Ok I know it's Wednesday and I'm a few days late posting last week's blog, but as my social life has seemed to boom out of all control this last couple of weeks, I make no apologies. It's with some of my new found friends / contacts that this week's blog topic comes from. I have found out some very interesting opinions and pieces of information about Vietnamese life from my social exploits this week. Especially after this morning' kidnapping by my neighbours, where the guys from the nearby hotel took me for a morning coffee.. which actually turned out to be breakfast (I'd already eaten breakfast), then on to coffee afterwards... this all started at 0745, and considering I started work at 0800 I was relatively laid back about the whole thing!
Just sticking to recent events in the last couple of days I must comment on the generosity of my friends here, as I think I have only paid for two meals in the last 5 days: this morning's breakfast, last night's dinner and lunch, and Sunday's breakfast and lunch were all 'taken care of' by one or another friend. I'm presuming this is just part of the hospitality of the people here, and not because I must look rough as hell as I have grown a small beard. Either way, it's all good from a volunteer's point of view! I'm not really as tight as this little paragraph suggests. I can hear serious laughter coming from the Ellis household at that last comment! Ok enough about the free food, and on to last week's fun and games.
So after some recent late night beers in the nearby 'Phuc An Hotel' (excellent hotel with free bicycles... and pool, and it's on my street -this is not shameless advertising...), I had promised I'd go for a little drinking session with the boys out of work hours! So on Saturday, despite me feeling a little tired and ill, I joined the three guys for some rice wine, beer and plenty of food at a local place here in Hoi An. After plenty of funny discussion about why only the men seemed to be out drinking all the time, and several glasses of beer later, I realised we were getting back to home via the motorcycles.... I have to admit that it is very scary to realise how quickly I have stopped condemning the drink drive policy here, I mean people don't see it as an issue, and I don't personally drink a lot and drive a motorcycle... I'm dangerous enough when I'm sober on a motorcycle!So after drinks Saturday afternoon, to coffee and breakfast Sunday morning. As I have mentioned things are now almost official with my move to Da Nang City. I currently live in the beautiful little town of Hoi An, 1 hour from Da Nang by motorcycle. I am finishing with my NGO (Non-Government Organisation - Childrens Hope In Action -CHIA), working with disabled children, to move to a government-run Hospital in the centre of Da Nang - I have been invited to volunteer there for one month to introduce the concept of my profession (Occupational Therapy) to the rehabilitation staff, by some basic training, presentations and practical demonstrations of what I can do for the patients. If this period is successful there may be some opportunity to return to this hospital for a longer period, and in a paid capacity, because I can no longer afford to be generous anymore!! (hint hint for Xmas present expectations).
This will be an interesting challenge as working within Government institutions can be riddled with bureaucracy. I'm not saying it's all bad but there are some serious issues to consider here in Vietnam. Through a very interesting breakfast discussion I was informed that one of the major benefits of a government job, is life long job security, and a pension. now the pension is only received after 30 years of service, and as women have an official retirement age of 55, then you better have a job in a government job by the age of 25, or your luck's out! Also in some parts of this system, I was told there is a policy of Government employees only being allowed to have 2 children. I know I know... this sounds pretty extreme at first right? I mean what happens if you get pregnant again after having 2 kids... (birth control is about as well used here as a husky dog in the Sahara desert!) Well the answer is you might well lose your job. On further investigation, you ask yourself why would people normally have big families in the first place? Well considering family dynamics are very very different here, and lots of families live together, parents kids and grandparents... your kids are the people who are going to look after you when you are old.. no free health care here, or homes for the elderly. But of course if you are going to get a pension, then you don't necessarily need the kids to be looking after you (at least not financially)... I'm not really sure what I think of this kind of situation, and today one of my Vietnamese colleagues said this was not true of all Government positions. Still coming from a land such as the UK where I personally, and somewhat controversially, feel that human individual rights have gone to the other extreme, (where someone robbing your home can sue you for injury they receive in your home), I'm not entirely shocked by this recent revelation!
From Sunday morning's coffee and breakfast to Sunday evening's street entertainment. Whilst waiting for the evenings football antics to begin on TV I could see some kind of little stage being prepared at the end of the street. being the curious,( ok well just plain nosey) I wandered up the end of the street, past several of my lovely neighbours.. see pictures below...
At the beginning and end of most of the small little districts there are little archways / gateways, and our neighbourhood had just had our newly painted, I soon realised it was for some kind of celebration (60 year anniversary was my best guess) and so in true Hoi An wisdom they closed the road off at one end, leaving several cars and vans near the hotel, stuck trying to get their vehicles through the other end of the street, which is so narrow that it's like trying to get squeeze the titanic through your bath tub... somewhat scary is how they actually manage to do it here! anyway, I digress... the celebration was really typical here... a stage, with a bunch of flowers, a women in a tight long shiny traditional dress, and then random people appearing and singing as if it there one shot at international stardom. The front of the stage was hardly rocking, as people are not encouraged to show public emotion... and that applies to the singers of karaoke who sing the kind of emotionally charged songs, with the expression of a funeral director. I have often wondered why with so many karaoke songs here being about 'lost love', 'remaining alone for life' or wandering the mountains and seas for the only chance of happiness' people aren't jumping off the bridge into the river more often! Now I realise because there is no emotion to drive this extreme behaviour...
I often joke about the nature of these near suicidal songs (which you can hear around town almost every night), with my neighbours from across the road. I continue to try and find a happy and jolly Vietnamese Karaoke song, that leaves people with the same kind of feeling as a drunken version of the YMCA or TIMEWARP. So far I have only found songs that sound like a Celine Dion number on slow play!!! The search continues!Ok I think that about wraps it up for last week's action.
Regards from Vietnam
Dan
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