A Visit to Cổ Am Village

This story has been the hardest one to write so far.  I can’t put into words how enjoyable this visit was.  The entire day was a very moving experience. The people here in Vietnam treat us so nicely.  I hope that a take away from our time here will be to somehow return the hospitality we have been given. 

We joined our relator Mr. Xi (pronounced C) on a trip to his home in the countryside.  It was about an hour and a half to get to Cổ Am Village from Hai Phong. We went to this village to celebrate the new moon. In August they celebrate the Harvest Moon which is also a children’s celebration.  Mr. Xi’s company donated money to his countryside village to buy books and gifts for the children.  Mr. Xi was obviously well known and loved in his country village.  His parents have a family home there, his Auntie lived next door. He must have had many Aunts and Uncles because almost everyone we met was introduced to us as Aunt and/or Uncle. His aunt was pretty funny - she keep pointing to her arms and legs and my arms and legs to show how tiny she was compared to me. Ha Ha.  

Upon arriving in Cổ Am village we met up with some friends of Mr. Xi, a policeman and an army officer and their families.  They were all dressed up to visit the pagoda and give thanks. I immediately regretted my decision to dress for comfort.  We were ushered into the pagoda area which included several museums, and places of worship.  Please forgive my lack of knowledge here – I am trying to learn.  It was obviously a place of great respect for the people we were with.  Much money had been put into the park in this remote village which included several building and statues. We were introduced to the Area Director who oversaw the park which was about 31000 meters. The Director offered our group a tour of the entire park including all the buildings. After the tour we meet up with the Director as well as the head of security and another gentleman (not sure what he did but he sang very well). 

It was such a nice day, topped off with a wonderful lunch and several toasts.  John tried to keep up with the rice wine toasts.  I was trying to just sip the wine and not swig it.  Eventually they noticed that I wasn't fully participating and started offering toasts directly to me. Somehow even with the language challenge I realized they were insisting that I finish the entire glass (about 1 oz) for each toast.  At first I wished I had faded away to the women’s table but after finishing off the first glass I started to really enjoy the wine. The gentleman that could sing, sang a couple of Vietnamese anthems which were beautiful even though I didn't understand the words.  We enjoyed them so much that they suggested we sing.  Oh dear – my family knows that being able to sing on key is one of my biggest challenges.  John and I quickly went through our song list.  Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog – probable wasn't a good choice. We didn't know all the words to the God Bless America, and couldn’t hit all the notes for the Star Spangled Banner – so we settled on Hey Jude.  They were very nice with their polite applause.

During the toasts they thanked us for being the first foreigners to visit the pagoda.  It is hard to imagine this could be true – perhaps the first since this director was in place. But it felt good to be able to represent the US, and particularly the northwest. The people were lovely and we really enjoyed learning about Ngueyn Binh Khiem who was the founder of the park and pagoda.  He is the Vietnamese equivalent of Nostradamus and you can read more about him at this link. I found it  fascinating to learn about him and how he stood up to the government, and because of it became well respected throughout the country. I also really enjoyed that the singer just wanted to hold my hand and stayed close to me during all the photos.  Unfortunately the ones on my phone camera didn’t turn out so you just have to believe what I say.

Here is a link to the photo's Be sure to hit full screen when watching them.

We enjoyed our day and getting to know Mr. Xi’s friends and family. Mr. Xi is a young man – in his mid to late 30’s and he runs a very successful real estate business. He exemplifies what it means to give back.  He shares his success with his village and family. He is modest and so friendly.  It was wonderful watching him take the time to stop and visit with everyone who wanted say hello. He made sure to buy from the ladies selling bread and incense, and talk to everyone who wanted a minute of his time.  He is refurbishing a villa in the village and will retire their eventually. I can see him getting into local politics which would probably be a great thing for the little village. 

Our lives re-imagined, re-engineered, redesigned...just some random thoughts from the other half (John); including an update on my flight to Hanoi. 

What an exciting adventure but all of the work not to mention the time apart is very difficult! Especially the goodbyes and the distance. The empty feeling of being away from the one you so dearly love and rely on (and yes, sometimes take for granted); is right now unbearable. After a life time of so many goodbyes, so many "leaving on a jet plane’s, you would think it would be a bit easier; but it’s not, if anything much more difficult. Much much more difficult.

Dawn and I keep telling each other that we just have to keep looking forward, two months will fly by and we will be in this adventure here together. What an amazing opportunity, once in a lifetime to explore and to absorb another culture.

The flight here... one word to describe...long. Actually more like excruciatingly long. Seattle to San Francisco am nice short 2 hour flight, 3 hours lay over, and then off to Tokyo 12 hour flight, then a 3 layover before the 5 hour finishing leg to Hanoi. So roughly a whole day plus in the air or airports...exhausting. Doesn't help that I don't sleep well on planes but to United's credit, the flights to SF and Tokyo were smooth, in fact on the entire SF to Tokyo flight except for taking off and landing the seat belt sign was kept off (that never happens); the flight attendants seemed relatively friendly (or doing a good job of faking it) and the food... surprisingly edible. The Japan Airlines flight was a good one too and the service level genuinely exceptional but....  the food, not even close to edible... too bad but Dawn had packed a care 'snack' package for both my colleague and I (complete with sandwich, snack food and a liquor); and so I didn't starve and (probably) thanks to the vodka I was able to sleep a couple of hours.

Second day of three in Hanoi before heading to Haiphong for a week of meetings. Much as I remembered it from my trip in November of 07 except much hotter…in the 90s with a matching humidity. The word stifling comes to mind… hard to get used to but hopefully running around in this heat combined with eating “greener” will make for a healthier me. The people as I remember them, very nice and hospitable, had a couple of great interviews for my project assistant position yesterday. Two of the 3 candidates were very impressive, good start!

The city a very crowded, dense sea of old and new, beautiful and worn (but not dirty), little markets everywhere and throngs of people selling their wares (from food to clothes) walking down every street. Every type of shop selling everything you can imagine from touristy items to expensive clothes and everything in between. And the cooking and eating outside on the sidewalks with families and friends gathered around (in the heat); eating and chatting away. The food looks very good but I’m going to take a while to figure out what I like. No snake for me (not yet anyway).

A subject that stands on its own merits or de-merits is the traffic. The phenomenon of watching thousands upon thousands of scooter and bikes and cars (mostly small scooters) converge on intersections and merging in a scary chaotic but somehow (for the most part) safely synchronized dance, is quite remarkable but not for the weak of heart. Sometime 3 or 4 at a time on a scooter, little kids and animals included; most wearing helmets but some not all. And plenty of close calls but I haven’t seen an accident (yet).

Great walk today, except for the sweltering heat; wandered mostly and managed to keep from getting ran over. But I also met a group of Vietnamese college students that were working on their English and a survey of tourists. They ended up interviewing me about all kinds of things from everything about the U.S. to food, family and politics. It was a very interesting discussion with some very bright young people.

I will try to take as many photos as possible, it’s the only way to do this story justice.

Starting our new life adventure

The closer we get to retirement the more we wanted to do something that would/could make a difference. And then - the opportunity came our way.  In the next 5 days John will be leaving to Hai Phong, Viet Nam working for an NGO - Peace Winds America, Dawn will follow in a couple of months. This blog is to capture the highlights, and maybe medium-lights of our journey. Hopefully it will help us remember what we did during our time as Expats.  We are leaving behind our family, parents, children, grandchildren and Bubba (our aging Bulldog) as we move 6,812 miles across the Pacific and much closer to the equator.

Here we are taking some R&R at Cedarbrook Lodge in SeaTac.  Who would of thought that there was a hidden gem in the middle of town.  A great place for some quiet time.  Pluses - nice rooms, wonderful bathrobes, sustainable resort and a great  restaurant (pricey - but worth it). We brought our own bottle of wine and love that they don't charge a corkage fee for Washington wines.  We were gifted a bottle from Napa that we had saved for a special occasion so we couldn't take advantage of that perk. Minuses - no Sunday morning paper.