whirlwind through vietnam
I got back from Vietnam on Friday morning after sleeping on and off through the 1) 3 hour drive, 2) 4 hour plane ride, 3) 4 hour layover, 4) 1 hour plane ride, 5) 1.5 hour train ride--- and went straight to work and dance practice. I'm pleased with myself.
In Vietnam, I saw waiters killing mice in the airport and men getting haircuts literally on the street (with electricity pulled from nearby lines); all sorts of crazy driving including four people on a motorcycle meant probably for one; tried many tropical fruits like jackfruit and dragonfruit; cruised on the beautiful Ha Long Bay and explored some huge stalactite caves; had pho for breakfast!!!!!; went to markets where raw meat apparently doesn't need to be refrigerated and pigeons were being boiled? alive.
Like I've said before, Ha Long reminded me immensely of rural China. The streets are still pretty rough and dirty and stores are tiny, people walk around in pajamas and men parade around with their (usually fat) stomachs uncovered... there was a lot of barefootness and simplified Chinese writing, too.
The conference that I was there for was not as stressful as I had imagined, which is always good. I didn't have to do that much on-the-spot interpreting. There were participants from Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, and the Philippines. Only the representatives from Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Japan were not functional in English-- this perhaps surprised me the most, and is something Japan really needs to work on.
I have tons of pictures that are on facebook and I don't have the energy to move them all here, but here are two I took with my panorama helper setting:
This is the inside of Thien Cung Cave, a stalactite cave located on an island in Ha Long Bay. I've been to these sorts of caves before but this one was GIGANTIC with super tall ceilings and the formations were so beautiful I couldn't believe they were natural.
It was kind of gloomy when we first left in the morning, although it got brighter. Basically Ha Long Bay was a huge bay with many many clusters of huge rocky islands, and it was really very lovely.
While we were out on the bay, people would keep offering to take pictures for me. Okay, great! On one occasion, a picture of me ended up being a picture of me + Ricky. As soon as we were done, the Mongolian official asked to take a picture with me. Before that was done, the Cambodian guy who kept talking about Japan wanted a picture.... and after him, a Vietnamese official (female) who joined us for the day told me I was pretty and took a picture with me.
What is going on, srsly. It was pretty cool to experience what white people who go to Asia always get from random people, though!
Anyway, thank you Vietnam for a wildly packed two days and see you again in September!
In Vietnam, I saw waiters killing mice in the airport and men getting haircuts literally on the street (with electricity pulled from nearby lines); all sorts of crazy driving including four people on a motorcycle meant probably for one; tried many tropical fruits like jackfruit and dragonfruit; cruised on the beautiful Ha Long Bay and explored some huge stalactite caves; had pho for breakfast!!!!!; went to markets where raw meat apparently doesn't need to be refrigerated and pigeons were being boiled? alive.
Like I've said before, Ha Long reminded me immensely of rural China. The streets are still pretty rough and dirty and stores are tiny, people walk around in pajamas and men parade around with their (usually fat) stomachs uncovered... there was a lot of barefootness and simplified Chinese writing, too.
The conference that I was there for was not as stressful as I had imagined, which is always good. I didn't have to do that much on-the-spot interpreting. There were participants from Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, and the Philippines. Only the representatives from Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Japan were not functional in English-- this perhaps surprised me the most, and is something Japan really needs to work on.
I have tons of pictures that are on facebook and I don't have the energy to move them all here, but here are two I took with my panorama helper setting:
This is the inside of Thien Cung Cave, a stalactite cave located on an island in Ha Long Bay. I've been to these sorts of caves before but this one was GIGANTIC with super tall ceilings and the formations were so beautiful I couldn't believe they were natural.
It was kind of gloomy when we first left in the morning, although it got brighter. Basically Ha Long Bay was a huge bay with many many clusters of huge rocky islands, and it was really very lovely.
While we were out on the bay, people would keep offering to take pictures for me. Okay, great! On one occasion, a picture of me ended up being a picture of me + Ricky. As soon as we were done, the Mongolian official asked to take a picture with me. Before that was done, the Cambodian guy who kept talking about Japan wanted a picture.... and after him, a Vietnamese official (female) who joined us for the day told me I was pretty and took a picture with me.
What is going on, srsly. It was pretty cool to experience what white people who go to Asia always get from random people, though!
Anyway, thank you Vietnam for a wildly packed two days and see you again in September!