It is that time AGAIN! Every three months I leave Thailand to renew my visa to stay here as an intern. This gives fellow intern Sarah Longmire and myself an opportunity to see a new country and visit with friends we know in different fields like Vietnam. My friend Amanda is an English teacher at a school in Hanoi and was kind enough to be our host while we took care of business. She is a fabulous tour guide and arranged lots of things for us to do while we visited.
The first order of business was the Thai embassy, so we got that out of the way right away. Unfortunately we had to have American dollars to pay for the visa, so we called Uncle Ted up and he came right over! It was so great to see him. No matter who you are, when you meet Ted, you will get a huge bear hug at least and probably a kiss on the cheek (his wife is from Belgium and he speaks fluent French, so I think that explains it). But we didn't come to spend our whole time at the embassy, so almost as soon as we got there, we were on our way again. I got to hop on the back of Ted's motorbike and experience firsthand how insane traffic is in Hanoi. The traffic in Chicago is like a drive in the country compared to Thailand, and Thailand is a drive in the country compared to Vietnam! If you wait for all the traffic to clear before you cross the street, you will wait all day and all night and never make it to the other side of the road. It was pretty much great and makes me want to have a motorcycle! But that wasn't all the fun. Ted took me (with the taxi following) to J.P. and Aimee's house where we were deposited for awhile. Aimee is so nice and hospitable. We got to meet their new baby Isabella and Celeste a very independent but fun almost-3-year old. We had a GREAT Pho and beef lunch! Pho is a type of Vietnamese noodle and is often in soup or in our case for lunch just plain noodles.
The highlight of the afternoon/day was a trip out into the country where we attended the wedding of Hai and Mai, two people that work with LCMS in Vietnam. It was at the groom's family's house, so when we got there we were welcomed like one of the family. It was totally bizarre but equally amazing. I had so much fun there. They had already been celebrating for two days already and they had gas tanks filled with rice wine (apparently a necessity for these sorts of events). I can't believe how many toasts they had, but I sure am glad the glasses were only shot glasses! Ted was definitely a favorite being their boss and all, so he had to sit at the important men's table! Hoo-boy! Every single one of the men had to go to each table and offer a toast to the couple. 
After the toast he would shake hands with everyone and move on to the next round. In a way, I felt like I was at home; it was loud, people were laughing, eating, drinking, joking, and celebrating. Our menu included, beef, chicken, and half incubated duck eggs-yum!! I ended up in several family pictures 
(as did everyone else), and we left happy and in need of a nap, but that didn't happen! That evening we went to English club with Amanda and hung out with the most ridiculous college students I have ever met. 
Mostly it was the boys showing off, which Amanda says happens all the time. They were hilarious and even were nice enough to give us a ride back to Amanda's apartment. We stayed up watching Dane Cook before we called it a night. There was much to do the next few days.
After the toast he would shake hands with everyone and move on to the next round. In a way, I felt like I was at home; it was loud, people were laughing, eating, drinking, joking, and celebrating. Our menu included, beef, chicken, and half incubated duck eggs-yum!! I ended up in several family pictures (as did everyone else), and we left happy and in need of a nap, but that didn't happen! That evening we went to English club with Amanda and hung out with the most ridiculous college students I have ever met. Mostly it was the boys showing off, which Amanda says happens all the time. They were hilarious and even were nice enough to give us a ride back to Amanda's apartment. We stayed up watching Dane Cook before we called it a night. There was much to do the next few days.The morning started out with a breakfast of Pho Ca and then we met Ted for coffee and a drive by tour of Hanoi. We saw Ho Chi Minh's tomb and ended our tour at the Temple of Literature. Next up, Amanda took us to lunch and then to her school where we got to see her office 
and sit in on some classes. That was pretty fun. For snack in between classes we got eggs on french bread! Pretty darn amazing. That evening we went out to dinner with Lee, one of Amanda's students at a nice restaurant and the food as usual was delicious!
and sit in on some classes. That was pretty fun. For snack in between classes we got eggs on french bread! Pretty darn amazing. That evening we went out to dinner with Lee, one of Amanda's students at a nice restaurant and the food as usual was delicious! Saturday's plan was to have fun with 40 students from Amanda's school! We went out to Bat Trang, which is a pottery village. This is the group I was assigned to since we couldn't fit all 40 of us on a bus. 
I had a great time chatting with the girls! They were awesome. When we got to Bat Trang the first group had already taken a hand at trying to create pottery on a wheel. There I was introduced to Joel, who is also a teacher in Vietnam. When everyone was done molding, we went shopping and I got some really neat gifts. I think if I would have spent more time there I would have been in trouble with my luggage! Lunch included lots of singing performances, including Amanda and I rapping out the Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire. We were pretty incredible. So much so that we did the same thing for Ted and his family on Sunday at lunch! LOL. That was the best, by far.
I had a great time chatting with the girls! They were awesome. When we got to Bat Trang the first group had already taken a hand at trying to create pottery on a wheel. There I was introduced to Joel, who is also a teacher in Vietnam. When everyone was done molding, we went shopping and I got some really neat gifts. I think if I would have spent more time there I would have been in trouble with my luggage! Lunch included lots of singing performances, including Amanda and I rapping out the Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire. We were pretty incredible. So much so that we did the same thing for Ted and his family on Sunday at lunch! LOL. That was the best, by far.Back in Hanoi we got ripped off by the guys that bicycle you around in Hanoi, 
but oh well, we got our pictures and then walked to the market we were looking for. I think we were all pretty tired, so we went to J.P. and Aimee's house early where we met their Swedish neighbors and ate pizza!
but oh well, we got our pictures and then walked to the market we were looking for. I think we were all pretty tired, so we went to J.P. and Aimee's house early where we met their Swedish neighbors and ate pizza!Pretty soon, we were on to our last day in Hanoi. It started out with church at the International church everyone goes to and then lunch with Ted and the fam. There was totally a goat in the kitchen and way to much food for us to eat. It was great to spend time with them and get to know our supervisor a little more. 
We said goodbye and went out in search of a taxi to take us to the hotel Hilton. 
We toured around there, heard a "story" of how things "really" went down and moved on to other things like walking through the park and finding cinnamon for Sarah's parents in the back-back of this huge indoor market. 
I felt like we were back in Cambodia at the Russian market. It was insane, but this time I got pictures. We found the cinnamon and were off to the water puppet theatre. That is something that is too hard to explain so you can you tube it and see what we did. We ended our last night in Vietnam at dinner with Joel, J.P., Aimee, the girls and Amanda. It was really nice to spend time with them, and Joel promised to connect with us when he comes to visit after Christmas. And that's my trip to Vietnam. For more pictures, please click here!
We said goodbye and went out in search of a taxi to take us to the hotel Hilton. We toured around there, heard a "story" of how things "really" went down and moved on to other things like walking through the park and finding cinnamon for Sarah's parents in the back-back of this huge indoor market. I felt like we were back in Cambodia at the Russian market. It was insane, but this time I got pictures. We found the cinnamon and were off to the water puppet theatre. That is something that is too hard to explain so you can you tube it and see what we did. We ended our last night in Vietnam at dinner with Joel, J.P., Aimee, the girls and Amanda. It was really nice to spend time with them, and Joel promised to connect with us when he comes to visit after Christmas. And that's my trip to Vietnam. For more pictures, please click here!
1 comments:
Great summary, Betsy! I was so happy to have you here! Robin was trying to convince me to come to Thailand after I'm done here...but maybe just for a visit :)
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