2nd July 2006 – 20:56 – Home
I was watching Discovery Channel in the morning. The program was about how the chimpanzees behave like human beings and how they make use of spoken language for simple communication. According to some scientists, they use a language, which is very similar to ours. To prove their theory, they first recorded the sounds which are produced by the chimpanzees when they were shown different fruits. Then, scientists showed four pictures of different fruits to one chimpanzee and at the same time a computer produced the sound which corresponded to one of these fruit’s name in –so called- chimp’s language. In each trial, the chimpanzee chose the right picture. This theory reminded me another thing I saw everyday: The language of honks.
Here, one must be very careful with honks. No driver honks if you stand at the middle of the road, because you do not cause a problem. They honk when they approach to a junction in order to avoid a possible crash. They also honk when they drive their cars or motorbikes during red light or during the time they are not supposed to move. Honk means basically “I am coming, get out of my way”. If it is long and continuous, this means “I am coming fast”. If it is discrete but frequent, this means “I am doing something wrong, forgive me and let me go”. If it is discrete and infrequent, then this means “Nothing is wrong. I am going on my way. You can ignore me”. They honk so often that after a while you get used to it and you start not to hear it. It is one of city’s infinite sounds. It comes from heart of the city and it belongs to here. On the first days, I was quite scared of traffic because of the chaotic scene. Now, I just walk on the streets as if it is normal. Even crossing the road was a big problem at the beginning. Now, I don’t look at left or right any more. I just walk without stopping. It is easier to walk among the motorbikes without looking at what is coming towards me. As long as they can see me and I move slowly and constantly in one direction, there will be no accident. If I suddenly stop or suddenly start to run, I might be hit.
On Friday evening, I and J joined to our newcomer friends in a Vietnamese Restaurant. We were all around 10-12 people. Except for one Canadian and one American friend, everyone was Asian. We went to a local Vietnamese restaurant to have some noodles. It was delicious noodle soup with some crap pastry in it. The restaurant was behind Ben Than Market but for most of us it was difficult to find. While eating, I saw some customers popped their paper towel bags to use their wet paper towels. It was first disturbing because whoever sits on a table, the first thing they do is to pop the plastic bag and attract others’ attention for a few seconds. Later, I realized that it is part of culture and I am one of the few foreigners who really care about the noise. Before we left, a well-dressed Western couple came to the restaurant and they did the same thing. After this moment, I took the plastic bag in my hand and popped it loudly.
After finishing our dinner, we all together went to Latin Bar to watch Argentina-Germany match. It was a three floor bar located at the city center. We went to the top floor to watch the match on a large screen TV. After we arrive to the third floor, a Vietnamese couple also sat behind us. I was expecting them to join us and watch TV but they were busy with kissing each other. I saw them whenever I needed to go to the toilet after starting to drink. They were in a hot mood and it seems like nothing bothered them. This is another thing, which surprises me about Vietnam. Unlike any other Asian countries, in Vietnam, showing affection in public is quite normal. If you walk on the streets, you can see couples kissing each other on parked motorbikes. Not only one, they are in a row beside Pham Ngu Lao road or in the parks of the city. The thing I did not understand is why they don’t go to more private places! Is it because hotels are expensive? Or Is it because they don’t want to go further than kissing and hugging? I call them ‘motorbike hotels’ since it is difficult to find them in other countries of Asia. I believe it is a good sign for the future of the youth in Vietnam, because at least they are not shy any more and they don’t need to hide their feelings. If love is part of our nature, we should be able to live it naturally. The more young people can learn how to love and how to keep love as a precious gift, the fewer people in the society will need to go after prostitutes.
The couple stopped kissing each other during the penalties. M woke up. J tried to understand what was going on. I was so excited that I could not sit. At the end, Argentina lost. We were all supporting Argentina without knowing why! I guess I have my own reason from my own personal history. The first world cup I remember is Mexico 86. In that tournament, Argentina played with West Germany in the final. I was nine years old and somehow I was cheering for Maradona’s blues. Argentina won the match 3-2 and made me happy. This old memoir was my only reason to support Argentina this time. We took a taxi and went home. It was almost 1 am in the morning by the time we arrived at home. I was tired and feeling a little bit dizzy. I went straight to bed and had a long, smooth sleep.
Next morning, I woke up early because I had a class at 9:30. I went to school and did my teaching. The only bad thing was I learnt that the school’s Internet Service Provider blocked the access to gmail accounts. I can not use my personal e-mail in the school any more and I don’t want to use the e-mail address, which is provided by the school, for sending e-mails to friends or family members. Now, I am just hoping that ADSL will be installed to my house very soon and keep me away from noisy, crowded and even expensive internet cafes.
Today, I bought tickets from a tour company to visit Cao Dai temple and Cu Chi tunnels. It is only 5 USD to go and come back by the tour company’s bus. Tonight, I will read more about these two places. I hope I can write something different after going to somewhere different.
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