i think i'm turning japanese

One day while at the Happy's Mart on Linh Lang Street in Hanoi, I ran into a bit of a situation where the shop attendants were straining to make sense of what a Japanese woman was trying to tell them. It seemed as if she wanted to find something in the store but couldn't communicate to them what it was since her English was limited and the shop clerks didn't speak Japanese. Since I used to patron the shop fairly often, the girls who worked there asked me to help them decipher what the woman wanted.

After what was more of a series of gestures than a verbal conversation, I took her to the isle with plastic wrap for food, or saran wrap, and the big smile and "tank you, tank you!" that erupted confirmed that she had found what she was looking for. Those smiles continued as she rattled something off in Japanese to me and although I shook my head to show I didn't understand, it wasn't long until I had exchanged phone numbers with her and had agreed to meet her for coffee the next day.

This is how my coffee dates with Sachi began. We always meet at the same cafe, AIM cafe on Linh Lang street, just a few doors down from the Happy Mart, and "talk" about ourselves. Any onlooker to the conversations we have would think that we are both deaf, since we sit with a computer between us and use an online translator to communicate.

Now, understand that the translations are not always right. Last time we met, Sachi was headed back to Japan and asked if she could bring me back a potato. I invited her to a party recently and following was the email I got from her:

"Lia,
Is it cheerful?

I invit it thank you.

I e-mailed a PC before but I worried about how an answer made it not be it. and was marriage fixed at the party?

Do around several people gather?

I inform it of whether i can go

-sachi"

I can only imagine what my messages to her say.

hawai'i mba in hanoi/hcmc

The University of Hawaii in the beautiful Manoa Valley in Honolulu has taken its Shidler College of Business to the next level...or rather hemisphere. The Japanese MBA students spend the last semester of their two years of study in Japan and prepare to do so by taking intense Japanese language courses. The Chinese MBA students split the deal half and half, spending a year in Hawaii and a year in China. However, the Vietnamese MBA students have taken the study abroad to the next level and actually have the professors fly to Vietnam and teach the entire Masters degree courses in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

So, in short, I can complete my entire Masters of Business degree that has an Asia-Pacific focus, in the actual region that I am so keen to learn about and possibly do future business in. Not only is this a wonderful opportunity to have a US-level graduate degree without the limitation of staying in the USA, it is a fantastic move on the part of the University of Hawaii to get good students. My classmates are marked by their intuitiveness to see opportunities as they arise and grab them. Most of these students have gotten into their careers and hold high level managerial positions at well-known companies like Microsoft and Nike, it can be difficult to leave those jobs for two years to study abroad. This way, Shidler College of Business gets top quality students in their Vietnamese Executive MBA program and these students continue to work in these top positions.

As for me, I sit in the middle and get the added benefit of incredibly knowledgeable professors, who are constantly improving in their respective fields with more regular trips to Asia, and the chance to absorb and learn from the actual experiences of my classmates. Graduation date is July 10, 2010. Graduation party theme will definitely be Hawai'ian, so bring your Aloha shirts.

a great place for business

Today on NBC's podcast, that I watch most everyday in Vietnam, stated that Texas is #2 on the top states to do business in the USA. We fall behind Virginia only in that the energy prices have risen since last year.

Texas oi! Let's get back up there and do something about energy being a serious issue not only all over the world, but in Texas in particular. How are we confronting energy saving methods as individuals and as a state? Talking as a Native Texan, I cringe to see the words "Texas" and "# 2" put together. What can we do to start making this change?

xe oms

Even a short time in Vietnam will acquaint you with one of its unique aspects- the motorbike taxi, or as the Vietnamese call it, the "xe om". The 'xe' part means 'vehicle' and the 'om' means 'hug', affectionately putting it together to refer to these alternative forms of transport as a 'hugging vehicle'. Just get on the back of this motorbike, after haggling over the price to your destination, and hold on (most drivers would love you to hold on to them, staying true to the hug part, most riders prefer to hold on to the bar behind the seat).

Although some xe om drivers can really give you a hard time over price and your western face, I've been pleasantly surprised at the xe oms at the end of the street where I'm staying. I've only met two of them, both in their early sixties, and both have been extremely reasonable in their prices and very careful to make sure I get to my destinations in one piece.

The first day I took one of the xe oms I actually wasn't sure where the place I wanted to go was. I asked him if he knew where the 'Tous les Jours' bakery was and made sure to mention that it was a good French bakery somewhere near Ben Thanh Market (which can really be anywhere in District 1). After we arrived in the area, without actually spotting the bakery on the way, he was nice enough to drive around and ask other xe om drivers if they had heard of it. After a bit of a wild goose chase, he found a young security guard who knew of the place and told him what street it was on. We finally found it and I gave him and extra 10,000 VND (about $.70) for the trouble.

The next day I took a second gentleman into town, remembering the address of the bakery this time. As we were passing by Ben Thanh market, the wind picked up, sending the already too-big-for-my-head helmet flying up and the chin strap pulled taught and being the only thing actually keeping it on my head. Well, this also caused my large hoop earring to come undone from my right ear and sent it flying off the bike. It was like watching a coin bounce off the table and roll across a crowded dance floor- the golden hoop bounced along the asphalt and into a sea of traffic. I promptly pounded the driver on the back and said in Vietnamese, "Just a moment! I lost something!" and rushed off the bike and into traffic, where a young man had stopped his own motorbike in the middle of the sea and had bent over to pick it up. As he stood there admiring the earring, I plucked it out of his hands and as I was running back, yelled "Thank you!" over my shoulder in Vietnamese, remounted the xe om's bike, and we continued on our way.

Not too much to my surprise, as I flagged the same xe om down to take me in for my class, he looked at my ears to make sure I had taken my earrings off...then checked my necklace to make sure I tucked it into my shirt...and finally made sure that I readjust my bag so that it was in front of me for the ride. Only until we had gone through the whole take off procedure that he deemed it safe to take the foreign girl into town, which he did...with a smile.

couch surfing

One of the little diamonds I have discovered since living in Asia has been the Couch Surfing project, introduced to me by wonderful former roommate, Bethany Bauman.

The idea is simple. Everyone sets up a profile, similar to facebook or myspace, and list where they are located, along with the level they are available to help travelers and other couchsurfers (host, meet for coffee, answer email questions). If someone comes to Hanoi, for example, they might choose to stay in a backpacker hostel but would really like to meet someone who lives in the city and can tell them where to go and what to do. You meet with them over coffee, get them orientated, share a good conversation, and they go back and review you on your profile page- very helpful, knowledgeable about the city, etc...or they can warn people not to hang out with you cause you're a scumbag. The more positive reviews from travelers you get, the more likely people will trust you and be willing to meet with you when you go traveling somewhere and want to do the same.

From being listed as an English & Spanish-speaking westerner, I've had the opportunity to meet with SO many people and get to know WHY people travel and hear their amazing stories. Even better, when I am stuck doing my University of Hawaii classes down in Ho Chi Minh City and don't really know anyone, I can call on couchsurfing to hook me up with a good coffee partner.

Noel met me last time I was down here and was amazing enough to not only meet me for lunch at Ben Thanh Market for some traditional Southern Vietnamese cuisine but afterward proceeded to spend the whole afternoon showing me the sights of Saigon (I never knew the Presidential Palace purposefully built the staircase in the middle of the building to avoid bombing directly on the offices, since most bombs are dropped in the middle of the target). Surprisingly, Couch Surfers who are this kind are very common and she has done the project proud by representing it so well. To try and reciprocate her kindness, this time around I bought her coffee at Gloria Jeans, but something tells me that the score is still a little uneven.

power cuts

I talked to my parents on Skype yesterday and was able to get a good 45-minute conversation in before the power was cut off in the whole neighborhood and our wireless connection lost. (Ok, so my last post bragged about how technologically advanced Vietnam was but I'll just take this time to mention that while there are plenty of accidental black outs here, there are fairly regular brown outs and a neighborhood will have planned power cuts) So, before the phone call was cut short I listened as my mother talked about this being her last semester to teach for the nursing school in our home town.

Although nurses are badly needed, there is a bit of a territorial struggle over which higher institution will be providing the training in the area. In the mean time, my mother "joins the ranks of the unemployed," as she put it, and the small Texas town goes without badly needed nurse positions and the proper training for people looking to fill those jobs.

Despite a possible grim approach to the whole thing, my mom is relieved to be able to spend the time with her mother who celebrated 94 years of life this month. For her birthday, I gave her a coffee mug with a map of the Hawaiian Islands on it and she responded by telling me I "was the best" through a mix of smiles and tears ( After hugs like that, she might just get one from every place I visit).

Plus, she had already given me weeks of entertainment by having my mom and me play 'Loteria' (aka 'Mexican Bingo') with her at her day care center. We witnesed her lucky streak as she won the big pot (of nickels) not once, but TWICE! The thrill was so great, we celebrated with milk and cookies delivered to us and all the other day care patrons by a smiling woman pushing a cart and delivering our treats with a white rubber glove on.

So, my mom is a few weeks away from unemployment and on a lucky day my Grandma wins $4.05 in change while being excited over a ceramic trinket from her granddaughter. Our height of a celebration is maxed out with a few cookies accompanied by milk in a paper cup.

What's the point? Sometimes those seemingly big power cuts help us see what else is really left on in our lives.

the window

A lot of people think that just because I live in a third world country like Vietnam, I am technologically at a disadvantage. Ironically enough, I get frustrated when I am back in the USA at the lack of internet availability and the high price of technology that limits the adaption of new things by the general population. Also to the surprise of most, since there is a steady stream of traveler traffic in my part of the world, I get to see all the wonders brought here from all parts of the world, exposing me to some items that would have taken years to reach my corner of first world USA.

My response- communicate the differences. Have coffee with a couch surfer. Sit with my mom in the living room until 2am talking about politics. Talk to an atheist about my belief in the Big Man. Blog.

A friend of mine was once trying to tell me to get out of the way of her view of the television and revealed to me that I'd make a much better door than a window. At the time, I agreed with her and promptly moved out of her line of sight to allow her to get on with her television show. Things have changed. The more I become a part of a world that centered its views in the West and is getting to know the East, I see that I might just have the knack for being an excellent window. Maybe this Texas girl can serve as a window that allows a little better view of what Vietnam really is.