Ups and Downs and Saigon
Life in Saigon definitely has its ups and downs, at least for me. There are some great things about living in Saigon and there are some pretty crappy things as well. The crappy things are overcrowding, heavy traffic, and nasty air quality, especially along the main streets. It also had seemed to me that people aren't nearly as friendly as in Vinh Long. Probably part of the reason for this is people here see many more foreigners than in Vinh Long. Vinh Long is a city over 100,000 people with only one or two foreigners living there. And most of the tourist only come for the day and don't spend even a single night there. So foreigners there were a novelty. Here in Saigon, they're used to seeing lots of foreigners, but almost all the foreigners the average resident sees are tourists who are only here for a few days. Many of the Vietnamese that foreigners who here a short time, including us so a far, meet are just trying to make a buck off you, which is understandable.
But now we're starting to meet some regular HCMC residents, who aren't trying to earn a living off the foreigners. Today was our fifth day at HCMC University, and the first Vietnamese student approached me to strike up a conversation. Once she approached, the floodgates were opened, and I was soon surrounded by 7 or 8 Vietnamese students. One of them said I was the first foreigner she had spoken with. I wasn't sure she really meant this, so I tried to clarify, and my understanding was that she really did mean that I was the first foreigner she had ever talked to, not just the first foreign student at the University. One student said she was afraid to talk to foreigners. I guess this shouldn't be too suprising to me -- I'm sure many Americans are afraid to speak to foreigners in the US as well.
The students were very friendly, and I enjoyed talking to them. A couple spoke pretty good English, certainly better than my Vietnamese. We made plans to get together to study English and Vietnamese together. It was a very nice experience, certainly better than some of my other contacts with the people of HCMC. A couple days ago, I went to a nearby park and began to study Vietnamese. A young man approached me and told me, in his very limited English, that he was studying English. I thought he wanted help studying, and maybe he did. But soon, three of his friends showed up, and one of them was trying to tell me something. He was rubbing his belly with a pained look on his face, and I thought was asking me if I'd been sick. Eventually, I figured out that he was trying to tell me that he was hungry and wanted money. I knew how to say, "I don't believe you," in Vietnamese, and I said so. I've gotten the impression that hunger is rare here, after speaking to Vietnamese people about begging and seeing food everywhere here. Still, I hope I wasn't wrong about this. After the friends left, the guy who approached me asked me if I wanted a "ma-sa" or something like that. It took me a while, but I eventually realized he was asking me if I wanted a massage. And when strange men in parks ask you if you want a massage, you tend to assume they're not talking about legitimate massage therapy. Again, maybe I'm assuming too much. Regardless, I left quickly. One nice thing about being in Vietnam is that you don't, at least I don't, feel threatened in situations like this.
I'm reluctant to write anything about the traffic in Vietnam, because every foreigner to ever visit Vietnam must have commented on this subject, but still some of you may not know what it's like. It's crazy. There are something like 8 million people living in Vietnam. There must be 8 million scooters. People don't drive cars, they drive scooters. In Vinh Long, the only cars or vans I saw appeared to be used by people using them to earn a living, for example by driving people to and from HCMC. Here in HCMC there appear to be a few cars used by the owners for transporations, but there are still very, very few. The nice thing about scooters for pedestrians is that the scooters are very manueverable -- if you step out into the street and walk a slow, steady pace, the scooter drivers will anticipate your movement and go right around you. But don't make any unexpected moves. The cars and trucks and buses are a different story, though. They don't have enough room to manuevere around you, so the same rules don't apply. But, fortunately, there aren't that many of these on the road. There are traffic lights at some intersections, but you certainly can't assume that they'll be obeyed.
As long as I'm writing about things every visitor to Vietnam must mention, I should talk about the weather. It's hot. Saigon is even hotter than Vinh Long. I think Saigon is one of the hottest places in Vietnam. And it's humid. It hasn't rained in four or five days, so I think the rainy season may be over. It will be intersting to see if the humidity is noticeably lower during the dry season. I hope so. Usually it's not unbearably hot and humid when you're sitting in the shade, but if you're not sitting and in the shade, it usually is unbearable. We have AC in our room. The buses have AC. Most of the restaurants we eat at don't. This internet cafe I'm at now doesn't. But with fans going, it's not too bad.
Our studies are going well. We just finished our first week at HCMC University. We've been working mostly on pronunication. We're learning some of the subtleties that had escaped us until now. And some of these things really aren't subtleties -- a difference in pronunciation or tone that seems very subtle to us makes all the difference in the world as to whether we are understood. Our teacher is excellent and a stickler for getting the tones right, which is exactly what we need. I'm really glad I started studying in the US. It seems that I've got a good head start on the average beginning student.
We're still plan to study here for another 4 or 5 weeks, then travel around Vietnam. I'm really looking forward to travelling. I just bought an atlas of Vietnam, and I'm amazed at how close we were to some pretty interesting places when we were in Vinh Long. I'm wishing I'd had it then. The maps in the Lonely Planet travel guide just aren't very good.
On Sunday, we're moving to a place recommended by someone at the University. I'm looking forward to getting into more of a routine after we move. It will be good to start frequenting the same places so we'll meet more people.
But now we're starting to meet some regular HCMC residents, who aren't trying to earn a living off the foreigners. Today was our fifth day at HCMC University, and the first Vietnamese student approached me to strike up a conversation. Once she approached, the floodgates were opened, and I was soon surrounded by 7 or 8 Vietnamese students. One of them said I was the first foreigner she had spoken with. I wasn't sure she really meant this, so I tried to clarify, and my understanding was that she really did mean that I was the first foreigner she had ever talked to, not just the first foreign student at the University. One student said she was afraid to talk to foreigners. I guess this shouldn't be too suprising to me -- I'm sure many Americans are afraid to speak to foreigners in the US as well.
The students were very friendly, and I enjoyed talking to them. A couple spoke pretty good English, certainly better than my Vietnamese. We made plans to get together to study English and Vietnamese together. It was a very nice experience, certainly better than some of my other contacts with the people of HCMC. A couple days ago, I went to a nearby park and began to study Vietnamese. A young man approached me and told me, in his very limited English, that he was studying English. I thought he wanted help studying, and maybe he did. But soon, three of his friends showed up, and one of them was trying to tell me something. He was rubbing his belly with a pained look on his face, and I thought was asking me if I'd been sick. Eventually, I figured out that he was trying to tell me that he was hungry and wanted money. I knew how to say, "I don't believe you," in Vietnamese, and I said so. I've gotten the impression that hunger is rare here, after speaking to Vietnamese people about begging and seeing food everywhere here. Still, I hope I wasn't wrong about this. After the friends left, the guy who approached me asked me if I wanted a "ma-sa" or something like that. It took me a while, but I eventually realized he was asking me if I wanted a massage. And when strange men in parks ask you if you want a massage, you tend to assume they're not talking about legitimate massage therapy. Again, maybe I'm assuming too much. Regardless, I left quickly. One nice thing about being in Vietnam is that you don't, at least I don't, feel threatened in situations like this.
I'm reluctant to write anything about the traffic in Vietnam, because every foreigner to ever visit Vietnam must have commented on this subject, but still some of you may not know what it's like. It's crazy. There are something like 8 million people living in Vietnam. There must be 8 million scooters. People don't drive cars, they drive scooters. In Vinh Long, the only cars or vans I saw appeared to be used by people using them to earn a living, for example by driving people to and from HCMC. Here in HCMC there appear to be a few cars used by the owners for transporations, but there are still very, very few. The nice thing about scooters for pedestrians is that the scooters are very manueverable -- if you step out into the street and walk a slow, steady pace, the scooter drivers will anticipate your movement and go right around you. But don't make any unexpected moves. The cars and trucks and buses are a different story, though. They don't have enough room to manuevere around you, so the same rules don't apply. But, fortunately, there aren't that many of these on the road. There are traffic lights at some intersections, but you certainly can't assume that they'll be obeyed.
As long as I'm writing about things every visitor to Vietnam must mention, I should talk about the weather. It's hot. Saigon is even hotter than Vinh Long. I think Saigon is one of the hottest places in Vietnam. And it's humid. It hasn't rained in four or five days, so I think the rainy season may be over. It will be intersting to see if the humidity is noticeably lower during the dry season. I hope so. Usually it's not unbearably hot and humid when you're sitting in the shade, but if you're not sitting and in the shade, it usually is unbearable. We have AC in our room. The buses have AC. Most of the restaurants we eat at don't. This internet cafe I'm at now doesn't. But with fans going, it's not too bad.
Our studies are going well. We just finished our first week at HCMC University. We've been working mostly on pronunication. We're learning some of the subtleties that had escaped us until now. And some of these things really aren't subtleties -- a difference in pronunciation or tone that seems very subtle to us makes all the difference in the world as to whether we are understood. Our teacher is excellent and a stickler for getting the tones right, which is exactly what we need. I'm really glad I started studying in the US. It seems that I've got a good head start on the average beginning student.
We're still plan to study here for another 4 or 5 weeks, then travel around Vietnam. I'm really looking forward to travelling. I just bought an atlas of Vietnam, and I'm amazed at how close we were to some pretty interesting places when we were in Vinh Long. I'm wishing I'd had it then. The maps in the Lonely Planet travel guide just aren't very good.
On Sunday, we're moving to a place recommended by someone at the University. I'm looking forward to getting into more of a routine after we move. It will be good to start frequenting the same places so we'll meet more people.
posted by Tom Holz | 11:53 PM
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