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。