Saying goodbye is never easy to do

Hello readers,

Bittersweet posting today, as I just bid farewell to ten of the fifteen ETAs. Trevor, Tyler, Justin, Quan, Anna, Lindsay, Koua, Claire and Kate are going off to Sapa for the weekend, and Jess is going to Hong Kong. I will be going to Ben Tre on Sunday, so I will be gone by the time they come back.

I am planning to see the ETAs in the south, like Jess in Vung Tao and Lindsay in Tra Vinh, who are about an hour away from me. I will also see the other ETAs at our mid-year conference and perhaps the Fulbright Vietnam 20th anniversary gala. So this is by no means a final goodbye. However it does mark the end of our orientation, and the end of us living and spending basically every waking moment together. I've grown quite close to this group of friends, and it isn't easy for me to say goodbye.

Enough of that, let's talk about what happened over the last two days!

On Thursday we finished up our formal Vietnamese lesson, and in the afternoon we headed to the Vietnamese National History Museum. I had gone here the last time I visited, but it was still nice to go through the museum again and see the highlights.

Outside the museum

The Dong Son drums

Inside the Museum

10th century carving depicting the Trung Sisters rebellion

20th century painting commemorating Tran Hung Dao's victory over the Mongols at Bach Dang River (for details see my previous previous post)

As a History major, if you let me I will ramble on and on about various aspects of Vietnamese history interminably, so I thought it would be better to reign in my inner lecturer for this post. Those interested in Vietnamese history should drop me a line through email or the comments section and I would love to talk about it more with you. Suffice it to say, visiting the museum was fascinating for me. 

Back at the hotel we were surprised by our hotel staff, who had prepared a cake for Tyler for his birthday

Delicious. Super jealous.

In the evening, Quan had invited us all to meet his friend Mr. Luu at the Vietnamese Institute of Literature (a university in Hanoi). We knew very little about Mr. Luu other than that he had been introducing Quan to a lot of very interesting people. We also had no idea what we would be doing when we met him, how formal the atmosphere was going to be or really anything.  

When we got to the Institute of Literature we found out that Mr. Luu is an interpreter who has worked with the Vietnamese president, among other  prestigious clientele, and that we would be attending his English club. The students were all very advanced and had many different interesting stories to tell, including a doctor who had researched at Harvard. I chatted with Dr. Dinh about my childhood growing up in Harvard square and we bonded over memories of Cambridge.

The best part for me was bringing my second cousins Thao and Hieu out with us. I had invited them to come out with us, and I was very excited about letting them spend more time with my friends (especially Trevor, Quan and Anna, who speak good Vietnamese) with a little less parental supervision. I had no idea we were going to an English club, and because their English is slightly weak I was a little concerned over how things would go. 

Mr. Luu speaking with Hieu and Thao, while Jess looks on

Things worked out beautifully. My cousins ended up meeting several new friends, and Thao's English in particular was good enough that they were able to participate. They also ended up meeting Mr. Luu, who invited them both to come to Mr. Luu's English club in the future to practice their English. I hope they are able to go in the future, and I'm really glad things worked out so well.

After the English club, some people went to see another concert at the Opera House and the rest of us went out to dinner. We went to Quán Ăn Ngon, a famous Hanoi establishment that serves traditional street food in a Western restaurant style.

Hieu, Thao, Kate, Amanda, Lindsay and Jess at Quán Ăn Ngon

The boys

After dinner we headed to a wine bar that Kate had heard about. After hanging out there for a little while Thao and Hieu had to head home, but it was still great to see them and I'm very glad they came out.

Family photo!

Chatting at the wine bar

A lovely establishment. Props to Kate, Vanlam and Amelia for being aware of the camera

After the bar we went back to the hotel and helped Tyler eat his delicious cake.

Friday has been a super long day. It was our last day of class! We commemorated this by taking our lovely Vietnamese teacher Cô Giang to lunch at a nearby hot-pot restaurant.  

Tyler and Koua cooking

Michelle, Cô Giang, Anna and Vanlam

In the evening we prepared to say our goodbyes, not just to each other but also to the Fulbright Vietnam organizers and the hotel staff, who have been so lovely to us. Quan, Koua and Claire took the initiative of buying cards and flowers for all of them, and all of us contributed.

The flowers that we presented to our teachers

The goodbye to the hotel staff was particularly emotional, as we really have become one big family

The bellhops who have taken care of us all the time and have always been friendly and professional. 

Lam and Justin strike a pose

All the ladies, Fulbright and staff

All the gents

Then we headed off to a delicious farewell dinner. Here commences the long string of goodbye photos: 

Vanlam and Jess looking stunning

Anna is the worst

Slightly better

All the ladies

With Amanda and Koua, my co-teachers through two lessons. I'm going to miss you two!

The guys with Ms. Diu

We are literally incapable of taking one nice picture together...

With my fellow Vietnamese heritage Fulbrighters

Jess and Amanda looking like models

With the lovely Cô Giang, Amelia, Lindsay and Kate

Flowers presented to, from left to right:

1. Ms. Nga, who is the director of the Fulbright program, 

2. Cô Giang, our Vietnamese teacher, 

                                   3. Mrs. Ginger Davis, our Vietnamese cultural advisor/generally awesome person, (her daughter is holding her bouquet) and 

                      4. Ms. Diu, who helps run the Fulbright program in Vietnam, helps us resolve differences with our hosts, introduces us all to Vietnam and just generally makes everything work

It was definitely sad to say goodbye to so many of my friends, especially after it felt like I was just getting to know them. I'll have to pack up and relocate soon, and it also feels like I've just gotten used to Hanoi. However, this isn't goodbye forever, and I think it's best to think of it as going to a new place and making new friends, without losing any old ones.

Anyways, those of us remaining in Hanoi decided to hit up a bar where we knew the musician playing, and it was a pretty fantastic night.

Classing it up in Hanoi

So, even though I'm sad about people leaving, its important to look on the bright side and keep moving forward. There's a lot of fun to be had in Vietnam, and I don't plan to spend much time sitting around moping. 

Thanks for reading! I know this was a longer post, and also a slightly more emotional one, so thanks for reading through to the end. 

You get a bonus picture, and don't say I never do anything for y'all:

Ginger's six-year old daughter Minh discovers the joy of photography

Thanks again for reading, my next post should be coming to you from Ben Tre!

Sincerely,

Jefferson