Mornings, meals, meetings, and more

Sometimes I forget where I am. I wake up and I think about what I have to do that day, but somehow the fact that I'm in Vietnam doesn't factor in. Then the sound of Vietnamese filters in through the open window and I remember. I'm in Vietnam, where I don't understand people. It's not an unpleasant realization, just a surprising one every time I have it, because all of my activities and everything about my environment constantly remind me of where I am.

This morning I woke up bright and early at 6am for Trang to take me to try a new dish for breakfast. It was well worth the bleary-eyed start to my day. As I say every day about every new thing I try, cơm tấm may be my new favorite dish. It a dish of crushed rice, sprouts, cucumber, chargrilled pork,  an egg-based component, and, of course, fish sauce. The benefit of being taken to try all of these new foods is that Trang always takes me to whatever place she thinks makes that dish best. I have seen cơm tấm places closer to school so I will have to compare. If my experience with bánh ướt purveyors is any indication, though, I doubt I'll find a place that's better.

I have been to several meetings this week, and I don't quite understand them. Bearing in mind that most of the meeting takes place in Vietnamese, it seems to me like someone brings up a talking point, it is discussed, and then casual conversation takes place for five to ten minutes before another point is brought up. This process is repeated ad nauseum. This makes it very hard for me to know when the meeting is over. I am never sure if people are now just chatting and it would be ok for me to leave, or if something important is going to come up again. Usually something else does come up. People do not silence their cellphones during meetings, and seem to find it perfectly appropriate to leave the room to take a call while the meeting is going on. Today I attended a meeting of the English department and it was held predominantly in English for my benefit. It was somewhat more succinct than previous meetings. I was asked to introduce myself and then to allow people the ask me questions. The following questions were all asked by women, though it was a mixed crowd.

Question 1: Are you married?

Reply: No.

Question 2: Do you have a boyfriend?

Reply: Yes.

Question n+1: Is there any chance for the young male teachers at this school?

Reply: No.

Rebuttal: Your boyfriend is in America! You are single here!

Reply: Nope. 

It was lighthearted, but the frequency with which this gets brought up makes me think that these jokes bear a grain of truth.

I sat in on another class today, and I got asked to sing again. It is inescapable. Today I received an affirmative reply to my inquiry about whether people knew 'If you're happy and you know it' so I went with that.

This afternoon I was taken to buy more supplies for my room, and on the way back we stopped for a beverage. I wanted a mango smoothie (sinh tố xoài) but they didn't have it, so I went with some other kind of smoothie that I didn't understand. I got a glass full of cool creamy green. It was an avocado smoothie. I had had one in the US prior to my departure in an attempt to pre-acculturate, but I couldn't handle the aftertaste. This one was aftertaste-free, delicious, and refreshing.