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.
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