Ho Chi Minh City

After an absolutely wonderful Christmas service at New Life Church (Neth and Ata were helping lead the worship) Neth, Ata, and I boarded a bus with the "Khai Nam" bus line to Ho Chi Minh City. It is only a $16 round trip by bus from Phnom Penh to HCMC and it takes about 6 hours. This is the first time that Neth and Ata have been out of the country together. It is my first time being out of Phnom Penh since I arrived on July 31. Ho Chi Minh City is like Phnom Penh on steroids - taller buildings, thicker crowds, a little nicer selection of stores, and worse traffic. Walking to breakfast this morning I noticed that the sidewalks are more for motos than they are for pedestrians. At least there are sidewalks! Phnom Penh has very few.

When we arrived in HCMC we met a friend who splits her time between PP and HCMC - working two businesses non-stop and taking care of her mother who lives in HCMC. She helped us get booked into the hotel and then took us to a wonderful restaurant that served us a huge platter of greens and a very thin semi-crispy tortilla like wrap that was like what you would find around an eggroll before it is fried. It was the healthiest meal I have eaten in a restaurant in a very long time. The first word that I learned in Vietnamese is the word for "thank you"; it is "cam ung". What I found interesting is that I remembered how I have been struggling in Phnom Penh - usually saying, "thank you" and then quickly catching myself and saying "ah koon". Now, here for some reason I find myself saying, "ah koon" and then quickly catching myself and saying "cam ung". Neth and I were also laughing on the bus ride about how in the States I don't fit in because of how I look - I look Asian, but all my language and cultural upbringing was American. Now here, in Asia, I look Asian, but I don't fit in because all my language and cultural upbringing is American.

I have noticed a couple of different Asian cultural traits that I am still not used to: 1) I mentioned before that it is typical in Asia to ask even a stranger how old they are, if they are married, and how much something cost (often before even asking their name), 2) Money grabbing is an acceptable practice - this morning, for example, I stopped by a street vendor to get breakfast and when it came time to pay he showed me a bill from his pocket, when I matched it he took it, gave it back to me and then grabbed a bill of a higher denomination right out of my hand. (21,000 dong to the dollar here). 3) The line culture in Asia is to push people and cut in front of people in line. At first I thought this was annoying and now I just find it entertaining. So, these little differences in culture are practices that I will probably (hopefully) never subscribe to, but which make me just a little different from the many other people (the vast majority of people) who look like me here.

I will post pictures of the beautiful dinner when I return to Phnom Penh. I took the pictures on my phone, but have no phone service here to send them to my email.

Big correction! After spending the day touring HCMC I must now say that it is nothing like Phnom Penh. Ho Chi Minh City is a thriving, prosperous, world-class city with shopping malls that rival any I have ever been to, world class office buildings, hotels, and restaurants, arts and parks. Today we (Neth, Ata, Minh, and I) walked through Central Park and we saw beautiful tall trees, gardens, and sculptures. We heard musicians in the park and saw a group of engineering students practicing for a flash mob. We went to the Diamond mall which houses a mega-department store and to several other modern malls. We walked down to the riverfront and at the city center saw a wonderful performing arts building and over one dozen world class hotels. That Catholic church in the city center towers majestically above the skyline near Central Park. The whole city is lit up and decorated for Christmas and looks absolutely stunning in the evening. I will go back with my camera to take some pictures, but will post some pictures from our walk in the park this morning.