犬

There are two dogs in this house. They both don't have names. One is female and another one is male. The female dog is very smart, nurturing and has maternal instict. The male dog is dominant, wild and a little dumb (He reminds me my old dog, Don). They get fed left over of rice and meat bones if there are any. They are usually chained to the trees but get to be freed once or twice a day. In fact the female dog gets to be freed lot more often than the male dog because she is smart and doesn't usually bark at people. She doesn't even bark even if she is hungry. She seems to know barking doesn't really work to be fed, so instead she just curls up and not wastes her energy. When she is free, she often waits Mom, Dad, and Hoan to come home by the entrance. She is gentle with the cats too.
On the other hand, the male dog barks a lot every time we have visitors. He jumps even the chain pulls his collar, barks, roars, and keeps walking around in circle. He is often chained by the tree while she is freed. He always is the one to start playing with her and sometimes cats even though he gets punched by them.
People in Vietnam eat dogs too. Yah, why not eat dogs but cats, right? So I tell him every time he doesn't stop barking at people, "you have to be a little quieter. Otherwise you gonna get eaten". I'm probably the only one (or a few at the most) to talk to dogs and cats in this town. At the begging both of the dogs were barking at me too. They didn't know what to think of me when I talked to them, but now they let me even pet them with their tails wagging. I slightly have a mixed feeling by my action because we say that we shouldn't feed to wild animals.
Dad and Mom took me to a neighbor's house yesterday for a big lunch for Doctors' Day that they have once a year. All the retired nurses including Mom around the neighborhood got together and cooked food. I finally had dog meat as well. I knew it was coming at some points but didn't know it came yesterday. Fortunately I didn't have to see all the process like I did for the cats. I'll be staying with this family until Sunday. I am selfish to say this, but I hope I don't have to see the two dogs who I'm already attached eaten at least until I leave...

この家には犬が二匹いる。名前は無い。一匹はメスでもう一匹はオス。雌犬の方はとても賢く、包容力があり、母性本能がある。雄犬の方は正義感が強いというのか独占欲が強いというのか、野生的で少々おバカ（昔実家で飼っていたドンを思い出す）。餌は大抵残り物（ある時だけ）のご飯（米）や肉の骨。２匹ともいつもは鎖で繋がれているが、一日１，２回ほどは放し飼いにされ自由時間がある。雌の方は頭も良いし人が来ても必要以上に吠えないので、もっと頻繁に自由にさせてもらっている。彼女はお腹が空いている時でもほとんど吠えない。吠えても餌を貰えるわけじゃないと分かっているのか、ただそれ以上エネルギーを使わないようにか、ただ丸まってじっとしている。日中自由にさせてもらっている時はよくお父さん、お母さん、Hoanの帰りを待っているのか、玄関先で座っている。彼女は猫にも優しい。
それに代わって雄犬の方は、お客さんが来る度吠える。鎖に繋がれながらもジャンプし首を引っ張られつつも吠え、唸り、グルグル歩き回る。彼女や猫に対してもじゃれるのは大体彼の方で、猫パンチをたまに受けている。
ベトナムでは犬も食べる（だよね、猫を食べるなら犬も食べるよね・・・）。なので私はよく、吠えて止まない彼に「もうちょっと静かにしないと食べられちゃうよ」と説教する。多分この町で犬や猫に話しかけるのは私だけだ。最初は彼もよく私に向かって吠えていて、私が話しかける度どう反応してよいのか分からず戸惑っていたが、今は尻尾を振って撫でさせてくれるようにもなった。が、正直自分の行動にちょっとした罪悪感も感じなくはない。野生の動物に餌を与えてはいけないと言うように、ペットとして飼っていない犬をこんな風にして可愛がっていいものなのか？
昨日、お父さんとお母さんが一年に一度あるという「医者の日」ということで、ご近所の家でのランチに連れて行ってくれた。もう定年しているがお母さんも含め１１人ほど、皆看護師だったらしい。そこで、遂に犬肉も食べる事になった。いつかは来ると思ってはいたが、今回だとは思ってなかった。良かった事に、犬が肉にされるところは見なくて済んだ。私は今週の日曜日にこの家を出る。こんな事を言うのも勝手だが、後２日、既に愛着がわいてしまった彼女と彼が食べられないように願いたい。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Female Dog
彼女

Male Dog
彼

      

Retired nurses - They go so excited when I took pictures of them.
定年した看護師さん達。写真を撮ったら大喜び。

High schoolers in Ninh Binh

High school students who hang out at Dad's store.
お父さんの売店の前でたむろする高校生達

Duc (at right), who is a 17-years-old grandson of Dad & Mon and his friends.
右：Duc（お父さんとお母さんの１７歳の孫）と友達
 

Duc's friend who break dances after school.
放課後ブレイクダンスをするDucの友達

Dad in Ninh Binh

The Dad wakes up and starts the fire to boil water every morning. In Vietnam people don't drink tap water. They only drink hot water or often hot tea all day long. Dad is a former soldier and retired from being a public employee, but he still works at his own stand he has and also fixes bicycles by the entrance of their house. It is pretty common to have a little store like that where they sell snacks, pops, buns, and sometimes vegetables, fruits, and even some meat (I have seen a roasted dog at one place). Life in this town is very casual and to me relaxed. He opens the store around 7 am, close for lunch and nap between 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, and open again till 4:30 pmish. Dad's friends and neighbors often stop by for a little visit with tea during the day. Their house is located just front of a high school, so I also see students stopping by between their school hours. They park their bicycles at Dad's yard and they hang around with friends. He always drinks a small shot glass of sake he makes his own for lunch and dinner (it's pretty good). Whenever he realizes something needs to be done in the house (such as sweeping, mopping, light cleaning, etc), he just does it as a daily chore. Even though we cannot communicate in words so easily, we laugh a lot and somehow communicate enough to feel acceptance and comfort.  

お父さんの朝は薪でお湯を沸かす事から始まる。ベトナムでは誰も水道水からは水は飲まない。一回沸かしてお湯で飲むか、ほとんどの場合はお茶にして飲むかのどちらかだ。お父さんは昔兵隊さんだったらしい。公務員の仕事をしてもう定年しているが、家の入口付近を売店のようにしたお店でスナックを売ったり自転車を直しながらまだ働いている。この町では自分の家のガレージで自営業をやっているのは結構普通の事。売店ではお菓子、ジュース、パン、他の店では野菜、果物、肉（ある店では犬の丸焼きも見かけた）なども売ってたりする。毎日をこの町で過ごしていると、凄く皆カジュアルでリラックスしているように見える。お父さんは朝７時頃に店を開け、１１時半くらいから１時半くらいまで昼食と昼寝に費やし、また夕方４時半くらいまで開店する。お父さんの友人やご近所の人がよく立ち寄り、お茶を飲みながら話していく。昼食と夕飯の時には小さなショットグラスで、自家製の酒を飲む（これが結構いける）。床が汚れたら掃いたり、モップをかけたり、落ち葉広いをしたり。これが普通の日課なのだ。言葉はお互いほとんど通じないが、よく笑い、なんとなく受け入れ感があり、居心地が良い。

Culture Shock...

2/22/14

After the dinner, Mom and Dad were doing something outside. I followed them with a curiosity. Mom had two vinyl bags, and guess what came out...wet dead cats...! X!@X@F?X*!?! I know they have several cats but I thought they were pets...obviously I was wrong...absolutely wrong...I was completely in shock but I had to watch. *WARNING: please don't read or look at the picture if you don't wanna hear about it.
Dad, Mom and Hoan were laughing at me because I couldn't close my open mouth. Dad put two dead cats in the hot water and started picking the furs and nails. Their white skin came out and they became completely naked. Then they put one by one on the fire and started roasting them. They still have two little kitties and I assume that the two on the fire are their parents. It reminded me a song "My Dear Pig". I wanted to hold them and hide their eyes. Dad looked at me who was still in shock and said "Tasty! Tasty!" with a big smile.
The cats that were roasted looked like huge hot dogs. After they were well roasted from the head to tail, Dad chopped their heads in order to take the blood out and it was like a science autopsy after that. I had to say the process was very clean. I kept telling myself I had to eat it not just for the respect for the people who cooked it but also for the cats.
Today, Sunday, was again a family gathering (much smaller than the last Sunday), and off course the main dish was the cat meat. It was cut in pieces and cooked with ginger and maybe some types of soy sauce. I was a  little nervous eating, but there was no choice but to eat. It was tender and a little like pork. It was better than I thought, but still I couldn't help thinking about the cats. Good thing was that they kept offering me Jack Daniel's, that I brought as a souvenir. I'm not usually a whisky drinker, except today. It helped me to swallow them every time it was coming the opposite way.  Mom told me later cats are a specialty in Ninh Binh. I guess what we consider food is all depending on perspectives.

食後、お母さんとお父さんが外の流し場に行ったので、興味半分ついて行ってみた。お母さんが２つのビニール袋を持っていた。何が出てくるのかと思いきや・・・濡れてヘナヘナになって死んでいる猫！ネ、ネ、ネ、ネ、ネ、ネコだよね？！？！え、え、え、って言うか自分達が飼ってたネ、ネ、ネ、ネコだよね？！「そうだよ」と一言。ま、ま、ま、ま、まさか、た、た、食べないよね？と言いたいところで戸惑っていると、お父さんが沸騰したお湯を桶の中に注ぎ、その猫２匹を入れた。ま、ま、ま、ま、まじでぇぇぇぇ？！と叫びたかったが、そこは叫ばず、とにかく見る事にした。開いた口がふさがらずに見ている私を皆はクスクスと笑う。お湯に猫を少しの間漬けた後、その毛と爪も忘れず毟っていく。猫は白い皮だけになり完全に肌かんぼうになってしまった。ツルンとなった猫を今度は薪の火の上に載せて焼き始めた。残り３匹の猫はまだ健在で、そのうちの２匹はまだ子猫。多分、火の上で焼かれているのはその２匹の親だろう。Coccoの「My Dear Pig」の歌を思いだす。私はその子猫を抱いて目を隠してあげたかった。お父さんは、まだ戸惑いを隠せない私を見て、「旨いよ、旨い」と笑顔で言う。火でこんがり焼かれた猫は、まるで巨大ホットドックの様。頭から尻尾までよく焼かれた後、今度は頭を切り落として血を抜く。もうその後は理科の解剖実験の様だった。見てる間（見てる後も）、これは絶対に食べるしかないと思った。前回に書いた、作ってくれた人への感謝だけじゃなく、人間のために死んだ猫に対しても、これは食べるしかない。
今日は日曜日で、また家族親戚（先週の日曜日ほどではないが）が集まって皆で昼食。もちろん、メインディッシュは猫肉。小さく切られ、生姜と醤油ベース的なもので料理されていた。少し緊張したが、食べるしか道はない。実際食べてみたら、柔らかく、豚肉の様な感じだった。思ったよりもまずくわないが、やっぱりどうしても猫たちの事が頭から離れない。よかった事に、お土産で買っていったJack Daniel's を皆で開け、どんどん注いできてくる。いつもはウィスキーはあまり飲めないのだが、今日は特別。もどしそうになりながらも、とにかくウィスキーと一緒に流しこんだ。お母さんが後から、「ニンビンでは猫料理は特産なんだよ」と教えてくれた。何を食にするかどうかは、それぞれの観点でこうも変わるのだ。人間って本当に残酷だ～。

They eat pretty much all the parts including the brain.

Mom in Ninh Binh

I wake up with the sound of "cock-a-doodle-doo" every morning. By the time I get out from my bed, everybody in the house is already up. Mom starts preparing breakfast. Usually we each eat breakfast separately as we wake up. After the breakfast, sometimes Mom goes to the market and buy fresh vegetables, meat, and sometimes fish, but she often uses her own chickens, eggs, herbs, veggies, and leaves from the back yard. I've never seen her rushing nor just sitting except for a nap after lunch for an hour. She spends most of her time cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner. First I wondered how can she spend all her time cooking, but I've realized everything she does, she does it with care and spends enough time for details. Also, she does most of her cooking from scratch (including food for chicken). For example, if she wants to use ground chicken for her cooking, she just makes the ground chicken as a part of her cooking process. "Buying" the meat that is already grounded probably never occurs to her. She put a piece of chicken that she has raised on a cutting board and starts chopping. She keeps chopping till it gets grounded. I know it sounds so simple, but it just never occur to me that ground meat can be made in this way as well. She also made a soup out of freshwater crab that she got from the market in the morning. She crushed them in a millstone and poured water. Then she strained it with her hands several times to take out the any waste to make the broth. At the end she put chives that she picked from her garden and cooked with it. There is nothing wasteful. Food she makes is delicious, and I try everything. More I see how much time she spends for cooking for the family, my appreciation for her and food gets increased. She probably doesn't even consider what she does is special. This is the everyday life for her as each life is the daily life for everyone.

毎朝「コケコッコー」の声で目が覚める。私が起きる頃にはもう既に家中の皆が起きている。お母さんは朝ごはんの支度にすぐにとりかかる。朝ご飯は大体起きた人順に別々で食べることが多い。食事が済むと、時々お母さんはマーケットに買い物に行き、野菜、肉、魚などを買うが、自分の飼っている鶏や卵、庭に少しある野菜、ハーブ、裏庭の木の葉などをよく使ったりもする。お母さんの急いでいる姿を私は見た事がないが、だからと言ってゆっくり椅子に座っている姿も見た事がない。お母さんはほとんどの１日の時間を朝食、昼食、夜食に費やしている。最初私は、お母さんがどうやったらそこまで料理だけに時間をかけられるんだろうと思っていたが、観察すると、本当に一つ一つの行動が丁寧なのだ。しかも、大体の物は元から作る。例えば、鶏のひき肉。自分で裁いた鶏肉の残りをまな板の上でみじん切りにする。とにかくずーっと叩き続ける。ただそれだけの事なのだけど、あ、そうだよね、こうやってひき肉になるんだよね、と納得させられる。もう一つは、マーケットでまだ生きてるサワガニを購入し、それを臼の中で叩き、出汁をとってスープにしたもの。カニが完全に叩きつぶされたら、臼に水を入れ、手でクズを取って絞っていく。それを何回か繰り返して、カニの出汁と肉（というかカニみそ）ができて、それにニラなどを入れてスープにする。とにかく何に対しても無駄がない。お母さんの家族のために作る料理の仕方を見れば見るほど、お母さんへと食への感謝が深まる。多分、お母さんは自分の毎日やっている事が特別とは思わないだろう。それぞれ皆に日常があるように、これがお母さんの日常なのだ。

はじめてのお買いもの

2/17/14

As the first time, I went shopping by myself in Vietnam. I bought a reusable mask, envelops, and grapes. I've heard so many times that you get ripped off all the time in Vietnam if you are foreigners. In fact, not just sellers try to rip you off but also people around team up with the sellers. People in Vietnam are very nice but I guess this is a separate matter. According to a book, we should never take the price that is offered at first. It can easily be a half price from what is originally offered. So I was told to get ready for this type of situations. However, at this point, I have no idea which money is how much and what is a value cost for each item. I tried to ask Dad how it works, but since we don't speak a common language, I only got a vague idea. Anyways, I figured this is a part of travel experiences and learning opportunities.
First, I bought a mask. At this point I only had 100.000 vnd bill as the lowest. I had no idea how much change I supposed to have, but what the heck, after I asked her how much it was, I said to the woman "it is too expensive" as I pointed a different bill on my travel book. But she was a tough one to deal with (I'm sure she thought the same about me). She kept saying something that I didn't understand at all. Another lady came from a different booth and she was saying the woman was right. I made a face that said "it doesn't make sense". There was no way to win the game since I don't understand the rule, so at the end I didn't have any choice but to accept.
Next one was grape. I made a same call and told the lady "half off!""It's too expensive!""It's not right!". I'm sure I was one of the annoying lady if it was in the U.S, but I couldn't keep up with a poker face and started laughing while the other lady already wasn't taking me seriously. At the end off course I paid what was told. Later I asked Mom if I paid too much. She said I paid right price. I guess I didn't do too bad as we say ”beginner's luck”.

２月１７日

今日はベトナムで初めての１人でのお買い物。reusableマスクと封筒とグレープを購入。ベトナムに来る前からよく耳にするのは、ベトナム人は外国人に対してぼったくりが多いとのこと。しかも売り手がぼったくるだけじゃなく、周りのお客も一緒になって同意するという話し。ベトナム人はとても良い人感があるけど、それとこれとは話が別らしい。旅本によると、最初に言われた値段では絶対に買うなという。大体の場合交渉が上手くいけば余裕でその値段の半分くらいになるということなので、その心の準備をしておこうというわけだ。が、今の時点で、ドン（ベトナムの通貨）のこともさっぱり分からないし、何が妥当かも分からない。お父さんに聞いてみたが、言語の難しさで、かなり曖昧の理解の仕方しかできない。まぁでもとにかくやってみない事には分からないので、実践するのみ。
まずはマスクで試すことに。この時点で手持ちは１００．０００ドンが一番安目のお札だったので、それを使うことにした。が、いくらのおつりを貰うべきなのかも分からない。とりあえずいくらかと聞いたあと、旅本を見ながら「高すぎる！」と言ってみた。お店の人は、困りながらも笑顔を絶やすことなく、まけそうに無い。近くの別のお店から他の女性が出てきて、「彼女は正しい」的な事を言うので、結局腑に落ちなさそうな顔をしてマスクを買った。アメリカとか日本なら、かなり面倒くさいお客だと実感しながら、そのまま次へ。
今度はグレープの交渉。これも同じように、わけも分からないまま、「高すぎる」「半額にして」「おつりは合ってるの？」など、本当に嫌なお客を演じてみたが、ここでも交渉失敗。失敗どころか、本を見ながら言っている私をほとんど笑いながらの交渉なので、全然真剣にとってもらえず、結局はこちらも笑ってしまう。
後々、お母さんに「払いすぎたかな？」と聞くと「まぁ、こんなもんでしょう」との事。初の買い物にしては、ビギナーズラックと言うように、そこまで悪くない結果だったと思おう。

Family Dinner

2/16/14

We left home around 7am to visit the whole family and Hoan's wife who has been staying in a hospital for a week. Most people in Vietnam owe a motorcycle but not always a car. So when many of us go somewhere together, we often hire a driver. There were six of us besides the driver getting in a car. Mom and Dad sat together on the front seat and four of us got in the back seat. It was pretty packed, but I guess this is normal in Vietnam since there are so many people and only a few cars are available. I've realized six people in a regular sized car is nothing because there were eight of us later on. We had to pretty much sit on each other's lap then.

Before we went to visit Hoan’s wife, we stopped by at a house of Mom’s sister. I guess today is a day the whole family get together once in a while and eat together. At least 30 relatives showed up, and among them there were lots of older folks, some young adults, and kids. I introduced myself in Vietnamese but who knows how it came out, but they were all smiling and welcomed me. 
Elders were all sitting inside, younger women were working at the kitchen, and kids played outside. 

The dinner had started, but there is an order who eat first. Duc (who is a grandson of Mon and Dad and has bee a sort of my translator) explained that one of the reasons was simply there was not enough room for everyone to eat at once. 

First, all the elders eat, next, some members of the family, and finally the family I've been staying with, young adults, and kids. I imagine another reason for this is something about "respect". The kids were getting hungry but never complained. Duc said to me "don't worry, we can eat soon". Maybe I was showing how hungry I was without noticing...

Finally we sat down on a straw mat to eat. I haven't seen any women drinking, but since I do drink and I am a sort of guest, they kept offering me beer and sake. Every time they poured me the sake, they cheered for "friendship", "peace", "family", "health", and "fertility". They also kept putting food on my rice bowl especially chicken that had tender parts. At some point you have to learn "I'm full" in Vietnamese. They all laugh a lot, eat a lot, and drink a lot. Even though this doesn't happen everyday, I thought maybe the origin of "family" is kept in this type of tradition. 

２月１６日

今日は朝からHoanの奥さんが入院しているという病院へ行くという事で７時に出発。ベトナムではたいていの人は原付を持っているが、車があるとは限らない。なので大人数で移動する時は運転手を雇う。お父さん、お母さん、お姉さん、Hoan, お姉さんの息子Ducと私でギューギュー  詰めで車に乗り込む。とは言っても６人なんてどうってことなく、後々は８人で重なり合って乗るという具合だ。病院にまず行くと思いきや、お母さんのお姉さんの家にまず寄るということ。女性達が食事の支度をしている間、Ducとそのまた親戚がお寺に連れて行ってくれた、がその話はまた後日。１，２時間ほどして帰ってくると、お年寄りから子供まで３０人以上の人が集まっていた。今日は親戚一同の集まりだったらしい。一応、片言にもなっていないベトナム語で自己紹介をしておいた。通じているのかいないのかは別として、とにかく皆笑顔で迎えてくれる。おじいちゃん、おばあちゃん、男達は皆家の中、女達は台所で食事の準備、子供たちは外で遊ぶ。
食事が始まったが、家も小さく、皆一緒には食べれないということで、まずお年寄りの方々が食事をし、その次に家族の中でも順番があるのか、もう一グループが食事をする。子供たち、お父さんお母さん家族、若い世代は最後となり、子供たちは空腹の中、辛抱強く文句一つ言わずに遊びながら待っていた。Ducが「心配しないで、もうすぐ食べれるから」と親切に説明してくれる。
遂に順番が回ってきて、皆でゴザの上にご飯を並べ一緒に食べる。女性がお酒を手にしているのはあまり見かけないが、私は飲む＋お客さんだからということでビールやお酒を振舞ってくれる。お酒は注がれるたびに乾杯の音頭が叫ばれ、ご飯はちょっとよそ見をしていると、どんどん自分の茶碗に盛られていく。特に鶏肉は柔らかいところをくれようと、一つ食べたらいつの間にかもう一つのられているという状態。「お腹いっぱーい」というベトナム語を学んでおいた方が良さそうだ。とにかく皆よく笑い、よく食べ、よく飲み、とにかく仲が良い。きっと毎日がこうでなくても、家族ってすばらし～って思うのは、こういう慣習で繋がっているのかもしれない。

Market

2/15/14

When I woke up around 8:30am, Dad and Hoan (brother) were already gone to work, and Mom was already up doing household stuff. After I had rice with cooked fish and pickle for breakfast, Mom let me borrow a bicycle and took me to a Market near her house. There weren't too many people shopping but there were enough people who were selling meat, vegetables, fruits, clothes, sponges, detergent, buckets, bra, etc...you name it, they were all there at the market. Mom stopped a few places to see if there was any good stuff to buy by lightly poking meat and talking to the sellers, but she seemed to have a particular seller she always go to. Most of the meat was (I think) pork, chicken, and duck (some of them were sold as alive). One of the meat looked almost like a dog, but I wasn’t sure (Luckly, Mom didn’t go to that table). All the meat was placed on wooden tables. *If you are worried about germs and “health department”, this is not the place you should go. Mom chose which parts she wanted and bought them by kg. She also bought a cabbage, a type of parsley, green onions, quit (a type of orange), and vu sua (star apple). It looks like everything is all about quality and negotiation of price comes after that.

２月１５日

８時３０分頃起きた頃には、もう既に皆起床。お父さんとHoanは山へ芝刈りへ、お母さんは川へ洗濯 に行っていました、と言いたくなるように、お父さんとHoanはもうお仕事へ、お母さんは家事に取りかかっていた。朝ご飯に白米と煮魚とラッキョウの漬物らしきものをお母さんと食べた後、自転車を貸してくれ一緒に近くのマーケットへお買い物。そこまで買い物客で賑わっているわけではなかったが、お店は十分に出ていて、肉、野菜、果物、衣類、桶, マスク、ブラジャー、などなど見ればみるほど統一感はなく、結構ありとあらゆる物が並んでいる。お母さんは途中途中止まりながら、鶏を見たり、肉をつついてみたりして具合をチェック。肉はそのまま生で売られていて、多分豚、鶏、アヒルだったと思う。中には、これってもしや犬？と思うものもあったが、確かではない。お母さんはもうお通いのところがあるのか、一人の女性の肉売り場へ直行（良かった事に、お母さんは犬らしき所にはお通いじゃないらしくちょっとホッとする）。肉は木机の上でそのまま置かれ売られている。（＊潔癖症だったり衛生面で気になる人は行かない方が無難かも。）お母さんは欲しい部分を言って計り売りしてもらう。その後、キャベツ、芹、ネギ、quit と言うミカンみたいな物、スターアップル（っていうのかな？）を購入。お母さんの買いぶりを見ていると、まず第一は質。値段は交渉して二の次という感じ。

Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Finally I found a way to use an internet. I will update the blog whenever I can to try to catch up with my daily life.

2/14/14

I landed in Hanoi on 2/14 (Happy Birthday my Llama!) after 9:30pm. When I looked down the city just before the plane was landing, I saw just several dots of light from the window. Hanoi is the capital in Vietnam. Just by seeing the scene, you can tell it is not like Tokyo or NY where the city never sleeps.
When I got out from the custom, there was a guy who was holding a blue paper bag saying "Osawa Mayo". He was a brother of my friend who came to pick me up. He doesn't speak any English nor Japanese, so I just decided to follow him (good thing he is not just a guy at the airport!).
Now, we spent about three hours to get to Ninh Binh, where I've been staying with the family for a few weeks. By seeing the scene that kept passing by from the car window, I started getting excited! Here I am in Vietnam!
When we arrived in the family house in Ninh Binh, it was past 1am. The mom and dad usually are in bed by 9pm were waiting for me. They welcomed me and brought me a bowl of noodle soup. They didn't just feed me but also ate together. There was no understanding by words between us, but I was already touched by their gesture itself.  

今日遂に今いる場所で自分のパソコンでインターネットを使えるか発見。なのでブログ投稿遅れてますが、その変はご理解を。


２月１４日

とりあえず無事ハノイに２１時半過ぎに到着。
機内の窓からハノイの町を見下ろすと、ぱらぱらとしか灯が見えなかった。ハノイはベトナムの首都で、一応大都市のはずなのに、この静けさはなんだろう？この風景を見ただけで、まず眠らない町と言われている東京やNYとは大違い。
税関をを出たとろこに、青い紙袋で「Osawa　Mayo」と書いてあるサインを持った人を見つけた。友達の弟、Hoanが迎えに来てくれていた。彼は日本語も英語も話さないので、とりあえず「私がマヨだ」という事だけ分かり合って、ただ彼について行く事にした（Tuanとちえこさんありがとう！これだけでも一安心！）。彼是３時間ほど車に乗ってHoanの家族がいる家ニンビンに向かう。車の窓から過ぎ去っていく景色を見ながら、かなりテンションが上がってきた。遂にベトナム！
ニンビンの家に到着したのが夜中の１時をまわっていた。いつもなら２１時には消灯のお父さんとお母さんはまだ起きていて、私が着くのを待っていてくれた。優しそう～な笑顔で迎えてくれ、きっともうご飯はとっくに食べてしまっているはずなのに、ヌードルを作ってくれていて、ゴザを敷いて皆で食べた。言葉のコミュニケーンは全く理解不可能の中、そのジェスチャーだけで感動してしまう。

庭にいる犬２匹。犬好きなので触りたくて触ろうとする私をお父さんに何回も止められ、「噛むから近寄るな」とのこと。ベトナムでは犬は犬、猫は猫、それ以上にはみない、という事発見。きっとベトナム人に実家で飼っている犬の飼い方をみせたら軽蔑されるかもしれない（笑）

旅スタート！

I left home this afternoon to finally (!!!) start my traveling that I have dreamed of for more than 7 years. 

It doesn't matter how many times I take flights to leave Japan, I always get this unsettling feelings (almost like nauseous and exciting at the same time. It's like the feeling of drinking too much coffee while having hangover)  until I actually get on a plane. 

Once I got on the plane, I fell into a deep sleep since I didn't really sleep well the night before. Within 2.5 hours the plane was landed in South Korea. Now I have 23 hours layover till I take another flight to Vietnam. 

遂に７年以上夢にみた旅に今日出発！

日本を飛行機で発つのはもう何回もあるのに、その度、やっぱりこのソワソワ感が毎回出てくる。二日酔いになった時にコーヒーを変に飲み過ぎる感覚に似ているような。実際昨夜はあまり寝れず（多分、実家で飼っている犬と一緒に寝たからと言う理由もあり）、朝からコーヒー何倍か飲み、ソワソワ感が増す感じなので、お茶に変えてみた。

母が成田まで送ってくれ、成田でビールで乾杯。機内に乗ってしまうと、一揆に眠気が襲い爆睡。２時間半もしないで韓国に着いてしまった。これから仁川空港で２３時間待ち。

Since I have a whole day in Korea, I should enjoy at least a feeling of being Korea even though it's just in the airport. So of course I ordered a kimchi dish. I imagine this is the real thing (even it is at the airport). It is much hotter than I have eaten in Japan. 

I have also realized that Koreans who work at the airport is much more casual than Japanese workers. I can't really tell a difference by appearance between Koreans and Japanese, but they seem not so uptight. Maybe because I can only interact with them in English, but they are not so formal as Japanese. It's not about better or worse but interesting to see the difference.    

Another thing I've realized is that this airport seems to have vigor. Usually people are so exhausted by travelling and the scene always remind me a day old soupy rice, which the top gets really dry and inside gets heavy and gooey. But at this airport people seem to be enjoying shopping, eating, and relaxing. This might be a power of Kimchi...?

空港だけでもせっかくだから韓国を満喫しようと思い、もちろんキムチ料理をオーダー。空港のご飯とは言え、キムチはやっぱり本場の味なのか、かなり辛くて美味しい。Asahiビールを値段を確認しないで買ってしまったところ、缶一本でなんと７００円以上したのには失敗だったが、買ってしまったものはしょうがないので、一人旅の始まりという事で、また今度は一人で乾杯。こんな贅沢も今のうち。

後気づいたのは、見かけは韓国人も日本人もあまり違いが分からないのだが、空港内で働く韓国人は何だかとっても気さくというか、カジュアルというか。韓国語は分からず英語だけでの対応だからなのかは分からないが、日本人の「お客様様様」な感じはない。良くも悪くもその違いが面白い。

後もう一つ。空港になんだか活気があるのは気のせいか？仁川空港（ソウル）はかなり空港の中でも優れているとは聞いたが、大体の空港って皆疲れてて、オジヤが翌日水を吸い取られ、表面はからからで、その下はべちょべちょになった感じの雰囲気を思い起こされるのに、なんだかここの空港は違う感じ。結構皆楽しそうに買い物したり、元気にご飯を食べている。これもキムチの効果か？！

Japan!!!

Taishu Engeki is a type of Japanese theater that is mainly for entertainment for regular people. It is much lighter than Noh or Kabuki theater. Most of the actors are males and they play both parts of male and female. They do theaters and dance. Each group has tons of followers and sometimes they gift 1,0000 yen (at least) ~ to particular actors they like throughout the show. I've never known this kind of world exist in Japan. It is very much Japanese culture!     

大衆演劇というものを人生の中で始めて知った！。能とか歌舞伎とも全く違う感覚なのだが、日本文化と「ポップ」な感じが混じってるところが面白い。来ているお客さんも含め、この人間臭さがたまらなく、こんな世界も日本にあるのね～と、日本の面白さ再確認。

Japanese Christmas & New Year

I said good-bye to Missoula where I spent last 13 years and came back to my own country Japan. It's been maybe 3 or 4 years since I was in Japan for the New Year (January 1st). Many of my family members get together with food and celebrate the year that we each spent and new year to come. 

３，４年ぶりに家族一緒に過ごしたクリスマスとお正月。日本の食の盛り付けって本当に繊細で感動する。

My mom decorates Osechi for the new year breakfast. 

Octopus!!!

Hip Strip Block Party in Missoula

One of my last work at Missoula Food Bank was to make a costume for the Hip Strip Block Party. The theme was "Fish & Chips". The model, Jessy, wore the Star Kist tuna cans with just the right effect. Thank you for the food bank for giving me a great and fun project for my last work before I left!

9年間働いたMissoula Food Bank での最後の仕事として、毎年やるHip Strip Block Partyでのファッションショーの衣装を作った。このイベントは一つの町作り対策。ご近所の店、団体が集まって一緒にフェスティバルをやる。今年のテーマは「Fish & Chips」。かなり良い感じに着こなしてくれてたモデルは一緒に働いていたジェシー。最後のFoodBankでの仕事。かなり楽しませてもらった。FoodBankありがと～。

One of the long term MFB volunteers, who also modeled for Betty's Divine. She looks so cool!!　

Food Bankのボランティアの1人のおばあちゃん。年は人に絶対言わないので何歳かは不明だが、かなりかっこいい！自分の予想では多分80歳を超えてるいると思うのだけど、こんな風に年をとるのもいいよなぁ。