Tet Holiday in Vietnam

Tet was a bust. I have no spinning chicken head stories or anything like that to tell. I thought that Lan and I would spend Tet together doing fun things, going to festivals, seeing parades, whatever they do in Vietnam, but that did not happen. Apparently Tet is the time of year when people go to visit friends and relatives that they haven't seen all year. Kind of like Christmas for Americans. I didn't know it, but Lan had a whole list of people that she had to go visit, including some family that lived out of town, so the long and short of it is that I didn't see Lan for about 4 days and I spent most of Tet hanging out in my room watching tv and reading. I am know officially naming the week of Tet...Hell week!!!

It wasn't as bad as I'm making it out to be, though it was by no means as fun as I thought it would be either. I did get to do some things for Tet. Last week Lan, myself, and her 2 nephews and niece went to an amusement park/Zoo and spent the day going on rides and feeding exotic animals, that was a lot of fun. Then the next day I went with Lan and her family to a large Water park and spent the whole day swimming and sliding down water slides, that was also a lot of fun. So I did do some fun things, and then, of course, on Valentines Day Lan and I went out to eat at a nice restaurant.

I'm still amazed at how cheap things are around here. I spent 4 usd to go to the water park and it was a good sized water park, probably 15 slides, 2 kiddy pools, including a wave machine, a zip line (which really hurts by the way, I landed flat on my back) and a little moat/artificial stream which goes around the entire length of the park. It's equal to some of the bigger water parks in America, and where you would pay 40 or 50 usd for one person's ticket. I paid 40 usd for Lan's whole family, plus lunch for everyone. The two things that are really, really cheap in Vietnam are food and entertainment. Some of the things you buy in a store like electronic devices, or appliances cost more or less the same as America, but if you are coming here on vacation then things are cheap, cheap, cheap.

One other thing I discovered this Vacation is that Lan and her family love to play card games. The main card game in Vietnam is called Tan Lien, and it is based largely on points and sequences of cards. The first few times I watched people playing I could make no sense of  the game, but once I found the rules online and read them then I was able to learn the game very quickly. I suck at it, and since it involves a rather complicated system of gambling I have only played it a couple of times. The main game I play with Lan and her family is Blackjack or 21. It is almost the same as the American version, with a few small differences, for instance 2 aces wins all hands, it's the highest card hand you can get, and if an ace is with another card say then it is worth 10 point, so an ace of diamonds and an 8 of spades would be worth 18 points. The whole family including the kids will get in a circle on the floor and play cards for hours at a time, it's the one thing I can do with her family that does not require me to know any english.

I will say one more thing. This experience I'm having so far is much different than I expected. The cultural differences between America and Vietnam are profound. I really did not expect things to be so different, especially relational differences. I am having to court Lan in a completely different way than I have ever done before, and it is very hard. For instance, I am not allowed to show any public display of affection towards Lan, hugging, holding hands, putting my arms around her, and most especially kissing her, in front of her family. That is a big no-no. Lan is not allowed to be alone with me in a room. She can't come into my room alone, ever. It has made kissing her challenging since she is always accompanied by a family member, but I am a sneaky bastard when I want to be, so I am working it out. Then there is the fact that my job as her boyfriend/husband is to give her money, apparently, and her job is to take care of me domestically. Very eighteenth century. It seems very conservative and backwards here by American standards, but it's how things are done. Now once I'm married Lan and I can be alone together all we want, and I can kiss her, hug her whatever in front of anyone I like, but as long as we're not married we have to be very circumspect.

All things considered I am doing well. It is hard, but I love a good challenge, and I am learning things about myself that I never knew existed. I will survive this, of that I am certain. Lan and I will get married, and we will be happy together. Despite all the restrictions right now, I know that Lan loves me, and I know that she wants to marry me and spend the rest of her life with me. I just have to be patient right now. Till next time...