Virtual-Doug

The Hà Nội Hilton

I was sharply surprised – I truly expected a propaganda-laden display that exalted the revolution and  excoriated the United States.  I was wrong.

I’m speaking about the infamous Hà Nội Hilton.  It housed American warplane pilots who were shot down over northern Việt Nam from 1964 to 1973.  The likes of Senator John McCain, Ambassador Douglas “Pete” Peterson (America’s first ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam in 1997), and Admiral James Stockdale (Ross Perot’s running mate) were imprisoned there.  Today it is easy to confuse it with the Hà Nội Towers hotel which soars twenty stories above the old prison.  The actual name of the prison is Hỏa Lò (say wah luh), the snide moniker “Hà Nội Hilton” being given to it by American prisoners.  It was built by the French colonial government in 1896 to hold Vietnamese nationalists who were plotting to rid themselves of the French.

French rule of Indochina (which included present day Cambodia, Laos, and Việt Nam) was not gentle.  Though there was a French presence prior to 1857, that year is usually considered the beginning of colonization.  By the late 1890s, the government controlled the entire region of Indochina, and was busy extracting coal, rubber, rice, and other export products, while introducing opium to the Vietnamese through the construction of a refinery near Sài Gòn.  Opium use had previously been confined to the Chinese population.  As the French tightened the screws, the greater the resistance by the Vietnamese.  Hỏa Lò prison was built to house – and execute – the leaders of the resistance.

Only a small portion of the old prison still exists, the rest having been sold off for commercial development.  Many areas have been restored with manikins added to show the treatment of the prisoners.   I can’t say the depictions were blatant propaganda – just realistic.  There was no overt animosity shown towards the French just as (as I have written before) they have no animosity towards Americans.  In fact, today, Việt Nam and France have excellent relations.  Nonetheless, it was disquieting to see the very small size of the cells, realize they were not lit with lanterns, and most had manacles installed.  Five different men who eventually became the Secretary General of the Communist Party were imprisoned at Hỏa Lò at some point in time.

It was in these same cells built by the French to house Vietnamese prisoners that the Vietnamese housed American pilots.  I doubt I could have endured five, six, or seven years of imprisonment as these men did.  Interestingly, there are only two small rooms devoted to the American time, and there are no mannequins.  But there are pictures of some of the more famous POWs, including Senator McCain.  There is no denial of American claims of severe maltreatment of the prisoners, but there are photos of them attending church and playing sports.  It would have been easy to plaster the walls with pictures of B-52 bombers, and the destruction of the north, but there is little of that – just a few pictures and statements intended to convey a different perspective than an American view.  It was at once disappointing there wasn’t more to the display, yet relief at not having to put up with obvious falsehoods.

As I wrote on Reunification Day, I am proud of my service in Việt Nam during the war, but as an objective student of history, I understand differences in perspective.  The Vietnamese were on the receiving end of a lot of bombs, and Americans remember their POWs.

Thankfully, this prison will never be used again.  Hopefully, mankind’s only prisons will be museums such as Hỏa Lò.

(Preparing for Bilbo’s eleventy first birthday.)

Hà Nội is Not Việt Nam

This is our fifth day back in Việt Nam, and except for the one day excursion to Ha Long Bay, we have been in Hà Nội all the time.

This city of 3 million people is booming.  Peering out the narrow view available from my hotel room on the eight floor of our hotel, I can see no fewer then seventeen construction cranes – the kind used to build large structures. 

Seventeen!

The four-lane divided boulevard in front of the hotel is crowded with taxis, busses, motorbikes, trucks, and every other conveyance imaginable – all equipped with well used horns.  Just about everyone you come in contact with speaks a little English – or is trying to learn.  It is not uncommon to see the prices on restaurant menus shown in US dollars.  Hamburgers are easy to come by, pizza is available by home delivery, and BMWs are not unusual sights.  Abject poverty is side-by-side with ostentatious wealth.  It is the capital city of the country.  Western expatriates are as common as pigeons in a park.  MTV and CNN are on the television, and lithe young girls wear t-shirts with cute English expressions written on the front.  Sitting in an open-air Trung Nguyên coffee joint is too noisy to talk over the traffic noise and the music.  Freshly painted signs tell of the upcoming sixtieth anniversary of the nation’s independence.

Hà Nội’s only competition is Hồ Chi Minh City – the brash city of the south formerly known as Sài Gòn.  Hà Nội at one time was depicted as being more conservative – more genteel than Hồ Chi Minh City (HCMC).  While that is still true (HCMC is eight million people, and filled with glass and concrete skyscrapers), Hà Nội nonetheless is hardly “genteel” anymore.  The once quiet boulevards built  by the French – still beautifully landscaped and green - are now choking on traffic.  Cyclos are few and far between – and used mainly by tourists.  When asked what her hobby was, one university student told her interviewer that it was to make money.

But Hà Nội is not Việt Nam.

Neither is HCMC.

Even today, eighty percent of Việt Nam’s population lives in the countryside.

80%!  With a total population of almost 82 million, that means 65,600,000 Vietnamese live outside of HCMC, Hà Nội, Ðà Nãng, and Hué.

Hué is no megalopolis at 300,000 people, and it is much quieter and less frenetic than Hà Nội.  Hà Nội ladies have yet to start wearing tube tops or spaghetti straps as in HCMC, but one seldom sees an ao dai in Hà Nội as you would in Hué – but you do see lots of tight skirts in Hà Nội.  Cell phones are ubiquitous in Hà Nội, and while cell phones are readily seen in Hué, they are not everywhere.  We saw ATMs appear since we arrived in Hué.

Hué is not Việt Nam either, but it is closer to the countryside than either Hà Nội or HCMC.  Hué is changing too – and fast.  There will soon be an automobile assembly plant in Hué, and there are two large five star hotels under construction to accommodate the increasing numbers of western tourists coming to see the Citadel and the tombs of the emperors.

Hopefully, the upcoming year will allow me to take the time for me to travel to the countryside – hopefully to visit the villages of some of my students.

I want to know more about all of Việt Nam.

(Smaug was slain.  Bilbo and the dwarves are exploring the Lonely Mountain)

Ha Long Bay

It was our intention to return to Việt Nam a few days early so we could allow our aged bodies to adjust from the jet lag.  We also wanted time to be tourists before getting back to work.  On the morning after our arrival, we found out some of the new teachers were taking a Sunday trip to Ha Long Bay – so we went along.  It’s just north of Hải Phòng on the map.  (Don’t forget to click on the map and all the pictures to see a larger version.)

Ha Long (say hah loam) Bay is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth.  The quiet bay is filled with almost two thousand small granite islands said to resemble dragon’s teeth - the name Ha Long means “Descending Dragon.”  At 7:30 AM (remember – the Vietnamese are morning people) we boarded a small boat similar to those in the picture for a four hour slow tour of the bay. Note the large number of boats and people.  We were there on a Sunday in summer, at the absolute peak of the vacation season for the Vietnamese.  There were few foreign tourists, but the crowds of Vietnamese were huge.  Such numbers of people (most were families) demonstrates the economic progress made in Việt Nam over the past twenty years.  People have the disposable income to take such vacations.

None of the islands are inhabited – it would be impossible to walk about the steep slopes – but some have deep caves.  We explored one such cavern that supposedly had just been discovered in 1993.  Then it was back on the boat until we came to a small floating village.  The inhabitants’ primary source of income is reselling fish caught in the bay.  The floating middlemen buy the fish, hold them in nets suspended in the water, then transport them to the market place for resale.  Note the television antennae on the houses.

Then it was back to the mainland for the three hour trip back to Hà Nội.  We discovered our bodies had lied to us – they fooled us into thinking they had recuperated from jet lag in record time. But, they hadn’t and we about collapsed during the drive back – and went right to sleep when we got to our room.

This getting old stuff is not for wimps.

(Bilbo and the dwarves are about to enter Mirkwood.)

Traveling Tales

There were two hardy souls who got up early in the morning to see us off at the McAllen Airport – thanx Dennis and Mark.  It was the usual one hour flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth, where we spent a delightful two hours with another former University of Texas-Pan American employee – nice to see you Dave.

Then the long thirteen hours to Tokyo.  There’s not much to say about that leg of the trip, except to say I decided to return to a place I haven’t been in a long time.  I make a pilgrimage to Middle Earth every few years.  Doing it in proper order, I began with The Hobbit, but I brought the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy along for reading through the fall.  I first read Tolkein’s masterpieces in 1969 – on a flight to Việt Nam.  Though I am a big fan of the movies, nonetheless, anyone who has not read the books is cheating himself.  I truly don’t know how many times I have read the Lord of the Rings – but I’m sure the number is in the twenties.

Tokyo’s Narita airport is new and modern, and we spent an uneventful five hours there waiting for the final flight into Ha Noi.  As we were getting ready to board the flight, I discovered I had left my favorite Boston Red Sox World Series Champions hat on the airplane from Dallas.  Sorry, Russell – I was looking forward to having it well “broken in” by next June.

Arrival in Ha Noi was uneventful.  We were met by Liz, a fellow teacher, and we got to know a new teacher who will be going on to Qui Nhon.  Though it was night time, I spent most of the time reading the signs and trying recall pronunciations.  This is so different from last February – everything then was new and exciting.  This time we know what we’re getting into, and we know we will have to go through a period of readjustment after our time back in America.

Tonight, we’ll sleep as long as we can (if past events hold true, we’ll wake about 4 AM),   Sleep should help get rid of the “fat ankles and feet” one always gets after a long flight.

Good night, Việt Nam.

See You From the Other Side

By the time you read this, we’ll be across the Pacific somewhere.  I really don’t know when I’ll be able to post again.  We spend time in Ha Noi for meetings (along with a short tourist excursion to Ha Long Bay), then fly to Hué on September 1st.  We’ll see ya when we see ya.

The Automobile and America

I became fascinated with America’s need of the automobile this summer.  I always knew we were addicted to the automobile, but I never really realized how much until I lived in Việt Nam for awhile.

Many foreigners are amazed at the size of our stores – and the variety of goods that are inside those stores.  But, there are only a few of these stores.  In Hué, every block has at least one little “Mom and Pop” store.  Its is easy to walk to, and if you can’t find what you need, there is another store very nearby.  Just outside the gate of our campus in Hué are three little stores – each doing quite well, thank you.  Americans trade off availability in order to have a large number of choices of items to buy.

Of course, there being fewer stores, a person needs an automobile to get to the store.  Americans don’t go to the market on a daily basis – they go only a few times per month because they have the ability to store food at home.  Few Vietnamese have refrigerators or large pantries – so they shop every day.  The little Vietnamese neighborhood stores would be impossible in America because we enact zoning laws to keep businesses out of our residential neighborhoods.  Zoning also is a de facto means of forcing our reliance on the auto.

The result?  Lots and lots of cars - - and because of the way our society is set up, we really do need an automobile.  The little motorbikes of Việt Nam would be run over in no time by the fast moving and larger automobiles.

So what happens to all these autos?

They die.

Goin’ Home

In less than a week, we’ll be heading back home.  Yes, home is Hué, Việt Nam.  It will be home until June, 2006.  I know our home here in America is where we have family and friends, but we also have friends in Việt Nam we are looking forward to seeing again.  Much has happened this summer that is positive and good – much awaits us in Việt Nam that is positive and good.

Some things were unexpected.  Our dance card stayed full all during the past two months as we were treated to dinner by many friends, and had many others over to our home.  We visited and chatted and worked.  We laughingly called the three weeks of driving and flying to visit family was “World Tour ‘05”.   I even got roped into doing Vacation Bible School – and loved it.

I look forward to going back on “Việt Nam Time.” No, I don’t mean the time zone per se.  I mean rather that the Vietnamese don’t put the emphasis on time we do in the West.  It didn’t take me long to get back in the American habit of looking at my watch constantly to be sure I was on schedule.  I like the Vietnamese way better.

As the expression goes, our life in Hué will be same-same, only different.  We’ll still be teaching at the same school, and we’ll be reunited with our teaching teammate, and we’ll be seeing our students, fellow teachers, and friends again.  But, we will not live in that tiny room again.  We’ll live in a hotel while we find a comfortable apartment or small house we can call home.  The Mystery Guest Blogger needs to nest, and we need some space to entertain guests and work with students.  Faculty members have no office space in Việt Nam, so any one-on-one work with students has to be done at home.

However, we will miss seeing some of our western friends as they will be going home themselves just as we return to Hué.  We’ll see them soon enough in the spring.  We also know that most likely, we will be the only Americans in Hué during the Christmas holidays.

Thanks to our families and friends for the love you showed us this summer.  Be sure to keep doing that – lift us up as often as you think of us.

Special Request for Vietnamese Readers

In the "It's Just the Way We Do Things" post directly below, Margaret makes some great comments about northern and southern Vietnamese.  I would love to have some of my Vietnamese readers, from both sides of the Pacific Ocean, comment on Margaret's comment.

It’s Just the Way We Do Things

Prior to leaving for Việt Nam last autumn, I read every book about Vietnamese culture I could get my hands on.  I learned that when one is invited to dinner in the northern areas of Việt Nam, it is polite to be exquisitely thankful, but nonetheless decline.  However, in the south, it is perfectly okay to accept.  The book said that the north has never been as agriculturally productive as the south, and food used to be hard to come by, and the unspoken social requirement was to decline the invitation to a meal even though there is plenty of food today.  I muttered something to myself about the difficulty of remembering all that.  Fortunately, we had only one invitation to eat at someone else’s home in Hué last spring, and I knew her invitation was sincere.  (Thanx, Oanh.  Only the conversation was better than the food.)

Today, I was listening to C going through our peculiar, yet similar, American protocol.  We’ve had numerous invitations for dinner this summer, so C is quite knowledgeable  with the customs.  The phone conversation goes something like this:

“Oh, hi, Becky!  It sure was good to see you Sunday at church.”

Unintelligible voice over the phone.

“We’d love to join you for dinner on Tuesday night.”  (Now comes the important part.)  “What can I bring?”

Now, C knows darn well the hostess is going to say something like “Oh, just bring yourselves and your appetite” or “Not a thing – I’ve got everything we need”  or “Thanx, C, but we’re just so delighted to have you over that I don’t want you to bring a thing.”

But - - the ritual is  not over, and C knows it.  You see, it is not enough to offer to  bring something once – you have to sound insistent.  So after another short bit of conversation, C says”  “Now, Becky– are you sure I can’t bring something?  How about a salad or dessert.”  Of course, the expected response is “Goodness no, Cindy.  I’m just fine.  We’ll see you Tuesday night.”

And I thought Vietnamese social relationships were complex.

This and That

After six months in Asia,  one sees things not previously noticed.  Some things.

I had truly expected most people to express interest in our living in Việt Nam – but for only about 5 minutes.  That proved to be true for the most part, but in the past few days, we have had sincere and deep questions about our experiences.  Our core of close friends have been great – and the additional pounds around the waist from too many dinners with friends are good evidence of the deep caring we experienced.

I knew it would happen, and it did.  I choked on the materialism of my country.  This is a picture of  four beautifully restored rare automobiles.  I was told the approximate value is about $450,000.  The owner keeps them well maintained, but hardly ever drives them – seldom visits them.

$450,000!  Incredible!

Of course, average Americans aren’t pikers either.  Here’s a shot of a parking lot full of autos, most of which are huge, and are occupied by one person.  And - I got a little tired of the kvetching I heard about oil prices.  </rant>

Good Vietnamese food is available in South Texas.  Find Hop Tung on 10th Street in McAllen for some good bun cha gio and phỏ.  Both are as good as we get in Hué – just a lot more expensive.  That’s not a complaint – labor, air conditioning, and paint all cost money. 

Our students assume we are cowboys merely because we live in Texas.  We’re not, but I may have difficulty convincing them we’re not cowboys once they see this picture taken in front of our church.

Denver may be at 5,550 feet (1,700 meters), but it was hot!  100 degrees (38 Celsius), but we survived it – only to intentionally drive back home towards Hurricane Emily.

Kitties remembered us after six months.  Critters are smarter than I thought.

Those of us who were new teachers to Asia need validation of our experiences.  We talked to a fellow “former newbie” today about her time in China – and her return to America.

I miss my students and friends in Hué.

Visiting the two elderly mothers was a picture of things to come.  I didn’t like the image.

Visiting our son and his family energized me.

I am truly enjoying my evening cigar and having a comfortable chair to read books in.  I found I didn’t miss television much in Việt Nam, and can’t say I’ve watched all that much of it back home.

Talking to old friends – even if only on the phone – is great.  Some old friends are doing fine.  Others still need prayer.

I’ve learned (again) that life is good – just as the Creator intended it to be.