Hue, or On [Almost] Dying

So we've been in Hue for approximately 24 hours thus far. In that time, I have indeed seen the holy body of Ho Chi Minh himself. He was encased in a tomb not unlike what I would imagine Snow White would find in her final resting place on the mountaintop. This includes engraved roses surrounding the glass case around the body. But I digress.

My friends and I (Rachel, Rachel and Neal) asked our tour guide, Ein (as in Mozart's "Eine" Kleine Nachtmusic) if there was a coffee shop nearby. 

"ah yes! No problem! Its five minutes" was his quick reply. 

Thinking ourselves clever for getting out of the hotel to do our essays (yes that's right... we have four due Friday) we quickly made for our rooms to gather our laptops and assignments. Along with these essentials, we took our maps. Ten minutes later we asked a friendly looking Vietnamese woman where to go. In our defense the maps are not to scale and they didn't tell me "recalculating" when we messed up. Five stops to ask for directions and twenty minutes later, we arrived at our destination. This is not the heart of the story.

It is Valentine's day. Thus, there are heart shaped and/or pink balloons everywhere. You've heard of the running of the bulls? We witnessed the running of the balloon men (yes, I just dropped an e.e. cummings reference). They were running from the police because they didn't have licenses. This is the backdrop of chaos that framed our walk home in the darkness of dirty Hanoi. Our savvy sense of direction got us back to the hotel in twenty minutes this time instead of thirty. 

The Rachels and I decided to walk on and leave Neal at the hotel in order to get beer (for $0.50 per can) and some oreos so we could fend off our hunger pains from lack of dinner. And then it happened: Rachel walked into the street without looking both ways (I know, Barney must not have stuck with this one). Blindly we walked behind her, the other Rachel and I. We looked to our right and I said aloud: "WE CAN'T STOP! WE CAN'T STOP!" as a taxi drove straight at us, never intending to stop. 

We made it out alive, thank the Lord. This is a cautionary tale. Don't forget what Barney taught: 

"Stop, Look and Listen before you cross the street"

The balloonmen running from the cops.

Hats for sale on the sidewalk.

The name of the game is "what's on my sidewalk". 

Round two. Sidewalk restaurant.

Neal waiting to cross the street. He's not as bold as I was... oh wait I almost got hit by a car...

streets.

Consider this the unfiltered version of my Augie blog. I don't want the administration to know my true feelings on some of these goings-on.

Vietnam is beautiful. With a population as large as NYC, Saigon is a force to be reckoned with. As we landed, I realized that instead of being built "up", it was built "out" because of the low cost of cement buildings. The sprawl went past the horizon when I looked out the window as the plane landed. They also have 4 million motorbikes in the city, so traffic is a little hairy sometimes. The group has learned the technique of crossing the street. It's called "show no fear". Basically, once you start to cross the street, you've really got to commit. Don't slow down, no matter what. See a dollar on the street? Leave it. A friend seems confused? Save yourself. You CAN NOT STOP. So yesterday when I was walking to the Vietnamese market (which seems awfully far when you're wearing sandals), this lesson was cemented in my head. They have a rough traffic law system here, which translates into "looks like there's more traffic straight than across my path. I'm going for it". So my friends and I stepped off the curb. I was somewhere in the middle of the pack when a motorbike started to turn right, subsequently, it would seem, into my path. I know to keep walking because they'll go around me. However my friends shout "Margaux!" so I freeze in place, because I guess that's my normal reaction? There I am, motorbike coming at me, another close behind. I nearly got run over (not that a scooter is really gonna be the death of me, but you get the gist). So. Do. Not. Stop. I'm alive to tell the tale, so don't worry. I just yelled at my friends to never talk to me in the street again.

Vietnam

So the countdown has already begun for my study abroad term. I know that Vietnam seems like an unlikely choice, so in response to the numerous questions already posed and those that have gone unasked, I've decided to make a post on why I chose this particular foreign term.

LONG, LONG AGO... okay I'm lying. It was about a year ago. I signed up to go on Vienna term and Vietnam, ultimately choosing Vienna because of the musical/cultural experience that the term offered. I've always wanted to go to Europe and HEY it's freaking Vienna, for chrissake. Have you met me? It's right up my alley. However, I guess fate had other ideas in mind. It turns out Vienna term was cancelled due to lack of interest (probably because it was the most expensive foreign term Augie offers), and I was offered the opportunity to switch to Vietnam.

That being said, I did have my reasons for applying to Vietnam, and they still apply today. First, Vietnam is not somewhere I would choose to travel on my own. I pride myself on my traveling ability, having even helped my bf in his last minute attempt to pack (or rather unpack) for Brazil term. But even I'm not brave enough to travel to an Eastern communist country alone. My professors, God bless them, have much more gumption than I do and frequently travel to this far off land. My second reason might seem typical for a college student: I have friends who are going. Indeed they are, I'm sure, going to be my safety blanket throughout this whole term. My travel experiences consist of the United States and Ecuador, so being in a country where I haven't the slightest about what anyone around me is saying is a terrifying idea. The beauty of a study abroad program like this is that I have native English speakers to fall back on when I need it.

The third reason for this study abroad experience has really come together since I started the term. I've never been much of a history buff. I'll leave that to my Grandpa (who can, by the way, tell you where his family house is in Germany). Yes, it might be a shock, but the term "Tet Offensive" and "Tonkin Gulf Incident" meant little more than a dotted line to Asia and a shaky finger pointed at the Vietnam War as of a few months ago. I find this terribly sad. I've lived through one of the most atrocious incidents in American history. I know how appalled I would be if my children asked me one day "what's the big deal about the World Trade Centers?". And yet that is, more or less, how I treated every presidency and international incident from WWII- the Bush administration. This term has given me a more firm grasp on the history of my country, and for that I'm grateful. As one of my professors proclaimed after the first two weeks of class: "You now know more about the Vietnam War than 95% of Americans".

NEW YEAR

Yeah yeah, we've all heard it before. "New Year, New YOU!!!" "start the year off right" "I'm going to work out every day and never drink soda again and only eat vegetables during the week".

No on the last one? That's just me then...

Anyways. 2012 really started with a bang for me. As we all know I'm applying for grad school (insert applause from the studio audience), and decided to end the year focusing on me. 2011 ended with a party at my parents' house filled with my best friends in the whole world. The photographic evidence [[I HAVE FRIENDS?!]]

The besties.

A very random photo.

Myself and one of my suitemates from FRESHMEN YEAR. yes people, I can keep a friend :)

Anywho, I figured since I'm going to Vietnam in about two weeks, I should start my blog off with recent events rather than just diving into my Asian adventures (also, here's hoping that they're google friendly over there, as facebook is a no no). 

If you're the bird...

So there's this song that always reminds me of Spring. It'sThe Bird And The Worm by Owl City. It's just silly, and for obvious reasons, it not only reminds me of Spring, but of friendship. All of my friends--Mandy, Susan, Jill and I all fell in love with this song separately during our Sophomore year, and when I found out, I couldn't help but think that we're soul mates. 

Also, I took some photos the other day (clearly). This is a bird that was on the Magnolia tree outside of our neighbor's house. Doesn't he look so intelligent?

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Birdie. 

I stalked Jill. Thought you should know.

There are two Mourning doves that made a nest in that same Magnolia tree. It's so beautiful to see them together. I know that they aren't but I pretend they're in love. ((sigh)).

My School

My school just sent out an incident report about some guy touching himself around campus. Apparently, the cause is the "onset of Spring". Is this normal? I think not. It just reminds me of last spring, when they said a "midget" jumped out of a car and attempted to abduct a student. This isn't politically correct. Winning.

Spring Baking...

Yesterday was a pretty big day here at Freya house. While most of the campus was partaking in an annual day of drinking (usually about 12 hours of drinking, to be exact), my roommate Mandy and I cleaned the house. You see, all winter the house was never cleaned. Past the usual 10 week term, this was about a total of 15 weeks where dishes were done daily, but the floors were never attended to. We also rearranged the furniture. This is what we found underneath one of the couches.

We don't know if it's poop or a brownie. But whatever it is, it's disgusting. 

Anyways, you'd be surprised how much better the two of us felt once the house was clean (or maybe you wouldn't-- I suspect that this is why spring cleaning is so popular). So good, in fact, that this morning I decided to make crepes in our newly-clean kitchen. I've never made them before, but I'm pleased at how easy they were to make. 

Class...y.

Just signed up for Winter term classes. I'm in two Shakespeare classes. Maybe someday, after all this is over, I'll be smart. Maybe.

Find The Bird.

So Homecoming

I don't want to seem like a total putter-downer here. But when it comes to school at Augustana, weeks seven and eight seem to be the beginning of crunch time on campus. It's two weeks before final exams, a time in any student's life which can be overly-hectic. Augie has ten weeks in a term, and on top of exams, every teacher assigns a HUGE essay which is always worth roughly 20% of your overall grade for the term. My life, in other words, is spent in the library so I can get my essays done in a relatively timely fashion before finals week. But lo and behold, it's HOMECOMING WEEK. So the library (not to mention the dorms, streets and quad) is constantly being invaded by "ooh"ers and "aah"ers from classes past. All overly-impressed by the improvements made on campus and generally unconcerned with the fact that the current students are about to lose a night of sleep, on a weekend, no less, because their studies are being interrupted by questions and generally loud behavior. I love Augustana, but I hate homecoming week.

No, I don't care that you're at a frat party flirting with/trying to get in the pants of a 20-year-old woman.

No, I don't care that you're reminiscing on the good ol' days.

Yes, I care that I can't do my job as a student and pass a class because of these activities.

Is this mean? I hope not. I'm just venting here.