Highlights from Hanoi and Haiphong
04/25/2009
What makes something an adventure? Is it the mystery, the unexpectedness, the drama? In my case, it definitely involves going with the flow. On Friday morning I checked out of the Serenity Hotel before 11, when I expected the driver from the U.S. Embassy to arrive for my transfer to Haiphong. When he hadn’t arrived by 11:30, I called my contact and discovered that he was not coming for me until 3. Wow! All of a sudden I had time on my hands. A helpful young woman at the hotel desk explained which museums were open on Friday and arranged for a taxi driver to take me both ways. We stowed my things and away I went to the Temple of Literature. In case you’re wondering why I had the hotel call for me, there’s a big scam with taxis and some “pirate” taxi drivers demand many times the correct fare. 
I wasn’t sure where the Art Museum was and couldn’t really ask the driver, but that didn't matter. I headed across the street to Craft Link, a store that bills itself as a not-for-profit outlet for ethnic needlework and crafts. Those of you who love crafts and folk art would have enjoyed this store immensely. My only suggestion is that they provide cards to indicate which ethnic minority made what. The clerk finally told me that she needed to close the store for lunch, so I quickly made a purchase and then asked directions to the Vietnamese National Art Museum. It was a relatively easy walk with only a few streets to cross.
At the ticket booth I tried to pay my 20,000 entrance fee with a 100,000 dong note (just over $5), and was told no. I still have difficulty getting used to the idea that a 100,000 bill is difficult to change. The Museum, which has some fantastic collections, was relatively deserted—just a few foreigners and the occasional museum guard. I started with pieces from the Bronze Age and worked my way through galleries of oil paintings, silk paintings, lacquer paintings, sculptures, and finally upstairs to galleries featuring art from the 20th and 21st centuries. In another building I found textiles, folk art, and ceramics. Each gallery had captions in English as well as Vietnamese, Japanese, French, and possibly another language or two. I was most fascinated with art from the 1940s forward, especially those related to the war. While walking through this part of the museum I felt keenly aware of being an American. Most of the sketches from that period had to do with the war, pictures of partisans and guerillas, and a surprising (to me) number of female military figures.
Traffic had increased while I was in the museum, and I’m sure it was amusing to the xe om drivers who watched me try to cross the street. The prevalence of cars and small trucks makes parts of Hanoi much more difficult for me to navigate than Nha Trang, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. I finally made it to the designated pickup point, and after a short wait (during which time I had to fend off many other taxi “sharks”), the driver reappeared. We were nearly to my hotel when we crossed an intersection with no traffic light and I could see a motorbike coming at us at full speed. Yes, you guessed it, the motorbike rammed into the taxi just behind the rear right door where I was sitting. It was like déjà vu, reminding me a bit of the accident I had in 2005. I was sure the motorbike rider would be spread out on the ground but he was gone by time the taxi driver turned off the motor and got out of the car! There was some visible damage to the taxi, but after checking it out we resumed our trip to the hotel as though nothing had happened.
The embassy driver was waiting for me, and after a false start (he had to return to the hotel for my passport, which was still in the manager’s desk), we set out on Highway 5, an excellent and VERY busy highway connecting Hanoi with Haiphong and other points on the coast. There were many, many semi trucks carrying containers for shipping, perhaps from some of the many huge plants I saw along the way—Kido Food, AgUS, Fugi/Seiko, Sanyo, numerous garment factories, and much, much more. The truck traffic on I-70 is nothing compared to this! As we sped along I realized how sparse the car-related businesses are—very few gas stations, virtually no fast food joints (except for KFC in the city), few auto dealers, no tire dealers, etc. But it is changing fast. You still see cows grazing on the side of the road, women in conical hats working in the rice fields, children riding bicycles home from school, and horse or ox carts. But for how long? Today’s drive made me think a lot about progress…just what is it, and what are the consequences…of having it and not having it. Vietnam reminds me a bit of a teenager with growing pains and a few unsightly blemishes. You know there is something beautiful in the person, but it takes time to emerge. And sometimes growth spurts happen so quickly that you can’t keep up with them. People keep telling me how much Vietnam has changed in the past 10 years, but I’m wondering what it will look like in ten more.
I don’t know how to characterize Haiphong, which is a port city with a LOT of truck traffic, but I did see more of it than expected because it took the driver about 1 hour to find the University guest house. This is the view from my guesthouse window--my impression is that the architecture in the north is quite different from what I've seen in the south. It seems to be more substantial, but also more stark. The Guesthouse manager showed me my room and invited me to share a tasty but somewhat quiet dinner with him and two other men who turned out to be visiting lecturers from Hanoi.
This morning the University driver and a representative from the International Relations Office arrived to escort me to the University. It was pouring down rain, but we stopped along the way for a dish of pho and then at a coffee shop. My presentation on active learning and the discussion that followed lasted all morning. There were about 25-30 faculty participating, and after lunch a young American English Teaching Assistant and a number of Vietnamese teachers gave additional talks. In the evening I returned to the guesthouse, discovered 
In closing, I want to send my mother birthday wishes along with my love. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you, Mom!
