In January of 2004 my friend, Judy, invited my husband and me to travel to Viet Nam with her to visit her daughter, Sally, who was teaching English at the University of Dalat for a year. The following is a brief essay that I wrote after that trip.
Chuc Mung nam moi! Happy New Year. This is about the full extent of myVietnamese after spending a week in Dalat with Sally. Fortunately Sally has picked up enough Vietnamese to order in restaurants, give taxi drivers the correct directions, and shop in the local markets.
Sally, always the organized teacher, had a printed itinerary ready for us (flexibile, of course) with a hand-drawn map of the city. "I walk everywhere" she called back to us as we trailed after her up and down hill to the local sites..
Dalat is a beautiful city located in the mountains of central Viet Nam. In the short time Sally has been there, she has embraced her new home and the people who live there. She is very enthusiastic about introducing her students to America (they loved the hamburgers she cooked for them.) She was equally eager to introduce us, her " Elderhostel", to Vietnamese life. Chicken noodle dumpling soup served at a food stall where she warned us not to drink from the pop bottles since they were reused, turned out to be our favorite meal. Judy and I sat down here on little red stools and brushed the flies away as Sally, the youngest, performed the duty of wiping off the chopsticks and spoons for us before we ate.
Another favorite of hers, and now ours, too, is choui noung, a delicious treat made of tapioca and coconut milk, roasted bananas and sticky rice. She took us to an outdoor stand one evening where we sat once again on little red plastic stools and enjoyed this delicious treat.
One of the highlights of the trip was the day Sally invited her students over to meet us. Shy, but curious, they came in several groups to sit on the floor and introduce themselves to us. After some giggles and small talk, several of them sang for us. And then we had to sing for them. Since they had just finished exams and were excited about going home for Tet (Vietnames New Year) we sang Auld Lang Syne for them, our New Year's song.
We will never forget the sights and sounds of Dalat, the constant toots of the horns, the great white Buddha on the hill, the young women on motorcycles with face masks and long gloves, live eels swimming in tubs in the market, the street lined with peach trees for Tet, and the beautiful gardens with mimosa trees, calla lillies, bougainvillea, and apricot trees.
Chuc Mung nam moi! Happy New Year. This is about the full extent of myVietnamese after spending a week in Dalat with Sally. Fortunately Sally has picked up enough Vietnamese to order in restaurants, give taxi drivers the correct directions, and shop in the local markets.
Sally, always the organized teacher, had a printed itinerary ready for us (flexibile, of course) with a hand-drawn map of the city. "I walk everywhere" she called back to us as we trailed after her up and down hill to the local sites..
Dalat is a beautiful city located in the mountains of central Viet Nam. In the short time Sally has been there, she has embraced her new home and the people who live there. She is very enthusiastic about introducing her students to America (they loved the hamburgers she cooked for them.) She was equally eager to introduce us, her " Elderhostel", to Vietnamese life. Chicken noodle dumpling soup served at a food stall where she warned us not to drink from the pop bottles since they were reused, turned out to be our favorite meal. Judy and I sat down here on little red stools and brushed the flies away as Sally, the youngest, performed the duty of wiping off the chopsticks and spoons for us before we ate.
Another favorite of hers, and now ours, too, is choui noung, a delicious treat made of tapioca and coconut milk, roasted bananas and sticky rice. She took us to an outdoor stand one evening where we sat once again on little red plastic stools and enjoyed this delicious treat.
One of the highlights of the trip was the day Sally invited her students over to meet us. Shy, but curious, they came in several groups to sit on the floor and introduce themselves to us. After some giggles and small talk, several of them sang for us. And then we had to sing for them. Since they had just finished exams and were excited about going home for Tet (Vietnames New Year) we sang Auld Lang Syne for them, our New Year's song.
We will never forget the sights and sounds of Dalat, the constant toots of the horns, the great white Buddha on the hill, the young women on motorcycles with face masks and long gloves, live eels swimming in tubs in the market, the street lined with peach trees for Tet, and the beautiful gardens with mimosa trees, calla lillies, bougainvillea, and apricot trees.
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