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| Alex with his students. |
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| Alex at a temple in Hanoi. |
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| Alex spending Christmas in Vietnam. |
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| Cows grazing in the Vietnamese countryside. |
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| The long, thin country of Vietnam is south of China. |
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| Vietnamese countryside. |
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| Alex sharing a meal with his students. |
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| Woman taking goods to market. |
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| Buying and selling at market. |
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| Selling food on side of road. |
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| Alex enjoying the beautiful views in Halong Bay. |
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| The beautiful Halong Bay. |
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| Homes above shops. Notice all the scooters. They are more popular than cars as a way to get around. Can you guess why? |
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| Floating houses in the bay. Why do you think some people would prefer a boathouse to a house on land? |
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteWould you please tell us what you're doing in Vietnam?
Hello everybody! I'm so happy to talk with your class about my experiences.
ReplyDeleteI live in a city in south Vietnam called Long Xuyen. This city is the capital of An Giang province, near the border with Cambodia. My city is on one of the main parts of the Mekong river, and even though over 300,000 people live here, it is hard to find on a map because most tourists never come here.
I teach at English language classes at An Giang University. I teach all levels, from the freshman who are usually 17 or 18, to seniors, who are usually 22 or 23. Most of my students have a very poor background but they are very hard-workers. They want to learn English so they can have more opportunities after they graduate. Most of my students want to work as a teacher, as tour guides, or as businesspeople. Speaking English in these jobs is important because Vietnamese is not spoken by many people outside of Vietnam. There are many differences between English and Vietnamese that make it very difficult for my students to learn English (and almost impossible for me to learn Vietnamese).
I graduated from university in 2009, so most of my students are just a little younger than me. This means that I now have many friends that used to be my students, and they love to teach me about Vietnam.
I am usually very busy teaching but I have take trips to Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. If you have any questions about traveling or these countries please ask me! If you have a question about anything please ask me!
I can't wait to hear your ideas.
Alex
Are most Vietnamese nice and friendly to you?
ReplyDeleteCan you give us some examples?
Chloe
Hi Chloe,
ReplyDeleteAlmost everybody is very nice and friendly almost all the time! I was expecting some people to be unfriendly or just ignore me, but everyone I work with and even strangers always say hello.
The other teachers and some of my students are now my good friends, and I eat dinner or drink coffee with Vietnamese friends at least a few times a week.
Many people in the bigger cities are very used to seeing Westerners, so they usually ignore you, but in my city, a Westerner is very rare. When I first arrived I did not know how to order food, buy coffee, or even where to buy groceries. When I was having trouble doing any of these things, complete strangers would always help me. Everyday when I walk to school many little kids yell "HELLO!" at me and if they're feeling very brave they say "what's your name?"
Another example happens to me very often. Whenever I try to speak Vietnamese (and my pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar are terrible) the Vietnamese always smile and encourage me. This is very nice of them because I know that I am not speaking correctly, but they always try to help.
Especially considering the history of the United States and Vietnam, I am so amazed by the generosity and friendliness of the Vietnamese people.
Vietnamese people are some of the most friendly people I have ever met. Besides one or two foreigners I live with, all my friends are Vietnamese. I even ate dinner at my friend's house last night!
ReplyDeleteLiving in Vietnam can be difficult because of the language barrier and the cultural differences. However, total strangers always help me buy things or get around when I need to. If they see me having difficulty doing something, many people will try to help. Even when they don't understand my Vietnamese at all, people will smile, laugh and encourage me.
Considering the history between the United States and Vietnam I was expecting some people to hate or not trust Americans, but even some former Vietnamese soldiers that I have met have been very kind to me. I live in Southern Vietnam, and I have heard that in Northern Vietnam they are not as welcoming to foreigners.
From the children on the street who yell "hello!" at me everyday to my best friends who are fluent in English, all the Vietnamese people I have met have been friendly and kind.
What was the most intresting ancient building you've seen? What about some of the ruins? Could you describe them?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Joe
The Temple of Literature (the one I am standing in front of in the picture) was a very interesting ancient building. It was built in Hanoi in 1070, and it reflects the influence of Chinese culture on Vietnam. It is both a temple dedicated to Confucius and for 700 years it was also the Imperial college, where the elite of Vietnam were educated. The temple is very beautiful, and many small lakes and beautiful gardens, and there are hundreds of stone tablets called "Turtle Stele" because they are shaped like turtles, a holy animal in Vietnam that represents wisdom. Carved into these stele are the names of the graduates of the school. To graduate was supposedly incredible difficult, as there were only around 2000 people's names on the stele for over 700 years of history!
ReplyDeleteI thought this building was very interesting culturally because it reflects how important education is in cultures that are influenced by Confucianism. Students still come to pray at the temple before important exams, and many teachers (but not me) pray at the temple to ask for success in their career.
I have only visited the ruins of Oc Eo, near my city. These are the remnants of an ancient city that was part of the Funan Empire. this Empire exited from about 100-700 A.D. and was more related to ancient Cambodian and even Indian culture than what would become Vietnamese culture. It was very interesting to learn about the people of ancient south east Asia, but to be honest, there isn't much to see there besides a nice museum.
Hi Alex. Can you tell me what typical breakfast,lunch,dinner food is like and also if it is similar to America's or if it's different?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sophie
In Vietnam food is a really important part of their culture. For example, the typical way of saying good morning translates roughly as "have you eaten yet?" Vietnamese people are also very concerned with eating in a healthy way, and all meals are balanced and nutritious.
ReplyDeleteMost Vietnamese eat at home, and the most common meal that people have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is "com" or white rice with portions of vegetables and meat or fish on the side. A variety of noodle soups are also very common to eat all the time. These soups are basically noodles and vegetables and fish, chicken or beef, but they taste very different than American noodle soup! They have a lot more flavor to them and are usually much spicier. The most popular of these is "Pho" (pronounced faa), which is originally from the North, but is popular everywhere now.
Another one of my favorite foods here is an interesting combination of foods. During the time when France controlled Vietnam, they introduced the typical baguette, and the Vietnamese created the "banh mi," which is basically a sandwich. It is a European piece of bread with Vietnamese ingredients inside, such as chicken pate or grilled pork. In addition to meat there is usually cucumber, carrots, daikon (a type radish that is not spicy), cilantro and maybe mayonnaise or fish sauce.
Fish sauce is the most popular type of sauce in Vietnam. They put it on everything, and many poor people often eat just rice with fish sauce for lunch. It is a basic, dark, soy sauce-like sauce that is made out of seafood. It has a very strong taste, but if you like fish, it is delicious.
Other than that, Vietnamese food varies a lot. There are big differences between Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnamese food, depending on the ingredients that are available, as well as the cooking traditions of the region. Vietnamese people eat food that usually comes from very close to their homes. Many people grow their own fruit and vegetables, as well as raise their own chickens or ducks. This usually means that the food you eat, unlike a lot of food in America, is very fresh. Many times when I eat chicken here it takes over an hour because they kill the chicken I am going to eat when I order it. This is hard to get used to at first as an American, but I respect the fact that Vietnamese people understand where their food comes from.
Another big difference between America and Vietnam is that in Vietnam people eat all the parts of an animal. This includes not just the meat, but the fat, the tendons and ligaments, as well as the eyes and the brain. Some people even eat the bones. I assume that this comes from the time when most people were very poor because it doesn't leave any wasted food. But many people I know who are not poor often choose to eat those parts instead of meat. To them, the meat doesn't have enough flavor!
The last thing I'll say about Vietnamese food is that of course, some things they eat are really strange or disgusting to most Americans. They eat almost all types of animals, and so far I have eaten frog (delicious when it's fried), rat (bony but tasty), snake (too bony and scary to look at before you eat), and dog (which after I ate it made me feel very guilty). If you are disgusted easily, stop reading now.
The worst thing, from the American perspective,that I have ever seen eaten in Vietnam something called "Hot Vit Lon" or boiled duck egg. But these eggs are not like normal hard-boiled eggs. These eggs are fertilized, so there is a duck embryo inside the egg when you eat it. It is difficult to watch people eat this and I have not had the courage to try it yet.
Don't be scared though, Vietnamese people are happy when you try their food but they never force you, and will try to find you French fries or fried chicken if you want, and big cities usually all types of food available.
I think Vietnamese food is really delicious, and if you get a chance, give it a try!
Where do poor people live in Vietnam? What do their houses look like? How do they live? Do you see them every day on your way to work? Why are they poor?
ReplyDeleteFrom,
Alexandra
Hello Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteYou ask a very interesting but very difficult question.
Thanks to almost forty years of war and bombing, as well as some badly managed attempts to change farming methods, Vietnam was one of the poorest nations in the world by the 1980s. Right now though, it is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, just behind China, with thousands of people a year are coming out of poverty. However, they are still very, very far behind the United States and Europe.
It was difficult at first to come from not just the United States but also from our community, which is very wealthy when compared to almost anywhere in the world. To me, it was difficult to get used to the idea that many of the people I see everyday and who I count as my friends will probably never have enough money to leave their hometown, let alone Vietnam. For them, a distant dream is to one day have enough money to get a car or get married. It is sad and frustratingly unfair to know that the average salary in the US would make me a very rich man in Vietnam.
Lots of people live in extremely small homes, or boats, and eat only rice for almost all their meals. Most people have very few possessions, and only a few sets of clothes, and have only one very old bicycle for their entire family.
However, this is a very interesting time to live in Vietnam. As I said before this country is developing a better economy very quickly, and occasionally you do see fancy cars or very large homes.
The differences between rich and poor in the U.S. are a quite bad, especially when compared to most other Western countries, and in Vietnam there is not as much of a difference between the poor and the rich. What we share with Vietnam however is a sense that we can work very hard and use our skills to make money and become successful. However, this is something new to Vietnam, and they are just beginning to expand education and industry which will one day be the basis for a very strong economy.
Most of my students will go on to get good jobs teaching or in tourism, but most of their parents are very poor farmers. The economic development has allowed them to earn more money in one year than their parents did in a lifetime. But again, only the very very rich are able to afford things that Americans see as common, such as a car or a house.
I must say however that this poverty does not seem to bother the Vietnamese people as much as it would an American. I know many people who are very happy living in a small room with just a few sets of clothes and a motorbike. If they have enough money to live, then they are happy. This is not that they do not have ambition, but that even these small things that to me seem to say that they are poor, are to them things their family never had. Try to imagine if your parents had been starving just thirty years ago, and now you are able to afford a motorbike and go out to dinner three nights a week. The fact that to the rest of the world you are still poor does not really make a difference.
In my nine months here I have had maybe a handful of people beg for money. They are not very interested in just "getting" your money, and on the whole Vietnamese people are very honest. One time I left 5,000 dong, or about 25 cents at a restaurant, and the next time I was there, about two weeks later, the man gave it back to me. They are interested in working very hard, and they are very proud of their countries accomplishments.
How much does 1 dong equal to in american money?
ReplyDeleteFrom,
Angus
About how much would a boat house or any ordinary house in Vietnam cost in dong?
ReplyDeleteFrom,
Michael
What do Vietnameese children do for fun? Can you give examples of popular games?
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Jennifer
Are there any Vietnamese sports that you think are fun?
ReplyDeleteHow do you play?
From Dylan
What percentage of children go to school? Do kids on boats usually go to school?
ReplyDeleteFrom,
Nika
Has the death of Osama Bin Laden affected Vietnam, and if it has, how?
ReplyDeleteFrom,
Evan
What kind of animals live in Vietnam?
ReplyDeleteFrom,
Michael
Hello everybody!
ReplyDelete1 dollar is worth about 20,000 Vietnamese dong. So I get paid around 4,000,000 dong a month. It sounds like a lot but when you do the math you can see its not really too much! The exchange rate is changing though so when I arrived 1 dollar was just equal to 20,000 dong and now it is about 21,000 dong, which means that my money in the US is worth more now then it was when I arrived.
The price of a house is difficult to say. A nice apartment in downtown Ho Chi Minh City can be a lot of money, even by American standards. I have heard anywhere from 20,000,0000 dong a month (about 1000 dollars) to even 200,000,000 a month (about 10,000 dollars).
In Long Xuyen, like most smaller cities, things are much cheaper. It is very common for people to build their own homes here, because there is a lot more land available than in Ho Chi Minh City. One of my friends built a very nice house with his family for about 400,000,000 dong, or about 20,000 dollars. That's a lot of money, but after it's built they don't pay anything again.
It's similar for boats I think. They can be very expensive, but most people prefer to build their own boats, especially when they live in them.
Thanks for sharing the Vietnamese culture with us, Alex. We all wish you a safe journey on your trip back to the USA.
ReplyDelete