Hanoi

Before I get to Hanoi I want to mention a couple of other things going on. We had the big college fair last week which my office was in charge of. We had reps from 37 colleges and we had to find and train bi-lingual students to act as interpreters for each rep as well as arranging many details-name tags, food, setup, etc. We had workshops on topics like getting visas and American college life with a panel of returnees. I did a workshop on writing the college essay (or statement of purpose for scholarships). The deadline for many scholarships is April 15 so the rush is on. I actually did that workshop 4 times during March at several venues. They really have no idea what they should do, so the workshops attract lots of people.

We had some concern about attendance at the college fair as there was a demonstration nearby against the reduction in the fuel subsidy (and the resulting rise is gasoline prices). Some people no doubt stayed away but we still had almost 1000 visitors. [The government backed down on the fuel thing. It was a big mess and will cause money to be diverted from elsewhere in the budget to cover the shortfall. It caused splintering in the governing coalition and exposed how weak the president is, as well as emboldening the protestors for the next time. I am looking at the headline on today's paper. It says" Govt fuel 'flub' fouls future plans"]

On Sat. I was a judge for an English speaking competition for junior high students? I was asked by the consulate and I try to say yes to as many things as possible, but as the day approached I began to dread it. Junior high students speaking English! But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I am usually treated like royalty at these events (just like Dutchess Kate!) and this was no exception. There had been a winnowing process by the other judges before i arrived and I was brought on just to judge (with the other judges) the five finalists. I was introduced and asked to say a few words. Then each finalist chose a topic by drawing from a hat, then had 10 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to speak. They were very, very good, both in their delivery, their English, and their defense of their argument. I was asked to say a few more words while the results were tabulated and I said I could not imagine US students that age doing so well in a foreign language. I was then called upon to give out the awards and posed for many pictures with the winners and the organizing committee. I can imagine some of the winners going on to a career in politics.

Now, Hanoi. We loved Hanoi. All of the Fulbright scholars and researchers were there from SE Asia and it was great to share experiences. Many of the Indonesian Fulbrighters we met last summer in DC. Most of the experiences were, like ours, a mixed bag. A few people had very good things to say. We were wined and dined in five star luxury for a few days. Tom had a schedule to adhere to, but another wife and I spent one day shopping and one day we went on a bike ride with a guide through the "suburbs" and villages into an area where squatters were growing vegetables on land that was officially off limits because of potential flooding. For those who remember the Vietnam War, we rode on some of the Red River dikes and across the Long Bien bridge which the US tried to bomb back then. The bridge was built in 1903 by the same French firm that built the Eiffel tower. The US damaged it but was not able to bring it down. It was part of our plan to stop supplies from the port of Haiphong getting to Hanoi. We also saw a strange quasi-religious ceremony. I say religious because it was held in a temple with incense and flowers, but our guide said it was more like a superstition- a ceremony commissioned for good health or good luck. It is called Len dong and when I looked it up on the Internet I see that it is traditional, was banned by the communists, but now is tolerated. There was a main character with helpers who went through many changes of colorful robes and rituals, each of which represents as aspect of mother Earth. She would occasionally smoke a cigarette which seemed very incongruous to me until I read that she was in a kind of trance, which made me wonder what else was in that cigarette.

We were surprised how much of a "French" feel remains in Hanoi. After all, the French have been gone for 60 years. But the infrastructure with wide streets and sidewalks and trees and parks with benches for reading was very evocative. They have maintained a type of colonial architecture for personal residences with a very small footprint and several stories above, each with French doors leading out onto a balcony. We had a meal in an old colonial house built in 1928 now converted to a restaurant. Very charming. All kinds of food were available. A group of us living in Indonesia dined on pork ribs one night, something completely unattainable here. Delicious. The weather was overcast and 60to 65 which I find perfect for doing a lot of walking which we did.

Speaking of the Vietnam War, there is a lake in the center of town, within a short walk of our hotel, surrounded by a park and flowers. This is the lake from which John McCain was fished out by locals when his plane was shot down and he ejected. A remnant of the prison where he and the other pilots were held has been turned into a museum. It was built by the French in 1900 and much of the museum details the terrible treatment of Vietnamese prisoners, many if them women and political prisoners, at the hands of the French. Indeed, a subtext is "see how badly the French treated us and how well we treated the Americans". The French section had a guillotine last used in 1930. I had no idea they used them that recently. It makes me want to read more about the French in Indochina. There doesn't seem to be any resentment toward Americans. A guess is that 75% of Vietnamese were born since 1980. In fact US dollars are widely used by vendors and taxis. They even make change in dollars. Also it seems tthat Vietnam was at war with so many countries during the last century, that we are just one more blip. BTW, they call it the American War.

We had hoped to go to the coast and take a cruise around Halong Bay which is quite beautiful. We drove 3 hours to get there, got on the junk-style boat, which was beautiful, and sat down to lunch. Then we were informed that due to heavy fog, which it certainly was, that no boats were permitted to sail. They were very good about making arrangements for us to return to Hanoi (locate our driver and rebook our lodgings inHanoi). So then we drove 3 hours back to where we began. Fortunately we were with Jan and Ronnie (Fulbrighters) so we had lots to talk about. Since we had an extra day, Tom and I did some more shopping. Things were very inexpensive. There were good buys on many textiles and handicrafts. Hard bargaining was the order of the day. Tom got a haircut on the street.

Then an uneventful flight back to Surabaya. We will see the Indonesian Fulbrighters one more time, in Lombok, for our pre-departure briefing in Mid May. Some will be going home shortly after that. We are here until July 1 since we came later.

 

Apologies for the location of these pictures in the blog. I can drag and drop them where I want, but the blog has a mind of its own.