Vietnamese Interaction

An attractive young Vietnamese female approached me as I weaved between motorbikes on the sidewalk. After an introduction she showed me the small Canadian flag pin on her lapel and then told me she was giving toothpicks in exchange for donations to the blind. Seems like a good cause, but being in money-hungry Vietnam I had my suspicions and told her that I wasn't going to be handing out money on the street like the people who had written in her notebook. At my refusal she immediately stalked off without so much as a goodbye, climbed onto the back of a motorbike driven by a man waiting nearby, and in doing so basically confirmed my suspicions of a scam. (I'd see her later that day and said 'Scam' loudly to the guy she was working, and again today she was successfully parting people from their money in a new part of town). What an introduction to the country.

Later in the day I found myself lost in the myriad of tiny, weaving alleys with a growing hunger in my belly. I sat at a curbside stall on a petite plastic chair and attempted to eat as a local. There was no language in common so I pointed and tried to ward off consuming meat. The meal consisted of cold noodle bunches and deep fried tofu, dipped in spicy oil with some sort of minty leaf as a side. She did put some other deep fried patty on my plate which I nibbled with apprehension hoping it was made of corn but upon seeing my facial reaction to what tasted like sausage she removed it and tossed a couple more tofu chunks my way. Including my lime-yellow tea the meal cost me just over a dollar.

Still trying to extract myself from the maze of alleys a young man beckoned me in from the street. Curiousity had me duck inside to find myself in a very small room with four or five other guys. The stuff they were smoking out of the long, bamboo water bong didn't smell funny, nor did the clear drink they offered me but they were awfully giggly and without any means of verbal communication I soon excused myself.

Further down the street while seated at the edge of a lake an older Vietnamese gentleman approached. "Salut! Comment ca va?" he began and I did my best and was quite pleased with myself to have carried out a full conversation en francais. He explained that he'd studied French in school, which was understandable considering Vietnam was a colony of France until relatively recently. I declined his offer to join him for a beer in part because I was struggling to keep up with his speech, but I told him I couldn't 'parce que je doit alle au musee'. (Please excuse my likely horrible grammar and spelling, at least he understood)

Seated by another lake in the center of town prior to sunset a young Vietnamese girl of 15 asked if she could share my bench. She sat and began to read (Twilight in Vietnamese) and then asked me for the time. Picking up on her desire to speak with me as she kept putting her book down and gazing at me I struck up conversation. It was slow going with fairly basic English but Gabby (her chosen English name) was quite lovely and we chatted for a solid hour (as I said, covering little slowly, but still). Even after I excused myself and said goodbye I heard her running up behind me and she followed me all the way to the other side of the lake talking some more. I'd had no suspicion until a Vietnamese man glanced at her and then cryptically told me to be careful. I still don't know what he meant but it made me uneasy and when I did say goodbye again I glanced back a few times to be sure she wasn't following me further. I don't believe there was any reason to be nervous.

These were some of the more noteworthy interactions with locals on my first day in Vietnam. Hanoi is quite the metropolis and I'm enjoying it as it moves right along without going out of its way for tourists which is welcomed after Laos' tourist-intense trek. In many ways it reminds me of some Indian cities, where simply going out for a walk is an adventure in itself. Tomorrow I leave for a few day organized trip to the karsts of Halong Bay; sleeping on a junk, exploring a national park, kayaking the bay (since my other kayaking trip fell through). Hoping for an enjoyable end to my short trip to Vietnam before rejoining my family in Shanghai for Christmas on the 21st.