Successful Vietnamese conversations

So I usually have language class every weekday for 4 hours. Today, being the end of our first week, we only had half as much class and then took a mini field trip to practice speaking. Our teacher, Cô Trinh, (we actually have three teachers but Cô Trinh is our favorite) took us to the zoo and we practiced everything we knew. It was really nerve-wracking at first, walking up to perfect strangers and not having a solid grasp on the language, but then got easier! Some people were difficult to understand, either from talking too quickly or using vocabulary which I do not yet know. And I scared one woman who was working at one of the concession stands. I walked over and said "Xin chào. Tôi là sinh viên. Tôi học tiếng Việt. Bác tên là gì?" which means, "Hello. I am a student. I am studying Vietnamese language. What is your name?" Admittedly, it must have been somewhat unsettling to have some strange girl ask her name first thing. But then she had some conversation I could not follow at all with her friend until a security guard came over and reassured her and then she very warily answered me. Most people were very friendly though. And I successfully conversed with several Vietnamese zoo patrons and one kindly old French man. And Darwin, you will be happy to hear that my French is giving my Vietnamese a wierd accent instead of the other way around.

I have realized that the one of the most difficult parts of this term abroad is eating. Not because the food is not delicious, but because I have to first communicate what I want, when I do not have any idea what the strange foods are. Sometime it would be nice not to have to fend for myself here. Regardless, the food is amazing and it is educational if challenging to get food from Vietnamese restaurants for every meal.

We also went to the fine arts museum today which was very interesting. I loved the architecture of the building almost more than the art itself. It used to be an art school, built by the French around the turn of the century. It had all these fantastic wrought iron railings and an old fashion lift. Alyse, there were only a few paintings of boats but you can guess that those were my favorites (I have noticed that in painting galleries, my favorites are always paintings of boats or nautical scenes; not like a conscious decision but just something about them...). Then we went to a moderm commercial art gallery which was not as enjoyable because it was very hot and stuffy! It made breathing somewhat troublesome but I lived through the experience.

On the walk back from that, my friend Lily and I stopped at a bookstore (I couldn't resist) and I got Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Vietnamese. Wish me luck on this experiment... Then we stopped at a shop to enquire about áo dài which is a traditional outfit in Vietnam and they tailor it specially for each person. I plan to go back on Sunday to order one.

Then we went to karaoke with some Vietnamse friends. Super fun but much as you would expect, not much to report.

This has been a pretty typical day here in Ho Chi Minh City: learn Vietnamese, study/practice Vietnamese, eat, learn about Vietnamese culture, eat, hang out with friends, study more.

Tomorrow we go to a Cao Đài monastary and the Củ Chi tunnels. I will write about those once I have been and actually know something about them.

love to all,
Maggie

ps. photos are still in the works...