aren't drunk yet, you can't go home." Coming from a foreigner like me, it always gets a laugh out of the Vietnamese people I am with. Moreover, pleading that I am already inebriated, or "say roi," can (sometimes) help to convince the person sitting next to me to stop filling up my mug with more Bia Saigon...
While the drinking culture here is vibrant, it seems to be mostly for the boys. The photos on this entry are from a birthday lunch for my landlord, Minh. Having to go back to work got me out of the countless calls to go "mot tram" and empty my glass in one chug. While the men went on drinking, Minh's wife, Chi Nga, and her friends spent most of their time cooking and chatting on their own. Chi Nga sat down for a bit with us, but I only saw her take a few sips. At a similar party at our place, there were two large tables - one for men and one for women. The cooler full of beer was conveniently located next to the mens' area, and there was not a mug to be found among the ladies.
Many of my other social experiences in Vietnam reinforce this gender drinking divide. Earlier this week, a friend invited me to join him and some friends for dinner and karaoke. While beers kept appearing in front of both of us, our lady friends spent the night completely sober.
This is where I had planned to made some comments about what this shows about Vietnamese society and about general differences between men and women. However, I am not sure whether there is a social taboo against women drinking, or if it is simply the case that women do not feel the need to drink. I think that making my own assertions on this subject could get me in trouble, so I will just leave it at "cheers."
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