we've come down to ho chi minh city to sample some southern life. i'm amazed at the development here.

we go to coffee shops and sit for a bit after a busy day of traveling and staring. one coffee shop near the center of city is a giant maze of tables and aisles and stairs that wind up and down and all around. waitresses and waiters stand staring through walls in their nice uniforms. there are neon signs everywhere.

we order coffee and sit in font of giant television screens blaring. there is no sound but the images do the screaming for you.

we watched professional wrestling.

i hadn't seen such a spectacle in, oh, a couple of years and was quite shocked. i remember sitting on my parents bed and secrectly watching the wwf (no, not the world wildlife federation) on saturday mornings when i was a child. i remember people jumping and punching and falling. how much of it was real. i was never sure.

today we saw a match between a man named 'el grand luchador' or something to that effect. he played to the hispanic minority. we also saw the villian, a man whose name escapes me, who drove up in a limo with large horns on the roof. he was a rich man of some sort and was quite proud. the croud, mainly made up of fattish men in ac/dc shirts, booed.

they sparred in the ring for a bit, jumped around and eventually one man pinned the other after many theatrics. i'm coming home in less than a month and, for the first time, felt apprehension.

wow

this is the first time i have ever really been able to learn about hanoi. every other time i have come up here i have been bogged down by work and have not been able to roam around the city with the goal of understanding culture and history. with this group things are different.

two days ago we went to the current home of uncle ho. this was the first time i had the opportunity to visit this historic site and i had been interested for quite a long time. the building is large, square and gray. you go through a number of security checkpoints and eventually end up walking down along the edge of the square where uncle ho declared independence from the french. inside the building the atmosphere is extremely serious. this is arguably the most holy site in all of vietnam. uncle ho looked peaceful and had skin of glowing yellow.

we then went to the ho chi minh museum built by the ussr. the museum takes the shape of a concrete lotus that has lost all of its natural grace. we walked through the museum and learned about uncle ho's teachings and how the ussr felt he fit into the global socialist movement.

yesterday we went on a smallish bus to a variety of craft type villages. in the north, competitive advantage has been going on for centuries. different villages will specialize in different crafts, whether it be killing pigs or making silk. we visited a pottery village, a silk village and a wood cutting village. they were all quite interesting and the art was wonderful and the group was interested and we smiled and enjoyed life and diversity.

today, in the morning, we went to a meeting to introduce different ngo's that are based in hanoi. they talked about what it was like to be working for an ngo in a foreign country and we compared everything and hopefully understood things and life and living more clearly. possibly not.

we then went to the temple of literature. this is the traditional center of educational power for vietnamese culture. this is where, for 900 years, students were admitted into doctoral programs. all of the graduates names are written on large, gray stones mounted on turtles.

we then went to the temple of vietnamese fine art. we saw paintings depicting everything from the horrors of war to the beauty of family.

to include all of those places in one post will attest to the intensity of our schedule. i would like to write more but am tired.

hanoi, beautiful hanoi.

so the group of students arrived at the airport. they all filed out after being on planes and sitting and eating meals that come with tin lids for the past thirty odd hours.

we drove into the city and people starred out the windows taking in all of what would be their home for the next three weeks or so. they saw the green fields stretch towards the horizon. they saw the insane traffic and the motorcycles that sped in all directions. they saw everything and said little.

we all arrived at the hotel and checked in. they stood in the lobby with hundred yard stares. they were looking through walls and seeing other rooms with people milling around. looking at them made me tired.

we walked around hanoi and talked about the center and the confusion of their many roads. they were all ready, but not tonight.

almost all of them are in bed and their fatigue has rubbed off on me.

they're excited and really ready for this adventure. they just need a good night of sleep first.

i'm in hanoi and mcc has rented me a motorcycle. i drive around and am completely lost and spent all afternoon trying to find out where i was.

lets start a bit further back, shall we?

yesterday it was hot. it was hot like it should be in the south. i was scared heading north. i was afraid it was going to be cold and i hadn't felt the cold in, oh, a year and a half. i was afraid it would be frigid and i have only short sleeved shirts and sandals and no socks. i was doomed. thankfully, it was warm yesterday.

i woke up this morning to a heavy rain. i listened to it pound the house and felt warm and comfortable in bed. this was just another monsoon type storm that was warm and lush like taking a nice shower. i opened the window and stood still. i was shocked. it was freezing.

the reports say that it's about 60 degrees today. 60 degrees is warm. i can't stop shivering and can't feel the ends of my fingers and my ears are red and sore. 60 degrees and i am immobilized by the cold.

i drive around on the motorbike in chaotic traffic not giving anything unless i have to. i swerve and shiver and stop and drink hot coffee, something else i haven't had in a solid year. it feels good and warms you up inside.

the streets of hanoi are different from the south. this is an older city with streets that are much more narrow. i got lost in the web of roads above the hoan keim lake. it's an indecipherable mess of short roads with names that change at random. i drove and drove and only stopped when i was completely sure i wasn't anywhere close to the lake. i stopped, looked at the map and found myself to be a good 100 yards away.

i should buy a long-sleeved shirt sometime and maybe some socks.

work on the huge project is over. it's not all for the public forum so email me if you want to know more.

i'm shifting gears, heading to hanoi and must start thinking about intercultural communicative competence.

a group of students and two faculty members from bluffton college is going to spend a little more than three weeks touring around vietnam and i'm going with them.

i'm currently in ho chi minh city waiting for my flight and preparing for their visit to the economic hub of vietnam. the place is, bustling, as always. people are everywhere moving and working and driving and pushing brooms and serving coffee and smiling and shouting and being, well, human.

i walk to all my familiar places and talk to the people i know.

'ah, the american with a southern accent! good to see you!'

'good to see you too. how are you?'

'great. do you want to buy the economist?'

'sure, do you have the two latest issues?'

'sure. for 70,000.'

'great.'

and that's all. everything's a part of normal life. things are floating along as they should. there's nothing strange on the radar.

these university students will come here and i will see the world through their eyes again. i will experience the first impressions of vietnam all over again and, for the next three weeks, i'll talk about our journey.

there's so much to learn. there are so many places to go. there are so many people to see. there's so much we don't know and we'll never know but why not put down whatever mindless task you're doing right now and do something new and fresh. something that changes you just a bit.