In my last post, I gave a little bit of the historical background on HCMC, but as I found out firsthand, that really does not do it justice. You truly have to be there to experience it. One
example of this is the unique experience of crossing the street in Vietnam. In a city where motorbikes only cost between $200-300 USD, to say they are everywhere would be an understatement A lack of traffic signals and a propensity to ignore the few that are there also adds to the excitement of trying to get from one side of the road to the other. After recently snorkeling in Thailand, I likened it to be a lot like trying to make your way through a school of fish with all of them just swarming around you, coming close enough to make you squirm, but in the end just speeding right around you. It was chaotic and constantly moving, but after a day, you began to get a feel for it.City Orientation
My first trip was the SAS City Orientation. We began with a visit to the Thien Hau Pagoda, a
traditional Vietnamese temple. Besides the incredible building itself, the main attraction here were the long coils of incense, which can burn for roughly a month. Next was the Reunification Palace, which before 1975 housed the President of South Vietnam. Our other stops included the HCMC post office, the Notre Dame Cathedral of HCMC, and the history museum, which was a favorite. SAS Voyagers were treated to a wonderful display of water puppetry there, which is an ancient Vietnamese tradition.
It dates back to the 11th century when farmers in the northern part of the country created this form of puppetry to entertain one another when their rice fields flooded. They used their own flooded rice paddies and ponds as the stages for these shows. The water puppet performances seen today usually depict rural Vietnamese life. The show that we saw was a wonderful portrayal of river life and farming.
English in Vietnam
The next day, I joined about 15 students on a Faculty-Directed Practica (FDP) under the
guidance of Professor George Thomas. For those of you who do not know, at least 30% of a student’s grade in every course is comprised of work done in the field. This particular FDP explored the use of English in Vietnam.I think that a lot of times, many of us take it for granted that wherever we go, there are people who speak English, and in most cases, that is true for just about everyone we encounter. Professor Thomas, a professor in linguistics (for full bio, please click here) teaches three courses on the MV Explorer that trace the origins of language, examines how they have developed and spread throughout the world, and looks at what types of policies are being implemented to reform and modernize languages. One course in particular, English as a Global Language, deals with the question of a need for a global language and then explores why English has fulfilled this role in the world today.
Considering America’s history in Vietnam, one might think that Americans and our language might not be very welcome in the country. However, we all were happy to discover that the Vietnamese people have fully embraced both. The first stop on this FDP was the Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Stephanie Malone, a student of Professor Thomas called it, “the perfect compliment to my world languages course.”
Professor Nguyen Van Hue of the university proclaimed to us that, “the topic of English in Vietnam is terrific one.” He went on to explain how English is being used and taught in the university. It differs from department to department, however, all students are required to pass an English entrance exam before being admitted to the school and in order to graduate, it is necessary to pass a proficiency exam. For those majoring in English, all lectures, presentations, and exams are completely in English. The school even offers English writing and speaking clubs that are cosponsored by the US Consulate.
Why is English so important? As Professor Van Hue explained it, “English is the means to obtaining a job and rising to the top of your field.” Another Professor commented that, “English is the most important language in Vietnam.” Kiersten Boehm, another student of Professor Thomas has been learning about the migrations of languages around the world and saw this FDP as a great way to see the spread of a language in action and to see firsthand the importance and great role that English plays in Vietnamese society.
Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple
In 1926, a new religion based upon the fusion of Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, native Vietnamese spirits, Christianity, and Islam was founded in Tay Ninh, Vietnam. The Holy See of Caodaism was our first stop of this trip. We made it just in time for the noon services, which
included music, song, and meditation. The temple itself was beautiful, with colors and a design reminiscent of many of the Hindu temples I visited in India. Voyagers found the service to be beautiful, one remarking to me that it was, “different than any ceremony I have seen before.”This sanctuary of peace and tranquility could not have stood in more stark contrast with our next stop, the Cu Chi Tunnels. Originally built by the Viet Cong in their struggle against the French and then later expanded for use against the Americans, the Cu Chi tunnels are a roughly 200-kilometer long network of tunnels running underneath the Cu Chi district outside of HCMC. They provided the Vietnamese fighters with quick escape routes and places to hide that allowed them to almost strike out of
thin air and disappear just as quickly. The extensive subterranean system housed kitchens, hospital rooms, and military headquarters, although most fighters did not spend more than 24 hours underground at a time.Crawling through the tunnels and seeing the remnants of the war, like the Vietnamese booby traps used on American soldiers and the craters left by B-52 bombers, were a sobering reminder to many of the Voyagers of the war that ravaged this country not so long ago. Many Voyagers also chose to visit the War Remnants Museum, which provided a similar experience.
Mekong Delta
My last SAS trip in Vietnam was an excursion to the Mekong Delta. We visited the My Tho area,
which is renowned for its many fruit orchards. Voyagers were able to see firsthand how the Vietnamese people in this region live and work, deriving much of their sustenance from the river environment around them. Until the 1500s, the area mostly consisted of marshlands and forests but over time, the Khmer people reclaimed the marshes and built a canal system to support the cultivation of rice, fish, soybeans, maize, peanuts, tobacco, and melons. The Vietnamese annexed the territory from the Khmers in the late 18th century and to this day, it continues to be a major agricultural and fishing region.
Photo #10 by SAS Photographer John Weakley
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