Second Chance

I had the opportunity to go out to the lacquer factory with a customer for the day. This was my second time going, and it was better than the first. I knew the people at the factory better and it was cool to see what they have been working on since I last came. This woman below is the owner of the factory; she's been so kind to me when I visit. She also slaps me on the butt when she wants me to sit down, haha! After this was taken she was looking at the photos and commented on how short she is!

Again I had to use the squatty potty and got to see them kill the chicken for lunch. But this time I was able to take some good photos of the boys making lunch. They would just laugh at me because of my facial expression of all the meat. I still can't believe that they eat every part of the animals body, not leaving anything behind. They were cutting up the chicken feet, cow tongue, liver, gall bladder, and so much more!

Our customer is an interior designer from Chicago! She traveled all around Asia with the company she works for to see how the products she designs are made. She is very talented and it was fun to see her design many different products. A lot of ideas and planning go into every design. You have to think about what people will buy and the function it's going to have in someone's home.

The boy in the picture is spray painting a finish onto a color chip for us to see how it looks. On the left side is a women making a pattern with mother of pearl. Below are some pictures of using egg shells to make a design. This is a very old practice. They have an egg shell then they press it into the lacquer which makes a cracked looking design. There is a video below that shows this!

The customer and I went around the village to see what these people do in their homes. It was cute to see all the grandmas with little babies come out into the street to show the kids two foreigners. I have a picture below of a women who was nice and we became good friends.

We came across many factories of mother of pearl, coconut bowls, lamps, vases, and other home goods. They all had to do with lacquer mostly because this village, for multiple generations, has been making products with it. We had an older boy who was riding his bike up and down the street following us. He was a little shy but wanted to be in all of our photos!

King and Queen of Japan

The king and queen of Japan came to visit Vietnam and were staying in a hotel right down from our house. Off of the main street there is a Japanese International school and all the kids came out waving flags. They were so cute! The king and queen drove right by us from the airport in a huge caravan.  I have a video below that you can see him waving to everyone from his car.

I have asked a lot of people who are from and live in Vietnam "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?" I have had quite a few girls say Japan. I would have thought they would say a country outside of Asia. One girl said its because they have good fashion and another said because of the jobs there.

My adventures

I have been able to go biking or running at night or in the mornings to explore the city.  It's awesome and different every time I go out. The night market on the weekend is full of many tents for many blocks. You can find anything here for a good price. They have a lot of knockoff purses, shoes, and clothes.

I came across this men's club where they have golf. The people here who have money will play golf or tennis because it involves playing a specific place and involves equipment. The men are hitting golf balls into West Lake into score zones. It's just like Top Golf!

One of the most famous temples is located right by West Lake. It's beautiful! I haven't been inside yet because it was closed. A woman was selling turtles that you can throw into the lake for good luck...I thought that was pretty stupid but that's just me. They had a bunch of little baby turtles that they had caught from West Lake. I believe the turtle is symbolic to the people here.

 

They have a rowing club that practices most mornings in West Lake. It's amazing to see how fast they are going as they follow the edge of the lake all the way around. You can see the coach in a motor boat yelling directions at them.

I took this picture when it was National Women's Day. All the boys were dressed up in front of a temple and there was music playing also. It's a big holiday here that everyone celebrates! They passed out roses on Sunday to all the women and also a sweet girl from English class gave me some chocolate.

You can just go to the bathroom anywhere here. I have seen so many men just peeing on the side of the road or in a park. When were were riding back home I saw a little kid just squatting over the sidewalk just taking a poop!

The real ife in Vietnam

Last week I had the opportunity to go into a family's home with the Mormon missionaries. It was my first time in someone's home here and it was really interesting. It's not like the homes in America I have been to, I can tell you that. A lot of people in the middle of the old quarters live in one room with their family. I've been told that people will have 5 to 6 people living in such a small space. The rooms are small and they have to conserve as much space as possible. The mother, father, and children will live in the home. When their children marry then the son's new wife will live there also. It's amazing. I think how the type of housing works here is that you don't own or rent out an entire home, you do it by rooms. Not everyone lives like this but some do. It's very eye opening that people around the world live like this. In America you have rooms that you have but never even go in, they're just for show.

I walked around the street for a while by myself before I went to the girl's home. I have seen enough animal parts to last me a life time! Seriously, yet I still eat it. They have everything just sitting out there in the open. I could tell that foreigners don't come to this part of town because I was getting weird looks and they weren't as friendly as other places in Hanoi. They were confused, I think, as to why I was walking around this part of town. I'm glad that I walked down the small alleys to be able to look into people homes and to really see how they live. It was a cool experience.

 Ducks hanging in a store front window

 The food here is so fresh! I can tell the difference from the eggs here and from America.

 So many new fruits and vegetables that I have tried and seen here!

 First plate: A chicken and

Second Plate: Pig snout, ear, feet, and intestines

This is the most disgusting thing! A goat just hanging from its neck! Not pictured is the rest of the body in the buckets below, including its feet.