the saigon shuffle

when i came to saigon two years ago with crew asia, it was the first city on our tour. here at the night clubs, we saw locals and foreigners alike become ecstatic at the sound of "happy birthday" and jump up and down. it was here at the local night clubs that the invention of the saigon shuffle came about. we would take the dances of the locals in each city and give it a name. at the end of our tour we had a sequence where we would yell out the name of the dance, then dance it for a few seconds, then move onto another city's dance.

this time im not so lucky to have the company of my amazing friends. but i get to spend some qt with the pops. i also dont partake in the night club scene where i could invent my own dance moves. oh well, another time.

the last time i was in saigon i didnt get to live like a local. i stayed in hotels, and took cabs everywhere. this time, i stay at my dads house and ride on the back of the vespas. despite the smell of gasoline, overcrowded roads and the constant honking, i find myself at peace on the back of the vespa taking in the sights around me and the hustle and bustle of the local people.

the first day i was here, my dad said to me "ok its noon. starting from now you cant speak anymore english." i just looked at him and didnt speak for a few hours except a few words here and there because i simply could not get a sentence together. over the course of that day, i started to think about what i was going to say in complete sentences before i actually said them and by day number two, it was easy to not speak english. at this rate, my viet will be almost native like if i could stay here for a whole month. i think to learn a language, the best way to do it is to actually think in that language for about 15 min a day and work up to thinking in it at all times.

vietnamese culture is odd to me. all i do while im here is eat, drink coffee, then sleep and proceed to do it all over again in the evening. at night, we go to night clubs to listen to a live vietnamese band and a singer attempting to sing classic american tunes. maybe its the crowd i roll with (ie my dad and his friends) but i notice that its mainly older men with younger women....

the food here is amazing. even though i had an incident last night and accidentally ate some maggots, i still want to EAT. my only wish is that i had the opportunity to eat more homemade food. most people only think of vietnamese food as pho or the rice plates but goodness, its SO much more. i think its one cuisine that i could eat all day because there are so many different flavors (yes, we use other sauces besides fish sauce in our food)

tomorrow its a 12 hr bus ride to siem reap. im so excited to see a new country!