Meanwhile, One Year Later in Vietnam...

One year and two days ago I left US soil. One year ago today, I landed in Vietnam.

I did a preposterous, crazy thing. Irresponsible, even. Certainly audacious and full of risk. Setting off for a foreign land with an inkling (and that was it) of what I'd do when I got there was the craziest, outside-of-the-boxiest, obliterate-your-comfort-zoneiest thing I'd ever even considered doing. I could barely even go to bars where strangers might talk to me, much less expect to functionally operate in what amounted to an alien world. But, as my roommates and I talked about today (as I was going to the post office to figure out how to send a package, in itself an adventure), when you only have one option, deciding and acting become accordingly easier.

Closing Time

The Principal speaking.

Yes, people: you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Because it's SUMMER VACATION!

Well, if you insist, HCMC. If you insist.

This past Wednesday was formally my last day in the Vietnamese public schools for the 2013-2014 school year, and I really couldn't be happier. Because, seriously, I've been at sweat level Cannonball In The Deep End (which is the highest sweat alert level, if you didn't know) for the past three weeks - I'm soaking wet seemingly all the time.

It's been a real slog to the finish line, both for teachers and their kids. Everyone knows the end is nigh, and as the humidity goes up and the heat stays the same (HOT), concentration becomes a serious chore.

Vietnam's UNESCO World Heritage Sites: a Preview

Ha Long Bay (1994)

It's not long after spending some time researching or living abroad that the subject of UNESCO's World Heritage sites comes up. 

First of all, what are they, really? And what is 'UNESCO'? It sounds like a food supplier for prisons.

Hoi An Ancient Town (1999)

UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. In 1972, they approved and launched the most universally recognized international convention in history - the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It covers many different types of sites around the globe (currently 981 sites (check out that cool interactive map!) - mountains, lakes, monuments, buildings, cities, complexes, and natural features are all treated with universal recognition).

Time to fire up the travel bucket list generator and see what my future plans will include...

Psycho Asian Comfort Food: Fried Rice 101

Dear Aito,

Did I ever say thank you?

When you said that having a rice cooker made you feel like a real person again, I didn't really understand. I'd never owned a rice cooker, but I'd always been curious - mostly because I have the uncanny ability to always over- or under-cook rice on the stove.

I'm glad we got this rice cooker for the house. It's amazing. AMAZING. How does it not burn the rice? How is it cooked perfectly every time? How does it do it so fast?! And how does it keep it steamed and perfect for days, even when it's not on?? Because I'm not a rice scientist (which apparently is a thing that exists), I am content to never know, and only reap the delicious rewards.

Never Say Goodbye

The only Goodbye I'm down with. Still... it's the first track.

I feel like I should admit this: I don't really do goodbyes.

Well, honestly, I don't FEEL like I should admit it, because I'm obviously objectively bad at them, but I feel like YOU might want me to feel that way, so there's that.

I do. I hate goodbyes. They are pointless. If we were randomly charged particles, we wouldn't say goodbye, would we? Of course not. We might see each other again. We might never. We'd never know. If we were randomly charged particles, we could never notice, or care.

But we're not. We've got purpose, direction (even if they change... even if they're random), and, most importantly, the internet.

Thank the gods for the internet!

Street Food III: The Search for Shock

My street food has been entering a bit of a rut lately. There's a storm a'coming, folks - time to shake it up.

Hopefully my next installment will tackle some more diverse dishes, including more substantial meals (almost everything I've gotten on the street so far has been 'eat on my bike' food as I zip between jobs and home) - there are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of specific, common dishes that I haven't tried. They seem to appear out of the woodwork the longer I'm here, and it's always a surprise. Why is it a surprise??

This edition brings 2 new drinks, 2 vegetarian dishes, cylindrical rice things (2, of course), and a whole passel of exotic fruits made into the best smoothies in town... minus the durian. Always minus the durian.

Here's my third round-up of treats from the streets. Enjoy!

Iced Sugar Cane Juice
Average Cost: $.25 USD
Mandatoryness Level: WOAH
Best Attributes:

PROS:
-DO YOU GUYS HEAR THAT GUY'S HEART? I CAN TOTALLY HEAR HIS HEART. WOW THIS IS GOOD. HOW IS IT GONE ALREADY? DO YOU THINK I HAVE TIME TO GET ANOTHER? WOULD THE KIDS LOOK AT ME FUNNY IF I CAME IN WITH TWO? HOW COME YOU'RE NOT DRINKING ANY? DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS? I JUST REALIZED YOU CAN GET THIS ON MY BLOCK, OH MY GOD. WHAT TIME DID YOU SAY? OOO PUT YOUR HAND HERE, IT'S LIKE I'M A HUMMINGBIRD, I WONDER IF VIETNAM HAS HUMMINGBIRDS. WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY WOULD LOOK LIKE. I FEEL LIKE THEY WOULD PROBABLY ENJOY THIS DRINK. WE SHOULD GET SOME MORE. I MISS HUMMINGBIRDS. DID I TELL YOU I CAN HEAR THAT GUYS HEART??

CONS:
-It's not that guy's heart, it's yours.

-Early onset diabetes

-Propensity to think/talk in all caps

-A truly unbelievable sugar crash

ON THE OTHER HAND:
-The best preparations give it a twist of lime, which is just outstanding.

Resolution Check-in: How to Speak (Enough) Vietnamese

The major difference is that, in the game, you're almost perpetually physically alone - traveling, I'm only mentally isolated.

Let's check out our hero's #4 New Year's Resolution...

4. Be able to basically communicate what I need in Vietnamese 

My vietnamese is just terrible. Much of it is that I'm shy and hesitant to use it in the first place (and the fact that it's just a difficult language, period), but I've come to recognize that, to put it simply, I've got to either use it or stay in the English bubble forever. Since the latter is not acceptable, I will start making more of a lingual connection to my environment.

Ha. Learning Vietnamese. I'd forgotten that I'd even made this resolution. Let me tell you a story.

It's time to unpack that dusty box that has "VIETNAMESE - HOLY CRAP, LEARN ME ASAP" scrawled on the side in big, black marker...