Jefferson in Vietnam: Hue and Danang

Hello all,

Sorry for the late posting, I had such a fun weekend that I fell very behind in work and had to spend most of this week catching up. Anyways, here goes!

This weekend I took an excursion over to the central Vietnam to visit Hue and Danang. I arrived at Hue’s airport and was immediately picked up by my friend Anna. Pro tip: Central Vietnam is chilly now. I had packed a warm layer, but I was still shivering on the motorcycle ride into home.

Anna, after picking me up from the airport, modeling how to dress in Central Vietnam

We dropped our stuff off at a hotel and then headed to dinner. We went to a delicious shellfish restaurant (Anna said the clams weren’t up to the usual standards, but w/e) and then hit up the bars with Anna’s friends. Anna’s friends were super cool and really welcoming, and it was amazing getting to meet and chill with them.

With Nhuan, Jenelle and an aspiring photobomber

There is a fairly substantial expat community in Hue, and soon we were rolling in a crew 12+ people deep from bar to bar. I have to admit I was a little shocked at the sheer number of white people around us. “You mean you talk to these people every week? IN ENGLISH?” I whispered incredulously to Anna under my breath. She nodded. I am absurdly jealous

It should go without saying that the party that night was out of control, only ending at 3:30 am with the consumption of multiple banh my (great call Jared) and only marred by the disappearance of Jenelle’s purse with Anna’s camera inside (which seriously sucked).

This is the only picture I have of that night. Jaeger bombs are never a good sign.

We also had to wake up at 6:30 am to catch a bus, which was GREAT. Jefferson in Vietnam: A Chronicle of Rough Mornings.

At breakfast

We had to catch a bus because when I had originally planned to visit Anna we had planned to spend the whole weekend in Hue. However, after I booked my flight, Anna was informed that her grandmother’s death ceremony would be that weekend in Danang, another big city in central Vietnam.

So, Anna invited me along, while also giving me the option to stay in Hue and do some exploring myself. I decided to go with her because

a. I have never been to a death anniversary, and I was really interested

and

b. One learns to be flexible about plans in Vietnam

Anyways, we stumbled onto our bus. We slept for most of the three hour ride to Danang, only waking at a rest stop that was actually pretty fantastic.

It had a rope bridge

And a seesaw!

We got to Danang, checked into our hotel (river view!) and changed before heading over to Anna’s father’s family’s house.

At a death anniversary, held on the day the person died, the ancestor’s spirit is venerated. Sacrifices of food are placed on the altar, and the whole family comes to light incense and pray to the spirit. On the first day everyone eats vegetarian food, and on the second day the food is taken down from the altar and there is a big feast.

Anna and I arrived at the house with our gifts (Anna had bought a pineapple at the market, and I had brought some coconut candy from Ben Tre) and we were immediately welcomed in. Her aunt ushered us in, and we both paid our respects to Anna’s grandmother.

Anna at the altar

The altar

Then we headed back downstairs to meet Anna’s family. Anna and I were seated with the men, which meant lots of teasing and drinking. None of Anna’s family spoke any English, so it became a big test of my Vietnamese. Luckily I think I did alright.

As a brief aside, let me explain to you the stages of learning another language:

Stage 1: Helplessness

You speak basically no Vietnamese. Oh, you can order food sometimes, which impresses foreigners, but frankly you can’t do anything. Communication is reduced to pointing and elaborate charades. You are totally useless. You require the constant supervision of a fluent English/Vietnamese speaker to do really anything. You hate everything.

Stage 2: Work

You’re here, and by God you’re going to learn Vietnamese! You pull out the flashcards, dust off the old textbooks, cut out some time to do some solid studying. You try and speak with patient listeners, constantly trying to push yourself to try something harder.

Stage 3: Breakthrough

You did it! You successfully communicated with someone! Maybe it’s small, like successfully asking for directions, maybe it’s big, like actually having a full conversation with someone for the first time. It doesn’t matter. You are demonstrably making progress, you still have a long way to go but you are getting better! You spend the rest of the day walking on air and grinning like an idiot. You are sexy and you know it!

Stage 4: Setback

For some reason, today you are unable to communicate with anyone. All you’re trying to do is ask the price, and even though you know you are saying it correctly, the stupid shopkeeper just stares at you blankly. Everything is terrible.

Stage 5: Resignation

F**k it. Just f**k it. I am done with this s**t. I hate this language, I hate this country, I hate the stupid shopkeeper who couldn’t understand me, I hate you, I hate you and I hate you too. I am going to my room where I will eat chocolate and watch Archer and Breaking Bad. I will only speak English today. Ask me something in Vietnamese and I’ll punch you in the spleen. F**k you.

Stage 6: Return to step 2

Repeat forever

So, the point is that learning a language is a process filled with advances and setbacks. Talking with Anna’s uncles definitely felt like an advance. I was able to understand most of what they were saying, and whenever I asked questions they understood me. I didn’t speak much, but that had more to do with me being quiet given my status as the new member of the group. Her uncles were fantastically friendly and it was great getting to know them.

In case you were wondering, this is basically what it looks like when you get adopted into a Vietnamese family.

After spending time with her family we headed over to meet her aunt Ngoc and cousin Khoai. These are the people that Anna spends the most time with in Danang, and Anna is frankly unbearably cute around her aunt. They were also very friendly towards me, and they even let us borrow a motorcycle!

We took that motorcycle outside Danang to see one of the town’s tourist sights, the giant Buddha statue.

The Buddha statue

The statue was pretty impressive, towering over everything else, and from the top of the platform there is a pretty great view of Danang.

A beautiful view of the coast

However, I thought the coolest part was actually the pagoda behind the statue. The pagoda is huge and gorgeous, a sprawling construction that manages to feel both enormous and intimate.

The pagoda's entrance

Walking through the complex feels like walking through an infinite number of small courtyards, each small enough for just you, your thoughts, and maybe a friend.

One of the many shrines inside the pagoda

I spent some time walking barefoot through the pagoda, feeling the soft cool stone against bare feet. The place is so huge that you are surrounded by silence despite the waves of tourists, and it feels small enough that the silence is comforting instead of overwhelming. It’s a perfect place to meditate, or just think about life.

Or almost fall asleep on your feet because you’re still bone-tired from last night’s misadventures.

*shrug. I’m only human.

We went back to the hotel to work (Anna) and nap (me) before going out to dinner with Khoai. Khoai took us to a place that served My Quang, a special type of noodle native to Danang. Oh my god it was DELICIOUS. Like, most food here tastes really good, and I perhaps use the word delicious a bit too liberally. But wow, this was amazing. Serious ups to Khoai for making the suggestion.

After dinner Anna and I headed to the movie theater in Danang to catch Les Miserables, because neither Hue nor Ben Tre have a movie theater. Khoai—upon learning that the movie would be a two and a half-hour long musical about poor people in France—was strangely uninterested in coming with us. He said he’d meet us at the bar later. Fair enough.

Both of us were really excited about seeing Les Mis, Anna because she had never seen the play before and myself because I had seen the play before and it absolutely blew my mind.

So excited!

The movie was entertaining and it was fantastic seeing some truly stunning visuals on screen paired with some great songs. Another entertaining aspect was the Vietnamese subtitles. I kept catching myself looking at the subtitles, trying to figure out what each word meant. Nothing quite like hearing a bone-shattering, heart-

raising crescendo and seeing

“Tôi là ai? Tôi là JEAN VALJEANNNNNNNNNNNN”

Fun times. Of course, because Vietnam is Vietnam, they raised the lights and turned off the sound halfway through the film’s finale.

Wow. This is why we can’t have nice things.

Anyways, after the movie we headed to the bars in Danang and spent some time chilling with Khoai. He was also very friendly and welcoming, and because he’s our age we talked about a lot of stuff—girlfriends, boyfriends, partying—that isn’t my normal Vietnamese conversation fodder. It was a fun, relaxing night, just shooting the breeze and drinking some beers along the river.

Khoai and Anna

The next morning we woke up early and jumped on another bus back to Hue.

On the bus back

We stopped at Lang Co beach for some pictures

Unfortunately we didn't have much time in Hue before my flight. Hue is a marvelous reconstructed imperial city, with ancient tombs and beautiful pagodas. However, we didn’t have time to visit any of them, and Anna is a complete cultural philistine. Besides, I had already seen them in the past, so I think it was a forgivable omission. I was able to take some pictures of the Citadel as we motorbiked through.

but we had enough time for Anna to treat me to some delicious bun thit nuong. Then we went into the Old City of Hue.

One of the Citadel's battlements

Entrance to the Citadel

We did go to Citadel Café, which is a coffeeshop that overlooks the entire Citadel. Sitting cross-legged on the floor we looked out onto beautiful fields and ponds, with the massive walls of the Citadel and the terraced roofs of the pagodas inside visible.

View from Citadel Cafe

It’s a pretty cool place

On the balcony of Citadel Cafe

After that it was time to jump back onto an airplane, and head back to Ben Tre. It was a fantastic weekend, and thanks to my great host Anna for making it possible! Hopefully I can return the favor this weekend when she comes to visit!

Stay tuned!

Peace,

Jefferson

P.S.