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Mr Hien and Ms Hien
said with different tone we think!...is the motto for our last couple of months here. And indeed we are trying our best to do things and see people as much as we can. Homesickness and sadness about leaving come and go and do affect us despite the obscene amount of jolly jaunts that we go on. Please know that we do realise how lucky we have been!
So lets start by telling the slightly amusing tale of a Vietnamese wedding that we attended. Two important shoe factory people invited us to join them at their well-to-do evening do and with great intrigue and excitement, we went along. If you looked in from above you would think that it looked very similar to a lot of English weddings, the round tables, flowers, candles, fancy chairs, smart people... However, at close range oh ho yes, it was different indeed and we found much to our amusement! So the after sitting down in the jam packed room (one of two floors) full of about 35 tables of 10 (no space for a dance floor), the entertainment began, the lights went off and we all turned to look at the stage with a huge blown up banner picture of
Mot, Hai, Ba, Yo!
just don't google my spelling alright?! the happy couple holding a bunch of balloons approx 7m x 15m, a screen came down from the ceiling and we all watched a video that the couple had filmed at a beach resort a month or so before the wedding. Think musical romantic 'Neighbours' style interlude -it was very well shot though! Then the bride, groom and parents went to stand on the stage at the front to deliver the speeches, which many people talked loudly through. When they had finished there was a loud bang and ticker tape rained down on them all. After which, the bride and groom went to pour what we thought was a bottle of champers onto a display tower of champagne glasses. Seconds later we were to find out that it wasn't infact champers but liquid nitrogen! Of course.. the dry ice that poured over the glasses was for photographic purposes only! We then all tucked into yummy vietnamese grub while the bridal party made their way around all the tables with not even a designated chair for them to sit and eat themselves! So as they worked, we drank the free flow Heiniken from very large wine glasses. Well, I say drank
Mot Tram = 100%
i.e. down in one but for Chris you would describe it as downed. You see he became involved in many a game of 100% with the factory men (women don't play here!)... yes you guessed it, it was downing in one upon demand of seemingly any random person who wishes to say cheers with you! I think I had counted about 15 "mot, hii, baa, yo's" after 20 minutes - which translates as "1,2,3 - CHEERS" then sip your drink. It's best said at loud volume, sometimes repeated immediatley and at 2 minute intervals throughout the meal. Needless to say that a great time was had by all at our table and probably most others too judging by the amount of mot, hii, baa, yo's that we could hear. However, come 9:30pm when we were just about to tuck into the second to last course of food (hot pot), about 400 of the 450 guests were leaving the room! We looked around to notice that they had not eaten their hot pot, never mind waiting for the dessert!! I asked Hoang at our table why, and she said that they probably weren't hungry anymore!! You couldn't tell what the bride and groom thought though
as they dutifully smiled, hugged and wished us, the only two white faces in the room, a warm goodbye. But then given that the bride and groom had not sat down to eat they might have been quite glad to have a rest after their long day.However, if you lot had all buggered off at 9:30 at our wedding, we'd have been well gutted!
Well a few weeks ago now HCMC was graced with a visit of a quality music act. No, I'm not talking about the Backstreet Boys, but Bob the Dylan himself. To both of us who had never seen him play before, we were suitably impressed although we did find it difficult to make out the words to his songs. He played my (Lucy's) favourite 'Like a Rolling Stone' and that was about it for big numbers, the gov't had not allowed some of the more 'dangerous' stuff onto the set list. It was very atmospheric though and well worth the trip to the outdoor stadium in District 7. Anyways, I (Lucy) reckoned he had a good half an hour to 45mins left to play, so I popped off to buy some chips. After about 10
mins whilst standing in the chip queue, the music stopped we chip-buyers all presumed that there was a little interval (he is 70 after all). But no, I walked back towards the stage and everyone had buggered off. That was it - game over, nothing left but carpet of crushed plastic glasses! Noticing a bit of a running theme here?
Back again a few days later. It's May Day here and despite being peeved that we missed the extra bank holiday for the Royal Wedding, it turn out conveniently that the Vietnamese ousted the US Army this very weekend 36 years ago, so we did get an two days off after all. How well planned of them. So I (Lucy) went off to visit the family home of my Teaching Assistant Ms Thu today. Her parents are mango farmers and she invited me to a bit of an extended family meal. Her uncle drove us out there in his nice air-con Honda which was better than biking 3 hours and it only took 1 and a half. Thu told me that he worked in construction and also was a major in the gov't, which came in very handy on
The Family Meal
Best hot pot, fried spring rolls and beef stew ever! the way back when we were pulled by the cops for driving in the bike lane. He flashed his ID and we were away in seconds! Anyway, minutes after we arrived at the house, I went off picking mangoes with said gov't official who now looked quite the farmer and I barely recognised him in his string vest and flipflops! When we got back it was lunch time already (11:30) and the women had been diligently preparing everything while the men sipped tea in the living room, which is very normal here. The men definitely don't cook! (hold the comments please Chris). Their house was very nice but lacking in furniture, which is also the norm. You will see in the photos that the dining 'table' was mats and newspaper and we all sat on the floor tucking into the best spring rolls adn hot pot that I have had here. There were 4 English speakers so I was not left out and managed to converse in smiles and rubbing of my belly to the others. Thu's sister asked me if I like singing, to which I tld her I loved Kareoke out hereand then she prompty asked me to
sing for her! After lunch and about an hour of listening to vietnamese conversations with bits translated I started feel very hot and sleepy so I was offered to have a nap. A lovely cultural habit which I took up with pleasure along with a random aunty who after 20 mins decided to nudge me over and join me on the bed for 40 winks! (no matress though), When I woke up I thought that we would do more mango picking like I had been told, but of course there was a hive of activitiy and within 10 mins of waking up, before I knew it, the car was packed and we were going home. But that part isn't a surprise now is it! Anyway it was a brilliant day out and lovely to be part of a family for the day. Coincidently, my TA also has 3 sisters too and similar ages to my horrid lot! Just kidding you know I love you all really ;-p
So as the title suggests we have been really busy recently so there are a few photos to tell a snippet of what we have been up to! Sorry for the
Chris and the Gregster
pootle round China town abrupt ending but it is ever so late and the last set of visitors, mark 7, are arriving tomorrow so more tales to be reported soon.
Take care of yourselves, and each other.
All our love
Whiff and Bruce
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Neil
non-member comment
Wow
thank you, what a fascinating wedding - I thought you were going to let on that all the guests were hired 'extras' (like I believe happens in Japan). Hope the bride & groom are happy ever after! Very impressed that you managed to see Bob Dylan. Chris I'm sure you'll be upset that SCFC lost their FA Cup final yesterday. Maybe with MA back at the Vale they'll be in with a chance themselves next year?! (The Autoglass trophy, that is). see you soon, Neil x