Letters from Vietnam 5

20 June 2006 – Tuesday – 09:48

I could not write for last few days. There are many notes in my notebook but it seems like there is no enough time to write. J came and we usually spend time to look for an apartment or to find some food which can satisfy both of us. Actually, I have slept more than 10 hours last night. This is my record in Vietnam. In the first few days, I had big problem in sleeping. This might be because of the constant noise coming from Pham Ngu Lao Road or because of the stress built in me due to the new job or new location. Now, I feel better and I think things will get all right soon.

I woke up with the heat on Saturday morning. The room was too hot because AC was not working. Later I noticed that there is no power in the whole building. I took shower and went down to ask about the problem. Ving –the maid in the hotel- told me that power was cut by the electricity company and it will be ok in a few hours. I did not mind much since my plan was to travel in the city for the whole day. I went out and began my all-day walking.

As I mentioned before, walking is one of the most challenging activities in HCMC. It is challenging because you are not allowed to enjoy it. There are spontaneous incoming invitations from motorbike drivers in every five seconds. Some give up easily; some follow you to ask more questions. One guy asked me where I was going and I told him “I don’t know”. I later understood what kind of mistake I did. He took a piece of laminated paper from his pocket and showed me all the potential places I may like to visit. There was a long list of museums, churches and other places which are worth to visit. I again told him that “I just want to walk and see the city”. This time, he took a large notebook from the basket of his motorbike. It was a customer portfolio. There were acknowledgments in different languages and there were pictures of the guy with different foreign tourists. He helped these people in the past and they wrote for him after the service. I have seen this kind of portfolios before in hotels or restaurants. They were proud of some famous people who came to their restaurant or hotel. This guy was doing exactly the same thing. Showing me this portfolio means saying “trust me! These people trusted me and they did not lose”. In fact, I did not have any problem in trusting him. My problem –if it can be considered as a problem- is more personal. I just want to enjoy walking. After rejecting one more time, he returned to the last weapon again. If I don’t want to go to museums with him, then I must be looking for only one thing: Women. He asked me if I want. I said “No” again, this time angrily. I walked faster as if I am escaping. I did not look back.

After passing Ben Tanh market, I entered one of the streets which connect other parts of the city to Ben Than circle. I walked a little and saw a small mosque beside the road. First, I have hesitated to enter since I don’t really have intention of praying. However, I know that muslim people always welcome other muslims and I thought I could make a few friends here. I entered the mosque and greeted a guy with ‘selamun aleykum’. He first seemed astonished since I do not look like muslim or I am not a member of the local muslim community. Once he realized that I could be a muslim, he took me inside the mosque. Some old people were sitting on the tiled floor and chatting. One old man approached me and asked me a few questions first in Arabic, then in English. I talked with him for more than 15 minutes about the muslim people’s lives in Vietnam. He told me that there are 25,000 muslim people living in only HCMC and there are 40 mosques in the city. When I asked him about the communist era, his answer was different from my expectation. He said, they were always free in choosing and living their religions and there happened no kind of any political pressure on them. After our conversation, he invited me inside the mosque for praying. I went in and imam started to read some known suras from Qur’an like Ihlas, beginning of Bakara and end of Amme. When imam started to read “salat-en tuncina”, it almost made me burst in tears. This was the short prayer we used to recite five times a day after farz of each namaz during my university years. Especially, when imam came to the point of saying “wel-afat”, I turned my hands down as if I was in one of those old days. This nostalgia took me back in years and I forgot where I was and what I was doing. I was in Istanbul, in a house, with a few friends. They were good days with no much thought but a lot of action in. There were days I was always busy with doing something new for others and leaving myself behind…

At the end of chanting, we went out again. There were some kind of food on the floor waiting for us. First I did not want to eat because there were no spoons and forks. We were supposed to eat by hand and I neither wanted to eat by hands nor wanted to demand spoon. When they asked me to sit and enjoy the food, I could not say no. I sat and ate as if it is very normal to me. The food was fried noddles and some goat meat. I used my two fingers and ate as much as I could. Actually, this was not the first time I have seen this scene. I also saw muslim people eating by hands at a mosque in Singapore but there we had an option of using spoon. Here, there was no option. After finishing the meal, they gave me some fruits. When I said no, they put the plastic bag into my sports bag. I realized that the traditions in muslim communities are the same almost everywhere in the world. If you are a guest –even uninvited- , you have to obey the rules of your host and the only job of the host is to make the guest satisfied in his/her visit.

I left the mosque with great feelings. I thanked them many times for the hospitality and promised them I would come to see them again.

Letters from Vietnam 4

18 June 2006 – Sunday – Hotel Room – 11:12

This country is living. It is like an organism. It breathes and grows. That is why so many foreigners come to live in Vietnam. They live here and they complain about the life in Vietnam. These two things must be together, otherwise there would not be enough reason to spend time here. Foreigners here complain about the way Vietnamese people live their own life. At the end, this is none of their business because Vietnamese people do not really have interest in ‘Western’ guests’ life styles. Two different societies live together with different perspectives. There is a dynamic, young, enthusiastic Vietnamese population and there is a ‘Western’ population which seeks benefit from this dynamism. The point is they enjoy this dynamism of the society because it makes them feel they are away from their home. If they go back to their home country, they have to face rigid rules of society and individualism. Here, people smile and respect them. The more Vietnamese people start to enjoy ‘Western’ life style, the fewer foreigners will enjoy the life in Vietnam. It will lose its authenticity. Coming to Vietnam must be different from going to Holland or California.

Whenever I pass through the streets, I see large billboards with red background and Ho Chi Minh pictures. They are everywhere. There are also many party headquarters in almost every street. When you look at inside, you can see a few old people watching TV or reading newspapers. There is a table and a few chairs inside the room, and nothing more! I still did not understand the function of these empty places. Are they still working as they worked during the communist party years? Actually, Vietnam is still a socialist country. On the paper, the official name of the country is Socialist Republic of Vietnam. If you walk on the streets, you can see all signs of capitalism. I guess, Vietnam –like China- is in the process of change. It might cause confusion in society until it gets ready to accept the change.

There is another thing whose ‘raison d’etre’ I did not understand. There are some young guys riding bicycle on the streets and they make a mechanical sound to get attention of the passer-bys. I looked at their basket and saw a few metalic tools. I guess they fix something! They might be fixing flat tyres of motorbikes or any other problems. I will ask someone if I see them again.

Walking on the streets is not as easy as I thought. Especially if you are a single man, there are so many interruptions. First, you have to deal with motorcycle taxis. They insist that walking is bad for your health. They also can take you where you want to go because they know the city –and you don’t know. If you can persuade them that you know where you are going or you just want to walk, they use their second weapon. They show you a piece of brochure with pictures of some nude girls. They offer to take you to a brothel. This part is funny because even if you say no and walk away, they shout behind you as if you are getting away due to a failure in negotiation of the price. There is one guy in front of my hotel. He asks me almost everyday and I say him “No” everyday. Neither he gives up nor do I. After second or third day, I told him that I was married and I was not interested in those places. He said ‘sorry’ and I walked away. Next day, he asked me the same thing again. I guess he has a poor memory or he thinks one day I will give up saying no… I should say he is doing his job but I wonder why I look an easy prey for him!

One thing amazes me about Vietnam is cost of living. The incomes of people are not more than those of Thai people, but here cost of living is higher. The rent rates are almost twice as Bangkok. I wanted to rent an apartment with one bedroom and one living room. This costs around 300 – 400 US$ which can be 100-200 US$ in Thailand. I guess, the foreign influence made this country expensive for visitors. There are so many foreigners living here and they can not buy land or apartment. This means Vietnamese people can make money from foreigners easily and even if they increase the prices, there are always some richer people to pay for it. Whenever I meet with a friend in school, we start talking about his/her residence and the rates. What is included in the price? Does s/he have ADSL? How much does s/he pay for electricity and water? Some of the newcomers have already rented an apartment. I am planning to rent an apartment at the beginning of July. Once J comes, we can look for a nice place with a reasonable price. I have been staying in this hotel room and I started to feel extremely confined here. It is one room only and it is on the street of tourists and pimps. Whenever I go out to have dinner or to use internet, I am getting called by the people around me. I prefer silence and privacy. And I want to eat home-cooked food! Going outside three times a day and eating food which I am not get used to are not the way I like. I miss home-cooked Thai food. If I have chance, I will cook myself.

On Sunday, there was a welcome party at the house of vice-president of the university. I went there, had some beers and some grilled beef. There were so many people and because everyone wanted to meet with the new staff, I met with more than 20 people. I can’t remember even a single name! There were two Thai women in the party. They were wives of two academics. One of them was pregnant. The other one was a truly Isan woman, I spoke with her in Thai. I also met with husbands of our Filipino friends, they are both nice guys. Unfortunately, one day before I promised J that I will be available for chat at 7 pm, I left the party earlier. I took a motorbike taxi –again!- and arrived at internet café. J was online and waiting for me… I learnt that she bought a ticket and coming to HCMC on Sunday. I went home with a smile on my face; even the pimps on the street did not bother me…

Letters from Vietnam 3

14 June 2006 – Thursday – Hotel Room – 19:17

This morning was the first time I woke up with alarm clock. Last three days, I always woke up before the alarm rang but today I was stubborn enough to keep myself in the bed until 7 am. One thing I did not like about Vietnam is time. We are nearly 1000 kms far from Bangkok and sun rises here nearly 1 hour before it rises in Bangkok. However, HCMC and Bangkok are in the same time zones. This means sun rises before 6 o’clock here but people still start working mostly around 8 am. I get used to wake up at 6 am in Bangkok so I can be in school at 7 am. Here, the school bus takes me at 8:15. I cannot find things to do in the morning to waste my time. I go to meeting point earlier and wait in the sun while sweating wet…

I believe the best way to make friends in a foreign community is playing sports with them. After coming back to my room I grapped my badminton racket and went outside. Many people were playing badminton just in front of my hotel –in the park which goes along with Pham Ngu Lao road- . I saw three people playing and went to join them. One of them was speaking a little bit English. He told me his name, I told him mine. I guess neither of us understood each other’s names. I called him Naam which is a common name for girls in Thailand and he called me Alex. We started to hit the birdy until we could not see it anymore due to the darkness. I left the park with a strong hope of meeting them again. It was good since I had three Vietnamese friends and I guess I also learnt a few new Vietnamese words…

When I tried to cross the street, I was hit by a motorbike. I was crossing half of the road and was waiting for the other half while looking at right –same as Turkey- for a good time. At that moment, a motorbike came from my left side and hit my hand. The driver did not stop although I yelled at him. He was driving fast. I crossed other half of the road. It did not hurt much but gave me an idea about my carelessness. If I would been hit on these roads, nobody would mind what really happened to me. I am alone and I have to be more careful.

Whenever I arrive at my hotel room, I find some of my things moved or changed their positions. On the first day, they moved everything in my room to another room at upstairs. On the second day, I have found that they folded my clothes carefully and put them in the bookshelf which was not in my room one day before. Today, I found they washed my coffee mug and put it in the bathroom upside-down. There is a face picture of J on this mug and whoever washed this mug, she might know that she was putting my wife’s picture upside-down. Of course, she would not know how much I missed my wife nowadays. Her absence is a vacuum in my mind. I can not sleep well at nights and I have difficulty in paying attention to the important things. Once a person gets used to live with someone, it is very hard to get used to live without her/him. When I called her last night, I told her “whenever you feel ready, come to HCMC, don’t wait there alone”. I wish she will be here soon. After she comes, we can look for a nice apartment. She can cook as usual and we can have our normal life as before.

It is interesting that sometimes I forget that I am in Vietnam. People’s faces are different from Thai people but still they are Asian. I speak with them in Thai supposing that they can understand. Most of the people here do not speak English. In the university, we have several Vietnamese lecturers who are native speakers of English. They were born in Vietnam but moved to USA or Australia when they were very young. All the personnel of the university also speak good English. The environment of the university is very different from outside world. Inside the university campus, there are rules and we are not supposed to ignore any rule. Everyone speaks English and there is no problem with communication. Even the food in the school’s cafeteria is amazing. I ate “kus kus” yesterday. There is cheese, all sorts of sandwiches, apple pie, Greek salad and nice coffee in the cafeteria.

I can not read nowadays. I started to read Ismail Kadare’s ‘Palace of Dreams’ before coming to Vietnam but I haven’t completed it yet. It is a good story but somehow I am busy with other things. Every morning, I read a few pages and rest of the day passes like a lightning. I usually come to my room with a tired body and a busy mind. I am also planning to read some history of Vietnam. It looks very interesting since there were many power struggles over this land. Chinese, French, American and finally Vietnamese! It is a long and complicated history. I am also looking for a teacher who can teach me some basic Vietnamese to survive in this society without looking fool.

This is my fourth day in HCMC but I know nothing about this place. I only know the road between my hotel and the school. This weekend, I want to go somewhere away from the city, it might be Mekong river delta or Cu Chi tunnels. I might ask some friends in the school and we might go together.

Letters from Vietnam 2

14 June 2006 – Wednesday – 20:38 – Hotel room

Internet does not work today. I tried to connect many times but it did not work. I still think as if I had a sweet dream last night. What else it could be?

Yesterday, I met with an American guy in a fast food restaurant. He recognized me as a Turkish person from my accent. He said he used to work at a Turkish school in HCMC. I was surprised since I did not know there is a Turkish school in HCMC. I know there is one in Hanoi. He said he has been living in Vietnam for more than 3 years and always working as a language instructor. When I told him that I am working in RMIT, he said it is one of the best place to work for foreign teachers. We later talked about rent prices and books. Today, I sent him an e-mail and still waiting his answer.

Yesterday in workshop, we discussed plagiarism for one and a half hour. We all know that plagiarism is a bad thing and it should be considered as stealing. When I asked the members of my group the pirate movies, they said it was different. Actually, I did not raise the real question which was in my mind: Is it possible to have an idea for which we will not be blamed for plagiarism? We all learn from each other and we all owe something to others. We usually do not give names when we repeat a piece of information. At the end, we are the sum of all the knowledge we have got through books, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, internet etc… Therefore, how can we claim that an idea is ours? How can we know that we did not steal it?

I am definitely against plagiarism, especially for the students’ assignments and homework. In Asia, it is quite common to let someone else do one’s own homework or to copy it exactly and submit it as an original work. As a math teacher, it is very easy to detect those students since when one makes it wrong then all the others make the same mistake. When the instructor asked us what kind of measure we should take to stop this, I said, “punish them”. I knew that it will not work but it is the only thing that can be said. If plagiarism is a crime –it is a crime I believe-, then commiters must be punished. Someone offered a “board of shame” for those who plagiarise, someone offered “fail them”. One Vietnemese lady said it is cultural. I disagreed with her since identifying something as ‘cultural’ is an easy way to avoid the solution. “It is cultural” then we can not solve it! I am 100 % sure that plagiarism has nothing to do with culture. If we want to say Asian culture encourages people to steal, then it is an insult to all these people! Culture is shaped by the people; it does not come from space. These are the people who created this culture and these are the people who will change it. Plagiarism does not come from the culture; it comes from lack of culture or cultural confusion. Asian societies want to catch up western societies without taking the steps which had been taken by western civilization. In this race, money, business, science, finance and technology are important things but ethics can be considered secondary. People in this society worship only one thing: Speed. Truth is much behind the speed. If my friend does his homework, I copy from him not because it is correct but because I am not willing to do it myself. Since I do not have my own voice, I have to steal from others. This may seem like a cultural problem but no parent in Asia encourages their children to steal. Someone said it is because of lack of confidence in a second language. It is correct. My question is how many of us can write an article in a language which is not our first language? Many of the instructors in the university can only speak one language: English. Although some of them have been living in Vietnam for more than 5 years, they do not bother to learn the language of the country. They can not read, they can not write, they can not speak! But the same people can easily judge students who are trying to write and study in a foreign language. Writing an assignment in a second languge can not be an excuse for plagiarism but those who blame students for laziness should first look at themselves.

Today, I took a public bus to go back to my hotel room. Behind me, there was an old lady sitting. When I tried to close the window, she said “don’t close, I need fresh air”. I was shocked because she spoke very clear English. Later I learnt that she is 63 years old –am I not supposed to meet younger girls?- and she had studied French in high school. She also said she was fluent in French. She said a few words in French but I did not understand. When we both stopped talking, I started to look at out of the window. There were motorbikes and bicycles around the bus. The bus driver was trying to break all the traffic rules by driving at the middle of the road –closing one half of the opposite road- and scaring all the bike riders –or only me-… The air outside was very dirty and most of the people were wearing masks on their noses and mouths. I wondered at that time what that old lady meant by saying “please keep the window open, I need fresh air” …

Letters from Vietnam 1

12 June 2006 – Monday – 22:21

This is very strange! How could I possibly connect to internet without paying money? I just inserted the wireless card and it connected my computer to internet. I sent e-mail and I received e-mails. It is like a dream. I don’t need to go to crowded internet cafes any more. Somehow, I got lucky…

Today started very quickly. I woke up at 6 as usual, took hot shower and went to downstairs. I left my laundry in the office and picked my passport from the desk. In front of the building, motorbikes already started their buzzing and beeping orchestra. For me, this is the sound of a city which is waking up from a deep sleep. One man saw me and asked me where I am going. I told him the name of the market I need to go for the school bus. Even though he did not understand where I am going, he told me to ride behind him. I did but before that I asked the price. He said 10,000 don which is about 25 Baht. On the road, he stopped and asked a man to talk with me. I told where I want to go to that guy. He told the driver where I want to go and the driver smiled. He took me to the market place. I was planning to wait for the school bus there. I entered the big shopping bazaar and walked through for a while, looking for something to eat. There were so many people around but they were eating some kind of soup or rice puddings. Since I could not be sure with the ingredients of their food, I sat on a little chair and drank only coffee which was too sweet and a little bit thick.

I did not wait for the bus for which I later regretted. I took another motorbike to go to school. The driver said that it would cost 30,000 dong which is about 80 Baht. I said ok since taxis go there for 150 Baht. My idea was to go to school as soon as possible. On the motorbike, I had the scariest journey of my life. There is no traffic rule on the roads. Every single vehicle moves at the same time, they all honk and they all move. My driver did not stop one time during the whole trip. Even the red light could not stop him. He constantly drove until we got to school. Once we got to school, I said to myself “never again”.

It is interesting that this entire chaotic scene does not bother local people. Nobody seems unhappy with this chaotic environment. They more or less seem to endorse the idea(?!) that it is normal and life is going on as usual. I am the one who makes the trouble because I had not adapted to the environment yet. Since I come from relatively modern and ordered place (Bangkok), I am scared by this situation. Actually, for them there must be an order in this chaos otherwise they will not get used to it. Definitely, it is true that human being is the most adaptive animal. We adapt to any kind of environment much faster than any other living organism. I am sure, if we put a western standard on a road one morning, they will get confused and they will find it nonsense. Although this rule may seem us as a “standard”, it may seem “unnecessary” to local people. This is because we want to see the world with the colors we got used to. David Hume might be right! All the laws of nature are nothing more than psychological conditioning. We wait thunder just after lightening because we have seen it since our childhood. In fact, there is no real necessity for one following the other one. At least, this necessity can not be called logical, therefore universal. What we want to see is exactly what we have seen before. This only, of course, is not enough to make our inferences universal.

Actually, on the same motorbike, I tried to see this order. Everyone moves at the same time and no accident occurs. This means it works somehow. I am sure the death rate caused by motorbike accidents in Vietnam is much higher than many Western countries but this is nothing more than statistical data. There is something more important than this: The speed of life. Those who survive in this traffic are going on their life as usual. Otherwise, it would be impossible to keep these two dialectical forces: Speed of life versus danger of driving. There is an equilibrium point (exactly like demand-supply curves) and it keeps the life valuable to live for.