People

Since I have been here I have gotten many questions about the people:  What are they like?  How do they respond to you?  Is there a difference between how older generations respond compared to younger generations?

I am happy to report that I am yet to have a negative experience.  Actually the people here are overly nice and go out of their way to help you.

1.     SEAMEO

SEAMEO is the school that I am living and working at while I am here.  The staff here goes out of their way to help and make us feel comfortable.  I’ll give you a few examples.  The other day one of my coworkers who teaches sports at Summer Fun went out and bought a volleyball net to play with the students.  We began unraveling the net in the driveway in front of the school to see if it would be a suitable area to play.  Within minutes we had two security guards and a janitor helping us put up the net.  Before we knew it there were ladders, rope, and metal wire around and within minutes the volleyball net was put up.  It seems simple but if we were in New York I am pretty sure Jason and I would still be sweating trying to figure out how to put the net up.  We naturally started to play after we put the net up and I’m not really sure what happened but both of my forearms bruised up from playing.  My arms looked pretty funky and were swollen for a few days but now they are starting to look better. 

Second example- Helen teaches Arts and Crafts.  Sometimes she needs to do some preparation work in her room.  She mentioned in front of someone who works at the school that it would be nice if she had a desk to work on.  Well the next day a desk was being delivered to her room.  As I said people go above and beyond  here.

2.     Doors

I have had the door opened for me more in the past 12 days than in my entire life.  The cab drivers get out of their car to open the door for you.  The malls have doorman/security guards that stand there and open the door for you.  When you are leaving a restaurant the closest employee usually runs over and get the door for you.  I found it very strange the first few days, but now it seems like the norm.  

3.     Directions

If you ask someone a question or for directions and they don’t know how to answer in English, they will find someone who can answer you.  If you are inside and ask someone for directions they not only tell you how to get there but they usually bring you to the elevator and press the floor for you.  Everyone is very accommodating and they don’t seem to get angry or upset that we don’t speak Vietnamese.  They actually seem happy to have conversations in English with us.

4.     On the Street

I have only felt uncomfortable once while out in the city.  I decided to go for a run and apparently people don’t run here..at all.  I ran from my apartment down to the river, which is about 4-5 blocks away.  Then I was able to run along the river without having to cross many roads.  You would of thought I was running naked down the street screaming by the looks I was getting.  I seriously did check a few times to make sure my shorts were still on.  I haven’t run since, but I am sure I will attempt to run again in the next two weeks.  Besides that one of my favorite things to do here is just walk through the city.  The people are very interesting and the all seem to wear their entire life on their face.  I have tried to capture this in pictures throughout my adventures but I am usually too shy to ask them if I can take a photo, something I am working on!  Most of the pictures attached are from my trips this past weekend.  I am going to try and get pictures of Vietnamese in their element around the city in the next few days.  

Before noon pray at the Temple of Cao Dai

Family enjoying some street food.

Monk in training at Giac Lam pagoda