Air force evening

I'm officially on vacation for the Tet holiday. Apollo only gives teachers 1 week of holiday, but since I only work at partnership schools, I have 3 weeks off. This situation would be fantastic were it not for the fact that I have no money with which to celebrate my incredible 21 days of freedom from screaming children. My current status is that of a poor person. In all honesty, I would rather work (a lot) more, and actually have some sort of monetary fundage. That's not a word, but it sounds fine to me. I feel like such an American, having a staycation out of necessity, mandatory leave from work, a lot of time on my hands but with no money to actually do anything cool. Nevertheless, I have been doing some pretty interesting things.

I've had some amazingly interesting conversations with multiple Vietnamese people about the government. Overwhelmingly, they are unhappy with it, and hope for political reform in the years to come. Some currently live in the US, some live here, but all have problems with the current regime, and are eager to share their views with me, which I find to be pretty amazing.

Last night I had dinner with Chinh's old Air force Squadron. One of the lieutenants who currently lives in DC came back for a visit, and so the 5 men got together for a celebratory meal. It was the first time that some had seen each other in 40 years. I have no idea why they were ok with the presence of a random white chick during their catch-up time, but I must say it was a fascinating night. They let me be an honorary fighter pilot and part of the squadron for the night. It felt good, and my ego got the pilot boost.

As I said before, Chinh was a fighter pilot for the South of Vietnam during the war. All five men spent time in re-education camps, one having lost 8 years of his life to the prisons. It's amazing to see how (at least seemingly) resilient these men are. All have careers in various areas, have families, and intact senses of humor. Throughout the night, there were copious jokes and fond reminiscences of their time in the air force. They explained to me that because they were young, they didn't let the danger of their reality hinder their happiness. Chinh said it was one of the best times of his life, even though they worked 365 days a year, and half of the pilots died. It sounded to me like they had all been crazy at the time, especially when they busted out stories of using their guns on each other.

The conversation was full of crazy stories and lude jokes, but also some very insightful discussions. For instance, Suon, the man who currently resides in DC, spoke of going to the US Civil War museum. There are more pictures and memorabilia of Gen. Robert E. Lee than there are of Gen. Grant, who as we all know was the leader of the winning side. He pointed out that with the communists in power, there is only one side of the story told. No voices of S. Vietnam are heard when speaking of the American War. I guess history is written by the victors, so that shouldn't be too surprising. Still, I find it so interesting to be privy to stories of the side that has been all but forgotten. It definitely makes one think about the war in a different way. I'm not saying AT ALL that I agree with America's decision to go into Vietnam, but for some reason I always thought of it as simply the Americans fighting the Vietnamese, who were communists, instead of helping the non-communist South.

Suon told me that often times the North would infiltrate their radio systems and bombard them with anti-South propaganda, telling them they were merely pawns of the American government. Once he called in to argue with them, saying "I'm no pawn of the American government. Fuck Richard Nixon." He went on to ask the communist North if they would say anything like that about the USSR leader. Point taken.

On our way back from dinner, Chinh gave me a bit of a historical tour of Saigon. Saying that he disliked the new highrise buildings and commercialism, he explained that many old buildings had been bulldozed in favor of these new monstrosities. He showed me the new building that was where his parents' old house had been; the central roundabout currently filled with neon signs and cafe's and shops that had been strictly residential pre-communism, and the shopping mall that had been To's (another member of the squadron) family's property before communism. Insane. Being a true history nerd, I found the lesson to be fascinating, but am truly torn by the two sides. I can't imagine having everything belonging to my family being taken away by the government. It must have been terrible and rage-inducing. Yet when I saw the huge plots of land that had previously been single-family dwellings, it seemed so unfair and disproportionate considering the sheer magnitude of destitute Vietnamese. Had the communist regime done anything to help these poor people, I might actually have agreed with them.

Heavy topic of conversation.

Also this week:
-I went to a CD debut performance on Thursday. The young woman, who composed her music, is a friend of Chinh's, who was the emcee of the event. There were cameras and media people in attendance, and it took place at quite an interesting bar.
-I may start giving voice lessons. I made sure the prospective students were beginners, because otherwise I would feel like a FRAUD.
-the clubs here are insane. Overpriced, and insane. I'm talking pole-dancing competitions crazy. And I haven't even been to the infamous Apocalypse Now club yet.
-Went to a restaurant owned by the wife of the vice-prime minister in the '60s. She's friends with Chinh (i'm telling you, the man knows EVERYONE), and I got to meet her. All I have to say is, I hope I look half as good when I get to be 71.
-I will start learning Vietnamese tomorrow. I really need to get some sort of grasp on the language, though it is a crazy difficult language. More on that later.