Reflections on Vietnam 2016

Vietnam - Timeless Charm

Hello Elementary Friends,

Now that we are back in Sydney I have taken some time to reflect on our journey to Vietnam.  It was an experience that made a lasting impact.  With the memories of the Vietnam War from the impressionable years of my junior and high school as my background knowledge, the journey was an opportunity to see the country now 40+ years later.  I will forever remember Vietnam 2016 as a people striving to thrive within a competitive technologically intelligent world.  The merging of two worlds was evident everywhere we went.  There would be a five star hotel sitting right next to a broken down shack on a busy city street.  Then, you would see hawking beggars sitting on a sidewalk leading to the doors of a very nice restaurant.  Most evident, however, was the statue of Ho Chi Minh just outside of luxury stores including Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Prada, etc.  I was surprised at what I saw in a "supposed" communistic government.  There were certainly sign-posts of capitalism all over the place!

Here are some photos of our visit to the Bitexco Building - a very high skyscraper with an observation deck that gave us a very good view of the city from above.

Sky Deck

Here is some information on this building:

Bitexco Financial Tower is a 68-Storey, 262.5 m skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At completion in 2010, it surpassed Saigon Trade Center to become the tallest building in Vietnam. Bitexco Financial Tower is owned by Bitexco Group, a Vietnamese company. With 68 floors above ground and three basements, the building has a height of 262.5 metres (861 ft), making it the tallest building in the city, the 3rd tallest in Vietnam, and the 124th tallest in the world as of the beginning of 2016.

Designer Zapata, who was born in Venezuela but is based in New York City, drew inspiration for this skyscraper's unique shape from Vietnam's national flower, the Lotus. Bitexco Financial Tower is a symbol of modern, outward looking Vietnam.

The tower was officially inaugurated on October 31, 2010. In 2013, CNN.com named the Bitexco Financial Tower one of the 25 Great Skyscraper Icons of Construction. And in 2015, Thrillist.com named the Bitexco Financial Tower the #2 Coolest Skyscraper in the World.

On Thursday (6) we went on a "student led" tour of the city.  This was a tour guided by two university student volunteers, Ben (20 years old) and Teng (21 years old).  

I was so impressed with Teng and Ben.  They were so positive, eager, and knowledgeable of their hometown city of Saigon.  They were delightful!  They proved time and time again that Vietnam is in the hands of high achieving young people who will ensure that the country continues to achieve its goals within the next 40 years.  Our first stop of the day was the Independence Palace (now sometimes referred to as Reunification Palace).

Independence Palace

Independence Palace (Dinh Độc Lập), also known as Reunification Palace (Vietnamese: Dinh Thống Nhất), built on the site of the former Norodom Palace, is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was designed by architect Ngô Viết Thụ and was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.

We then traveled to the Saigon Cathedral.

Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon is a cathedral located in the downtown of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Established by French colonists who initially named it Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Saïgon, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet).

Cathedral

What was most interesting to me about the cathedral was the fact that most of the stained glass window were destroyed in the war and have still not been replaced.  A few remain:

Saigon Central Post Office

Just across the street from the cathedral is the post office (another iconic building).

Saigon Central Post Office is a post office in the downtown Ho Chi Minh City, near Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, the city's cathedral. The building was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the late 19th century. It counts with Gothic, Renaissance and French influences. It was constructed between 1886-1891 and is now a tourist attraction.

Inside the Saigon Central Post office of special note are two painted maps that were created just after the post office was built, the first one located on the left side of the building is a map of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia titled Lignes telegraphiques du Sud Vietnam et Cambodge 1892 which translates to "Telegraphic lines of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia 1892". The second map of greater Saigon is titled Saigon et ses environs 1892 that translates as "Saigon and its surroundings 1892".

Of special interest to me in the post office is a little man named Duong Ban Ngo.  Mr. Ngo is fluent in French, Vietnamese, and English.  He has helped people write letters for nearly 60 years as a public letter writer in this post office ( a position he still holds today).

Here is some information on Mr. Ngo:

The Public Letter Writer

Duong Van Ngo is known as the man who has spent the most time writing letters at the Saigon Central Post Office in Ho Chi Minh City. He bridges different worlds – connecting people across the planet with his fountain pen.

Going to Ho Chi Minh City, visitors should not miss the chance to visit the Saigon Central Post Office which is the most beautiful  in all of Asia with its unique  architecture, electrical fans humming between ornamental pillars and spots of sunlight falling through a skylight in the ceiling. Here, there is an old man who diligently writes  letters everyday even though he is now 85 years old. 

Duong Van Ngo was  born in 1930. He has been working here since he was 18 years old as a public letter writer. Being the last letter writer in the city, he is a source of stories of how to connect people across the planet with his fountain pen.

War Remnants Museum

Our final stop of the morning was the War Remnants Museum.  We actually considered not going to this museum because we knew that the United States would not be remembered fondly for our involvement in the Vietnam War, but we also knew that we needed to see it to understand how the Vietnamese people have come to grips with what happened to their country over 40 years ago.  So, here is some information on this museum from Wikipedia:

The War Remnants Museum (Vietnamese: Bảo tàng chứng tích chiến tranh) is a war museum at 28 Vo Van Tan, in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. It primarily contains exhibits relating to the Vietnam War, but also includes many exhibits relating to the first Indochina War involving the French colonialists.

The War Remnants Museum is currently one of the most popular museums in Vietnam, attracting approximately half a million visitors every year. According to the museum's own estimates, about two-thirds of these are foreigners. However, visitors' opinions are mixed, ranging from favorable to "need to be taken with a grain of salt",with some going so far as to claim that Vietnamese regime has "borrowed images from the West and inserted them into a "distorted" history", using images of the war to substantiate their version and views on Vietnam War history.

Although the exhibits are "blatantly one-sided" with many exhibits in the museum containing a heavy dose of anti-American propaganda and need to be taken with a grain of salt, they do graphically portray the horrors of war. The War Remnants Museum is worth a visit no matter your opinion on U.S. involvement in Vietnam." Another states that the museum "is unlike any museum I have seen. Most museums I have visited around the world have done well to deal with sensitive issues while presenting facts and not taking sides. ... At the War Remnants Museum however, it’s a no holds barred barrage of propaganda, overwrought with emotive language and typical propaganda buzzwords. The museum would have visitors believe without consideration, that the United States Government was evil; that American atrocities against civilians and Viet Cong soldiers were heinous and knew no bounds; and that the entire world, including the American people, were against the war. Conversely, the Viet Cong are supposed to have been kind to the soldiers they captured; they never willfully harmed innocents; and all that the beloved leader Ho Chi Minh (or “Uncle Ho” as he is warmly referred to by the Government) wanted was peace."

We definitely went into the museum with the knowledge that we would see an anti-American theme. I was just emerged in my amazement that we (USA) spent 17 years and who knows how much money and, even worse, human lives in such a small area of land trying to free it from the threat of communism which is now proving a non-entity (in reality). 

Child Drawings Outside the War Remnants Museum

The Mekong Delta

Our final memorable excursion was to the Mekong Delta (on Friday 7th):

Here is information on the Mekong Delta:

The Mekong Delta, as a region, lies immediately to the west of Ho Chi Minh City (also called Saigon by locals), roughly forming a triangle stretching from Mỹ Tho in the east to Châu Đốc and Hà Tiên in the northwest, down to Cà Mau at the southernmost tip of Vietnam, and including the island of Phú Quốc.

The Mekong Delta region of Vietnam displays a variety of physical landscapes, but is dominated by flat flood plains in the south, with a few hills in the north and west. This diversity of terrain was largely the product of tectonic uplift and folding brought about by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates about 50 million years ago. The soil of the lower Delta consists mainly of sediment from the Mekong and its tributaries, deposited over thousands of years as the river changed its course due to the flatness of the low-lying terrain.

The Mekong Delta is by far Vietnam's most productive region in agriculture and aquaculture, while its role in industry and foreign direct investment is much smaller.

We loved getting out of the city to see the land and to see the agriculture of the region - so much rice farming.  It is easy to see how rice farming is not as profitable in southeast Texas (where Mitch grew up) anymore with so much rice produced in this small area of the world!  Rice field after rice field appeared on our journey!

Here are photos of our trip to the Mekong Delta:

Making Chop Sticks

A Chicken Bred to Fight!

At a Brick Making Factory

The Children - at play in the countryside

Drinking from the Coconut!

Our Tour Mates!

As part of the tour we went on a river cruise of the area:

We had a very nice lunch with traditional Vietnamese cuisine:

Our trip to Vietnam was a quick one, but very powerful - I will never forget the experiences that are imprinted on my heart.  I wish continued growing, learning, and success for this country.  The people truly deserve a positive future!

And now - we are back to Term Four!

My students have been busy this week getting back into learning (as have I)!  We are studying "Celebrations" this term along with the writing genre of "Narrative."  We will be busy, as usual, and I will have much to report next week, so stay tuned!

Take care, everyone!