They Finally Got the Memo…

… it seems, that I’m supposed to do some kind of teaching while at my base school it seems.  What I expected to be a laid-back, typical ten classes in four days kind of week at my base school has turned into having all of my class periods booked followed by staying until six to coach speech contest kids.  No nice segway in from summer vacation for this guy.  The peace and calm of the 90 minute workday for summer vacation has been bludgeoned to death my having to be friendly foreign man for 10 hours straight.

It’s begun…

I’ve been back for a week, and already people are asking ‘Are you running?’ in place of ‘Hello.’ in reference to the Futatsui marathon.  Bear in mind the marathon is 2 months away.  Also worth noting that the pumpkins are looking ripe… also two months early.  How long can you keep hose things on the vine anyway?

Vacation Part 3: Complete^3, sorosoro

After the longest train ride in human history (15 hours, half of it spent in total darkness, with no idea where I was), I made it to Nha Trang– and I’m very glad I did!  Beautiful waters, less haggling over prices, just a wonderful place to chill and actually unwind for a day.

The train ride, although uncomfortable, was a learning experience (at least as to why governments should run railroads) that was made a lot better because of the fact that I got to sit next to a cute 22-year old girl from Saigon, who went very much out of her way to make me feel better, including going off the train and buying ice cream and sugar cane for both of us at one of the main stops.

There is an incredible contrast among Vietnamese people, I’ve found.  Anyone in the tourist industry always comes off a really aggressive, and seems to be doing anything to get money off of you.  Given that lots of Vietnamese live off of very little money, this is understandable.  It’s also understandable why tourists can get a bad image of Vietnamese if they stay only in tourist areas– at almost every street corner there’s a gaggle of taxi and motorbike drivers trying to get you to take a ride.  But, riding on the train, and being at the station, (and meeting Lan’s family, of course) I saw a very different type of Vietnamese who are generous, and sweet, and caring.  That’s the ultimate lesson in travel, I think– to find the same kernel of humanity in people who lead lives very different from your own.

Anyway, yesterday was spent wading the emerald green waters at the beach and getting nice sunburns on my shoulders.  I hung out with a Japanese guy I met while getting my beach bed, which made the day a bit nicer and actually had ravioli for the first time in over a year.  From here on out I am on my way back to Japan

Vacation Part Two: Complete and Complete

I’m pretty sure the guy who flew our plane from Hanoi to Hue was a MiG pilot.  Desipte a good take off and a smooth flight, the guy decided that dive bombing a passenger jet towards the runway (to give him credit, we were in the middle of a storm) and slamming the landing gear down at full force was the best way to land.

Welcome to Hue.

That said, the bad landing has been the worst part of the trip so far.  Hanoi was the reunion part of my trip, Hue the cultural part, and the soon-to-come Nha Trang will be the actual sit-on-the-beach-and-re-freaking-lax part.  In that vein, Hue has lived up to expectations.  There are temples, pagodas, and royal tombs as far as the eye can see (not to mention phallic statues and small salamanders).  After two days of sightseeing and braving the rain, I’m all cultured out.  The cool part of Hue is being able to get your own motorbike driver to take you around.  It’s a good feeling to see these tour buses cart a ton of people from place to place, rushing them around as fast as they can, and know that you can go at your own pace, leave and stay when you want to, and you have a guy who will get you to the next stop in a faster (albeit a tad more suicidal) fashion, than a tourist bus.  (Thanks to Iotaguy for that tidbit of information).  Tomorrow I’ll board what will doubtlessly be a long train ride to Nha Trang, where I will have a hotel on the beach and dedicate myself to being wholly lazy and regaining some of the weight that the inevitable Traveler’s D. took from me.

Vacation Part One: Complete

In the few moments I have– I’m finished with my travels in Hanoi and am about to head to Hue (middle Vietnam) in a few hours.  The last few days have gone by really fast, if not incredibly hot, and I’ve learned a lot in my couple of days here:

1. Even in a town with relatively organized streets, it is possible to get really, REALLY lost.

2. Pig’s feet and dog are up for sale in open air markets (one market even included the dog’s head, snarling teeth and all.)

3. A libertarian means of traffic laws can work, provided everyone owns a motorbike and drives at 30 km/hr.  Lanes, though painted on the road, really don’t mean anything.

4. The most important part of the car to any Vietnamese person is the horn, even if it plays a blaring version of “La Cucaracha.”