Vietnam Journal 01.01.11

Today is more of a holiday than I expected.  Many streets are lined with the national flag and most construction sites are shut down.  The luxury hi-rise by the river that has been running 24/7 since we arrived in Da Nang is totally closed.  So is the construction site behind our hotel.  I saw more closed shops today than any day before.  All this is surprising since we were told that Vietnamese celebrate the lunar new year at Tet.  Looks like they take a holiday on January 1 as well.

Spent part of the day in a Skype call to the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers as part of the New Year's Global Day of Listening.  The Afghans asked, in response to Maggie's observation that the American War was not part of the Vietnamese consciousness, how the Vietnamese have managed to recover from the war.  Maggie and I offered our  observations about Vietnamese industry and drive--so many people are so busy--that helped build the economic successes we've seen on this trip.  Time is also part of the equation; the Vietnamese spent maybe 20 years dealing with the war's aftermath (including active hostility from the US) to really begin to rebuild.That tells me Afghans have a ways to go

Later we met students and a teacher from one of Maggie's classes for an extended discussion at a coffee house.  Our conversation rambled on for about three hours and covered many topics;  English and Vietnamese language, culture, history, Maggie's and my reaction to Vietnam, what we found most surprising, movies, motorbikes and more.  Perhaps the most interesting topic for me was their perception of the American War.  For them, it's no big deal, a history that doesn't really affect their lives which are firmly in the present.  The students are interested in their education and getting on with their lives.  Their parents, however, lived that history and still remember the hardships.  One student said her mother always changes the channel when a program about the war comes on.  In contrast, I told them about Americans who stillhave not gotten over our own civil war.  The students found that hard to understand.