Life in the Office

I’m settling in more, although I need to remind myself that it’s only my second day in the office and that things may continue to change. I am still waiting to hear about one colleague who is working in Pakistan. As far as I know, no one has heard anything yet, and I can’t tell if that’s good news or bad news. But I’ve heard from everyone else, and they’re all doing fine. Faruq and Samina’s cook’s home up north was destroyed, which is very sad. It’s not uncommon for servants to come from very far away and support families living in totally separate parts of the country, not just extended families, but wives and kids. I’m not sure if that’s the case here, but either way, it’s awful.

Another colleague arrived last night from our Paris office, so I’ve asked for his patience as my French creaks back to life. He seems very nice, and I think will be obliging. Of course, so as not to be rude, I don’t think we’ll be practicing in front on non-French speaking colleagues. Although I have to admit, I’ve gotten used to my brain going on autopilot when people around me start to speak Vietnamese – I wonder if it works the same in reverse. A fun game that we’ve started is “teaching Mandy to pronounce Vietnamese words”. I actually do quite well at it for a foreigner, I think because I was introduced to the concept of a tonal language when we lived in Taiwan. Although people do make allowances for foreigners not knowing how to pronounce words, it’s funny to think that I could be ordering a bowl of soup and ask for a prostitute instead (well, it’s funny in theory, I have a feeling that it would be quite awkward if I actually did it), or you can say “sin ciao”, which I just spelled phonetically and am likely to have gotten wrong, and say hello/goodbye (it’s kind of like “aloha”), or “I would like some rice soup.” But I try – I want to at least know a couple of words, even if I say them badly. I think I was far too lazy last time.

I’ve told D that, by the time I get to Paris, I’m fine with implementing a “no speaking in English unless I’m desperate” rule, to spur me to get off my rear end. She leaves for Saigon soon, and I’ll see if we can arrange a trip to Halong Bay together. I’m sure that, in the end, PM’s offer was probably on the up-and-up, and that he was just being nice, but I also don’t think that I’ll be taking him up on that offer, just in case. Besides, there’s something about a married guy taking an unmarried female colleague to a resort destination without the rest of his family that strikes me as inappropriate. Call me crazy.

I just e-mailed a not-too-distant cousin of mine (I think she’s a second cousin, or a first cousin once removed or something like that) who is, I think, living in Nha Trang, in the south-central part of the country on the coast. We’re going to be based in Nha Trang when we do our field work next week and the week after, so I hope that she and I will be able to meet up at some point. The e-mail may have come to her out of the blue, as I don’t know how much my mom and her cousin told her about me, if anything, but it would be nice to see her. That’s another part of this job that I like – the chance to connect with my mom’s family more. If I have the opportunity one time, hopefully not too far off, I want to use my proximity to Australia for work as an excuse to go there and see family, see where my mom grew up, and all that good stuff. It’s not really much cheaper to get there from here than from the US, which seems odd, but at least I’d be over the jetlag, so I wouldn’t waste time there falling asleep at 6 pm and waking up in the middle of the night. We’ll have to see – it’s not in the cards for this trip, but hopefully a future one.

I’m actually excited about the trip to Nha Trang, it’s supposed to be beautiful. I may have to get a swimsuit made as I forgot to bring one, but it’s renowned for its beaches, and TW went diving with PM last time – they’ve both told me I have to try it. I don’t see how I could pass it up! It’s funny for me to be so excited to see Vietnam, one of my co-workers was a colonel in the Army and worked here as a road engineer during the war. To say that his memories of Vietnam are considerably different than mine is the understatement of the century. I think he just saw too many things happen here; I don’t know if he’d ever come back, and I can’t say I blame him. But he was stationed around Nha Trang, and told me that he thought it was really beautiful. Interesting to see what 30 years can do – all the Vietnamese people I’ve met, on this trip as well as the last, have been very kind and friendly, and although the past is not forgotten, which it shouldn’t be, it seems like, for most people, it might be forgiven…? Maybe I’m being WAY too naïve.

Someone brought by some coconut candy, which was very nice of them. As I peeled off the wrapper, I tried to peel off the inner plastic, but couldn’t. So I figured I’d chew off the plastic or something. Let’s leave aside, for the moment, the fact that just not eating the candy would have been the real path of least resistance. Well, I tried chewing, but…I didn’t taste any plastic. So either they used dissolvable plastic, or that coconut candy is a little on the scary side, since it really *did* look like it was coated with a stubborn piece of cellophane.

Uh-oh…it’s 3:45, and I’m starting to fade. It’s not that I’ve really run out of things to do, despite the fact that I’m writing. I’m sure there’s more than enough work to go around, but now I’m all distracted and stuff. Dang it. I contacted someone I met on my last trip who works in our office here, and I think that she and I are having dinner tonight, so that will be good. Assuming that I stay awake… But I’m excited for her to show me some good places to eat. My hotel is, as I may have mentioned, right in the middle of everything, so there’s lots to do close by.