About Me II: Newfoundland and Blackadder

So, part the second of why I have trouble with the "What do you do?" question.

I went to university right after high school, completed a 4-year Bachelor's degree, did a year of  undergraduate prerequisites, then entered graduate studies. By the time I had finished my Master's degree, I had been in school of some sort for 21 years straight. I was probably burned out; I was certainly sick of the whole thing. It wasn't until very close to the time that I took my leave of absence that I could even contemplate the possibility of entering some type of formal education setting without starting to twitch.

A couple of things started to click for me in my leave of absence year. One click had started while I was still working. I'd always had a bit of an interest in archaeology, and had even participated in a week or so long archaeology day camp concept when I was 14 (which had thoroughly turned me off archaeology as a career). One day, while reading one of my magazines, I saw an ad for some kind of archaeology program, hosted by Tony Robinson. "Huh," I thought, "that name sounds a bit familiar, and that one guy in the ad looks a bit familiar." Then, it hit me - Baldrick from Blackadder! I initially watched the show out of curiosity to see what Tony Robinson was like when he wasn't being Baldrick.  The show, Time Team, was a British archaeology show that really renewed my interest in and taught me a great deal about the practise of archaeology and the various careers and professionals involved in excavation and analysis.

The second click happened during our trip to Newfoundland. I've spent most of my life looking at the ground and picking up interesting rocks.  As a child on holidays, there was always at least one bag of rocks stuffed under the seats of the Chevy Bel Air for my parents to stub their toes on. The rocks in Newfoundland are wonderful, and as I learned, unique. And yes, my suitcase did weigh a bit more when I came back home. Two main ideas came out of the Newfoundland trip: next time, bring more pairs of socks (seriously, I had no idea how cold wind coming off the North Atlantic could be); and maybe it would be interesting to learn something about all the rocks I'd been picking up.

Here and above, Rocky Harbour, NL

Bonne Bay, Gros Morne National Park

So, I re-applied to the University of Saskatchewan (no application fee for alumni!) and registered in an introductory geology class. Almost as an afterthought, I added an introductory archaeology class. I loved both of the classes, and then took another class in each subject that fall. I'd started out as an unclassified student, but an administrative error forced me to declare a major. I knew I didn't want to do a degree in geology (no desire to haul the Schmidt hammer up a mountain), so I selected archaeology.

I've enjoyed all the archaeology classes I've taken so far, but in many ways, am no closer to figuring out "what's next?" than I ever was. I find osteoarchaeology (a field that I didn't know existed until seeing Time Team) and paleopathology fascinating; I also find ceramics really interesting. Bone and bone china....sort of makes sense? I like the Near Eastern and historical archaeology classes that I've taken, but I don't find Plains pre-contact archaeology that interesting. The bit of excavation I've done so far has been.....ok, but I don't love it. I'm someone who usually has a plan of where I'm going, how to get there, how long it will take, and what I'm going to have for lunch in the meantime. It feels disconcerting not to have a plan (yet) in this case, but strangely enough, I'm not upset by the uncertainty.

Oh, and I still walk around picking up rocks.

About Me, Or Why I Find It Awkward When People Ask Me What I Do

So, since I'm back home from Viet Nam and back to real life (laundry, weeding the garden, catching whatever stupid cold is going around), this blog will actually start to reflect its name - posts on a variety of potentially unrelated topics.

So, I'll introduce myself for those of you who don't already know me. I'm an introvert; one thing that many of us have in common is that we find introductions and meeting new people uncomfortable in general (much better if I don't have to see you in person. No offence). Making a "good first impression" in a social setting is seen as synonymous with making an impression of being talkative, outgoing, and overtly fun; this just doesn't fit with who I am. And to make an uncomfortable situation worse, the inevitable question always comes up, "So, what do you do?"

That's when I'm tempted to say "Did you see that hyena?!" And then hide under the nearest table while the other person is distracted. It's not that I'm an axe murderer by trade, it's just that I really don't know what to say much of the time. The fact is that I'm um.... over 40 and haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

Let's back up a few years. I was respectably and gainfully employed with a local immigrant serving organization. I coordinated an employment program for professionally trained immigrants who were looking for work in Saskatchewan in their area of expertise. And I was good at it. The program was extremely successful, highly subscribed to, and respected. The people who participated in the program were amazing. Think about this -you have a good, high level job, your friends and family nearby, and a familiar environment. You make the decision to step into the unknown, where you don't know anyone, don't speak the language fluently, and may never again work in your profession, let alone attain the level of position you once held. I have an indescribable amount of respect for my participants - their strength, resourcefulness, and capacity to both learn and teach. I think that I and many others would have collapsed under similar conditions.

I'd held that position for over 8 years; I'd seen changes, both good and bad, and I'd seen many things stay the same. Most days, I still enjoyed what I did. Most of the time, I still enjoyed my workplace and coworkers. But, I increasingly felt that I was DONE. Not burnt out, just...finished. However, I didn't know what else I wanted to do. For a variety of reasons, I wasn't interested in working for another immigrant serving organization; there was little opportunity to do something different in the organization I worked with. I'd come into my position in the first place due to opportunity, rather than as part of a career plan, so not surprisingly, I didn't have a plan of what to do next. So, I asked for and was granted an unpaid year's leave of absence, so that I would have time and space to figure out what to do.

I realized very quickly that I did not have it in me to return to my previous position; the fact that I missed very little about my work was a quite blatant clue! I officially resigned about three-quarters through my leave.

Lovely. Now I knew what I didn't want to do, but not so much what I did. I had been doing some contract writing and editing work for the provincial immigration department, aided by the work I'd done and contacts that I'd made over the last number of years. Perhaps freelance writing as a career?


Since that time, I've done several more writing contracts, and reached some conclusions. Getting government contracts is fine, but inconsistent. I have huge issues with trying to market myself to others, partially because I'd rather chew off my own foot than make cold calls, and partially because I've done very little work not related somehow to immigrant/immigration issues. And in spite of having the "right" affiliations (Associate Member, Professional Writers' Association of Canada and Editors' Association of Canada), I don't feel like a writer if I'm not working on anything at the moment. Blog notwithstanding, I also don't feel particularly compelled to write; most "proper" writers that I've spoken to do have the compulsion.

What else could I do? 

Stay tuned for "About Me...." part 2, wherein our heroine learns that rocks, ceramics and bones are great fun, and sometimes you just have to deal with being older than everyone else in the room.

And for reading this far, here's a picture for you:

Our late lamented Paris explains to Buster why there is no &^%$#! way she is sharing the chair

So Long, and Thanks for All the Bananas

To complete the Viet Nam story arc, I offer you some vignettes of Vietnamese experiences.

Water Puppets:  This is an art form unique to Viet Nam, apparently originating with people's efforts

to entertain themselves and others during the flooding of the Red River (which flows through Ha Noi). Imagine a very large version of a puppet stage, almost a small human-sized stage in area. What in your imagination is probably a wooden stage floor is replaced by a pool. The puppets are controlled by puppeteers behind (rather than above) a woven backdrop, and seem to dance across the surface of the stage area. Both traditional and modern stories are presented, all accompanied by live musicians and singers. The puppeteers stand in water; in the past, they were subject to all sorts of nasty water-borne microbial diseases. Now, they wear hipwaders. If you're ever in Ha Noi, this is a must-see.

How Much Stuff Can You Carry on One Motorbike? Short answer - lots. This isn't a Vietnamese

phenomenon - I had noticed something similar when I was in Taiwan a number of years ago. I suspect it may not even be an Asian thing, just a country-where-most-people-travel-by-motorbike-or-scooter thing. If that's the only vehicle that you own, then that is your only option for transporting your groceries, your family, and anything else you might need for your home or business. So, you carry your kids, the shopping, the desk you just bought, your crop of greens, your workmate with the panes of glass you'll soon be installing, and your new houseplant on the scooter. I had this mental image of myself in the spring of the year with a couple of flats of bedding plants strapped to the seat behind me, and a potted rose bush wedged between my feet as I roar down the street on my 'Shark' scooter....the fantasy usually ends when I hit a pothole and the gazanias go flying.

 

Look to your right, and you'll see the window panes

Make it Functional and Beautiful:  There are always things that are necessary. The cross-beam is necessary to make sure that the roof is supported; the roof tiles ensure that there is no leakage, Now, you could choose to put in plain but functional features, or you could choose to make them works of art. Vietnamese design and architecture always seems to manage the latter.

Cross-beam in Hoi An

Detail on roof tiles at the Temple of Literature

Incense: One of the things I'd forgotten about in the 8 years between our trips, but remembered almost as soon as I arrived was the smell of the incense. People purchase and burn incense at pagodas for their personal devotions, but the scent is ubiquitous throughout the country. No matter what religion they may be, all Vietnamese honour their ancestors, and ask the ancestors' blessing on and assistance with their endeavours. Every home and business has an altar for the ancestors, which contains food offerings and burning incense. Near the full moon of the 8th month, you'll find incense sticks burning in crevasses in power poles and trees. It's one of those 'memory' scents - smelling it years from now will transport me instantly back to somewhere in Viet Nam.

Balance: From the dance that is the city traffic to the quiet of the Central Highlands, Viet Nam is a study of balance - between the urban and rural life, between modern technology and traditional values, and between remembering and forgiving the past. May it continue to maintain both balance and joy throughout the inevitable changes to come.


And some random photos:

Torrential rain in Ho Chi Minh City - the only significant rain we had

Corn drying near Da Lat

As our guide yelled at the Australians, "NO!! Buffalo not friendly!" Always good advice.

Why did you wake me up, crazy tourist?

Juxtaposition of European ecclesiastical architecture and Asian lacquer work - St. Joseph's Cathedral, Ha Noi

Remnants of colonial days -you can still have a city tour by carriage or Citroen at the Metropole in Ha Noi

Back Home and Processing

Ken and I left Viet Nam in the early evening, after spending the day in Ha Noi, finishing up

Balloons over Hoan Kiem Lake on the last morning

shopping, last walks around Hoan Kiem Lake, etc. We flew overnight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, arrived in Vancouver at about 9:30 p.m., and then spent the night there before flying back to Saskatoon. I've found that this schedule has made an enormous difference in terms of how tired I've felt. Last time, we left Viet Nam in the morning, then got to Saskatoon that same evening (longest. Monday. ever). We both spent the next couple of weeks waking up at 3 a.m. going, "Are you awake? Yep. Me too." Both of us also went back to work a day after we got home, and we both ended up calling in sick (or comatose) later in the week. In my case, the co-worker who answered the phone when I called responded, "Heh. Told you!" She'd gone back to her home country of China earlier in the year, had returned to work immediately, and I'd had to poke her awake a couple of times.

This time, my sleeping patterns returned to close to normal almost immediately. The brain fog is still there, but I've mainly noticed strangeness in hunger patterns. I usually go around with a mild-moderate interest in food all the time. Since I've been back, food interest has alternated between the extremes of a lack of interest in eating, bordering on mild nausea and GIVE ME ALL THE FOOD NOW, I AM FAMISHED!!!

Anyway, I just wanted to begin to wind down the Viet Nam series with some final random thoughts on a variety of subjects. Since we were just on the topic:

Food: Yum. Any questions?
Seriously, though, Vietnamese food is wonderful. Ken and I tend to eat (both at home and out) a fair

Anything you need is at the market

bit of Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, etc. food anyway, so the general type of food (i.e. rice, noodles, vegetables, etc.) wasn't a huge change for us. The difference was that the food is so unbelievably fresh! The vegetables and fruit are locally sourced and just picked that day or maybe the day before; the chicken or fish was probably alive that morning. You see this in the markets as well; people tend to shop every day, so are buying their fruit, vegetables, and meat fresh. It's a bit disconcerting to urban Western eyes, but the fish and seafood at the markets are still alive, as are the chickens.

Eels at the market

Ruuun! You can do eet!

Besides the durian, I managed to try about 4 other types of fruit for the first time: sapodilla (which, incidentally, comes from the tree containing the main ingredient for chewing gum), custard apple, passion fruit, white guava, and a Vietnamese apple, which contained a pit rather than a typical apple core. As well, there was mangosteen, pomelo, peach, mango, dragon fruit, orange, melons of various types, jackfruit, rambutan, longans and pineapple. Coming back to Canada I was prepared for the produce section culture shock this time; last time, I ended up weeping at Safeway , "It's all so expensive and crappy!"

My fruit salad at dinner in Hue

I know I've already posted this, but you know that you need to see it again

As a former French colony, Viet Nam also produces quite a bit of European-style bread; baguettes are a common sight, and are often served for breakfast along with omelettes, Laughing Cow brand cream cheese, and strawberry jam. There are also a number of French-style bakeries producing croissants, pain au chocolat, and all manner of cakes and tarts. I had one of the best brownies I've ever tasted at the bakery in Hoi An.

People: 
It's hard to know what to say to try to capture the character of an entire nation. There are saints and jerks in every culture and country (we hope that the latter are not involved in governing said country, but sometimes....). Given Viet Nam's history of war, invasions, colonialism, and privation, it would be entirely understandable were the prevailing attitude one of paranoia, bitterness, and hostility. It's not. The attitude is one of moving forward, making things better, and taking joy in the life you have. Imagine that.

Mot, Hai, Ba...Yo!

Beer, cuttlefish, chili sauce, peanuts, and Lonely Planet

One new thing I've learned in Viet Nam this time is how to count....to three, that is. This post's title is a common Vietnamese toast - "One, two, three...Yo! ('Yo' is apparently one of those universal language words). As you might have guessed, I'm going to tell you about a time you might want to use such a toast, namely bia hoi.

Now, in defining the term, one can talk about bia hoi, the actual stuff in your glass, or bia hoi, the experience. Literally translated, bia hoi means 'fresh beer'. This is light, Czech-style pilsner draught, completely unaged, transferred to a keg that day, and likely brewed within the last couple of weeks. The taste is light, not particularly hoppy, but can be a bit yeasty, depending upon the batch. A batch runs between 2% and 4% alcohol, and if you pay more than 7,000 dong (about 35 cents) a glass, you're paying too much. Kegs of bia hoi are delivered daily to restaurants and other establishments which appear to exist only to sell bia hoi.

Delivering the bia hoi

Typical 'Bia Hoi Corner' scene

And that's when the experience comes into the definition. You can find bia hoi the substance in other places in Viet Nam (although seemingly only in the northern half of the country), but the true bia hoi experience is found in Ha Noi's Old Quarter. Here's what you do: in the evening, approach an establishment bearing a sign advertising bia hoi (ensure that it is, in fact, serving bia hoi and not Heineken. No offence to Heineken, but I didn't travel a bazillion miles to the other side of the world to consume something I could pick up at a liquor store 3 blocks away. Incidentally, Heineken tends to appear on Vietnamese menus as 'Bia Ken', which amused Ken greatly).

Anyway. The seating for bia hoi is on the sidewalk, possibly even on the street. And by seating, I mean Rubbermaid stools for both chairs and tables (the places offering fancy name-brand draught

Yes, that is a helmet with a bun/ponytail hole

may feature plastic mini lawnchairs for seating). Indicate to the proprietor/ess how many glasses of beer you'd like and how many more stools may be necessary. When the glasses of beer come out on the plastic tray, pay and enjoy. Chat with your friends and other people sitting in the same area. When more people come and more stools come out, shove over and become more friendly with your companions. Talk to people from other parts of the world, and compare travel stories. Watch the motorbike parking jigsaw puzzle. Be offered and refuse (or not) snacks of doughnuts, peanuts, spring rolls, coconut rolls, and traditional char-grilled dried cuttlefish. Order another round. Observe the astonishing variety of what the well-dressed young person wears out on a Friday night. If the police come, pick up your glass and stool and stand on the sidewalk (not technically allowed in the street). Once they've gone, resume normal activity.

That's a police truck - they came, said things over a loudspeaker,sat there for awhile.
Everyone seemed to ignore them.

Watch people come and go. Go back to your hotel; come back again other nights and never see the same thing twice.

Study of beer glasses with fan

Our hotel was around the corner from one of the main bia hoi centres in the Old Quarter; a location on each of four quarters, and other places down the blocks. We met people from England who worked in Vietnam (along with a puppy named Bia), other travellers, and a couple of young Vietnamese people who wanted to practise their English. We listened to a live band down the block, tried out the cuttlefish (not bad with chili sauce), and observed the life thrumming through the Old Quarter night.

Two Museums and a Bus Ride

When Ken and I first decided to go to Viet Nam, we got all excited and booked our flights without actually counting the days on the proposed itinerary. As a result, we ended up staying in Ha Noi for almost 2 days longer than everyone else.

So, on our first day after everyone else had begun their long flights home, we decided to visit a couple of museums. The Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology profiles the country's recognised ethnic groups. The Kinh (or Viet) group constitutes about 86% of the population; 53 groups make up the remaining 14%. The museum does a great job of profiling some of the customs and rituals of each group, and concentrates on the unique pottery, woodwork, basket weaving, and textiles of each group. Some of the weaving patterns are incredibly intricate (we'd had a chance to see it woven in person of one of our earlier stops); one group uses batik to leave a detailed white pattern on indigo cloth. Outside of the museum building, there's a large area featuring examples of domestic structures from a number of the groups. From the traditional Kinh family home to massive communal stilted longhouses (with springy bamboo floors), there is a wide variety of types of architecture and uses. Most of the houses featured had either been donated by families who had actually lived in them or constructed on-site by members of tribal groups, using traditional building techniques.

Entry of Museum of History

Not quite museumed out after that, we found the National Museum of Vietnamese History. Housed in a spectacular French colonial building, the displays trace Vietnamese history from ....well, prehistory to Vietnamese independence in 1945. There were quite good displays of artifacts from the Dong Son  (northern pre-300 C.E. culture, famous for its bronze work), Oc-Eo (same era, but in the south and thought to be the predecessors of the Khmer people), and Sa Huynh (mid-country, and had burial jars large enough to have contained inhumations) cultures. Then, the displays moved on to the Champa kingdom, and on to the various Vietnamese ruling dynasties. The museum was logically set up (I always appreciate being able to follow a distinct timeline), with well displayed artifacts. The building was formerly the home of the Ecole Francais d'Extreme Orient, which had organized some of the early archaeological excavations to My Son and other sites, and had "collected" many of the artifacts.

Stone axes and adzes, with accompanying skull

Pre-200 C.E. wooden Buddha (Oc-Eo culture) - remarkable preservation

17th-18th century ceramics

Parrot on the back of a turtle -Nguyen dynasty (post 1802)

Mandarins' footwear -later Nguyen dynasty

Nguyen Emperor's headdress

Gold hairpins -late Nguyen dynasty

The Ethnology Museum is about 12 km west of the Old Quarter, so too far to walk even under less hot and humid conditions. Given our earlier experience with taxis (see earlier post re: sped-up meters), we just didn't feel like potentially having that fight with anyone. We decided to take a public bus over to the museum, since there was a stop relatively close by. This is not uncommon for us; we usually end up taking public transport at some point during our trips to various places (I'll tell you about the rasta bus in Barbados some other time. Oh, and the time our bus got stopped by the police. Also in Barbados).

The bus we just got off - and there was much rejoicing

On the way to the Ethnology Museum and back, everything was fine - we paid our 5,000 dong each (about 25 cents) to the fare collector, sat down, and enjoyed our tour. Trying to get from near the History Museum to closer to our hotel was....interesting. Nothing untoward - it was just that it was now getting to be rush hour, and the bus we needed seemed to be a popular route. The role of the bus conductor now extended from simple fare collection to strategic packing of riders. As I stood, someone's backpack firmly stuffed into my left side, leaning over a seat with 3-4 people sitting in it, and trying not to elbow anyone in the head, I hoped that people were staring at me because of the novelty of seeing non-Vietnamese on the bus, rather than because I was the sweatiest person present or because I was committing some sort of heinous bus etiquette faux pas. We got off the bus waaaay before our actual stop; the only thing preventing me from having a claustrophobic incident was the fact that I was tall enough to see over everyone crushed around me.

Turtle Tower on Hoan Kiem Lake

One of the iconic images of Ha Noi, and also one of my favourite areas, is Hoan Kiem Lake. This lake, surrounded by a small park, is at the edge of the Old Quarter and an oasis in the midst of the busy streets. According to Vietnamese tradition, Le Loi (who became Emperor Le Thai To) was granted a magical sword, with which he drove the Chinese invaders out of the country. After the fighting was over, the Emperor was walking on the lake's shores one day when a giant turtle swam up, grabbed the sword, and dove back into the lake. The belief was that the turtle then restored the sword to its original heavenly owners. There is still one giant turtle in the lake today (he was captured in 2011 to receive medical treatment), thought to be the descendant of the sword-restorer. It's considered lucky to see the turtle, which our tour leader did on the day the rest of us were in Ha Long Bay! Hoan Kiem Lake is a favourite place for locals to relax, practise tai chi in the early morning (not that I was ever up that early to see it), and gather for photos.

Life in the Old Quarter

Old Quarter at night

Ha Noi's Old Quarter pulses with activity and energy - not the hectic big-city energy of Ho Chi Minh City, but with the heartbeat of locals and tourists alike living, working, and playing in the narrow streets and multi-floor, skinny buildings. The streets teem with motorbikes, bicycles, cyclos, cars, and street vendors; life happens on the street. People stop by their regular coffee shops and stores; businesses work to help each other. If you order sticky rice for breakfast at your hotel, someone runs across the street to buy it from the sticky rice lady.

This and below: common Old Quarter sights - how do you put this in an apartment building?

Near the bridge leading to the airport, you can see a partially-built apartment complex. Apparently, the government is offering incentives for residents to move out of the increasingly crowded Old Quarter and into the suburbs. The buildings remain partially built and mostly empty, because people don't want to move.

In the 13th century, Ha Noi's craft guilds established themselves on specific streets, which took the names of the products being manufactured and sold. Old Quarter streets still carry those names: Hang Gai (silk), Hang Bac (silversmithing), Hang Mam (pickled fish), Lo Su (coffins). With a few exceptions (Hang Gai still has a number of silk suppliers and clothing stores), the streets don't sell their original wares. However, there are still "theme streets"  - Shoe Street, Snack Food Street, Children's Toys Street, Quilt Batting Street.....

The alleys are equally busy packed. These aren't alleys as we think of them in Canada - they're basically extra narrow streets winding off a larger street. Even in an alley barely wide enough to drive a motorcycle through, there are vendors, houses, and even hotels.

Typical alley scene

We made a few trips to the Dong Xuan market while in Ha Noi. This is not a tourist market, but an anything-you-need market for locals. I suspect that this market supplies many of the Old Quarter businesses. The second floor of the market is mostly fabric sellers; this is where I came during our last trip to buy fabric. This time, I found Vietnamese and Chinese silk (and pretty much any other fabric you could name....no fake fur though) for between $3 and $10/m.

Market as viewed from the second floor

Very small portion of the fabric section

Fabric shopping should always be this much fun!

The aisles are barely wide enough to walk down. And there are endless numbers of stalls smacked right next to each other. One stall we stopped at was deep and narrow, with fabric stacked to the ceiling. The stall owner had placed boards over stacks of fabric, forming stairs to back of the stall. When I seemed interested in looking at fabric at the top and back, she motioned me to climb in. So, I did! It was incredibly hot, surrounded by fabric under the fluorescent light that I kept hitting my head on. All the stall owners in the area began to not-so-subtly gather, and seemed to find the whole thing quite amusing. Always glad to help out.

Anyway, I bought some fabric, the stall owner gave us a couple of what turned out to be guavas, and everyone had their entertainment for the day.