My Balcony |
The following day was a day for dealing with jet lag, and thus nothing really happend.
The next day the Hostetler family took Nathan and I to their church. The Vietnamese government keeps a relatively tight leash on the Church and so there are few churches in the country. The reasoning behind this, as I have understood it, is not that Christianity in itself is bad, but rather that colonial powers frequently used different religions and denominations as a way to create infighting in the country. Thus there is a strict divide between the state and ALL religions. Derek mentioned at one point that there are few church buildings and that most churches are held in the homes of the congregation. The church that we went to was held in a conference room in a hotel and is composed of foreigners, mostly NGO workers.
At last we come to today, the day when things actually start. We left in the morning for the MCC office to begin orientation and after meeting the staff we took off with two of them to visit the Temple of Literature. Founded in the eleventh century, it is Vietnam's first university and was devoted to the study of Confucius.
Scholarly Turtles |
One of the Courtyards at the Temple |
Prior to coming I had heard that the traffic in Hanoi was insane, what with motorcycles going all different directions simultainiously, and while I can't deny that, there is a sort of organized chaos here. While defensive driving is a completely foreign concept here, one instead utilizes their horn to the fullest, constantly reminding people that they are there and to watch out for them. In addition, the speeds that vehicles travel at here in the city are really slow, usually below 40 kph. I am looking forward to hitting the streets at some point.
If you are curious as to what the title was talking about, there is an overabundance of BIP dolls here, which makes no sense to me.
Hi Bryn!
ReplyDeleteIt's so good read your update and it sounds like you are off to a good start. What have you been eating? All is well back in Saskatoon. Hey! Our airport has free WiFi. I guess we're kind-of like Seoul save the German been and BBQ squid. MIss you, Janelle.