Christmas part 2 OR Vietnam VO DICH!

When I was 15 and 16 one of my favorite movies was “The Mummy.” It wasn’t one of my favorites because of the quality of the film making or acting, so much as it fueled my sense of adventure. It made me dream of getting into loads of trouble in third world countries and then having to get myself out using my wits. Well the last week and a half has quenched some of that thirst for adventure. First there was a falling out between me, George and the proprietor of the first school I taught at, due to his unwillingness to pay me. Then I got hired at a new school that either has, or had something to do with the UN. Then there was the Christmas dinner I had with 2 Aussies, a Brit, a creepy American and a whole lot of Vietnamese. Then there was Christmas eve during which I had to move out of my hotel for one night and into a different hotel that had a balcony with it’s own Buddhist shrine. Also on Christmas eve Vietnam beat Thailand in football (soccer) for the first time since 1998 and Hanoi went crazy. Then there was Christmas and our adventure to 3 Buddhist temples. Then there was last night.

Last night Vietnam tied Thailand which secured them the football championship of Southeast Asia which I believe they had not won since before the Vietnam war.

It is this event that I want to concentrate this post on…. I mean I could go on and on about how cultured I got looking at Buddhist stuff but that is the type of post you will get from every “Tie Ballow” or dirty backpacker (their version of the fudgie) that comes through Vietnam, and I am a pirate and I want this blog to be different so my entry is going to be about football.

Now I don’t really care about football or “soccer.” Growing up in America it was never on TV, my Dad didn’t really like it, and Michigan did not have a team to get excited about. You don’t see the Big House getting filled for soccer do you? Anyway even though I don’t care about soccer I can appreciate the situation. So after they won on Christmas Eve it was made clear to us that there would be another game to decide the championship of southeast Asia on Sunday, and if Vietnam tied or won, they won the title.

George and I decided to get prepared for the festivities, and on Sunday afternoon we decked out our bikes in big Vietnamese flags (they were being sold on the street for under two dollars, with bamboo pole), George even got a real police siren put on his bike. These people are as loyal to if not loyaler (if that is even a word) to their national team then alumni are to U of M. Plus there are about 100 times as many fans. Now, for all of you Michigan fans, think about what Ann Arbor would be like if we beat Ohio State to win our first national championship in 50 years AND beat them for the first time in 10 years. OK got that scene in your head? Now times that by 100.

The craziest Michigan game I have ever been to was State in 2004, which was also Halloween weekend. I have never seen Ann Arbor so out of control. Hanoi, in this one night, made Ann Arbor that weekend look like Elk Rapids at 3:00am on a Tuesday in the winter. That might actually be an understatement.

Hanoi has 8 million people, roughly the same as Manhattan, and last night at least two thirds of them were out in the streets waving the flag and screaming VIETNAM VO DICH! Which means “Vietnam Kicks Ass!”

George and I spent the game driving around with our flags. I, being the fan that I am, commented that the lack of screams was a bad sign, this was augmented by a passing motorbike that informed us that Vietnam was losing 1-0. George however, was having a blast. I have never seen him so excited, even when we were little kids, and he doesn’t even care about sports. I think part of his excitement came from the attention we were getting… I mean we were obviously Americans (I had my Michigan hat on) and we were decked out with the communist flag of Vietnam. It was quite the sight.

At dinner we ate at this neat little street cafe with a very cute waitress we have named “Me Sow Baw Girl” after my favorite dish at the restaurant. There were these little street urchin kids hanging around the cafe that I made continuously check the score… Unfortunately they always arrived with bad news.

We started driving again and right as we approached the main square of the town, with a KFC and numerous bars, a cheer went up. Vietnam had scored and tied the game. George immediately started on with his siren, and I with my horn “HONK HONK, HONKHONKHONK”, and we continued to drive through Hanoi, mainly around Hoen Kiem lake.

Soon after this the game ended, and holy crap did things get crazy fast… we were hit with a literal wall of traffic… red traffic. The road we were on was about the width of US-31 or South Airport in TC or Washtenaw in Ann Arbor. Now picture that road completely packed, not with cars, but motorbikes that are maybe 1/5 the size of a car. And on EVERY SINGLE motorbike there is a red Vietnamese flag.

My first thought was “This was St Petersburg in 1917”. Seriously the scene was a socialist’s dream come true; people of all classes and colors dancing and waving red flags. The best part though is that the main square has a KFC. So here are all these communist flags waving in front of what is huge symbol of capitalism. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen… being the political nerd I am.

Anyway some highlights of the aftermath include, Someone falling off their motorbike right in front of me, probably due to intoxication (I was fine), someone lighting off fireworks IN THE STREET right in front of me. Both George and I getting our picture taken by numerous Vietnamese who thought it was awesome two Americans were joining in. Calling Dad in the middle of the craziness like I used to do a Michigan games in the big house. Me taking George’s 10 year old street urchin friend around on my motorbike while he waved a flag and screamed “Vietnam Vo Dich” again “Vietnam kicks ass” And me buying a big flag for “Me Sow Baw Girl” (we’ll see where that goes) .

But it wasn’t all good news; one of our friend’s got her purse stolen (I am convinced that the only reason I was not robbed was because I came as such a surprise), and there were numerous accidents. One of my students told me that she saw a very serious high speed accident between motorbikes. There were also 95 deaths in Hanoi last night… though I wouldn’t feel too sorry for them, they were mainly drunks going too fast on their motorbikes.

Seriously, crazy few days.

Tags: Vietnam Vo Dich