Looking up

Just want to reassure you guys who are following along, that I'm starting to feel more positive about my housemate situation. Tonight I hung out with one roommate, yesterday I hung out with another...slowly, we are getting to know each other. Even the kittens seem more comfortable around me. And we've fixed the internet problem, so I just put pictures on Facebook, and I'll be updating them more regularly. Yay!

I must say, I have the greatest friends. It helps a lot that I can talk to you guys using the wonders of the internet ("Technology means magic!") and keep up. It's not so lonely when you can always check in with such good people. You don't know how much it means to me. Thank you.

More to come. Love, peace, and chicken grease,

A

ok, this makes things a little better

There are 2 of these, each about the size of a fist. They are sisters, named Garlic and Ginger, but I can't tell them apart. this one fell asleep in my suitcase and the other one fell asleep in my lap. And there is a larger cat named Chili. She has only half a tail, and might be pregnant. We're not sure.

I think she's picking up radio signals with those ears.

There's no place like home?

Well, day 1 in my new house is not looking so good. When talking to the girl who gave me the tour, it sounded like people kind of hung out together, but that doesn't really seem to be the case. Maraj and Jan went out (separately), Thi is upstairs in her room, and Ruth and her boyfriend (who enjoys not being clothed) have been blaring rap music all day with the door open. I know it's early, I just moved here, but I feel like an outsider and I don't have an "inside" anywhere. Being me, I worry about money a lot (even though it's cheap here), so I don't want to just go out somewhere by myself (What would I do? Eat? Shop? Wander around? This city is weird to wander around, because people stare and approach you trying to sell you things...) I miss being in the hotel because there the people were at least nice to me and pretended to care what I was doing. And offered me coffee and bananas.

When I first got to Paris, I had like a big panic attack of questions--can I do this? can I make it here? And that didn't really happen when I first got here...in general, I immediately liked it, but the whole experience felt temporary, since I was in a hotel. But now that I'm here, where I'm going to be living for the next year, and no one seems to give a shit about me, I'm panicking. What if I just end up living in my room, not talking to my roommates? The cats don't even care what I do. They like Maraj better.

And my phone's broken and the internet doesn't really work in my room, so I feel even more disconnected from the world. Tonight I'm going to get out--go to Bui Vien, where the hotel is and where there are more backpackers and I feel less like I stick out like a sore thumb. And I'll just hope this situation gets better. I just feel like I can't relax in this place yet, because I don't feel like I belong.

Deep breaths.

Update: Went out, bought a new phone (just decided that I'll have to chalk up buying the old one to me being foreign and unused to the value of the currency here and to people trying to rip you off), and then went to Julia's for dinner and America's Next Top Model. Got back, and Thi and Ruth were nice to me! This is progress. I'm hanging in there.

It's like they know me

I was going to post this a few days ago, but then the wedding thing happened and that got priority. At this hotel, when they change the sheets they also sometimes change the pillows, and a few days ago I got back from work to find this on the bed:

I stopped and got a huge goofy grin on my face. Because I am a total nerd. In another episode of cuteness, I got tissues at the supermarket to fight off my cold, and these are the ones I chose:

That's right. Adorable dinosaur, elephant, and whale. Yup. This way, every time I need to blow my nose, I get to look at something cute, and smile.

In other news, I have found a place to live! I move in tomorrow night. It's a room in a big, tall house (luckily, my room is up only one flight, versus the six I have to climb to get to my hotel room) with 4 other people: 3 girls (from Denmark, Ireland, and here) and one guy (from Luxembourg). It sounds very "Auberge Espagnol," I know. We'll see. For $200 a month, though, I get full use of the house, which includes a washing machine, cable, internet, air conditioning, and the best part: kittens. Yes, kittens. I walked in to see the place and there was a scrawny cat on the stairs, and then when we went to the roof (There is a roof terrace! The girl giving me the tour said they like sunbathing up there and grilling. Sounds awesome.) there were 2 little white kittens who they had just rescued! They were romping around and chasing each other, and then while I was talking to the girl I felt something tickle my toes--a kitten was licking my toes. Seriously. I was totally sold. And the room's great, too.

I just realized that the theme of this post seems to be cuteness....kind of the theme of my life, you might say. In any event, I will be posting pictures here and on Facebook as soon as Facebook lets me.

Riding sidesaddle to a wedding

I promise the title will be explained. But let me say that as I wrote that I smiled at the Western-movie feel; the heroine yells, "I'm a-gonna ride sidesaddle to my weddin'!" and rides off into the sunset.

So. I am new here, as you all know, and thus just getting to know the people with whom I work. I was told by my fellow intern Julia that one of the Vietnamese women from the office was getting married, and that she was throwing a party to celebrate. I assumed it was like a pre-wedding party, a wedding shower of sorts, not too formal but not too casual. Just a big happy party.

I knew that it would start around 6:45, so I got off work at 5 and went straight home (via motorbike taxi, which I still love, but more on that later) to change into a dress. I got a call from Julia telling me where to go, and I headed downstairs where Ha, the woman at the front desk, helped me hail another motorbike taxi (my usual guy not having been warned...I have a usual guy! ahem, sorry, I just like the idea that I have a "driver." On a motorcycle.). Since I was wearing a dress, I knew I might have some...difficulty with the risk of indecent exposure on the bike. I'd seen some women riding sidesaddle, so I decided to throw caution to the wind (whoa, pun not intended) and try it. I hopped on cautiously, held my dress between my knees to fight off the wind, put one hand on the back of the bike, and held on for dear life. Did I mention it was raining? It was raining. So we jostled and splashed around until we arrived at a big giant fancy-looking hotel, where I paid the guy and was left.

This was definitely not just a party. It was a full-on, big production Vietnamese wedding reception. And when I say big production, I truly mean it. I found my coworkers all at one table, accepted that for me this would not be a social affair (since I really knew only Julia and my boss, and since I could not communicate with other people) and decided to sit back and take it all in.

This had everything. Bridesmaids and groomsmen carrying giant sparklers, bubbles coming out of the ceiling, towers of balloons that were popped at just the right time to terrify any small children in attendance, a champagne glass tower with dry ice (and no one drank the champagne), the ceremonial cutting of the cake (which happened before dinner, and which also no one ate), and then a lot of people getting drunk, like at every wedding. They were serving beer, and I swear that every time anyone took one tiny sip there was a waiter at your elbow waiting to fill the void in your glass. That, and every few minutes groups of happy wedding guests would do a Vietnamese drinking chant that basically means, "1, 2, 3, GO!" and chug their beer. Which would be promptly refilled.

After a big procession of the wedding party (with the sparklers and bubbles and popping balloons), and many many words were said, and the champagne was poured and the cake was cut, there was some sort of big announcement and the side doors to the banquet hall burst open. In comes a parade of waiters, as momentous movie music is playing, with trays to distribute. We are rushed through 5 courses in an hour and then suddenly everyone is leaving. It was kind of eerie: no one really paid attention to the announcements and the ceremony because they were too busy drinking and carousing, and then we all inhaled our food and left, just like that.

Thus, about an hour and a half after getting there, Julia and I shared a cab home. It was definitely an interesting experience, I'll give you that. I got free food AND a spectacle. And potentially a lot of beer; Julia and I started putting our hands over our glasses when lurking waiters approached. A good call, I think. But I wasn't about to attempt sidesaddle again, not in the steady rain.

An adventure, to say the least.

first few days: random anecdotes

I was walking around District 1, where my hotel is, and came across this monkey in a cage. It has the most solemn eyes ever. I took a few pictures, but the last one used a flash, and I think it bothered him. There was no one around, but I was afraid I'd get in some sort of trouble, so I walked away.

...

I've been eating almost nothing but Pho, which is Vietnamese noodle soup. As someone who has always maintained that I could live on Ramen, it's like some form of heaven.


Today I also rode on my first motorbike taxi. You pretty much hop on the back and they take you anywhere for a few bucks. But the first time I tried to nonchalantly hop on, the driver wasn't ready and I tipped the whole bike over. Everyone watching laughed at me, I laughed at me, the driver laughed at me. Now I'm that silly American who can't get on a bike.

I've already written about traffic and how terrifying it looks. Well, riding in it is surprisingly fun, as long as you trust your driver. I was on the back in my little helmet (btw, I have to buy my own, and I want one with character--I'm thinking, pink and sparkly!), with this goofy grin on my face, thinking "wheeeeeeee!" Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

Hello, Vietnam traffic

I am here! And there are a lot of things noted in my first impression, but right now I'll go into traffic.
Traffic is INSANE. Cars, motorbikes, regular bikes, buses, pedestrians--any sort of lane line or crosswalk or anything seems more like a guideline, even the double yellows. And when merging, the merging car just kind of honks as it merges, and the car already in the lane honks back, and it's sort of a game of chicken until one car gives in so they don't crash. But seriously, my taxi driver was this tiny little old man who drove like a tiny little old man, and I was sitting in the backseat doing that phantom brake thing with my foot as we had several near-death experiences. And mostly not my death, but other people's--motorcyclists, pedestrians...utterly insane.

In general, I've only been here an hour so I don't want to make any snap judgments. I'm tired and overwhelmed by all the honking.

Stay tuned...

Homeward Bound

Californiaaaaaaa, Californiaaaaaaaaaaa, here we COOOOOOOOOooooooooome...

goin' home tomorrow. home!

my dad got followed by a bear today. this is not relevant to Vietnam, but is kind of interesting.

i'm tired. k bye!

Less than a week

Holy crap less than a week! And I'm working every day until Saturday, which will give me Sunday and Monday to freak out and shove things in suitcases/boxes. And I am TERRIBLE at packing. I mean, it always gets done, but when it comes to consolidating all my stuff (which is a lot of stuff) into a few small spaces, I suck.

But I've bought the plane ticket, I leave on the 5th from LA, and all that remains is the hotel reservation. wOOt. I feel on top of things. Then I go home and am reminded that I can't see the floor of my bedroom. And by reminded, I mean confronted.

In my frantic search for post-college jobs, I went on www.bookjobs.com and found this internship for a publishing house in...Saigon. Or Ho Chi Minh City, depending on how PC you want to be. They called it Saigon in the job post.

In any event, I applied on a whim, because it sounded cool, and hey look they skyped me at 11pm on a Los Angeles night when I was home. That was a fun moment when I had to be like, "Mom SH I'm getting a phone call from SAIGON!"--cut to, me talking in French at my computer--Interviewed me in French (not sure why, since the job will be in English....a test, perhaps?), and now I'm heading to Saigon in a week and a half. A week and a half!

I will be an editorial assistant for Sirrocco Publishing, which is part of Parkstone Press, and makes art books. I'll be doing research on art, proofreading, general....other stuff (obviously, I really have very little idea what I'm getting into)...

...and I will be living in the above-mapped country. Vietnam. Vietnam! I have spent the last week or so running around getting visa forms, mailing them, getting typhoid pills, prescriptions, packing, throwing out stuff, going to work downtown, collapsing on my living room floor with the West Wing Season 2 dvd...as you can guess, I'm going nuts.

So, I have started this blog as a way to update people on this adventure. I am packing up my life and going to Vietnam for at least a year, to live and work and see what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. And I hope you guys will join me, via the internet, which is magic.

More to come.