Day 10: Past posts to come...and this morning

Okay, so today is Day 10...I think...sometimes I'm not even sure about what day or date it is. But right now I'm at Ma Muoi's house uploading some more pictures of the trip onto facebook. It's taking awhile. Earlier I tried to help Anh Dat with some English homework, I realized that I don't know that much about the English language, lol. I could give him the answers but it was soo hard explaining why the answer was what it was...that is if I even knew why. Like in this sentence "________ to a new environment is difficult for old people." And the word you're given to use is "Adapt." Anh Dat put "Adaption" but I told him it was "Adapting." Why? I don't know...it just sounds right. I don't know... Ok well the pictures are almost done uploading, so I'm gonna go and put up captions and stuff for it. But I'll be sure to update everybody on the other past days!! Ok, bye!

<3 Quynhie!

Day 6: Study study...học học

So I've been spending a lot of time reading through my Vietnamese textbook....I think it's helping...I'm even starting to feel a little bit more confident about talking with my family. I even read an article in the newspaper to Dung Bay. It was about some bird and rice? I think...I mean I did tell him that I can read...but I can't understand. So overall, I'd say I did pretty well, haha! Okay, back to studying.....

Day 6: Ants in my Pants!

So it's only 10:57am right now, but my morning was filled with ants! There are ants crawling around in my clothes!! I know, right! So usually there are just a few, just flick them off and I'm good to go. Well I forgot to check my pants before going to the shower. Don't worry...I didn't put the pants on without checking them. But I did spend a good amount of time checking inside and out for ants....they were all over, tiny little ants. I'm wearing those pants right now, jean burmuda shorts, I hope I got them all....and now I'm at my aunt's (Ma Bay) store, catching up on blogs and finally posting some pictures.

Oh, and I called my brother, An, today, but he didn't answer, so I left a message. And I called Van, and we talked some, but then the phone cut off....it would seem that there are no more minutes left on the sim card. :(

I guess there's always texting....for $.35 a text.


I miss my sisters and brothers....I wish they were here with me.

Day 5: On a Lighter Note...

During our lunch I had some Vietnamese Coca-Cola....I was interested to see how it tasted. It's actually very similar to Coca-Cola in the U.S. It's just that it's flatter (less carbonated), and it tastes kind of diluted, like Coke that's been sitting out with melted ice. But not bad....

Day 5: A Visit to Bác Năm and Grandma

Day 5...it was a loong day. We rode out to Bac Nam's house, which is about an hour or so away. She lives more out in the country, which is nice and quiet. We (me, Mom, Ma Nam, Ma Muoi and Anh Dat) rode in a taxi van over there. The ride there was nice, kind of. It was nice in the sense that Anh Dat was trying extremely hard to talk with me. I brought my dictionary along in hopes that that might help us communicate, it did, kind of. Seeing him try so hard was making even me feel exhausted. Also, I'm the type of person who can't read in the car or else I'll get car sick, so talking and looking through the dictionary was making me feel nauseous. I had to eventually say "Em nam day chuc xieu(sp?) tai vi em bi oi." --> Translation: I'm going to lay here for a little because I feel nauseous. When we got there Bac Nam quickly and hospitably brought us into the house. She showed us where the picture of my late grandma sat on a shelf with pictures of others who had passed away. My grandma passed away in September of 2006, in Vietnam. It was kind of hard to actually face her death being on the other side of the world, it didn't seem real. But when my mom and I saw her picture there, we couldn't help but cry. After our eyes had dried, our family sat down to eat lunch. Bac Nam looks a lot like grandma, her face and just being there made memories of my grandma (Ba) rush through my head. She told us that Grandma used to ask about us, and that made me regret not calling her more often. After lunch, we went to visit her grave...there were more tears needless to day. There was a prayer, incense, and crying. Saying bye to Bac Nam was hard, especially when she started crying too. The drive back home was long and quiet.

Day 4 (cont): Cau Hai's house

So in the evening we (me, Mom, Ma Muoi, Ma Tam, Anh Dat, Dung Muoi, and Ma Nam) rode in a taxi van over to Cau Hai's house (my oldest uncle, on my mom's side). Of all of the homes I've been in over here, he by far has the nicest and biggest. Before you get into the house, there's like a garden courtyard out front. It's really nice!

He has some little dogs roaming around, but they're quiet and small. The house is very nice, I don't know how to describe it without going into too much detail, so I'll post some pictures later. Here are those pictures I promised!
But while over there we had dinner, which was bò kho, I think that's how you spell it, it's like a beef stew. It was yummy, but I think I like my mom's better, this one was kind of sweeter than I would expect. Then after some time we went back home. I can't recall exactly what I did that night, but I know that lately I've been sleeping pretty early over here, like 10 or 11pm, and waking up early, like 6am! No alarm clock or anything! Okay, well I think I will go on to Day 5...while it's fresh in my memory.

Day 4: Riding through Saigon

So it's only 10:15am over here. But I just got back from riding around Saigon with chị Thanh (my cousin, for those who don't know). She's a great motorist! The streets are sooo different from in the U.S. First of all, it's mostly motorcycles on the streets, lots and lots of motorcycles. And there are far less road rules, there may be a light that people obey at huge intersections, and I mean like a 6 way intersection, but other than that, you just kind of go. It's kind of like the ultimate driving game; slipping and sliding through people, dodging cars, bikes, and crossing pedestrians. If you're easily scared..then don't drive around in Saigon.

Oh, and it either rained last night or this morning, but I was sleeping so I'm not sure. So the weather now is really nice, very mát (I think that's how you spell it).

And this morning...I showered, went over to má Bảy's store and had breakfast. I don't exactly know what I ate, but it was good. I figured it might be best just to not ask what food is while I'm here...but today's breakfast didn't look too suspicious. And once I got back from riding through Saigon, I returned to the store to find one of my favorite Vietnamese sweets waiting for me. I don't know the Vietnamese name..I think it's something like mít ít, but it's made of sweet rice surrounding a yummy coconut filling, all wrapped up in banana leaves (you remove the banana leaves though). And now I'm writing this blog, but I think I'm gonna go bowling with chị Thanh in a little bit. I actually thought we were going bowling while we were out earlier, but I guess not. Sometimes I just have no idea about where we're headed, I just kind of jump on the motorcyle, which is so much fun to ride. There's kind of that rollercoaster thrill when you ride...which is funny, because I don't love rollercoasters (it's the whole falling without any control part that gets me).

And then later today, I think during the afternoon, Mom said we're going over to cậu Hai's house (my oldest uncle), who supposedly lives about an hour away. I'll be sure to bring along my camera and take pictures. I've been wanting to take pictures while I ride through Saigon, but I'm scared I'll drop it, or while I'm holding it there will be a sharp turn or something and I'll fall right off!! But I may just need to take that risk to get some nice shots of the city, which is beautiful! Ok....until next time, that's it for now. Bye!

~Quynhie~

Terse Versions

Oops...I forgot to keep it short and concise!

Here, let me try again...

Day 1: 12:30pm, first flight's take off, flew Korean Air: The flight was 14 hours long, the pilot said we were a little bit delayed, so in order to make up for it, we'd fly faster. Then we landed in Seoul, Korea. As my mom and I walked towards the gate for our next flight, we realized that we only had 29 min. before take off! But regardless of our time constrait, mom wanted us to change into some nicer clothes. The next flight was only about 4-6 hours...I don't exactly know. Oh, and on both flights, we had to fill out papers about our health, I think it's because of the Swine Flu. Once we landed in Saigon, Vietnam...well technically, Ho Chi Minh City, it was May 13, and almost midnight. My aunts, uncle and cousin came to pick us up in a taxi. We sat around and talked some, and then I took a walk with my uncle down the street to grab some late night pho from a food stand. It was goood!

Day 2: I thought I had beaten the whole jet-lagged thing, but despite my efforts to stay awake until night time, I ended up taking two 3 hour naps in the middle of the day. On this first day in Vietnam, I met lots of family. My aunts, Ma Muoi, Ma Tam, and Ma Bay, my uncles, Dung Muoi, Cau Hai and Cau Thu, my cousins, Chi Thanh, Anh Dat, Anh Thinh, and Chi Bap (sp?). I rode on a motorcycle for the first time that day, with Dung Muoi (on our way to Ma Bay's jewelry store), then with Chi Thanh (back home). It's really fun!! And in the morning I ate some banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) and some other stuff....let me try to remember later. Oh, and in the morning there was a procession of music playing outside, which my mom tells me is what is done when somebody passes away, they play music in the streets for 3 days.

Day 3: Today. I'm at Ma Bay's store, I'm trying to write quickly, because I feel kind of rude just being here using their laptop. So sorry if lots of this sounds choppy and fast. I'll make sure to take some notes on paper, so then later, whether it be when I'm back home, I can elaborate on the whole trip! But this morning Dung Muoi, Ma Tam and Ma Muoi sat around asking me what I wanted to eat, and I told them, so Dung Muoi went out and bought some of the food that was on my list. So this morning I had banh bo, banh bao, and some wonton thingy. It was all very delicious! And then Cau Thu came over again, and mom made me ask him why he had left me this morning, so he said it was because he went to get coffee. Then Chi Thanh came over, and I went on the her motorcycle back over to Ma Bay's store. And now I'm here...but now I should probably go. Ok, until next time! BYE!

Day 2: Food and Family

By the time we landed it was May 13 in Vietnam, it was about 11:30pm. We went to the baggage claim area and saw that many people, like us, had brought along cardboard boxes all taped up, worried that the inspection people would steal their belongings. Once we grabbed our luggage and boxes, we exited the airport building. As we left the airport we saw a mass of Vietnamese people outside waiting to pick up family and/or friends. Mom was worried that our family didn't know to pick us up that night, so I stood with our luggage as she went to look for our family members. They were nowhere to be found. When she came back, a security guard asked her what was the matter. When he learned that we didn't know if our family was there to pick us up, he let mom use his cell phone to call them. And just as mom thought, they thought we were coming the next day. After the phone call was made, they came about 30 min. later. There was Ma Muoi, Dung Muoi, Ma Tam and Ma Muoi's son, Anh Dat. They arrived in a taxi van. Once we loaded the car, we headed over to Ma Tam's house.

As we drove, it was obvious that we were no longer in America. As the taxivan rolled through the streets, the driver didn't bother to even slow down, let alone stop, at intersections. Instead of looking for other vehicles in the road, the driver just honked his way through intersections as to warn others that he was coming through! Another thing I noticed were the electrical wires, which exceeded those in the U.S. greatly, quantity wise. They were like huge bunches of cords running along the streets. If I had to guesstimate, I would say that these bunches were 1.5 ft. in diameter.

When we had arrived, we unloaded the car and brought the luggage in to má Tám's house. When we entered I thought it was pretty small, but soon later I learned that there were many floors more to the house. When all was brought inside, we sat around and talked. Well I didn't talk much, I just kind of sat there and listened, trying to make sense of what everybody else was saying. Then, although it was late, I think 2 or 3 0'clock in the morning, dừng Mười took me out down the street and around the corner to get a bowl of late night phở. It was delicious!

After hours of being in flight and a bowl of phở, Mom and I finally went up to the room we'd be staying in and went to bed.
In the morning I awoke to a procession of music going on outside. I had no idea what was going on, but according to my mom, this is what is done when someone passes away. Then I brushed, the bathroom was a bit smaller than I'm used to, but it did what a bathroom needed to do. When I went downstairs there was a bánh mì waiting for me (that's a Vietnamese sandwich). It was really good! But I did end up picking out a lot of the fat in the pork meat...which I think was kind of weird to my family in Vietnam. I just really don't enjoy eating all that fat!

After breakfast, I rode a motorcycle for the first time! It was awesome! I rode over with dừng Mười and then back home with chị Thanh.

Honestly, I don't remember too much about this day and have very little notes to refer to, but this was the day that I met má Bảy, cậu Hai, cậu Tư, chị Thanh, anh Thịnh, and chị Bặp (sp?).

Day 1: Day of Departure

After security and all, my mom and I had about an hour or so before take off. We ate some McDonald's nuggets and fries, then sat in the waiting area just outside our gate. Gate 27 I believe. I sat there alone while my mom went off to buy herself a magazine. As I sat there I practiced my drawing skills by drawing one of the buildings visible through the large glass windows.
Once we boarded the plane, we found our seats, 49E and 49F, right in the middle of the row. To our left sat an elderly Taiwanese woman...or maybe she was Thai, I can't remember. But I do remember she was wearing a forest green dress with a red cardigan sweater and a purple flower pinned on top of the left side of her chest. We had some confusion about who was sitting where and had to rearrange ourselves. Nevertheless, all of the scrambling around helped to break the ice. She was one of those sweet older women. We learned that she was on her way back to Thailand/Taiwan to see her daughter, one of her nine children. She apparently had 5 boys and 4 girls. I believe her name was Khoune, and throughout the flight we exchanged casual conversation.

On my right sat a girl, maybe early 20s or so, never got her name though. It seemed like we were both very introverted. But she looked like she was a mix of Caucasian and oriental descent. It also seemed that she was with a group of people, maybe she was doing a study abroad or something. And although we did not strike up much, or any, conversation, she was nice about when I had to get out to go to the restroom (which was very tiny by the way).

With the long flight ahead, I had made sure to take out some things from my carry-ons before putting them away. This included some books to read and my sketchbook, in case I got inspired. Being on the plane for 14 hours, I felt certain that these things would come in handy to help pass the time. But little did I know, there were touch screens in front of every seat! There were movies to watch, music to listen to, and games to play. Of course being a product of this generation, I was drawn to the pixelated screen. So I started off with a few rounds of blackjack, minesweeper, miniature golf, and memory. I then shortly moved on to the movies. I was really excited because these were newly released movies, many of which I had not seen yet. I first watched Paul Blarke: Mall Cop, then followed that with Yes Man. I then took a look at the music, there was American music, including Coldplay, The Fray, Norah Jones, The Ting Tings, David Cook, David Archuleta, and so on. There was also a World music category, Classical as well as Korean. I compiled a playlist and listened to that for some time. I made sure to include a Korean song, Nobody by The Wondergirls, since we were headed for Seoul and flying via Korean Air.


So between games, movies, music, sleeping, and eating airline food (which wasn't horrible, I'd place it around the same level as school food, oh and I had sushi for the first time! Just a piece of raw salmon, it didn't taste bad, but its slimy touch to the tongue was...different) I didn't get much, or any, reading done.

After 14 hours in the air, we landed in Seoul. The airport was very nice! There was butterfly decor hanging from the ceiling.While at the Incheon airport, Mom and I both changed our clothes. When we boarded the next flight, I ended up in a window seat, which I love, but it was cloudy and dark, so I couldn't see much when we took off. But that's okay, by the time we were preparing for landing in Saigon, which took about 6 hours or so from Seoul, I saw some lights. In the obscurity of the night, it looked to me like a winding string of Christmas lights.