5.0’clock in the afternoon and I’m sitting in my Buddha shrine hall, the only place I can get online, as torrential rain drums down on the roof. It’s warm but an oscillating fan keeps me at a comfortable temperature. It’s lucky that I don’t have a class tonight as I wouldn’t fancy going out in this. (It’s raining cats and dogs, but you wouldn’t send a dog out in this weather!) What a strange language English is!
That's Co Mai with me outside my apartment, which is opposite their house.
Anyway, I’ve had such a busy day with one thing and another, that on returning to ‘the Ranch’ I switched on the TV, lay on my bed to relax and actually slept through most of an episode of ‘Northern Exposure’, my favourite programme of all time. I was woken by Thim, a young cousin of the family who lives here and helps out with the home as well as the factory. She’s always so busy, but comes in for a chat whenever she has time. I only brought one pair of trousers with me and Co Mai had given me a piece of black silk, saying that Thim would make a pair for me, so she wanted my trousers to use as a pattern. She’s around 20 and very beautiful in both her appearance and personality. That's her, dressed for shopping in mask, gloves and socks!
I’ve wanted to get a swim ever since I arrived but have been put off by cautions such as; “I don’t think the water will be safe for you,” from one lady whose young son swims regularly. Did she think I’d drink the water? Co Mai said that she often swims, but then again, classes at KTV or trips with Mark have prevented me from joining her. I kept asking about a suitable swimming pool and finally discovered that there is one locally, so yesterday, when Long, one of our older students was here, the suggestion was made to go swimming early this morning; just Long, Michael and myself. So at 7.30 this morning we were ready to go. Mike went on Long’s bike while Co Mai led the way with me on her bike. It wasn’t far to the pool, which we’d never have found among the maze of buildings along the main road.
It was a surprise; maybe Olympic size with spectator’s terraces, it must have been a great project when built. Today it looks as decrepit and run down as those 60’s high rise apartment buildings in the UK that they keep knocking down; the once fresh concrete now badly weathered and formerly gleaming tiles stained and looking in need of a good clean. Sophia, one of the young women teachers told me that she remembers it being very popular when it was built, having swimming contests and Galas, but now people don’t want to go because it’s dirty.The pool is open from 6.00 to 9.00 in the morning, then from 4.00 in the evening, apparently because the sun is too hot during the day even for swimming. It was great to be in the water, which was a perfect temperature if a little cloudy and we had the enormous pool almost to ourselves. The water felt strangely soapy; very soft and somehow thick and buoyant without being salty, with no smell of chlorine at all, so maybe they don’t use it. I managed not to drink any.
The spartan changing room had no seating or pegs to hang clothes; just shower cubicles with old broken showers and plastic pipes, festooned high up with dusty cobwebs and I was glad it was empty of people as I dried and dressed. Maybe it gets busy first thing before people go to work and hopefully at weekend, but Long said he never swims there or anywhere else. He said he used to swim in the river when he was young, (he’s now 26) but admitted, at our incredulous looks, (the local Dong Nai river is a very murky brown) that now rivers are too polluted. Whenever I mention swimming to students, I’m surprised that very few of them can swim.
After our swim, Co Mai took us for a breakfast of Pho Ba, then a ride into the countryside to visit her factory. Her husband, Mr Phong is the artist and designer; he’s such a nice man. They now manufacture aluminium garden pots, which they export to the UK because it became too expensive to make ceramic ones for export. They are all hand made by a workforce of 40 locals. It was fresh out there with a calm, relaxed atmosphere.
Saturday 18th October 2008
What can I tell you about this country? Well first of all it’s a communist government, but that doesn’t stop some people making money and flaunting it! So far I’ve only seen the cities; first of all where I landed at the airport of Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon as it’s still called by everyone, because it’s on the Sai Gon river. Then there’s the city of Bien Hoa over the Dong Nai River, where I’m living. The south of the country is punctuated by meandering rivers and the two cities merge over their bridges much like Salford merges with Manchester, only much bigger. I’ve previously described our trips into Saigon both by car, which can take an hour or more and by train, which takes a leisurely 45 minutes. This is an upwardly mobile culture, with a rapidly expanding economy and new buildings in new districts springing up everywhere. The only traces to be seen of their previously rural life are occasional old thatched roof structures hidden behind modern apartment blocks and grand houses. And their new houses are very grand. Even when footings are limited in size, elegant four and five stories make up for it, complete with balconies, marble tiled floors and ornate staircase.
As I write, Tina, the nine year old daughter of Co Mai and Mr Phong is here drawing mermaids and I’ve been telling her about my grand-daughter Georgie who is also nine and likes mermaids. Must be some universal connection! Ti, the 13 year old son is also here watching me write. They love to hang around; practising their English which is really quite good. Ti has interesting hobbies such as graffiti spraying with his crew of thirty. He tells me that he was out at 3.0’clock this morning busy creating his art around the neighbourhood. His other activity is ‘free running’, of which he saw samples on U-Tube. This energetic young man is now part of the ‘Mario’ crew, demonstrating their abilities on U-Tube at: http://clip.vn/watch/mario-part-1/Wujr,vn. He tells me there’s only been one broken leg so far and it wasn’t his.
I’m asking Ti about Bien Hoa and their culture. This area has many factories so there is employment for the huge population but this also means that the atmosphere is quite polluted. Most cyclists, especially women, wear masks around their faces but that’s really to keep the dust off. The most important factor in peoples’ lives is education, because without a degree of some sort they have little chance of getting on or earning enough to have a good life. KTV attracts mature students as well as young ones and some of them are business men and women wanting to improve their school English so as to expand their trade prospects. Ti is studying hard so as to get to University where he’d like to study Information Technology. He’s very bright and I have no doubt he’ll do well.
People here work hard and many study long hours to improve their lot, but many live in poverty and I see old people walking around trying to sell lottery tickets. There are people who collect rubbish such as the discarded packaging of our new fridges and I sometimes see groups on the sidewalks sorting cardboard from plastic for recycling. The cost of living is very low here along with most people’s wages. Genuine western English Teachers get a good wage as most Vietnamese teachers haven’t really mastered pronunciation and we are the best chance to help them improve. Sometimes it’s difficult to understand what students are trying to say and it’s usually not what they’re saying, but how they’re saying it!
The statistics on religion in Viet Nam are that 85 % are Buddhist with Catholics taking up the remaining 15%, but that doesn’t reveal how many of the population are even religious. My landlady is Buddhist, while her husband appears to be Catholic and there are certainly many Catholic churches as well as Buddhist temples in this city. From my questioning of students I’d say that it’s pretty much the same here as in any secular country; that many people are moving away from religion.
Viet Nam is a long thin country stretching north towards China and I’m looking forward to taking a trip up north quite soon, or when I’ve earned enough money! I’ve been told that there are many beautiful places to see, such as Da Lat in the mountains part way up north and Nha Trang, a famous beach resort on the east coast where the Miss Universe contest was held recently. I can’t wait!
I’m hoping to travel even further north to Hanoi, which actually has four seasons. It’s a long way, maybe 2000 Km. It would be easy to travel by plane but I’d prefer to go by rail. However, Ti tells me that it’s better to go by bus, which is very clean and has 39 beds on two levels as well as restroom and shower facilities. The bus stops for interesting views and photo opportunities and also provides delicious meals. I’ll have to find out more!
I’m told that the people of North Vietnam don’t think much of their southern compatriots. From what I understand, it was the northern communists who wanted control of the whole country while the south, which had become used to European culture from over a hundred years of French occupation, wanted none of it. I get the impression that, as in the strictly moral northern European attitudes of bygone ages, the more traditional northerners regard their southern cousins as lax and decadent.
My impression of people here is that they have a friendly and easygoing nature. Wherever I go, people smile and wave and youngsters call ‘hello’. They seem so thrilled when I greet them with... Hi, Hello or even Xin Chao and wave back. What they are really like I have no way of knowing, except that they are probably no different to people throughout the world! However, I’ve seen no overt signs of aggression and even though everyone sounds their horns in traffic there seems to be a good natured attitude towards congestion and delays. Actually, as most people ride bikes the traffic can always move.
They love to have a good time eating and drinking, but as most of them are so intent on work and study to get out of the poverty trap, they have little time for recreation. Even going out at night is usually limited; they’ll book a Karaoke room for just one hour and roads seem to get quiet by 11.00pm, although as everywhere, men go out to drink beer and sometimes get drunk. Whenever we’ve been invited out for a meal by students after school, it turns out they don’t often eat out, especially when they still live in their family home or are married, which is the normal situation. Mostly they have to be up at the crack of dawn as work and regular school starts early in the day. By midday they have a break of at least one and a half hours to have a meal and rest before returning to work or school. Most Vietnamese Teachers at KTV have a punishing schedule; work or school during the week and teaching most evenings and weekends only leaves Sunday afternoons free.
Very few people live alone and they can’t understand why I’m not living with Mark, even though he only has one room, but this will soon be remedied. More later!
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