Central Trip.

Central Trip.

Quy Nhon: It’s such a small, friendly, and peaceful town that was so different compared to Hanoi. There’s pretty much no traffic and one can explore the town by walking. The city has a little bit of everything: open market, supermarket, hospital, schools, beach, historical attraction sight, etc. Some areas are quite modern and developed, but there’s still the feeling and a bit of that traditional Vietnam that still lingers.  However, I am sure I am not the only one that felt in love with the city and many tourists will feel the same way about Quy Nhon which can turn this city into another tourist attraction to accommodate the demand. It makes me sad to think that the next time I come back, it might turn into another Hanoi or Saigon, development!

Kom Tum: It was one of a lifetime experience. Never thought I will be sleeping in a stilt house and spent time with the local minority group. I lived in Vietnam until I was ten but never knew there are minority groups living in Vietnam. It is definitely an eye-opener experience. The view of the mountain is just breathtaking. I enjoyed the ceremony that night a lot, but heard from the locals that a baby just died that day. However, they still go on and continue with the ceremony. I personally felt it was inappropriate to celebrate after a person death, and the village is like a big family that has just lost a member of their family.  They did cut the ceremony short though. The Gong ceremony reminded me of the love market in Sapa. It is originally created for a different purpose for the locals to come together, interact, and celebrate. However, due to the demand of tourism, wanting to experience the authenticity of a certain place, it seems to gradually turning into another performance to entertain the customers or just another tourist sight to make money. The original purpose of the ceremony or celebration is no longer there and it is lowly change over time.

Da Nang: The development that is going on in Da Nang right now amazed me! Driving down the street along the beach, everything looked very much like America. Big houses that look the same, gated neighborhood, hotels, and big fancy casino right along the side of the beach! As we were driving to our hotel, the construction seems to be endless. The development that is going on in Da Nang seems to be very organized. The streets are cleaner, more signs that prevent street venders to do business on the sidewalk near the river. It was interesting to see that one side of the street is for business while the other side is for public spaces.  There are many great places in Da Nang like Hoi An and Cham Island. I enjoyed the city a lot and but didn’t get to see the bridge on the river rotates though.

Hue: There are so many great things about Hue, but the one that lingers in my head the most is the tomb of Minh Khai.  I was overwhelmed by how elaborate and detailed the tomb is! It reminded me of the upcoming 1000 year Thanh Long celebration. Large amount of money are pour into this celebration project. Where does all of this money coming from? The tax money from the citizens I supposed. Living in Vietnam for this past two months, I can already see the changes of Hanoi preparing for this celebration. New tiles were installed in Ho Tay, new lights and signs and statues are hooked up everywhere! While the city is being decorated for this one in a lifetime and also one time celebration, the problem of the sewage system in Hanoi still exists. In order to build this tomb, Minh Khai put his country in debts and caused many deaths so that people can remember and honor him? Often time, political power is demonstrates in the form of wealth and fame. The idea of showing faces and having people admiring still exist no matter what time period or where you are living.

Development.

I have been thinking about the whole development effects during my staying here so far. I never really pick a stand whether development is good or bad for Vietnam. Part of my reasons for coming back to Vietnam is to visit my family and experience that "traditional" Vietnam feeling that I was longed for so long. I was disappointed that I could not find it in Hanoi. My thought was it must have been the same for my hometown, Cam Ranh va Nha Trang. I have been gone for six years, I can't expect things to be the same. I was not really happy with all the dramatic changes that I see in Hanoi, I do miss that "old, traditional" Vietnam that was once there. I remember meeting a foreigner while drinking beer with friends, and he said how he hated Nha Trang. I was surprised since all the local Vietnamese would tell me they love Nha Trang and the "beach is gorgeous!" He said there's nothing but hotels now in Nha Trang, it's too developed for him. That was before my trip to Nha Trang. I came to Cam Ranh first before arriving to Nha Trang, it was the same. Since Cam Ranh is a smaller town, not much have change. Everyone still lived in the same place and I was not afraid to get around by myself since the street is not crowded like Hanoi. As I was talking to one of my neighbor, she made a comment, "yeah everything is the same, no one invest in our town since there's nothing." But once I arrived to Nha Trang, everything was new to me. I could not recognize the street or anywhere I go. My cousins will take me around on his motobike and asked if I remember anything, I would say NO. There were many many fancy hotels near the beach, its true. I asked my cousin how he feels about all of this change and development and does he miss the old Nha trang? He would tell me no, nha trang had nothing before all of this development. It was just a beach and empty land, so there's not much to miss but now there's more to do and see. It makes me think whether development is at all bad for the locals and for the Vietnamese. Who am I to say whether it is good or bad, when I am not the one paying taxes or will live here for the rest of the life and deal with all the problems locals here have to deal with? I am sure if I was poor and gotta worry about every meal, I would not mind working for KFC if it means putting food on the table for my family. I was not comfortable with the new changes but I gotta accept and understand, everyone wants a better life and that's the reason why my parents came to America. There's always two sides to the story and I just have to be conscious when making judgement on what I experience here. 

Interview #1. Pho Seller

Interview. #1.

Our goal this week was to interview a pho seller and a shoe repairer. It was difficult trying to ask someone who are willing to let us interview them. After two days of trying, we were fortunate that a young pho soller accepted our request. His pho place is a family traditional pho nam dinh. Couple of things that I found were interesting during the interview was his interest in cars. He wants to work with cars in the future but due to the family business and financial circumstance, he cannot pursuit is interest. He works from 5am in the morning until 11pm at night everyday, seven days a week. He has been doing this for about six years already. As we talked to him about how’s the business and since prices for housing kept increasing, they barely made enough to pay for the rent. The pricing for their house changed from 6 million dong to 12 million dong in about 6 years. His family came from Nam Dinh and it was not as developed as Hanoi. They moved to Hanoi to start up the pho business and hoping to make a living. He dropped out of school after high school because “he couldn’t keep up with the workload.” The interview flowed very well and it wasn’t as difficult trying to keep up the conversation since he was very kind and open-minded to our questions. He was my first interview and it gave me courage to go on and pursuit the rest since I think some of the ones we picked might be harder than we thought. I learned it will be easier just talk to them and make sure it is interesting for myself as for them since I don’t want to make it too formal. As we said thank to him, he gave us free tra da! It was very refreshing since the electricity ran out and we had to do the interview indoor without fan.  This was a good start for our group because how we are more eager to talk to more people and learn what is their life and job like in Vietnam.