In the Land of Dragon Bridges - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Where does time go?

It’s already more than three weeks into my month here in Vietnam and it’s so hard to believe (and accept) I’ll already be leaving in a few days. This is going to be an extremely hard goodbye.

My month in Vietnam has by no means been smooth sailing, but it has also been one of the most rewarding, exciting, emotionally stretching and yet restful months so far.

My new team, the Backseat Girls (born out of spending our first three hours together in the back of a bus), is currently in Danag, Vietnam. We have been working with an English Speaking Cafe which offers the opportunity for locals to practice English with native English speaking volunteers. Each day we are teaching English classes and guiding English discussions. Our purpose behind this is to build relationships with the people coming into the cafe, hopeful that this will lead to deep, meaningful conversations about the Hope that is in us. It has been incredible to see how He continues to open doors for us to share Love with the people we encounter on a daily basis.

Here are a few fun/interesting/new things I’ve learned about Vietnam, along with some photos.

1) Most of the restaurants have tables and chairs made for children. No, seriously.

It takes quite a bit of skill to loudly slurp your noodles (seen as a compliment here) without getting broth all over the place while you’re hunched over in a child-sized chair at a child-sized table. Most of these restaurants are family-run, often below where they family lives.

2) Everywhere you go (especially if you’re alone) people will ask you for a selfie. If you throw in the “peace” sign, even better.

This first happened to me when my team was visiting Linh Ung Pagaoda at Buddha Bay. I had unintentionally wandered off on my own to take photos and suddenly became the prime target for Vietnamese tourists. I was asked at least ten times in the space of an hour to take a selfie with random strangers. At one point, a mom handed me her less than one-year-old child and snapped a photo.

And then there are a few others too shy to ask so they settle with photographing from a distance.

(note the woman taking a picture in the right side of the frame)

3) Street shoes aren’t allowed in the house.

Our host even provided us with shoes specifically for the house only. They’re pretty awesome (our hosts and the shoes).

4) Motorbikes (aka mopeds, scooters, etc) are the primary mode of transportation.

My team decided to invest in motorbikes for the month and have thoroughly enjoyed the independence and freedom that comes with having our own transportation. And of course, they’re also a lot of fun to drive.

5) Because they prefer a fair complexion, the locals will go to great lengths to keep the sun from touching their skin.

From long sleeve shirts and pants, to face masks, to long skirts specifically designed for riding a motorbike and even gloves, it’s all worth it. Even if it’s 90 degrees out.

When I go running on the beach in the mornings I always find it filled with Vietnamese working out from 5-6ish. They’ll be doing all forms of exercise: swimming, using the beach workout equipment, frisbee, running, beach volleyball, juggling, martial arts, you name it. By 7 AM the only people left on the beach are foreigners (aka: white people). Once the sun is out, the locals peace out. Of course, this could also be because everyone has gone to work and the all foreigners are here on vacation….

6) Vietnamese absolutely love Americans.

I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting but everyone here is extremely friendly and just die with excitement when you talk to them or even just smile and wave hello. Many know at least some English and are very eager to improve their English skills.

Here are some of the friends I’ve met along the way.

7) Karaoke is king.

Seriously. Vietnamese love their karaoke. Just the other day I was invited over to a friend’s house for lunch and guess what our post-lunch activity was? Yep, karaoke. In her home. She has a karaoke machine. In. Her. Home.

Most of the songs are American and I am regularly put to shame by how well they know all the lyrics and vocal fluctuations. We also have a karaoke night once a week at the cafe.

8) The food. ‘Nuff said.

There hasn’t been much here that I haven’t liked. Even the balut (cooked egg with a mostly developed chick embryo) wasn’t too bad.

(trying Balut^^)

Banh xeo (pronounced “bon sayo”) has probably been my favorite dish so far. It is a fried Vietnamese pancake wrapped in rice paper and filled with shrimp or pork, bean sprouts, cucumbers, immature bananas and various herbs. It is served with either a fish sauce or peanut sauce (or mixture of both). We prefer the peanut sauce. Basically a make-your-own spring roll. Yum.

Here are a few other dishes I’ve tried this month:

Fish waffles: this is actually a Japanese specialty but very popular here in Da Nang. They are usually filled with a type of meat or cheese.

Banh can. Similar to banh xeo and almost just as tasty.

Banh gio. This reminded me of a Latin American tamale. Very delicious.

We did not get a name for this but it was an extremely tasty seafood soup prepared by a friend.

Here are a few more photo highlights of my time here in Vietnam:

Incense burning at one of the temples we visited.

Lady Buddha stands 67 meters high and has a diameter of 17 meters with 17 floors. The highest statue in Vietnam.

A morning spent feeding goldfish with a new Vietnamese friend at a local cafe.

I came across this cave when we took a trip to Marble Mountain. It was filled with statues and altars with incense to various Buddhist gods. Despite that, when I walked into this spot, I instantly and undeniably felt the presence of God. It was so dark and the only light coming in was from a small hole in the ceiling. I wanted to just sit there forever. I’m still not quite sure why it was so comforting to me, especially since darkness is usually such a scary thing; perhaps it’s because I sensed His presence so strongly I almost felt like I could touch Him. In this moment I heard Him tell me I don’t need to fear the darkness because He will always be there, right beside me.