C = Courage and Communication Made Possible through Coffee

Communication. A field to major in, a vital necessity to dealing with people, a really short article on Wikipedia because everybody just knows what it is. That's what I'm devoting myself to today.

A delightful awakening this morning again at 5am, I noticed the day was already considerably cooler than the previous. Maybe I'm getting used to the muggy heat (nong, va thanh sac), or maybe the rain cooled things a bit.

I walked myself to the language institute this morning, intending to allocate 30 minutes to getting there but spending 15 minutes of that being confused by the lady at the guesthouse desk. She wanted to see my passport and customs card--maybe I look extra suspicious today.

Anyhow, walking was an adventure--I had to cross 3 streets and walk alongside one of the busiest routes in Saigon. Today people, I have walked out in front of a car and a stampede of motorbikes--and NOT been hit! It was like magic. Here's the 411 on safe street crossing:

1) Watch and see if there is a small green walking man-light across the street. There's probably not.

2) Take a deep breath, make a quick prayer, enjoy your life flashing before your eyes, and start walking. Try pretending the rushing cars and motorbikes aren't there.

3) KEEP GOING. There is to be no stopping, no stepping backwards, and no racing ahead. You'll die. Quickly.

4) You maaaaaaaaade it!! Now get over yourself and realize this is something the Vietnamese do every five minutes, and not just at the crosswalks.


So I walked past the language institute in my newfound glee--asked a Commie soldier for guidance, and all was well.

Language class today was exceedingly vital; I now know how to order food. My teacher Van and I had a great time role-playing waiter (nguoi phuc vu) and customer (khach hang) and ordering things to eat (do an) and to drink (uong). It was awesome, and I fully intended to try out my tasty vocab as soon as lessons were over.

She called for a break today (hom nay), and we both went and enjoyed free coffee (ca phe) in the lobby, chatting about her life goals/family/history. Van lives with her 1-year-old son, her husband and his parents, and she teaches English to Vietnamese children and Vietnamese to English dumbbells like myself. She is Catholic, and although she only attends mass on Sundays typically (cung chu nhat), she used to wake up at 4am to go to church with her parents EVERY DAY (thu).

Anyhow, the coffee was RIDICULOUSLY STRONG, and I am still wired and over-energized. She and I started talking Vietnamese/English (known as Vieglish here) much faster than before.

After lessons I wandered around for a bit, mustering up the coffee-induced courage to enter 3 or 4 Nokia phone stores and ask for a cheap phone (dien thoai) for just 2 months (hai thang). Mostly they had an English representative who honored my infantile Vietnamese. It was very disconcerting to hear "ohnlee 800,000" as the typical cited price.

Bought some "bottled water, please" (mot chai nuoc, lam on) and opted to go for lunch at the Cafe Stay. Actually, it was more like I was walking along and this man (anh) stood in front of me and ushered me excitedly into the restaurant. Yaaaaay. I put my lingual skills to the test and soon resorted to the time-honored tradition of finger-pointing. I ordered the number three (ba), which was a collection of rice (com), green plant stuff, a chicken wing (ga), two tasty sauces, and an apple juice (nuoc tao). They brought out a banana (chuoi) for me as well, which I don't think was included. Yaaaaay.

I asked the waiter what the sauce was (day la gi?) and he said something, to which I replied "Ngon qua!" (it's delicious). I'm pretty sure his wide grin was the fact that I complimented something that is usually served with a meal, kind of if someone went to an American restaurant and said enthusiastically "This salt is FANTASTIC!" Oh, well. It was appreciated, and the chef smiled and waved at me. "Hen gap lai"--see you later!

So you can see, I'm expanding my vocabulary like crazy and trying it out on everything (including you, my poor blog readers). Hope you aren't sick of the Vietnamese vocab, I'll try and not convert everything in future posts--I'm just really really excited and jazzed up on coffee.

All in all, I'm pretty excited about the Vietnamese language. It's utterly different from English, with the exception of using the same letters (a rarity in most Asian languages). Even when I was learning Spanish in high school and college I cringed at using it in Mexican restaurants and even in Mexico. Something about getting laughed at or saying something dirty on accident. Here, however, it's sink or swim, and in this heat I'm all for swimming (di boi). Given a few weeks, who knows?

I miss yall--"Em nho ban!"
Highlights of the day: the most grandiose post office I've ever laid eyes on where I was besieged by university students (whom I mistook for 12-year-olds) asking for a survey; checking out a park where a fireworks celebration for Uncle Ho will soon take place; discovering that the Vietnamese don't lick their letters, they use a brush and a bowl of glue; chatting with a motorcycle man; being told "You are real nice" by two giggling young men. Awkward, but hey. I just smiled and said "thank you" in Vietnamese.