My alley, 8:20pm. (Stoop: bottom left, all couple inches of it.) Notice the florescent lights strung above the alley - the wiring here is just crazy. |
I was sitting on my stoop (all 3 inches of it) waiting for my ride to come when the family in the house across the street came home. We exchanged Chaus ["hellos"] and Smiles (Vietnamese folk music band name?) and they went in. (Something you should know is that people's front bike areas are often converted to living space when there's no more room for family anywhere else. This house was one such place.)
So I was sitting there, trying to fiddle with my cheapo Nokia phone to look like I wasn't obviously curious and staring right into their living room (although I was), and one of the guys came out to smoke a cigarette. We proceeded to have a 30 minute conversation through his iPhone's translation app (Google Translate, I believe), and it was fascinating. As much pain as I was in, I was more curious about this man my age who had chosen to sit down next to me and try to communicate, difficult and slow as the process was.
This is my neighbor's garage/living room. As you can see through the bars, it's a used, decorated space. People hang out in here. |
We then talked about how long I had been here, and how long I planned to stay. He also wanted to know exactly how much we were paying for our house in USD, which was weird, but I've found that the Vietnamese can be very curious and will often just ask when they want to know something from a foreigner, no matter how direct we might find the question. I didn't mind telling him, because I wanted to know what he thought. He gave me a thumbs down, whatever that means. But of course I don't know anything about his perception of rental properties - I think I'm getting a hell of a deal (although our water tank did run dry today, which is a new experience). I've also read that Vietnamese will almost always buy a home and never rent, similar to much of American thinking on the subject - that home ownership is a personal right (of course, that's changing with my generation and after in the States, but that's a tale for a different day).
Our whole conversation occurred through this iPhone app - amazing! |
He asked me if I liked Vietnam. I answered truthfully that it was beautiful so far. We talked about my language lessons and he tried to get me to say some numbers, but without my cheat sheet I'm still a little lost, so it was mostly just nervous laughter on my part while he talked at me, saying numbers and laughing at my fumbling. I think his mother got in the act, too, giving me numbers to repeat from where she stood in the house, but I had completely frozen up by then.
At this point I discovered that my ride went straight to the restaurant. I was a little bummed, because, after all, I'd made it down all those flights of stairs to wait for him, but also relieved because a) my foot really, REALLY hurt, all the time, and b) I was worried about 'forcing' them to slow down for me all night. I'm OLD compared to these 20-somethings! I didn't want them to speak all in English - that wouldn't have been fair to them to deny the enjoyment of their mother tongue with other native speakers - but not knowing what they're saying in front of me is a strange feeling, and makes me feel lonely as hell. Eventually it all just becomes noise.
My college years were filled with warm nights drinking and laughing on Peoria, IL porches similar to this. Image copyright prettyoldhouses.com |
So, rest assured, my Peoria friends, I've now brought stooping to the other side of the world. And while I was the only one doing it this night, I made a new friend right away and can't wait to sit on the front step with a beer in one hand and an iPhone translator app in the other.
i'm glad to know how u feel when u'r here :).
ReplyDeleteYes, u'r right. Most of Vietnamese people are very curious. If they don't know much 'bout Western culture, they may ask u all of ur personal issues (age, politics, religions, salary etc.) in ur life as we Vietnamese usually do with one another. Here, we think that it's just sth like breaking the ice. :) There're lots of hilarious examples to prove how curious most of Vietnamese people are. :)) hehe
Having read the foot diagnosis entry first, I'm now picturing you on the stoop with one free hand to be used for shaking the hand of your new friend!
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