Hey we are humans first.... human warmth of Vietnam - continued....

30May2011 This evening I stood in the edge of the park next to the biggest roundabout in the center of Saigon, waiting for a Vietnamese friend. Motorbikes, cars, busses, traffic, people, noise, lights, a gentle drizzling rainy season rain.

I stand up on the ledge of the flower bed so as to be clearly visible.

On the other side of the flower bed a young University age Vietnamese lady walked past, smiling brighly.

I smiled back and she wandered over to talk.

"Where are you from ?"

"Australia"
Practicing her English I assume.

"Melbourne or Sydney...?" she really tried hard to remember the names of those two big cities.

Going through the "where are you from....? What do you do.... ?" routine usually makes me cringe. But the happy enthusiasm with which she spoke was disarming. Genuine and friendly.

"What do you ...."

"I teach Electronic Engineering....blah blah blah..."

"What are you doing ?

"Just playing" she says. I assume this to mean just wandering around to practice her English.

People who practice English sometimes use it as a front to sell tours or gems or whatever schemes.
That's not the case right now.

What strikes me most about her is that is she is genuine.

I'm actually shocked that a complete stanger, would simply smile and talk to another complete stranger just like that. It's me who has to overcome my cultural inhibitions.

She tells me in all earnestness about her dream, that she wants to learn Italian but has trouble finding people to practice with.

My friend now arrives. On a piece of paper, I write the name of a site where Vietnamese and foreigners meet in a safe, monitored space ( Couchsurfing.org Saigon group ). It is for people to stay with others on their floor or couches and it has a nice informal social group in Saigon - and most major cities of the world.

She might find italian or other other language exhange there.

What surprised me most was the simple human trust, not stupid naivety, but trust in herself, to judge who to talk to. The guts to talk to a total stranger.

I don't think it has much to do with me, - though then again I have noticed that even in a long line of people, beggars will often magnetically gravitate to me. Why ? Who knows.

As we talked all the Western warnings about strangers whizzed through my mind. I simply couldn't imagine his happening in my home town. I'm used to a guarded scowl on the face of strangers and someone asking me the time, makes me suspicious.

I remember something I read on Alastair Humphreys blog:

....I rode right across Europe and into the Middle East. Far from being the dangerous place I had always seen on the TV News, people waved to me as I passed, families invited me to stay the night in their homes or join them for a meal. I learned a crucial lesson about the world during those hot, dusty weeks: whatever governments are shouting angrily about, whatever extreme sections of society may be doing, the vast majority of people on Earth are good, ordinary people just like you and I. I rode through 60 countries on my circumnavigation, and in each country this held true. The world is, by and large, a good place. Traveling opened my eyes to that. .... from: Alastair Humphreys writing about adventure

After writing the earlier blog "Hey we are humans first.... human warmth of Vietnam" this is another one of 'those confirmations'.

Vietnam has had a horrific history of war, children are still being born deformed from the effects of the war. And yet, I can walk around this city and experience such things.
Amazing.

• About Couchsurfing
• Haiko's Profile on CS
• Saigon group on CS

31May2011... update: the lady I wrote about above joined Couchsurfing and was pleased to see THIS blog here, about our meeting.
Small world.

Hey we are humans first.... human warmth of Vietnam

in some places ....
in some place people still feel more REAL.

how are they more real ?
example:  Saigon, Vietnam:
taxi to airport.
I offer the driver some of my favourite, chocolate bisquits.
"Oh, no thanks"
Ok I expected that.
He drives too fast, too dangerous, I don't like to see poeple hurt. 

I put my hand on his shoulder, make soft sounds, "sloooooowwwww"
He gets the idea.
His driving is calm, nice now. I don't fear that we will injure someone.
At the airport he fills in the taxi voucher for my Taxi card from work.
"Can I have a bisquit. I'm so hungry, can't drive anymore."
Sure, I give him the rest of the packet. 
There was no guile in him. 
He was being real. 
How do I know ? I felt it. It's real but not quantyfiable

At the four star Hotel in Hanoi:
"What do you do ?" (it's obvious I live in Vietnam)
"I teach Engineering."
"Where do you teach ?" 
etc....
genuine interest in me from the staff serving the buffet breakfast.
They have real smiles.
They talk like real people,
asking questions because they want to know. Not for some policy, or shut up because of some moronic corporate  policy.
I find out that the tall one is a student,
has no boyfriend, but will marry one day. 
They got up at 5am to serve breakfast at 6am. 
But not everyday, sometimes it's an afternoon shift ... . 

Lots of other stuff, - casual fun talk over breakfast to make the time more pleasant.
Yes, I'm the customer, and they are the staff, but, Hey! We are people, humans first.
Forgive me if I have a chip on shoulder, but I have the impressing in the developed rich 'civilized' world, I'd be dealing with professional employees toeing the corporate line first and a human being second.

Back in the developed world: I was stopped at airport security.

"What's that in your breast pocket ?" 

Metal detector had not gone off and it looked like a passport, in fact it WAS a passport.

I went into my antipathy to authority attitude, meaning: sullen silence. 

Handed over passport with the inner attitude of "here we go again, more moronic regulations just to let some wanker feel important"
“Hallo!” the guard said to me, - meaning, lets be human first, and say ‘Hi’, ok ?
“Hallo” I said, and I realized I’d been grumpy. I'd gone into "I'm in an anal retentive society" defensive attitude again.
That's probably not fair.
I admit this may be an overeaction on my part.
When in civilized countries, I tend to play my part in the dance of the 'moronic bureaucrats' very well.

As my friend said: you can't have one hand clapping.  

30May2011 This evening I stood in the edge of the park next to the biggest roundabout in the center of Saigon, waiting for a Vietnamese friend. Motorbikes, cars, busses, traffic, people, noise, lights, a gentle drizzling rainy season rain.
I stand up on the ledge of the flower bed so as to be clearly visible. 
On the other side of the flower bed a young University age Vietnamese lady walked past, smiling brighly. 
I smiled back and she wandered over to talk. 
Practice her English I assumed. 
"Where are you from ?" 
"Australia" 
"Melbourne or Sydney...?" she really tried hard to remember the names of those two big cities. 
Going through the "where are you from....?" routine usually makes me cringe. But the happy enthusiasm with which she spoke was disarming. Genuine and friendly. 
"What do you ...." 
"I teach Electronic Engineering....blah blah blah..." 
"What are you doing ?
"Just playing" she says. I assume this to mean just wandering around to practice her English. 

People who claim to practice English sometimes use it a front to sell tours or gems or whatever schemes. 


What strikes me most about her is that is she is genuine. 
I'm actually shocked that complete stanger, would simply talk to another complete stranger just like that. 
She tells me in all earnestness that she wants to learn Italian but has trouble finding people to practice with. 
My friend now arrives. On a piece of paper, I write the name the Couchsurfing site where Vietnamese and foreigners meet in a safe, monitored space. It is for people to stay with others on their floor or couches and it has a nice informal social group in most major cities. 
She might find italian or other other language exhange there. 

What surprised me most was the simple human trust, not stupid naivety, but trust in herself, to judge who to talk to. The guts to talk to a total stranger. 

I don't think it has much to do with me, - thogh then again I have noticed that even in a long line of people, beggars will often magnetically gravitate to me. Why ? Who knows.
As we talked all the Western warnings about strangers whizzed through my mind. I simply couldn't imagine his happening in my home town. I'm used to a guarded scowl on the face of strangers and someone asking me the time, makes me suspicious. 

I'm reminded of the stuff others like Alastair Humphreys  said 

I rode right across Europe and into the Middle East. Far from being the dangerous place I had always seen on the TV News, people waved to me as I passed, families invited me to stay the night in their homes or join them for a meal. I learned a crucial lesson about the world during those hot, dusty weeks: whatever governments are shouting angrily about, whatever extreme sections of society may be doing, the vast majority of people on Earth are good, ordinary people just like you and I. I rode through 60 countries on my circumnavigation, and in each country this held true. The world is, by and large, a good place. Traveling opened my eyes to that. from: Alastair Humphreys writing about adventure

After writing the above blog  "Hey we are humans first.... human warmth of Vietnam" this is another one of 'those confirmations'.



 

the secret is: adults don't exist

Today I went for dinner with a colleague, her little 8 year old daughter and her grandmother. 

She told me something her daughter discovered. 

"There are no adults. They don't exist. They are really all children."

Out of the mouth of babes.....

I'm totally with her on that.

33 years later

30Apr11 Saigon

Went for a 'get me outtahere' drive today - 
just took the motorbike and drove out East, following my gut instinct and curiosity,
over bridges and rivers, and down into almost empty land
lots of nature, trees, palms, and everywhere rubble and houses that had been bulldozed and demolished.

driving further I ended up directly opposite the fancy main street of Saigon, on the other side of of ther river. There was the Majestic Hotel.

On this side it was a slow , forgotten village, barbed wire for land that would be developed.
old men on motorbikes,
sleepy town,
dogs in the sun

women in the market looking at the foreigner on his motorbike.
Driving along the riverside, now on the other side are container ships, wharfs, and on my kids swim, 90% of the houses are knocked down,
ready for mega development.

There is something about this place,
the freedom, the motorbike, the space,  and the slow pace of life here, and just across the river, the hi tech, super intense Saigon.
the line from Hotel CAlifornia come into my mind.

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell

but it is more than that,
the atmophere the sunlight,and the knowledge that I'm free,
I feel like I used to feel at eighteen, travelling in SE Asia, the world to explore,
full of possibilities,
the invisible bars of fear had not hemmed me in quite as much.

And now at age fifety one, , I remember this time and that same feeling comes back to me. It feels like a HUGE circle has closed.
33 years later, still trecking through Asia, exploring life,
nothing much has changed.
Full of questions
almost the same questions,
lots more experience.
but most of all an excitement about life and love of the adventure of it.
I've stepped out of the Hive, out of the organized implicity, asssumed, fears of what 'one should do' what 'one should worry about' and 'what is peer acceptable behaviour'. Fuckit all.

then it's back to central Saigon, cool airconditioned cafe with Yoghurt fruit salad and wireless internet, to send this by email.
Heiko

bootstrapping your education: do it yourself English in Vietnam

I went to the Tango juice bar & cafe the other day.

I was greeted by a young university student working as a waitress. Her English was good and different. 

She spoke fluently, colloquial natural English. 

It was too natural to come from an "institution". She either spent time overseas, had a foreign boyfriend or something else...

I was curious. 

"where did you learn English ?" - I like to ask this. 

"By myself." 

"You mean you didn't go to an English School ? " 

"Yes." She looks a little hesitant, as though it was bad to admit this. 

"Wow, your English is great. How did you teach yourself." 

"Movies. I listen and repeat whatever I hear." 

We chat some more. 

Turns out she studies in English books like the "The Seven habits of successful people...". 

She asks customers what the difference between five star and this Cafe is in terms of service. 

Her study area is Hospitality. 

At home she has paper and notes of English words everywhere. 

All this is self discovered. 

She does not have the funds for expensive English Schools. It's not the piece of paper she needs it's the ability. 

So she gets it. 

Herself. 

Movies, books, practicing with foreign customers in the cafe. 

Whatever way she can. 

She is not the only one. 

I've since met others, who do the same. 

There are English conversation clubs all over Saigon. 

Before I leave she asks my name. 

She's called Nhi. 

I can't imagine this level of informal exchange in a Western context. Maybe that's just me. 

And I haven't seen this kind of self motivation in many other places. 

Vietnam impresses me.

the humanness of Vietnam: Nutella Baguette

Saigon District 1, Feb 2011

There is a place where they  have soup and baguettes even at midnight.
I have Nutella at home, all I need is a baguette and the walk will do me good.
I get my baguette at the end of Nguyen Du street for 3000 Dong (15cents AUD) and turn back along Ly Tu Trong Street, opposite Norfolk Mansion. It's 10:30pm. 

No one walks on my side of the street, just a lady dressed like a housewife walks in front of me.
"Hello"
"Hello"
"I come with you."
"I don't think  so"
"why not?"
"--------no answer---------"
"I'm hungry."
blah blah blah etc...

"Stomach small"
"I'll buy you a meal, but no money"
"Ok"
we walk some more.
"I come with you"

"No I don't think so"She is mid 30's nice looking, normal lady. I'm surprised she acts like this.  

"why"
"--------no answer---------"

"why"

"--------no answer---------"
"why"

"--------no answer---------"
"why you don't want me"

"--------no answer---------"
"I'm hungry."

Fine, let's see if she is really hungry. I pull out my baguette, give it to her. 

She takes it. No inhibition.
"Hang on", I take the baguette back and break off a bit for myself. "I'm hungry too"
She takes back the rest.
Well there goes my Nutella baguette, oh well....

We kind of go the same direction.
She holds up her bit of baguette, "very good"
I give her a thumbs up...

She walks along on the other side of the road and eats the baguette, we are heading in the same direction.

I duck into a convenience store.

we part ways...

21Feb11, Saigon

Yes you who must leave everything that you cannot control.
It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul.
Well I've been where you're hanging, I think I can see how you're pinned:
When you're not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you've sinned.

---- Leonard Cohen, - Sisters of Mercy

success stinks VS sour grapes

I'm a small time blogger, "and ah'm jes' doin' ma thang dude..."

And like all bloggers "I wanna get bigger, yea ....!!! "

I want lotsa people to read my shit ! 

I wanna see ma name up in lights ! Yea!!!

I looked around the blogosphere and I saw those successful bloggers, 

with their  HUGE traffic ratings on Google analytics. 

I'm jealous. 

I looked a little closer then

what was this glitz and ritz ? 

what about those ads that clutter up the space ? 

free ipod giveaways ? 

what's going on here ? 

Is this a shopfront or a blog ? 

it's corporate tactics, 

its 'win this, and win that' kinda shit, 
carefully crafted, cleverly designed, for consumer maximization,

that's just commercialization 

the hippy has sold out to the corporation

money talks 

if successful blogging means 

- "enter now to win this...and win dat..."

- flashing ads

- glitzy and ritzy websites 

- free this and free that and "hurry and enter now to win some crap...." 

no, thanks, that's not what I'm aiming at. 

I'm not at those heights (yet),

Now I'm a quiet little blogger 

Of course I wanna be read by millions... 

but my way:

no pushing 

no ads to suck you into my site

no ipod giveaways for you to win, nothin'to enter, nothing to get for free.

read my stuff 'cause you like it 

or don't 

that's it. 

if success is

Sea gulls fighting over bread crumbs, 

Monkeys fighting over bananas, 

I'll go another way... . 

       Sour grapes ? 

ask me in 10 years... when I'm big and famous....doing it my way, 

with no ads, no give aways, no greed based enticements...just good stuff for what it is.... 

It might look homely and dorky and a bit messy... 

and  it won't be everyone's cuppa tea... 

oh well, C'est la vie.. :-)

-- wow this has turned into a manifesto of sorts. hm.....

###  references: some of my thoughts were shaped by the writings below: or more precisely: I found confirmation for my views in the writings of others and then had the courage to say it :-)  

Recently I found myself at a Hindu temple in Darjeeling (India), surrounded by monkeys who displayed behavior not unlike that of members of my own race. The strong bullied the weak, the old were teased by the young. And mothers cared for and protected their children.
Life is thus. So it always has been. So it will probably always be. When it comes down to it, we are but a strange tribe of monkeys fighting over bananas.
from http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/buying-gems-at-the-source-dicks-law.htm