Happy Lunar New Year!

preparing offerings and joss sticks on New Years Eve

We have spent the week in Saigon just as usual. We did nothing special, though the time was special. Even Tet was just as Christmas in Europe. It was nice to see, but Christmas is also always the same. On the last day of the lunar year I drank beer with some uncles, in the evening Thuy Hang’s mother prepared a table with fruits, cake and joss sticks and some red papers with Chinese signs in front of the entrance of their house. Then, we went to the street at the big harbour on Saigon River to see fireworks.

fireworks seen from Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, the district of the poor

We went to the temple for worship and prayers for the future, for love and for a good degree. We went to the flower-market and welcomed the new year with li-xi, we were hanging around in the hotel-room, going to restaurants, to bookshops, having motorbike-rides and strolls through the night, we discovered the neighbourhood on an old bicycle and talked much; about the difficulties of life, about important questions, about perspectives. It was not so easy, to be here with her, in a country, in a neighbourhood and a family where is so little love. At least it has been the two lost souls of us who spent each other love.

the traditional flower-market in the central business district

beautiful flowers and a beautiful heart

This morning Thuy Hang accompanied me to the airport. I am in the transit area in Bangkok now and still see her sitting in front of me in the Phở Restaurant near the airport this morning, with that sad expression on her face, the expression of Jade Moon. The expression that was there already in the moment we first met, the expression that I know to interpret now. I hope to see her again. And I really hope that there is a future - for her, for me, and maybe for both of us.

last motorbike rides in the streets of Saigon

I will miss the streets of Saigon, the dirty air, the scents, this city, the Pearl of the East. And I will miss a very important person. Somebody who finally became so close that it is hard to leave. Somebody, who belongs to me and to this city. Somebody, who splits my mind as no one else. Somebody, who earns all my heart.

the dark side and the bright side

A few days ago on the way to the ministry I discovered that my motorbike had warped somehow. It was difficult to shift gears, the handle was not in line and when I arrived at the parking lot I saw that the body had scratches and cracks somebody had tried to hide with mud. Was it not just a feeling that in the morning there was a bit less fuel in the tank at some times? I called the hotel owner and asked what happened. He told me the bike had toppled over and I shall not tell the owner, he would solve the problem and pay for repair. I could hardly imagine that the damage could have been caused by toppling over and lost my trust in him. So I went to the owner to tell him. Fortunately it was just 300,000 Dong which is 15 Euros. The landlord complained it would be too expensive and asserted another driver crashed into it when it was parked in front of the hotel. However, I still had not yet paid my bill, so I would get the money anyways. But the question is why did he not tell me immediately? Did he want to cheat me? Did he really think I would not discover it? Or was he just shy to tell me? For my taste the Asian way is complicated and always causes unnecessary complications. Nevertheless, after negotiation a solution is always found. I had to pay one month and two days for my room, the latter were excluded from the bill. Maybe in Germany a cause like this would have been solved with less discussion but more bureaucracy.

“they eat their friends”

Another outstanding recent event was the dog-meat restaurant to which my colleagues had invited for lunch. The taste is not really bad, but the atmosphere is disgusting and somehow it smells like dog. Remi, our project assistant from France, commented in an amusing way “..they eat their friends”. All did it, except me. I think, pig brain, frog and snake would be more delicious. Besides its beautiful sides and the affinity I developed for this place, Vietnam is also the country which I always connect with very organic things, with smells and dead meat. For me, who prefers clean “abstract” food such as fish fingers or chicken nuggets, this aspect constitutes another dark side.

an old temple serving as china shop

Working until five or six in the evening and organizing several other things my time at the internship in Hanoi was quite busy, especially the last two weeks which were dedicated to finalizing my M&E scheme. So, discovering the city took place in the evening. I did not use my camera, just a few snaps with the small Ixus. For example from the area around the market near my hotel, where in the evening people were busy with selling their last fruits, flowers, fish or…meat. Some old temples have been made shops too, and it looks quite amazing.

potential expatriates and a great Italian buffet

Several times I meet the students from my department in Bonn who are all doing internships here. We went for dinner to some – for local standards - rather fancy restaurants and it was nice to exchange experiences on some common backgrounds and enjoy good food. Finally I met up with some old and new friends in order to say goodbye.

the Australian Adrian -latenite farewell coffee section with a friend

For the Vietnamese, the days and weeks before Tet are rather busy as well. The lunar new year celebrations are the most important festival in Vietnam. The streets are crowded, traders are offering decoration, flowers and small red envelopes – li xi – for donating money to your family members. My boss warned me that people are parking their cars on the highway in order to buy trees for their houses and proposed I should leave the office earlier. So I wished farewell to my colleagues who had taught me much in the last three months and who had welcomed me in a pleasant work atmosphere. I believe that the people you work with are the most important aspect of job matters.

bustling preparations before Tet

sunny spring days with the Highlands-Coffee lunch menu

So finally I enjoyed the bright side of Hanoi and left the city on a sunny spring day. The trip to the airport took double the time because of traffic jams. Nevertheless, I was there much earlier and was offered the flight one hour before original plan. So last night I arrived in an even sunnier Saigon and was welcomed by Tam in front of my hotel, checked in my old room which is filled with so many memories, and met Thuy Hang who impressed me with a new hairstyle and the sexiest clothes I have ever seen on her. Before going to Germany I will have a six days holiday over the Vietnamese New Year Celebration with her family.