First Impressions of Viet Nam

Good morning, Viet Nam!

I've been here for almost 24 hours, so now I'm an expert, right? I've been to exactly two official places--the airport and our hotel somewhere in Hanoi. I have no idea where. I've been shopping down the streets a bit, saw the lake, and had dinner out.

Quick Takes:

1. Motorcycles and motor scooters! They are the transportation mode of choice, by far, and the streets here are teeming with them. Some are rusted ancient relics that look heavy as sin, but many are fancy brand new and sleek. Most people wear helmets, but not all. About half are driven by single drivers with nothing on them, and the other half have me oggling! I've seen tiny babies propped up in front of their mothers, families of four, and lots of doubled up friends. Mattresses, huge boxes, desks, and mounds of flowers as wide as a car are strapped on any old way. Almost anything you would stick in the trunk of your car is perched about the driver or tied on. It is mind boggling.

2. Western dress. I have no idea what the traditional Vietnamese dress is called, the loose silk pants and long sleeved shirt that goes down past the knee but is split up to the waist. I've seen them, but mostly in my own hotel as a show for tourists, I think. The Vietnamese on the street would blend in just fine on any street in the US. Anything from jeans and T-shirts to tight skirts and heels, with a few business suits thrown in. Since our country is to diverse, take almost any Vietnamese person I've seen today and stick him in downtown Portland, and you couldn't pick him out. Hair styles, too. The only thing I've really seen as different is that the women seem much more inclined to wear high heels.

3. Orange trees. We're going to be here for Tet, the New Year festival, the biggest celebration in Vietnam! I think it starts on Valentine's Day, but I'm not sure yet. Wow! Orange trees and cherry tree branches are the traditional decoration, set up like Christmas trees in your house and decorated with red and gold ornaments that say things on them. I haven't figured out what, yet, but I assume things like "Long life and prosperity." Those orange trees, six feet tall and more, are strapped onto the back of motorcycles to be taken home! It's like the week before Christmas with people strapping trees onto the roof of their cars, except these potted orange trees are on mopeds!

4. Chubby babies. I really thought I'd look like an elephant here, taller and fatter than the average Vietnamese gal on the street. I am taller and fatter than all the gals here, but I am amazed that I'm not as huge as I thought I'd feel. Yes, many of the adult women here are the size of a skinny 5th grader in America, but I've seen chubby people here! And tall people, too. Some of the babies look downright fat! I think the nutrition must be improving to the point where they need to worry about overweight children. It's certainly not the epidemic we have in the US, but there are chubby kids here. Adults, too.

5. Conical hats, double baskets. While motorcylces and scooters dominate the scene here, there are lots of bicycles, too. Most of them are ancient things that you would pay big money for in the states because they are "retro." These old bicycles are mostly driven by old folks that wear those conical straw hats you see in the movies. I love it. I'm sure you've seen in those same movies that long pole with two baskets, one tied on each side, held on the shoulder. Woof! They look heavy. Mostly they carried by women, selling anything from fruit to toys. The loveliest thing by far is a portable restaurant. In one basket is a metal cookstove. The other basket has all the ingredients you need to cook something. These ladies sit down on the sidewalk and set up their restaurant wherever there's a spot. Very cool.

6. Short chairs. If you go into a fancy restaurant or hotel, you get normal sized Western chairs. If you go into a street vendor's stall, you get a tiny plastic chair about a foot high and 6 inches square to sit on.

7. Architecture. Mi'ita and I both said that it looks like Mexico out there. The buildings are old colonial French instead of Spanish, but it's similar.

8. Warning. I have been warned many times not to criticize anything or I may find myself deported or put in jail. Thankfully I haven't found a thing to criticize yet, but I will need to muzzle myself. I have the subtlety of an ox.