Indochine Adventure pt.2 - Cambodia

Emily visits Angkor Wat at sunrise

FROM JANUARY 8, 2012:
            Over the past few days, my family and I have been exploring the ancient city of Angkor (and surrounding area) near the modern city of Siem Reap in Cambodia.  I have experienced true awe walking through the remnants of the now jungle-infested 1000 year-old ruins, thinking about the advanced civilization that once existed here, and contemplating the reasons that forced them to eventually abandon their capitol city.

Claira at Angkor Wat

            On our first day in Siem Reap, we awoke at 4:45am so we could arrive at Angkor Wat, the largest temple complex, before the sunrise. Unfortunately, the time-corridor between Christmas and New Years are some of Angkor Wat’s busiest days of the year, with crowds of up to 15,000 passing through the gates each day. But then again, I would much rather deal with the crowds than be here much of the rest of the year, when the heat is simply unbearable -  it can be so bad in April and May that the local tour company we're using is reluctant to book tours during those months. After arriving at the temple, our guide showed us to a secret spot on the wall of the moat to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat, as we watched the thousands of tourists march quietly over the bridge into the grounds like lemming-soldiers in the early morning light, it was quite beautiful.

This temple has been completely reclaimed by the surrounding jungle

Temple at Angkor Thom

  




















There was a bit of a letdown as low clouds formed before our eyes, partially obstructing the beautiful sunrise (but not to worry as my Dad and sister Emily were back at 5:00am a few days later and were rewarded with the sunrise pictured above - carpe diem!). But the lack of direct sun was ok, because now we could tour the complex in the pleasant early morning temp before the noon heat hit. The temple was breathtaking. Just thinking about how much work went into all of the small minutia of details is staggering. They built giant towers, but didn’t have cranes or other modern conveniences. Stone was cut from queries over 40 miles away. After several  hours tour of the main temple, we broke for lunch, then continued in a different area of the complex called Angkor Thom. Here we visited a few smaller temples (but equally as crowded), and got to walk around inside them. By then it had become quite hot, so when we had visited our last temple of the day, we were happy to get out of the winter heat. But, we weren’t finished yet! At 4:30, we arrived at the base of a hill, which we were going to climb up so we could see the sun setting over Angkor Wat from a different temple on top of the hill. The catch was that only 300 people are allowed on top of the temple at one time, and first we had to climb the hill just to see if we were amount the lucky 300. Fortunately, we got there before the biggest crowds showed up, but we still had to wait for some people to depart - as we stood in line waiting for about 45 minutes to enter the temple.

it was great to see my two sisters (for a little while)

Fun with perspective!

          For our entertainment during the wait, we got to look on as street justice was dealt out to a European line cutter gang of 4-5 middle aged men. First, they  walked by us and passed through the front of the line as it made a 90 degree turn towards the temple. But, while passing through the line, one of them slipped quietly out of the middle of the group and stayed behind, while the others kept walking another 30 meters away. After a few seconds, the group turned around and walked back to join their friend at the front of the line, as he called out to them as if he had been saving their place all along. At first it looked like the swarthy Euro-tourists were going to get away with it, but not with America on watch. A few moments later, two loud, but completely correct American tourists stormed up and confronted them, which got the attention of others around them; the cutter-gang's cover had been blown! For a few moments they tried to maintain the facade and stubbornly held their ground, but then the people who confronted them began clapping at them, and soon the whole section of the line around them joined in as well. Now with everyone looking at them, they obviously couldn’t stay, and they retreated in shame from the line and back down the hill. Victory went to the two brave tourists who dared to stand up against the line cutter’s trickery. Oh, and the sunset was beautiful too.

Lots of climbing in the heat

            The following day we explored 3 more temples which, thankfully, were well off the beaten tourist track. The first temple was still a bit crowded one, but was still amazing to see, because we could climb up to the very top and get an amazing few of the forest below. The next was much more special -  we had to walk about a mile or so out into the depths of the jungle, but once we reached our destination, it justified the walk. Here, in the middle of this vast jungle, was a massive, but completely empty temple. We had it all to ourselves, because all the rest of the tourists were still crowding around the more famous buildings. We found a comfortable spot in the inner courtyard of the temple where we then sat in complete silence for 15 minutes, listening to the sounds of the jungle and the wind.  I reflected on this giant empty complex, and the amazing complexes of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Back in its prime, the population here was around 1,000,000 people, now, it is zero. I thought about what it would be like if an entire city in the US was simply abandoned.

Where does land end and the floating village begin?

A "floating village" on Tonle Sap lake

kayaking through the mangroves

A familiar friend!

At this point, we only had one full day left in Cambodia. Early in the morning, we met our guide and drove around an hour or so to the shores of Tonle Sap Lake. We boarded a small boat, and drove another half an hour to a village built entirely on stilts! It wasn't out in the middle of the lake (which I think would have been much cooler), but was in and among the mangroves. We eventually stopped at a house with Kayaks stored underneath. We spent the next hour out in the lake, going through mangroves, and eventually reached the open waters. It was a great paddle, and we saw and heard many things we wouldn't have if we had been in a larger boat. Upon our return to the house, we were greeted by the people, who served us a great lunch! It was spectacular. It was a fairly simple meal that consisted of fish, rice and assorted greens. AND, we drank water from the exact same model of (easily sustainable) bio-sand water filter that I had helped install in remote Amazon villages in Bolivia several summers ago! The next day, new years eve day, we visited a village on land. This one was around 30 minutes away from our hotel. We were taken there by a guide who was actually from that village. He took us to his family's land, and showed us what it was like living in the traditional village way. He even climbed up a coconut tree for us, and gathered some coconuts for us to drink! After visiting the village, we drove back to our hotel, had lunch, and left on a 2 o’clock flight to Luang Prabang, Laos.

A fish-monger makes a deal

This little village had recently suffered a devastating flood

Tet 2012

Well its that time of year again: Tet! Or for those of you who may not know what it means, it's the lunar New Year. Tet is a very big deal here in Vietnam, aa it’s their major holiday for the year. One of the better descriptions I’ve heard of it is “it’s like Christmas, New Years and Fourth of July all wrapped into one!” And it really is, they take it very seriously here. Many people had this entire week off to go and visit family out in the countryside (the blog for my countryside adventure will come soon), so Hanoi was much less crowded this week (of course to the untrained eye it would still look like a chaotic mess). Now Tet is well known to most Americans because of the infamous Tet Offensive of '68, but I can assure you that it is now strictly peaceful and non-violent, as long as you count massive amounts of explosives as non-violent...

            On Monday at exactly 12 am, a fireworks show began all around the country. My host family took me to one of the many fireworks locations around the city to watch the show. Now the Vietnamese know how to put on a good ol’ heavy ordnance show! There was a sustained 15 minute long, full-scale bombing operation going on! And with the “relaxed” safety regulations here, it was pretty much ‘anything goes’ in regards to where you could stand. I was almost directly beneath them! Check out the video below!  

Stay tuned for more stories!

10,000 and counting!

        Wow. A few days ago it was brought to my attention that Andrew Abroad had received its 10,000^th view! I first would just like to thank all of my readers back home and abroad, for without you I would have no one to vent to about my life. I am honored that so many care about what I am doing over here, and are actually interested enough to come back, because it takes more then a few people to get to 10,000. There have been many ups and downs this year, and it’s nice to know people care about those. Lets look at the numbers shall we? My blog has been active for 169 days at the point it reached 10,000, so that means the site averaged about 59 views per day. And that adds up (to 10,000 to be exact). So, once again, I want to thank you loyal readers, and be prepared for more great stories in the coming days and months. 


to my top ten countries by number of views:
Thank You!
Cảm ơn!
Danke!
Thank you, eh!
Cпасибо!
Khawp jai!
Ar jun!
Graze!
Thanks mate!
Gum xia!

SYA Go Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) - The Video Trailer

Here's a sneak-peak at the major motion picture, SYA Go Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), currently in production at Andrew Sanborn Studios, a division of Andrew Abroad, LLC:

If all goes well, the film will open sometime in February.

Indochine Adventure pt.1 - Hoi An to Phnom Penh

          Beginning several days ago and for most of the next two weeks, I'll be traveling in Southeast Asia with my family during their Christmas and New Years visit.

Claira has fresh lotus seeds at the side of the road in central Vietnam

          On December 24th, after spending four days showing my family my adopted city of Hanoi, I awoke early from my slumber. We had originally planned on taking the train from Ha Noi down to the city of Da Nang on the central coast of Vietnam, but that plan didn’t pan out as the train was full and we would have had to split the five of us into three different rooms. So instead we were decided to fly early that next morning. My parents and sisters were staying at a hotel in Hoan Kiem (near the lake) and I was at my house. The airport taxi got there a little after six, and I said goodbye to my host family for the next two weeks or so. I was now on my way to an Indochinese adventure that would take me first to the ancient trading village of Hoi An in central Vietnam, then briefly to Saigon before flying across the boarder to the still exotic capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh (where I am now). Next, I'll travel by car to central Cambodia and the ruins at Ankor Wat to spend four days visiting the temples and other sites in the area around Siem Reap. Following Cambodia, I'll travel to a third Indochinese country, Laos, where I'll spend five days in Luang Prabang visiting remote villages along the Mekong river, learning about their culture, and will likely be forced to consider the lasting legacy of the bombing carried out by the United States during the war in Vietnam.  Following Laos, it'll be just a quick plane ride back to home-sweet-home in Hanoi.

Hoi An, Vietnam

            But back to the 24th...  After an hour or so in the cab, I arrived at the airport, and met up with the rest of my family, who had driven in just a minute or two ahead of me. We checked in and went to wait for the plane. While in the waiting area, my sister Emily wasn’t feeling too well, so we had to deal with that before boarding, but during the flight she started feeling better, so it must have been something she ate. The flight was very short, only an hour in the air, and it was about noon when we arrived at Da Nang international airport, which used to be one of the main US bases during the Vietnam War. Now the airport is much more peaceful - the only fighting happening now is the cab drivers arguing about stealing customers from each other. After about 45 minutes on the road to Hoi An, it became apparent that the driver had no idea where he was going, as first he slowed the cab before eventually calling someone on his phone. Shortly after that, a woman drove up, walked over, and asked us which hotel we were staying at - then launching into a marketing campaign for us to visit her clothing store in Hoi An. After about 5 minutes of sales talk, she finally led us to the hotel.

Christmas dinner treats

            The hotel was located right in the town, an easy 5 minute walk from the tourist infested market. It was Christmas eve, and the town was bursting at the seams with tourists here for the holidays. Most were Australian, but there were other nationalities present as well. After a walk about that afternoon in the town, famous for its tailors, we prepared for Christmas eve dinner at the hotel. There was a big celebration at the hotel, with music and performances and a massive buffet with everything under the sun. After enjoying our Christmas eve banquet, we retired to the rooms, and fell asleep.

Emily visits the market in Hoi An

            This year’s Christmas was anything but traditional for us. Usually, we have big family gatherings either in Santa Barbara or in Salt Lake City, but this year, since we were in Vietnam, that kinda limited our tree options as well as the presents. I only received a few smaller presents (the ones my mom could fit in her bag) because shipping things is super expensive from the USA (but all that said, my parents paying the school tuition for me to spend a year abroad is one huge Christmas present!). For the rest of the morning, my sister Emily worked on her applications for Cate and Thacher schools, and my mom and Claira and I went out for a walk around the town. It was a bit chilly as it had been raining off and on throughout the morning so we brought umbrellas and jackets with us on the walk. Of course the weather was nothing like New York or Boston, but for me, after four months in the tropics, it was a bit on the chilly side. We saw some of the sites around Hoi An, including the famous Hoi An bridge (I don’t know if it’s actually famous, but it was really pretty), the town market, where Mom and Claira got their nails painted, and the all the boats parked at the dock - where were asked numerous times if we wanted to take a boat ride. As I already mentioned, Hoi An is famous for its tailors and custom made clothing, and my mom and Emily were happy to have some dresses and skirts made to order. We had Christmas dinner that night at a restaurant near our hotel. While we were eating, a group of people who were in their late 20s walked it, and they were dressed in the most ridiculous suits any of us had ever seen! One had a floral suit with giant shoulder pads, matching pants, and a lime green shirt - another had a flowing bright green suit with coat tails and a hat - and still another had one half of the suit in plaid, and the other half in a totally different fabric. After taking a picture and talking to one of them, we found out that they only cost 60 USD, which is very cheap for any kind of suit.

Hoi An, well known for its fine tailoring?

This little piggy goes to market...

            The next day, we boarded a plane very early bound for Saigon. It was only about an hour or so down the coast. We originally thought that we would have a two-hour layover, but that turned out to be false. Right before boarding, there was an announcement saying that the flight would be delayed due to a mechanical problem. A few minutes later we saw being towed by the gate to the maintenance area. That’s never good. So it turns out we have to wait another 3 and a half hours, and get on an entirely different airplane, and we ended up missing our tour covering the recent history of the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities they committed against the Cambodian people, including a visit to the Killing Fields. We all were disappointed, but we still got to hear our guide’s amazing story of survival against all odds on the ride from the airport.

            He was only 3 years old when the Khmer Rouge invaded Phnom Penh. After his family was chased out of the city with the 3 million other residents, he was separated from his parents and family. The soldiers told the citizens of Phnom Penh that they had to leave immediately, and that the US was going to begin bombing any minute, which was entirely false, and they were driven into the countryside, where they were put to work on prison-like farms. After the evacuation was complete, the population of the city fell from 3,000,000 to under 100 individuals. Our guide was too young to work for the first two years of the Khmer Rouge, but when he turned 6, he was put to work in the fields. The ultimate goal of the Khmer Rouge was to turn Cambodia into an agrarian utopia, in order to do that, they had to kill every educated person in the country, leaving only the poor, uneducated peasants, who could be more easily manipulated. Every doctor, lawyer, teacher, office worker, was summerly killed. Even people who simply wore glasses were killed, as it was reasoned that if they wore glasses, they must be educated. The Khmer Rouge targeted young, poor farmers to be their soldiers, anywhere from ages 10-18. They would brainwash the children, and tell them that they no longer had a family, and that everyone was their brothers and sisters. They were told to report parents if they did anything wrong, like own a book. Eventually though, after just over 3 years, the Khmer Rouge were defeated by the Vietnamese, and the people could return to the city. Our guide was reunited with his mother and most of his siblings; he never did find his father or one of his brothers. They were most likely killed by the soldiers. So after 3 years of Khmer Rouge rule, they were toppled from power, but there was a civil war that didn’t end until 1998. During the height of power of the Khmer Rouge, from 1975 to 1979, about one in five Cambodians, 1.5 million people, were killed by them.

            I hate to end this episode with that sad story, but that's where I am right now - sitting in a hotel in Phnom Penh thinking about the life of the man I just met...  Next up, it's on to the ancient Khmer civilization and the massive temple complex they built at Ankor.

Andrew and the Communists - Baby, I'm Back!!

Our last gathering of the 1st semester (I'm sad to have to say goodbye to half my classmates)

          Well, the lockout appears to be over! After more than a few tense weeks over here at Andrew Abroad’s Ha Noi bureau office, we are happy to report that the negotiations between the writers and the owner have been resolved. The communist Vietnamese government has once again approved my access to the world at large (or at least temporarily failed to deny my access!).

Uncle Aaron and May arrive for a visit from Qatar

           So, there's a lot to catch up on....  At the beginning of the month of December, I went south with my SYA classmates to visit Saigon and the Mekong delta; then, immediately upon our return, we went into finals mode - so that next week was packed with studying and tests. The following week (this week), my family came to town and we had to say goodbye to the semester students. This semester has gone by so fast, it still seems like I only left a week or two ago! Also in town for the week was my godfather, Aaron, and his girlfriend May. He was visiting from his current home in Qatar and I haven’t seen him in three years, so it was great that he was here.  Of course, I will go into all of this in greater detail in the next few posts, as this was but a preview of things to look forward to. Since the Saigon posts are longer and still being reclaimed from the blogosphere void (or I may have to rewrite them...), I will cover this current week now, so you will have something good to read while you wait.

My three dads - godfather, host, real

            Monday was the last day of classes for us this semester. It should have been a joyous occasion, but we were taking finals that day, so as you can imagine that can be quite the mood killer. But after they were over, it felt like a massive load had been taken off my shoulders, and it was finally winter break. After finishing on Monday, it was a mixture of excitement and sadness. I was excited because my family was arriving in Ha Noi the next day! But I was also sad because later that week I would have to return to the airport to say goodbye to many of the great friends I had made over the course of the semester. On Tuesday, we had our final class trip to a village near Hanoi that specializes in silk. While there, many of us finished our holiday shopping. After, it was almost time to see my dad and sister, who were in the air on their final flight to Hanoi. I went to the Hoan Kiem district with some friends and got some lunch. At around 2 or so, I drove to my dad's hotel, and reunited after nearly 4 months. The last time that I saw him was at the airport in San Francisco, of course I had seen my family many times on Skype though. It was great to finally be with at least some of my family (my mom and other sister were going to arrive that night). After a few hours of catching up, I took my dad and sister to my host parents house in Ha Noi, and even though we have traveled to many busy cities and other crazy places in the world, the traffic here still surprised them. But then again, seeing a motorcycle run a red light at speed across 6 perpendicular lanes of busy traffic would hopefully surprise anyone (a common occurrence here - made even more exciting when truck or bus goes with them) . The dinner that night was much more casual than the formal dinner we had planned at my house for Wednesday night, when my two families would officially meet for the first time, because, as I said, only two of my family were there on Tuesday. For the main course, we had Phô, the go-to dish for all occasions in Vietnam. My host mom cooked it and my dad and sister said it was absolutely delicious. After some great conversation around the table for an hour or so after dinner, and some video sharing (my dad brought my host parents some DVDs of me when I was a cute little kid), I walked my dad and sister out and got a cab for them and they drove back to their hotel in Hoan Kiem. About an hour later, I got my own cab and drove up to the airport to meet my mom and other sister Emily. Their flight arrived at about 10:30, so as you can imagine there was hardly any traffic on the way up to the airport. As we were driving along, we were able to go pretty fast through the empty roads north of Ha Noi. At one point, I realized that this was the fastest that I had moved in a car in over 4 months, then I looked at the speedometer and realized that we were only going 80 K/h (50 m/h). I felt like I was going so much faster, but then again the mind starts to play tricks on you when you’ve been in Vietnam as long as I have…

My family was hosted to a wonderful dinner by my Vietnamese family

            After a bit of a wait in the arrivals hall at the Ha Noi airport, the Japan Airlines flight finally arrived. I saw my mom and sister waiting for their bags at the baggage claim, but they couldn’t see me through the doorway. Then, they walked through the door and out into the massive sea of people waiting for other passengers. I tried to get their attention but they couldn’t see me still. Then, while they were turned around talking to the hotel driver, I snuck up on them and surprised them! They were really happy to see me (I hope!). A car from the hotel then took us into the city. Now this next part that I’m about to tell you might get me in trouble with officials, so don’t be surprised if my blog access is blocked again. When we were entering central Ha Noi, we drove by 4 stopped motorcycles on the side of the road, as we passed them, I saw that there were eight policemen with them, and that they all had machine guns out and ready. Then, after we passed them, the motorcycles started up and flew by us, two police on each bike. They passed us and then at the next intersection swerved in four different directions, stopped abruptly, and cut off a motorbike rider. They jumped off their bikes and grabbed the rider throwing him to the ground and pointing the guns in his face. At this point a building blocked my view and I couldn’t see what happened next, but whatever happened, it probably didn’t end well for the rider.

My host Dad and Mom and SYA Vietnam Director Thay Vuong

            The next day, I woke up early and headed over to my family's hotel. I was able to spend the morning with them, but at noon I had to head over to school for a wrap-up and reception for visiting families. After breakfast we went to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, but to our disappointment, he wasn’t there. Then, while my parents went to lunch, I headed over to the school with my sister Emily. After the wrap-up, my parents arrived at the school. They got to look around and meet some of the students. Also, Emily is applying to Thacher and Cate schools, so she was able to talk to Nan, a student on the trip, who goes to Thacher. After the reception we all went to the hotel and then, my mom and I set out to find my godfather Uncle Aaron. We knew what hotel he and his girlfriend were staying at but we didn’t have a phone number for him and he didn’t have a computer. To add to this confusion, the hotel didn’t have a phone number either. Luckily, he was there when we showed up, he and his girlfriend May had just returned from Ha Long bay half an hour before. They are currently teachers in Doha, Qatar. But at the end of the school year they are moving to Yokohama, Japan. I haven’t seen him since winter break in 8th grade, three years ago.  I invited them to my host family’s house that night for dinner. So we then met up with my dad and two sisters and got a cab to drive us to my house, about 15 minutes away with minimal traffic, but with traffic it can take up to an hour. There was light traffic so the drive wasn’t long. At the dinner we had the 5 of us, plus Aaron and his girlfriend, and also joining us was the director of my school, Thay Vuong. And of course my 3 host family members, my mom, dad, and sixteen-year-old sister, Linh. Dinner was outstanding, and took a lot of preparation! Both my Aunt and our household maid were busy in the kitchen helping my mom cook the incredible meal, and everything turned out great. We had all sorts of different Vietnamese dishes: different meats, shrimp, bamboo, assorted greens from our rooftop garden, soups and much more. Just as dinner was being served, the doorbell rang, and it was the house band! This was a total surprise. My host dad had contacted some of the best musicians in Vietnam for playing a traditional instrument (a 2 stringed bango-guitar thing) to play and sing traditional songs for us that night. And it just so happened that they were our next door neighbors, coincidence? I think not.

I'll miss you guys  :(

             

Emily v. Ha Noi Traffic

          For some reason (maybe because I live in a socialist country??), I have not been able to access/upload to this blog for the past month in Hanoi.  I am now traveling with my family on christmas break and here in Hoi An, in central Vietnam, everything seems to be working fine. I have lots to catch you up on..., but meanwhile, you can enjoy a video that I made with my sister Emily just after she arrived in Hanoi several days ago:

          I'll try to get more up soon, but I'll be traveling in Cambodia and Laos for the next few weeks, so most things will have to wait until I get things working in Hanoi again when I get back in early January.

"The American Teenage Referee in Hanoi"

Here's a link to the refereeing segment produced by VTC10: NETVIET, The Vietnamese Culture Channel:

 

Time Travel; and, Turkey by Surprise

          Alright. I’m back! Did you miss me? I feel like I’ve just been put in a time machine. The month of November has gone by in an absolute flash. Now it’s the 28th and I’m absolutely stunned at how quickly the entire semester has gone. It still feels like I just left last week, and now, I’m staring right at the end of the semester, just 3 weeks away. Let me try some metaphors . . . we are now at the twilight of the first semester, not quite dark, but there is little time left before the end. But then again, for me, and the other 6 students staying for the full school year, it is only lunchtime . . . as much as I would like to leave and head home in a few weeks with the rest of the semester students, I feel like that’s not a valid choice. Retreat is not an option! They don’t call it school semester abroad, it's School Year Abroad!

So some interesting things took place during the weeks since my last entry. As noted in my last post, I was filmed for an English-language television news journal, refereeing a soccer game! That was a lot of fun. I met the film crew at the fields before my game, and they filmed me preparing for the game, checking-in the teams and inspecting the field, and doing some warm-up stretches and jogging. Then, just before I took the field to start the game, I did an on camera interview, and talked about my experience with soccer and refereeing. The focus of the interview was that while I am at school here in Vietnam, I am volunteering my time to assist with running a youth soccer league and also refereeing some games (I'm donating the salary I would make for refereeing back to the league). Youth referees are as unique here in Vietnam as we are back in the States, so players and spectators definitely seem to take note when I'm on the field! The program aired on TV a few days ago, but my segment hasn't been posted on YouTube yet, so you’re going to have to wait a few days to see it. The game went smoothly, and the only not so smooth part involved a penalty kick right at the end, but by that time the camera crew was gone, so it worked out well. The next week after that game (last week), I was invited to referee for a professional football club! Well, it wasn’t actually the professional team; it was their U-15 academy team. A lot of professional clubs around the world have academies, where kids live and study, and also play soccer. These players may have only been 14-15 years old, but they were amazing! They had incredible ball control and passing skills. They played another club team, not affiliated with a pro team, that was coached by the directors of the league I referee for. They are a very good team, and rarely lose a game, but they lost 10-0! That, for those of you who know little about soccer, is a very, very high score! And especially because there were two very skilled teams on the pitch. But I guess that’s what you get when you play against a school that specializes in developing professional soccer players.

Last week, we had a Thanksgiving banquet. Yes, we actually celebrated Thanksgiving over here in Vietnam. And just a warning, the menu may shock you… oven cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, cakes, brownies… and the list goes on. It took a heroic search all across northern Vietnam to find the various ingredients (I think we ate the only two turkeys in country), and some fantastic cooking by some of my fellow students and teachers - but we had it all!! It was a large party, with host family members, students, teachers, and friends of the school from Ha Noi. There must have been at least 60 people there! The guests were treated to some fine musical performances and a play.

Looking forward to the events of interest these next few weeks. . . .  this upcoming Friday morning, at around 3 am(!), I am going to be attending an all-school town meeting at my alma-mater, Santa Barbara Middle School.  I'll be online on Skype, of course, and if all goes well with the technology, I'll be making a short presentation about my experiences so far in Vietnam, perhaps have time to show one of my videos, and then take questions from the audience.  The day after that, on Saturday, I'll head out of Ha Noi with my classmates as we go south for nine days to visit Saigon and the Mekong River Delta. Upon our return, we'll have just one week of school, and really only 4 days, because we have our final semester exams scheduled on Friday and Monday, December 16th and 19th. After the exams are done, we'll have just a few days to celebrate and decompress and then half of the students will return back to the US on December 22nd. And the biggest news for me, on December 20th my mom and dad and my sisters will arrive for a three-week visit! During their stay, we'll hang out in Ha Noi for several days, then we'll be traveling south by train to Hoi An (where we'll spend Christmas), and then will continue on traveling through Cambodia and Laos.  As luck would have it, on the same week that my family gets here, my godfather Aaron will also be visiting Ha Noi on an unrelated trip from his current home in Qatar, where he's a school teacher. I'm excited to have all my families together (host, real, and lifelong friends) - I'm sure we'll have a few great dinners that first week.  Special Note:  Uncle Aaron and Dad, if you're reading this, as this will be the first time we'll all be together in years, I expect to finally hear the Needles Story that has long eluded my ears....I believe that I'm old enough now.


I want to get this post up as quick as possible, so I will be adding pictures tomorrow and hopefully that video soon as well.

United Nations and a rare Andrew Sanborn Television Interview

            Well it’s November now and this is the section of each blog where I diligently count how long I've been here and how long I have left. I realize it's a repetitive activity, but it's also cathartic so please bare with me; here it goes....I have now been here for well over two months, and with 42 days remaining until winter break, things are starting to go by a little quick now. For instance I can’t believe I haven’t had a post in 11 days! We have now been here for around 70 days, which is also hard to believe, I don’t think it’s affecting me as much as the semester students, because for them the end is now defiantly in sight. Of course I am getting really exited for our trip to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in the beginning of December, only 3 and a half short, yet packed, weeks ahead. I look forward to getting out of Ha Noi and the north and experiencing a different part of the country. And Saigon and the Mekong delta are definitely different. For example, the temperature high here in Ha Noi tomorrow is expected to be around 77, where as in Saigon, it’s expected to be 10 degrees warmer and raining. Which I suppose may not seem that different, but... uh... anyways...

This past weekend, for the first time, I ventured up into the North side of Ha Noi, which is the international part of the city, and is where all the diplomats live and all the international schools are. One of my teachers, Thay Chuck, invited me to go with him to the United Nations International School (UNIS) to play ultimate Frisbee. UNIS is amazing. As you drive up, there is a guarded gate, and on the other side is the massive campus. The buildings are super modern and cool looking; they have a huge covered pool, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a baseball field, and a massive field that is actually living, green grass! It was a Saturday, and sports activities were in full swing at the school, there was rugby, soccer, Frisbee, swimming, basketball, baseball… every sport you could think of was going on at the campus. Two of us students from SYA showed up to play, and after playing for a while, we got tired out, and started talking to some UNIS kids who were also in the ultimate games with us. They were really cool, and it was nice to meet some other kids from the US and Europe who were our age. After talking for awhile, it was getting dark, so I headed home - but I hope to get up there again one day soon.


          Amazingly, last week I was once again on a national TV broadcast, but this time the stakes were even higher. It was a larger station, and a bigger show. Voice of Vietnam - think Good Morning America or The Today Show - was doing a show all about my school and our director, and he and the full VoV (I just made that acronym up) crew came over to my house to film what a typical evening is like for me and my family - eating dinner together, talking about our days, doing evening routines and homework, etc. They also did a formal interview with me with a translator - which you can see below. The show hasn’t been aired yet, but when it is, I will have the video link up on the blog so ya’ll can see it. What you see in this video is my school director, Thay Vuong, filming me from a different angle with my camera. What you can’t see from that perspective is giant cameras they brought, along with all the lighting and sound equipment. So, enjoy the full, ALL exclusive, un-edited, highly anticipated, Andrew Sanborn Interview. Riveting stuff, I know....

As a side note, yet another camera crew - for a different television show, this one in English, and all about my daytime activities - will be coming with me on Sunday to my Football game to film me refereeing. So after 7 years of officiating, I have finally made the ultimate goal (pun intended), to be in a televised soccer match. Which means I can finally retire! It didn’t take as long as I thought, so I’m not sure exactly what to do next… Maybe make the next goal to play on TV, which will probably take a little longer.

          Looking forward, this upcoming Friday, my class and I get to go on a field-trip, but not any ordinary field-trip, we get to tour two coal burning power plants, located a few hours outside Ha Noi. One is a Soviet built plant that is out-dated and dirty, and the other is a modern clean one that was recently built. It should be fascinating to compare and contrast them, but don’t ask how we got this set up, it’s classified.


          So enjoy the video, and also, I have just began an ambitious film project to put my personal perspectives on Ha Noi and my day-to-day experiences here, up on the silver screen - before I become too overexposed by all the media attention I seem to be attracting!  I don't know when I'll have it completed, but definitely before the semester ends. But remember, that’s not for sure, and you didn’t hear it from me, as I don’t want the Andrew Abroad Studios lawyers coming after me again…

Heatstroke, Nachos, Col. Kurtz

Sell the house.  Sell the car.  Sell the kids.  Find someone else.  Forget it, I'm never coming back. . . 
- Apocalypse Now

           The past few weeks have been jam-packed with school and assignments. My classmates and I have all started to realize that we have been flying through the school year, and, at the time I am writing this, we have already finished the first quarter; which signals the halfway point for half the students here. We have now been here for eight weeks, and only have eight weeks to go until winter vacation....  Now of course I have much longer than that, 30 weeks still to go, so I am not pressed for time as of yet. But, focusing on the day my family arrives to spend the winter break with me, we have one more hump to get over before we finish up the semester, the month of November. It is a big, empty month with no time off, except for one day at thanksgiving. There are no trips to take our minds of school or homework, and we only have a week or so in December of school, so we are going to be pushing hard next month to finish strong.

            Last week, we completed reading our second book in English; Heart of Darkness. And last Friday, we started watching the movie Apocalypse Now, finishing it earlier this week on Monday. I had seen it before, so I thought I knew what to expect. But watching it in the country where it actually took place totally changed my perspective. I couldn’t help but think about the similarities between my journey and the movie, obviously I’m not here to assassinate some colonel up river, but the themes and things Willard said got me thinking. Like when he said; when he was here, all he could think about was going home, but when he was home, all he could think about was getting back into the jungle. And this made me think about what it was actually going to be like for me when I returned home, after nine months away? Will I embrace it? Or will I want to return to the Jungle? I don’t know yet. I think that the movie was much more powerful now to me because I am here and I can actually relate. Hopefully I won’t be moving up river and posting weird entries about snails from my jungle camp, but after 7-8 months here, you never know. . .    Anyway, just food for thought.    

            This past Sunday, I finally refereed my first soccer game here in Ha Noi!  It was crazy-HOT that day and that made it pretty painful to run around for the entire 60-minute game, but I made through the match without passing out, barely. The good news is that I now know the way to the soccer field and didn't repeat any of my taxicab mis-adventures from the past month. I didn’t expect it to be hot, since it had been pretty cloudy and (relatively) cool this month, but not on Sunday. It was hot and the sun was shining. I determined to arrived early, to make sure I had plenty of time to get things figured out, but of course, I arrived too early, and sat around for a while. Soon the teams began to arrive and Paul, the league director, showed up to give me final instructions on the game. Kick-off was scheduled for 1:15, and after a coin-toss and a few handshakes, we were off. It was a U13 boys game, and the game length was one hour. I did fine for most of the first half, but at the end of it I could tell I definitely needed some water. At halftime I got some well needed H2O, and went back out in the blazing sun for half number two. Without a doubt the heat was starting to get to me, and I was moving a little bit slower than I did in the first half. It was painful, but I made it through the half, a little dehydrated, but happy with the game overall.  And did I mention the 90 percent humidity. . . !

            This past week was the end of our first quarter of school, so we had many a test this week, and I had a lot of late nights studying - which made making it to the weekend all the more satisfying. To cap off the week, on Friday it was Mackenzie’s birthday and we were all ready for a party, so we went to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate the birthday and let off some steam (if you know what I mean!). The restaurant was owned and operated by a New Joyseyian, go figure. It had all the classics, like nachos and burritos; I narrowed my choices down to a burrito or quesadilla, and went with the quesadilla, because I didn’t want to risk the burrito not being good as I was already planning a return visit to the restaurant. It wasn’t bad, definitely not Santa Barbara quality Mexican food, but after not having any for two months, I’m not complaining. The restaurant even got a cake for the party too, and it was a good cake. After the festivities were over, I headed on home; glad this week of tests was said and done.


          Finally, Jack Creeden, the president of SYA was in town this week. He was here to check in on the program, and see how we were adapting to our new homes for the year. He had already been to SYA China in Beijing, and then came south to Vietnam. He wanted to talk to us individually, and I talked to him for quite a while about the program on Monday. He was here until Thursday morning, and then he headed back to Boston. He said that he really liked my video of our first school trip (scroll down to my next entry to watch the video) and asked if he could publish it on the SYA website. I've heard rumors that SYA may close the Vietnam program next year for lack of funding. I truly hope that doesn't happen.

VIDEOS: An Andrew Sanborn Adventure; SYA on the Evening News

          Sorry I haven't posted since the trip, things have been a little busy at school, and if I continued to explain each school week it would get a little redundant.... But never fear, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make up for a lack of entries. Check out these two videos. The first video (above) is one I made about our Sapa- Ha Long bay adventure (hint: don't close the video before the credits finish).


          Next, remember way back when when I posted about a news crew that came to our school and did a story about SYA? If the answer is yes, continue to read. If not, scroll down and find it, and while your at it enjoy my other entries. It was played on national TV and is a weekly "english journal" segment of the newscast - they only do the one segment in English each week which is why it may be a little difficult to understand the newscaster.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see it when it aired on TV so the producer posted it on Youtube so I (we) could see it..... 

          Check back in a few days for a new entry for this weekend, because I had my first game with the soccer league here, but that's a gripping story for a different day. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these movies.

Sapa and Ha Long: Part 2 - The Bay

            One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months.  We've been through every kind of rain there is: little bit of stinging rain, and big old fat rain, rain that flew in sideways, and sometimes rain even seemed to come from strait up underneath.  Shoot, it even rained at night.  - Forrest Gump

Floating village in Ha Long Bay

          Today, it started to rain.  And it didn’t stop raining until we left Ha Long bay. It even rained sideways, and sometimes it would rain strait up! Ok, I made that last part up, because Forest Gump was a good movie, and that line is referring to Vietnam, where I currently am. Today we supposedly were to leave Sapa for the warmer, sunnier climes of Ha Long. Unfortunately, that would not be the case -  but I wouldn't find out until later.

Enjoying the sights of Ha Long

            It was raining when we woke up, so there was not a whole lot we could do, so my roommate, Mack, and I went to go have breakfast at a local restaurant that appeared to have American looking food, of course here in Vietnam nothing seems to actually be what it appears, and it wasn’t as good as it we expected, but it was still familiar. A bus arrived at our hotel at about 1:30 to take us down to Lao Cai, where the train station is located. After navigating the twisting and turning roads of the paddy-covered mountains, we arrived in Lao Cai. We had around 4 hours before our train was to depart, so we drove over to the Vietnam-Chinese boarder, just to check it out. China was across the river, and the only way to get across was a bridge, with entrance stations at both sides. That or you swim, but only if you're good at dodging bullets.... After checking out the crossing, and snapping a few pictures and video with my trusty camera, we drove to a hotel near the station, which acted as a staging area in preparation for our departure later that evening. We got a few rooms there, where we watched TV for a few hours, then went down for dinner, and eventually walked over to the station, and left on the Ha Noi express (not its real name) at 8 o’clock. We were all pretty tired, even though we didn’t actually do a whole lot today, sitting in a bus can be draining. So I went to bed much earlier than last time. We talked for a while and played music, much like last time, and at around 10 or so, headed back to the cabin and drifted off to sleep.

A buddha statue in the monastery

            The scheduled arrival time into Ha Noi was 4:30 am. Fortunately today the blaring Vietnamese music was not playing this morning, which was a major plus. I woke at around 4:15, just long enough to come out of my daze before we arrived at the creepy WW2 station. After arriving, we left the train behind and got on a bus that SYA hired to take us to Ha Long bay. It was a 4-hour bus ride, but we made a few stops along the way. I slept for the first few hours of the trip, but I woke up when we stopped for breakfast at a tourist trap, a combo of a ceramic factory, restaurant and convenience store. The service was really bad, and they completely forgot about our table and it took 20 minutes to get my food, which was also the wrong thing.

Our meditation teacher in the monastery

          After finishing up at the restaurant/store, we continued toward Ha Long, stopping at a Buddhist monastery. Here we met with a senior monk, who was in his early 80s. He had lived a very interesting life. He was a soldier in the 50’s and fought against the French, and after that he became a monk, and has been ever since. He also has grandchildren who live in the US. He talked to us for a while about Buddhism, and then taught us how to meditate. It was very interesting, but the teachings were really hard, because you have to do some funky things with your feet, like twist them around and put them above your knees when you sit, which was very uncomfortable if you're not flexible (like me). After our meditation lesson, we got to have lunch with the monks. That was really cool. They eat in complete silence, and they pray before and after they eat. It was a little hard at first not being able to talk, but eventually I settled into it and it was actually very relaxing. After lunch, we thanked them for letting us visit them, then left the hills behind and continued on our way to Ha Long. We made one pit stop at a hospital for one of the girls on our trip, because she was sick and our director wanted to get some tests done to figure out what is was, she turned out to be fine though. Then around 4:30 or so, we arrived at our hotel in Ha Long, and after a few hours of rest, we headed out to dinner a few blocks away, but it was still raining, so we took le autobus. To say that today was a long day would be an understatement, because today was a very long day, starting at around 4 in the morning, and not finishing until 10:30pm. But we got to see some very cool things, like being able to learn from a monk and eat with them, and also getting our first glimpse of Ha Long bay.

Ha Long Bay, into the fog

The Cave, with its natural lighting

            The next morning, we had to be at the boat at 8. Thay Vuong recommended that we get up at about 6, so we could have breakfast and be ready to go by 7:30. That turned out to be too early as my roommate, Woo, and I headed down to the breakfast buffet at around 6:15, and of course there was no one there from our group, there were plenty of other people though. Eventually the others began trickling in, and by 7:30, we were ready to head out for our day on the Bay. The tourist boat harbor was absolutely insane, there were hundreds of boats all moored off in the harbor, and there were a few docks where the boats could come in and pick up passengers - and there was not a lot of space to do that. We were hit twice on the way out, because there were so many other boats, and everyone is turning at the same time, and apparently the captains don’t seem to care, so all the boats, large vessels, slam into each other constantly. The Bay is notoriously dangerous for boating, and every few years or so one of these boats will go down with everyone on board, because they are made of wood, and also because the crews aren’t particularly competent and at night the boats just slam into each other and sink. Also, as I just mentioned, they are made of wood, and as I found out while on the cruise, they are constantly taking on water, and in each vessel there is a motor down below that is powering a pump that bails out the water collecting in the bilge. If the pump were to shut off at any point, you better know how to swim, or learn quickly because you only have a few minutes. But anyway, lets forget about all that unimportant safety stuff. Ha Long bay was absolutely amazing, the way that the limestone just jetted out of the water was stunning, and there were more islands then I could possibly count, all hidden away in a massive archipelago that stretches as far as the eyes can see. After about 45 minutes of cruising, we arrived at our first stop, a giant cave inside one of the islands. It was definitely a tourist destination, and there were about 15 of the tourist boats docked in the little bay, and after slamming into a few boats getting to our dock position, we began the 100 foot climb or so to the entrance. If this place had been any cheesier, I could have slapped a couple tortillas on it and ate it. During the assent up the staircase, there were speaker playing dramatic music, and every 50 feet or so there were trashcans, but not just any trashcans, little penguin cans. Really? Penguins? But, when we got inside, the cave was absolutely amazing, it was a lot like the Carlsbad caverns in Southern New Mexico, except keeping to their tourist trap nature, they hade multicolored lights all over the place, which king of detracted from the experience, but it was still a neat cave. It was also very crowded, so it was kind of a trade off; a cool cave visit, but there were a lot of people and bright lights. After we finished the cave walk, we went back down, fetched our boat, and continued on to the next destination, a boat village. When we arrived at the boat village, we got to do a pretty cool thing, our boat pulled up to a floating fish farm. It was basically a giant raft with holes and down in the holes were fish, crab and other aquatic animals. They were in open water, but nets held them in so they couldn’t leave their little pen. While we looked around, the crew shopped for our lunch. Our science/economics teacher, Thay Chuck, surprised us all by showing us one of the weirdest sea critters I ever done saw. It was called a Horseshoe crab, and it’s considered to be a living fossil. It dates back millions and millions of years, and is pretty much unchanged since then. After we selected our lunch, we boarded our ship, and began a slow cruise back towards Ha Long. The Lunch was amazing, everything was so fresh, and delicious too! We had a few different courses, consisting of fresh shrimp, fish, crab, French fries, and vegetables too. After our lunch was over, we were almost back into port. We were supposed to go to a beach today, for swimming and hiking, but it was raining, so the boat didn’t take us there, instead, we would try to head out again on Saturday. After our bus picked us up, we didn’t go back to the hotel, but instead went to a temple about an hour north up the coast, which honored a Vietnamese general, who had beaten the Mongols back in the 900’s. It was kind of a long drive for such a short time at the temple, but it was pretty neat to see. It rained the rest of the afternoon and evening, so chances of a boat ride on Saturday were looking dim. We didn’t have a lot of time to wait around, since we had to return to Ha Noi that afternoon. Thay Vuong said we would just play it by ear, and see if conditions improved.

A boat glides along the water

            We woke up a bit later today, around 6:45. We had to have all our stuff down in the lobby when we came down for breakfast, so we spent a few minutes packing up the rest of our stuff in the room before heading down. Breakfast was the same setup as the day before, western style with some Asian flair. I had toast, sausage, some eggs, and also some egg noodles, because I am in Viet Nam after all. At about 8 am, we gathered in the lobby and brought our stuff to the bus, where it was loaded on, and then after our rooms were inspected by the hotel, we were cleared for takeoff. It turned out conditions on the bay were better today, so we would be able to take a short trip out to an island with a beach. When we arrived there, after about 45 minutes of cruising, we saw the beach, it was artificial, since these were limestone islands that don’t really have beaches. But it was real sand. There were no waves anywhere on the bay because it is so dense with islands; it was really like a giant salt-water lake. Leading up from the beach was a trail, and a few of us intrepid explorers decided to see where it went, leading the charge was Thay Chuck, and along for the hike was me, Sarah, and Woo. After a steep 10-15 minute climb, and I’m talking about intense, fast-paced run-climbing, we arrived at the summit of the island, and got an incredible view, we had a 360-degree view of the bay, it was amazing (do I use that word too much?). After a short ecology lesson, we scrambled down the mountain, and arrived back at the beach, just in time for a game of Frisbee.  

         I really enjoyed my time in Ha Long bay, but it was time to return home, back to the fast paced city life of Ha Noi, where the buildings are tall and the bus drivers are crazy. It seemed like that trip lasted way longer than just a week. It could have been a month. I think it was because we did so much in such a small amount of time, that it made it seem longer. We would wake up by 6:30 almost every morning, and the days were jammed packed with stuff to do, and I wouldn’t fall asleep until 11. But I am glad to be back in Ha Noi, because even though it was only a week, I was really starting to miss my host family and my home here. So, with 7 days on the road, we got to see a lot of amazing places, from the mountains right down to the sea.

Boats docked outside the cave

What the @!#$ is that thing?

Oh, it's a horseshoe crab, I should have known

My artsy lunch pictures

Every thing we ate on the boat was alive 30 minutes before consumption

Fish entrée, the meal made up for the traumatic
crashes we experienced in port 

Whole crab, yummy

Temple to Vietnamese general who defeated
the mongols during their conquest in Vietnam

Large scale coal mining is a huge industry
in Northern Vietnam

Stadium near Ha Long, notice the giant screen

Famous rock formation in Ha Long bay

Look out tower on top of the island

A sad sight, giant swarms of garbage left by fishermen
and those floating villages 

Even though this wasn't taken during the trip, It
deserves an honorable mention. This was a blood soup
that I had when I went out to lunch with my host dad
after I got back. (side note: I didn't order it)