Barch Family Takes Saigon and We Go Back to Cambodia

Cousin Love

Where to begin??  Not sure where we left off last time and I am too lazy to look it up, so we've just been chugging along doing what we do - Soccer on Wednedays and Friday's, Learning Journey's at School, etc -  and spent the better part of March in anticipation of the Barch Family visit to HCMC!  Graeme started every morning with a daily Skype call to them, as he ate breakfast and they ate dinner or did homework, just to chat and keep in touch leading up to their trip in April.

Finally the day came and we met them at the airport to kick off their 2 week adventure!  I have to admit, I was not sure how they were going to handle it.  This kind of a trip is not for everyone.  It's is a whole lot easier to just hit a resort pool or a beach somewhere a bit closer to home rather than traveling 26 hours to throw yourself into the middle of a culture and environment so foreign to your norm it makes your head spin.  Well, the Barch Family met the challenge head on and they were "all in" on any and all possible adventures that Saigon and the Mekong Delta had to offer them.

We spent most days limited to one adventure then an afternoon in the pool.  As it is our hottest season right now, this seemed like a good idea to keep body temperatures in check and to also give them some time to process some of the sights, sounds and tastes they were taking in.  Sensory overload can be just as potent as the heat from the tropical sun at times....plus, who doesn't love throwing your little cousin around the pool for a few hours each afternoon?

"Lemme show you how to drink a coconut..."

Front flip

Looking tough

Just a short bike ride thru Saigon traffic and you see cows!

Biker gang

Hitting the alley ways...

Just another fantastic Vietnamese meal

Fitting in...

Sammy likes it!

"The Claw" chopstix grip - redefining 10,000+yrs of culture

Deez are very expensive coconuts

Tackle!

No beach ball?  No problem!  Cousin Tossing!

What didn't we do?  Graeme played hookey from school for a few weeks and we jumped right into it.....throwing everyone on bicycles and into the hectic streets of Saigon we cruised through alley-ways checking in on the local populace, cruised south to the "country" area and woke up the cows, ate tons of Vietnamese meals (not all of which we were exactly sure what we were actually eating), hit up all the museums downtown, perused local markets getting yelled at by crotchety vendors for taking their pictures without asking, overpaying for coconuts on the streets of D1, Vietnamese cooking classes (where "healthy" recipes with "balance" mean adding sugar to everything then frying it), scooter tours, shopping for new Snowboard outerwear gear (hey, it's made here and sometimes it "falls off the truck" and into the markets for pennies on the dollar compared to USA).

Most importantly Graeme got some much needed cousin-time in and I think it is safe to say he enjoyed it to the max!  Also, it was also great for us to be able to show them how we live on a daily basis and how normal our lives actually are (OK, maybe "normal" is not quite the correct word).  We got to take them to the Easter celebration that all the Western Teachers' families had at the school and hunt Easter eggs and have a picnic (as well as testing the strength of the furniture - ask Keith about that one!), eat at our favorite restaurants or order in and watch movies, tour Graeme's class and school, relax with friends, etc...all regular stuff that living so far away was a pleasure on our part to share with them.

Easter Egg Hunt Crew at SSIS

Pony Rides at Family Fun Day at SSIS

How many times can you flip a cousin?

We had a trip planned for a weekend in the Mekong Delta with everyone but Erin fell ill with a SE Asian bug so we stayed behind.  From the stories and pictures Uncle Keith posted on FB we definitely missed out, but Team Barch dove head first into the experience, and with some help from our friend and local guide Phuc Tran they had a blast!

Erin healed, the Barch's returned from the Delta and sadly it was time for them to go.  Armed with the plans to reunite in only 7 weeks in NJ, saying goodbye was not easy but not as hard as in times past.  I have to say we were impressed with the openness and vigor that they put into this trip and experience.  I mean, at one point in my life I only knew Sammy to eat banana's, ketchup and chicken fingers.  In a 2 week time span he dwarfed the types of food that I have eaten here in almost 2 years!  It got to the point where a waiter would bring out something that everyone thought would get a rise out of the table and Sammy and Noah would be like, "half-hatched quail eggs again? Aw, c'mon!"  I also think Noah's skills in the traffic will come in handy the next few months as he acquires full driving privileges on his license!  Best yet, they now have passports and an open ticket to the world and all it has to offer!  I did not get my first passport until I was 30 years old.  None of which would be possible without their parents who had the foresight, courage and sense of adventure to pull them out of school and make this all happen for both of our families and for that we are more than thankful and cannot wait for them to return!

 For a look at all of the Barch Family Visit pictures click HERE.

Spring Break in Kampot, Cambodia

So with the Barch family gone we had some spare time on our hands in the form of Spring Break.  Spring Break was scheduled for the same time as the Kings Commemoration Day and Reunification Day (40th Anniversary) here in Vietnam, large national holidays and a time where internal travel and accommodations become overcrowded and expensive.  This in mind, we grabbed some friends and high-tailed it out of the country (and by "high-tailed it" I mean hopped on a bus and never drove over 40KPH) over to Cambodia.  We love it there.  The overall vibe, friendliness, low-cost and easiness of life is very attractive to us.

We posted up in Kampot, which is a town on a tidal river only a few kilometers from the Thai Gulf and known for their pepper.  Kampot is also the gateway to Bokor Mountain, which we had the pleasureful view of our entire stay.  Such a great space to relax.  Riverfront, pool, views, just enough activities to partake in if you want to but not too many to feel as if you are missing out if you do not, history, etc....really a special spot.

Bokor Mountain was a French Hill Station during their colonization period that later became a Khmer Rouge hold out as late as the early 1990's.  Up top there are several Wat's and old burned out buildings as well as a lone Catholic Church that have all seen their share of battles and bloodshed at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.  The damage done by the Khmer Rouge to this country and its people will take generations to repair, but to see the Cambodian's persevering a bit at a time is heartening and hopefully with a bunch of help from the rest of the world they will one day flourish.  For now, the mountain has 1 mega-casino with 2 more slated as well as a golf course and enough high end residential housing for 100,000 people.  Huh??  Gotta love 1st world development in the 3rd world!

If these walls could talk....

Graeme was in heaven as we were traveling with two of his best buddies (and possible first crush?) Kade and Brooke and their parents.  Also along for the ride were our friends the Georger's, and let me tell you it never hurts to be traveling with a Kindergarten teacher when you have a 4 year old!

Graeme went hard trying to keep pace with the older kids, swimming in the pool and river, sunset cruises, visits to town, amusement rides, you name it he did it all without missing a beat.  We had to bow out of one day adventure as he fought a little fever for a day or so, but other than that he hung tough with the older crowd.

Busy day in Kampot

Riverboy

Happy Hour!

1st Amusement Park ride!

Sunset Cruisin....

Motley Crew!

After a great week of relaxing with great friends we spent the day and night in Phnom Penh, getting over stimulated, well fed and more swimming!

For all of the Kampot pictures click HERE.






























Glad to be back home but we are already looking forward to our next adventure!  After a quick 2-day stopover at Disneyland Hong Kong, we are hitting New Jersey June 14-30 and California July 1-30!  Get your slip-n-slides ready and book some time with us because it will come and go before we all know it!

What? You thought I'd write a blog post with out a sunset pic?  Come on!

Sadly, while in Cambodia, Graeme lost his Great Grandpa Bill Johnson.  We should all hope to be able to live to 93 years old as he did and retain such a liveliness, vivaciousness, and grasp on life that he had.  Graeme will add him to his discussions when he visits temples and pagoda's on his travels.  Godspeed Bill!

Great Grandpa Bill in back left....

Hoà Bình,
The Hawken's in HCMC
#thetaoofgraeme

Tết Holiday 2015 in Hanoi

Probably the 1st USA kid in this alley ever!

Tet = Family Time

Tết in Vietnam is a big deal.  Imagine all of the Western holidays combined into one and lasting a week.  Preparations leading up to it take months.  I spoke of it's traditions and meanings in a post last year during this time, but during actual Tết last year we left the country.  Aside from what we saw leading up to it and what we saw immediately after it, we never really experienced it.  This year was different.  We were honored as a family to be invited to spend Tết with our friend Chuy Ly Tran and her family in Hanoi where she is from.  Tết is a time to be spent with Family and follow traditions to usher in Good Luck for the new year and honor your ancestors.  We were chosen to experience it first hand and be welcomed by Ly's family as one of their own.  Truly an honor.  Having Graeme and ourselves be granted this opportunity meant a lot to us and we truly cherished it.  Plus, it was our first trip to Hanoi, Vietnam's capital and governmental headquarters.  A much different environment then Ho Chi Minh City.

Getting up to Hanoi a few days prior to the New Year we had the pleasure of Ly showing us around her hometown.

The first big difference you notice in Hanoi compared to Saigon is the weather.  They have 4 traditional seasons there and it was winter when we arrived.  This sent us scrambling a bit for some warmer clothes.  Realizing that Graeme only owns 1 pair of long pants, we got him squared away with some new denim right away.  Gladly, The Gap produces most of their gear here so in the markets we were able to score some jeans for $7usd that you pay $49.95 all day long for in the USA.

Next thing you notice is the architecture.  Unlike Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi is hell bent of keeping it's French Colonial look and feel.  Everywhere you looked you were surrounded by beautiful doors, windows and eye-catching lines and feels.  Mixed in with that was enough Communist architecture (big, square, concrete, monumental, drab, bland, etc) to make you appreciate the Colonial style that much more.  HCMC is knocking over the Colonial buildings as fast as they can to replace them with modern skyscrapers....

Then you get hungry.  While showing us around Ly would lead us into an alleyway or door that only a local would know of and within seconds we'd be sitting in tiny plastic chairs eating a bowl of something we weren't really sure of what it was other then that it tasted fantastic.  Sometimes these meals were cooked on the table by us, other times we'd see the pots simmering all morning on the sidewalk then magically around lunchtime some tables and chairs showed up and a restaurant "appeared".  A bit more "meat" oriented versus "fish" oriented then in the south, less "nước mắm" aroma in the air, as well a different flavor palet - the Pho is much different - a bit sweeter and much less accoutrements.  We ate well.

The people.  The smiles are harder to come by in Hanoi.  The "beeps" are a bit more "get out of my way" versus "here I am".  The sense of earnest is a bit more, well...earnest.  Fewer pajamas and more of a "smart" look going on.  The people in HCMC say the people in Hanoi are mean.  I would not go that far, but there is definetly a difference.

The language.  They speak a different dialect (similar to North/South in the USA).  In Hanoi we felt as if the few words we do know in Vietnamese were more detectable in conversations we heard.  We felt as if when we learned a new word and repeated it that we were understood.  Graeme knows more then we do and when he was using his words that are regularly understood in HCMC, people here did not understand him.  Overall, we also felt as if the dialect was a bit "warmer" and not as sharp as what we hear in HCMC.  That said, we still can't speak it ;)

You have no idea how good a "sidewalk cooked" meal tastes until you try it!

Big people on little chairs....

St. Joseph's Cathedral

Lookin' tough...

I got my eye on you...

Bo Bun Nam Bo

Helping Bella along..

Queuing for the zip line...

Whoa!!

Tết arrived and we were along for a ride of a lifetime.  Ly's family spans 4 generations at the moment.  That is very impressive in any culture.  With Vietnam having such a young population, I would guess that not many kids have met their Great Grandparents, but Ly and Graham's beautiful little daughter, Isabella gets to spend Tết with hers!  I've always boasted how great it is that Graeme has been not only able to meet his Great Grandparents, but to be able to spend time with them and know them.  Watching the look in Bella's Great's eyes I know the feeling is mutual.  Bella's Great Grandfather is 87 years young.  Can you imagine the history he and his family have lived through?  If you live to be 187 years old you will not experience a fraction of what he has.  Meeting him was a time when I really wish I knew the language and we could sit over Bia Hoi for several afternoons and just listen to him tell stories.  I gladly accepted a handshake and big smile instead.

New Year's Eve and New Years Day are spent visiting family, eating and drinking.  You start the day at one house with your entire family and enough food to feed the whole neighborhood.  After awhile, you leave and all go to the next family members house, where there is enough food to feed the entire neighborhood.  Then after awhile you go to the next house...well, you get the idea!  We were welcomed as if we were family with hugs, kisses, and handshakes that lingered.  Great patience was taken as we asked questions about what was going on that must have seemed very academic to them (there were only 2 or 3 English speakers in the bunch and with so much going on we had a lot of questions).  The food was amazing!  I must admit, I have a limited palette to say the least.  I was a bit worried leading up to this event in regards to the food and if I would be disrespectful for not eating it.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  We ate so many great dishes and added some new delicacies to our growing menu, including Jelly Fish (which is surprisingly quite crunchy and has a kick).  As usual, Graeme impressed everyone with the variety and amount of food he can put down - especially fruit.  The shear amount of food at each house was overwhelming and we were always enthusiastically encouraged to eat eat!  Graeme rocked his Ao Dai and was looking dapper, getting a lot of cheek pinches and lucky money.

At midnight an offering is made outside your home, usually boiled chicken and flowers and fruits.  Prayers are said and the first person who steps into your home for the New Year is chosen, as that person determines your luck for the year.  Then, as in most SE Asian celebrations, the fireworks begin!  Graeme and I slept right through those.  Him because he is a Hawken.  Me because of reasons I will not disclose (see disclaimer below).

Dress your best!  You either wear something new or the best that you've got.  For several days, everyone bouncing around town on their scooters were dressed to the 9's.  Even those who had to work - taxi drivers, hotel staff, security, parking atttendants, etc - were rocking suits.  If you've been in the military feel free to wear your dress uniform (with medals of course!).  We did our best to fit in, Graeme looking dapper in his red Ao Dai.

*disclaimer* - Also tradition is for the men to break off to a separate room (with it's own abundance of food) and hang out separate from the women and children.  What happens in this room will stay in this room - but if you want to see the gist of it CLICK HERE.  It involves a lot of warm beer, homemade whiskey, and the Happy New Year song on repeat and at volume level 11.  Because of this some of my recollections may be a bit hazy.

YO!

Ly's Dad - 77yrs young.

Don't believe the label - Homemade whiskey & warm beer.

Just a snack...

Ok, some food was weird - chicken heads and feet.

Ly's Grandfather - 87yrs young.

Offering to pray for good luck in the New Year

Yo!

We lasted 2 days.  After that we were a bit cooked.  Ly and her family kept going for the next couple of days!  If you ever get the chance to celebrate Tet with a Vietnamese family I would highly recommend wearing elastic pants :)






































 











We took off for Tam Coc - a few hours south of Hanoi.  We spent the better part of 3 days exploring Karst formations, biking through rice fields, eating more great Vietnamese specialties - goat was a big one in this region, and exploring Buddhist Temples built into caves.

Graeme really took to the climbing part of getting to these Temples.  One of them was 439 steps straight uphill and he was adamant about going up there!  Trust me, I tried to talk him out of it ;)  Being a holiday, there were many Vietnamese visiting the area.  The main Temples got a bit crowded with families placing offerings for good luck and honoring ancestors.  These times Graeme got a bit more attention then he (or us) could handle, becoming the attraction versus the Temple.  Luckily, we were able to hop on bikes and just through cruising around get away from the throngs and find other Temples with no one around but goats.  It was great to be able to spend a few days outdoors away from a city...Everytime you turn a corner in this country you are literally blown away at its beauty and diversity.  These pics are only about 60 miles from the city of Hanoi.

Will we fit??

Yup....

view from our room

Lone flower...

Spelunking to the Temple...

Dinner

On the road...

Pondering at lunch...

Rice field silliness

This Family means business!!

Tough to put into words how grateful, honored and humbled we were to be invited to share Tết with Ly, Graham, Bella and their Family.  Now we can truly say we have experienced Tết and to be able to spend it with such warm, loving and great people was really special.  It's a culture that is so deep, rich and complex.  Getting just a glimpse of it firsthand was an amazing experience we will surely never forget.  We cannot thank them enough for such a wonderful time.

An entire month ahead of us without any breaks - how will we manage??? - March will be a long 4 weeks.  We do, however, have some great things to look forward to.  Aunt Donna, Uncle Keith and Cousin's Sammy and Noah are heading here in early April for 2 weeks!  In anticipation, Graeme has a Ring Calendar set up - taking a ring off each day until they get here (and asking each time if it is halfway yet!).  We have some fun stuff lined up for them and we are sure they are looking forward to defrosting (instantly) with the winter that the NE USA is experiencing.

If you want to see all the Tet pics CLICK HERE.
To see all the Tam Coc pics CLICK HERE.

Until then, Chúc Mừng Năm Mới to everyone!

The Hawken's in HCMC
#thetaoofgraeme