1/12/16
Identity is a confusing thing, especially for me since I have lived in 3 countries and have no idea where I belong 50% of the time, or what I am soon. 100% of the time. How do we prove who we are and where we belong? While we are always given an identity through driver’s license, identity card, passport, birth certificate, social security number, etc.; they are just what identify us to the world. How do I tell people what identifies me as me, a person living on planet earth? When an alien come (well, or imagine any god you choose to believe in) and ask: what makes you You? Why sets you apart, and how does that make it worth the earth to keep you alive?
Waking ip early, I ate a quick breakfast at the hotel and got ready for my 7:45 am pick up. After reading up on some travel websites, I decided to do a day tour of the emperors’ tomb. Originally, I wanted to bike it, but the weather turned on me and forecast showed rain for the rest of the week. My tour would bring me to three tombs: Tu Duc, Minh Mang and khai dinh. Situated along the perfume river, these tombs are great examples of the Vietnamese architecture. When the French colonized Vietnam, the emperors were left as figureheads, which left them time and resources to build elaborate tomb. Along the way, we were promised to visit a kungfu show, a straw hat and incense factory and a visit of the pagoda Thien Mu. All in all, a very packed day, and I fully expected to be herd around like cows to a slaughter house. We picked up everyone in a giant bus, and was told we were 46 persons strong for this tour. We started the tour with visit of the tombs. Again, I am reminded by how much the Vietnamese culture came from China. Our tour guide explained that all elites and officials used the Chinese written language as the official language, but pronounced the words in Vietnamese. In the 1900s, they began to use romanized alphabets. In 1945, the country decided to adopt the simpler Roman alphabets as their language, and discontinued the use of Chinese written language. He also explained that the last dynasty is Nguyen, and it had 13 emperors. They all have tombs around the same area, but some have slowly fallen into disrepair. Since the emperors followed mainly Chinese burial customs and fengshui, the result were some very Chinese looking tombs, except the tomb of Khai Dinh, which has a lot of European influence.
While the sites were interesting enough, what made the tour great was our tour guide. He made some very weird jokes about having concubines and how his wife can easily turn him into an eunuch by “castrating his sexual organ”; that his wife is the bank and he is the attention, and even a joke about how they used to kill people who had committed adultery. Of course, that was not what made him great: what interested me was his depiction of life in Vietnam: the wars, the unification, the proverty and now the slow upswing of the economy. He explained to us the education system: how good school costs US$50 a month (but for all expenses). Or that he wanted to be a teacher but was too poor to pay the bribe to become one (US$1000 for a lifetime appointment of being a teacher in a rural area). Apparently, bribery is the way for everything in Vietnam, but he thinks that the foreign companies are much better: they actually let talents to rise to the top. However, the locals are not quite used to competition, but are learning fast. He also explained that the Vietnamese are very proud of their country: they faced down France and USA without losing, and remain standing after all the internal struggles. At the same time, he also expressed the wish for a better life for him and his daughters, and regards all foreign tourists as good people (because they pay his wage). Crude jokes aside, he was actually a very effective guide. I leaned a lot about local life and how history has been affecting Vietnamese throughout the last 10 years.
After the tour, I went back to the seamstress for a final fitting for my clothes before heading out for dinner. As I was sitting in a eatery eating bun no hue (local beef noodle) while looking at the international clientele, my mind wandered off to the question of identity. The Vietnamese people seem to be slowly adjusting to a new identity: a citizen of the world. Instead of the older communist way (when working or not working produced the same wages), they are embracing the market economy. At the same time, they are trying very hard to retain their heritage and showcase their pride to the world by reconstructing the fallen monuments. Of course, my mind then started to wander further and wonder what my identity is. Is it a traveler? An engineer traveler? A Chinese engineer traveler? A Chinese engineer traveler who has eaten too many ice creams and have gained weight?! I guess I am not quite sure what identifies me as a person, or if I am a useful member of the society. Then again, life is a change, and one can change their identify if one is motivated enough. Maybe once I digest all my experiences, I can better judge what type of person I want to be.
(Well, an ice cream lover for sure. How is it I never gain weight in South America for 6 months but gained quite a few pounds in south east Asia?!)
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