well. i knew before heading there for a month, that it would not be enough. i had planned this "homecoming" for about 4 years, since 2nd year university. initially, it was my destination for teaching abroad, but that obviously wasn't. i don't know if i will go there for teaching english, but i will definitely return to visit. hence, this july. re: i just came back spending all of february there.
i took a tour from saigon up to mid-vietnam/hue'. and. it was life learning. if you want to see ancient buildings that have not become "renewed" by paint, but are essentially dilapidated, mid-vietnam is the place to go. everything is just as is. very little is invested in the upkeep. i do have to say, it's pretty impressive for vietnam. where china has sites that are well sponsored by the government, vietnam has mausoleums that are quite unique. they probably exist in china, but i haven't seen them. not near beijing, nor xi'an.
there was the 2nd last emperor's mausoleum where the "house" above the body was completely made of porcelain. pieces put together, to make a beautiful colourful montage to every corner of the room. also, for an emperor that reigned closer to the beginning of the nguyen dynasty, i recognized the similarity of the tomb being on a mountain, but on this mountain, there was place for people to chill, and study. there were lakes and houses where folk would pose poetry and literature. of course, this was for the people of high status. but, to have this sort of thing just steps away from the buried dead, i thought was interesting. an answer was that death, was natural. it was common, buried, but exists around us. i really like that. i guess that has some spiritual relevancy.
when we spent our 3rd night of the tour at quy nhon, a small city somewhere between saigon and hue, i didn't expect to have such an impression. after inquiring about the internet at the hotel i was staying at, the attendent's answer of "$2 U.S. an hour", i snubbed and went out to take a look at the folk opera playing outside. (at the other hotels, it was 5,000 dong per hour/30 cents an hour.) i went out snapping pictures here and there, making lots of flashes, people were staring. i wanted the moment, and i did make a video. i will put it up sometime. it was in traditional viet, which was even harder for me to get the gist of.
there was a group of kids. they were so beautiful. they asked me a lot of questions. at that point, i really didn't want to say that i was foreign. i just said that i was from saigon, but teaching in china. this is what i can do, communicated to children in vietnam, since my viet vocab is just up to there. i don't like to take pictures of children if i don't have permission, but they begged me. they were really cute. they were so innocent. the eldest offer to visit my hotel room, which i explained was a big no-no. to visit a stranger in their hotel room is no good. another boy repeated after me that it wasn't so good. brings to show, if you tell kids, they'll learn and function with that. they asked me if i would return with the pictures. that boy says i could be in the lobby (sometime?) and they can come by to see them. how even more beautiful. unfortunately, i lost those photos, due to my stupidity with my camera the night after. the boy did asked me if i will visit again, the eldest knew i may not. i said i would, sometime in the future. for them.
well. more later on vietnam.
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