Nam Part 1:

I don't really know what people think of Vietnam, I think maybe... asian third world country or the vietnam war? It's so many fucking things for me. Vietnam is weird, it's not a "cool" country to me, it's annoying but great in many ways. It's got superstitions that I can't relate to and deep down don't want to understand. It's got the big city lights, it's got constant noise, it's sometimes got foul smelling alley ways and dirty streets, it's got wild traffic with equally crazy power-lines. It's got Saigon, where there's ten million people and food stalls on every corner at any hour and most importantly there's something going on at every hour. I've seen pretty much everything from South to North, there's alot of amazing sights but I don't enjoy the touristy shit and things never look like they do in the pictures.


There is a way stronger sense of community in these neighbourhoods than there is in ours. I've been here now four times and I feel like I know the city well but I've apparently only seen perhaps 1/10 of the city.


When someone dies in Vietnam it's followed by days of celebration, worship, prayers and mourning. The body is kept in a coffin in the house and all neighbours, friends and family visit to pay their respects during these days. Prayers commence early in the morning and continue throughout the day till nine at night. Depending on the wealth of a family the funeral can be very elaborate or much more simple. The immediate family of the deceased is given on the first day a piece of thin flimsy white material to wear during the funeral. Every child of the deceased wears a white top and bottom over their clothing with a white head piece thats triangular shaped. The eldest wears a strange wired headband-like piece over the white cloth. All of the grandchildren wear a headband that makes you look like a ninja, it has a coloured circle to indicate if you are a child of a son or daughter. You only really have to wear it during the prayers and when guests are over. What I got from this though was how the community supports a family during a big loss like this. There's crazy and very irritating Vietnamese live music that plays regularly and annoyingly loud during the day and night. Trust me, if this was anywhere else there would be a noise complaint to the cops about a day or two in. On the last day you walk out from the house as a family to the main road or a portion of the way to the cemetery. There's a live band following as well as people throwing fake money as you walk. This whole funeral process is meant to help the person either get into heaven or get in swiftly. A Vietnamese funeral like any other is bizarre to experience but also it's beautiful, intense, sad and compassionate.


Vietnam is a communist country where the police look like soldiers and corruption is of the norm. It's also a heavily developing country which you can tell if you've been here recently and noticed the large increase in infrastructure. There's also poverty though, I kind of expect poverty to look like it does on t.v., something like people starving on the ground stealing loaves of bread from each other but it's a bit different then that. You don't necessarily see the poverty so much in Saigon, it's alot worse in rural areas, when I was a child in Vietnam I once pointed to a hut and asked my mum if thats where birds lived. My mum would tell this story for years on to embarress me; I mistook someones home for a bird nest. You get beggers who hold onto their children as a tool for guilt. A lady approached us holding a sleeping naked baby and I just shook my head at her, as to say we weren't going to give any money. Economically, we're not meant to give them money right? Is that right? I can't make sense of this, economy and morality, do they even mix. One side says that not giving the money equals not supporting the unemployed therefore encouraging the creation of more jobs right? Then another side of me says, hey what's that baby and what's her mother going to eat for dinner?

There is a mix between country where it's much more rural as well as big city life of Saigon where it is densely populated in a small amount of space. Here in Saigon the houses are very small, only a few metres wide, but all at least two stories in height. People here work for cheap labour, the people at KFC work for 10 000 dong per hour, that's less than one Australian dollar (the exchange rate is about 17000 dong to one Australian dollar). People's work place is also happens to be their home, just the upper stairs areas. I wonder how anyone here escapes from their work when it's always there. The stores here specialize in the funniest things. Did someone ask for a mirror shop? A lollipop shop? A plush toy shop? A shop full of mini-shops? A shop full of buddhas? Imagine growing up and instead of picking what you major in university you pick what you'll sell for the rest of your life. Yes, I would love to major in corn, or popcorn, or bread.


Do you realise that people always say that people of a country are "so beautiful" or "so nice"? You know when someone talks about Australia and is like "Oh my gawwwd, the people here are so nice and relaxed!", wait wait, and the people from your country are so mean and unrelaxed? I haven't seen that yet, I want to but to me everyone around the world is the same. People are beautiful, people are nice, and some others are not and it's the same no matter where you are. One thing that being here has made me realise about Australia is that we are actually so multicultural, like reallllyyyy so. People here stare at white people and to me it's rude but then I realize it's actually different to see a white person. I mean if a Vietnamese person came walking down Murray street no one would think twice.


When I talk about superstitions, everything seems to be bad luck, weird or rude here. Wearing nail polish when there's a funeral is bad luck, so is wearing shorts, not wearing your head piece, wearing your head piece in front of other peoples houses and so is whistling in a car. On a much off topic, the Western food here pretty much sucks cock even though I've been eating alot of it considering the fact that going to Vietnam and eating the country's food is not something new for me since my mother puts it on the table almost every night. Lulu and I went into this cafe that was all red and super romantic with roses and dim lighting to realize that the menu was all overpriced we then gave the menu the finger and walked across the road to discover a place called "I Love Burger". My god, I've never had a burger as good as this. My mouth is salivating right now just thinking about it, we went here one night after we had barely eaten all day and all of us became delusional and those bites were to conclude to the best meal we'd ever eaten.


You know what Australia has that Vietnam doesn't? It's got democracy, it's got non-humid hot weather, it's got fucking good beaches where I don't feel plastic bags float across my stomach, it's got people who don't stare at your for wearing short shorts or for being foreign, it's got road rules, suburbia and more than one major race of people and religion.


You know what makes me feel home sick and makes Perth seem better than Saigon? The fact that tonight I could only count nine stars in the sky. The pollution here is disgusting, the beaches are brown and the river is like a sewage, where pollution in the sky stops and where clouds start I can not tell. I crave fresh air and starry skies.


I may love burger, I may love Saigon, but I love the sheer freedom and lifestyle of Australia much more.