Randon Stuff

I should probably blog more often so I am more coherent instead of just bottling up events and then trying to remember them after almost two weeks and end up with a huge post but here goes.  Another list:

1.  Dill is surprisingly, at least to me, a very popular herb here in Hanoi.  Funny story: Thì là, the name for dill, is supposedly  derived from the Vietnamese phrase đây là, which means "that is."  As my landlord told me, when asked by someone (most likely French) what that herb was, the Vietnamese people would say "that is..." but dill did not have an official name so people would stop talking and try to think of a name.  The French, however, assumed this was the name of the plant and everyone just ran with it.  Hence đây là shifted to the similar sounding thì là.  I know, I just made your mind explode with knowledge.


2.  Living in Viet Nam has made me really cheap -- apparently even more than I already was according to somebody who got new shoes and an ipod from me (EAG!! >O).  A meal on the street cost about 15000 to 25000 (80 cents to 1.20 dollars) and this is a hearty meal, not obese Chili's servings but still a pretty decent meal.  Even some of the nicer restaurants (you know, the one with actual chairs and an indoor dining room section) offer meals for 30 to 40K (2.00 dollars ish).  So after a month of so of these prices, going to a more "western" restaurant is like a mini culture shock: 70,000 for a sandwich!?  I mean, it is only $3.50 and I have no problem dropping 10 bucks (~198,000K dong) a plate back home, but still...70,000?!?  That just sounds so much worse.

3.  You don't have to speak Vietnamese to live here.  I read an article the other day that talked about how in Thailand, you HAVE to speak Thai since people just assume (white, black, etc) that you do.  Here, if you look different, they speak English, which kind of annoys me since I want to practice speaking Vietnamese (I still response in Vietnamese but still...)  As my previous post mentioned, I'm really dark compared to others here, I'm about a foot taller than the average Hanoian (it has been weird to stand in a room and be literally shoulders above everyone else - I'm "only" 5'9''), and everyone thinks I'm mixed with something - though I do like the surprise that people show when I talk or at least show I understand them...However, I found you can coast through Hanoi with much speaking ability.  I'm not sure exactly why or how this happens, but I'll figure it out.     


4.  It's weird that I'm not recognized by Vietnamese people as Vietnamese or even Vietnamese American, but also tourists and foreigners don't recognize me as American.  A couple from America asked me in very bad Vietnamese (even worst than mine!) what street they were on and I could not figure out what they were saying (Yeah I could have said earlier I spoke English but I wanted to laugh at them for a COUPLE of seconds) so in my "American" voice I asked them what they were asking and they seemed very surprised I spoke English.  Oh, woe is me, where do I fit in??  And I have father issues!  I should write a book.


5.  Papaya is a very sexy word - apparently, also very difficult for Vietnamese people to say and I find that it impresses the ladies on your pronunciation and tongue skills.  


6.  Coffee is really cheap here and I drink too much of it.  I am trying to find weasel coffee - cà phê Chồn.  It is the coffee where the Asian Palm Civet eats the beans and then poops it out, giving it an "unique" flavor due to the enzyme reactions during the digestive process.  I drove by a cafe named Cafe Number Two and I wondered if that was their specialty, or if they were just the number two store in their chain.  Yes, I made a poop joke and it is a real cafe.


7.  I can't manage to eat dog or cat.  Before, I believed if you weren't a vegetarian or vegan, you couldn't argue against dog or cat meat because you consume cows, fish, chicken, turkey, and a million other types of animals (whatever is in a hot dog, which man, I could go for a hot dog right now) so why is it any different?  I just think of my dog and can't do it.  Also, watching many kitten videos on youtube has made unable to eat cat.


8.  I do have more but this will be the last point for today:  From what I have heard, Obama is very well respected here...George W. Bush...not so much.  Of course this makes sense since Bush stands for FREEDOM while Obama is very well loved by a socialist country.  Hence, from my Fulbright Level knowledge, I conclude that Obama is a Muslim.


tony