40 Years
It's a big day here, so I shouldn't let it pass without somehow commemorating it, but it's always a day of mixed emotions for people from "South Vietnam."
As you probably know, what Americans call the "Vietnam War" ended on April 30, 1975. (From what I've read on Facebook recently — sort of ashamed I didn't have this memorized — Mom, Khoi and I left on April 13 (possibly April 12? EDIT: No, it was mid-March), and Dad left on April 22.) This day has been celebrated as a holiday in Vietnam ever since, going by various names: "Victory Day," "Liberation of the South Day," or the more politically gentle "Reunification Day," which seems to be currently in vogue. This year is the 40th anniversary of Reunification, so there have been some major celebrations throughout the country.
I had heard that the ceremonies in Hanoi were going to be toned-down this year (no need to gloat), while the focus would be in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, with an emphasis on the "wholeness" of the country and, importantly, the 40 years of peace. (Well, if you ignore the other wars and skirmishes that Vietnam has been involved in — but those were relatively short-lived, and there hasn't been anything major in at least 25 years. So... anyway.)
The Prime Minister was down here today, and presumably many other government bigwigs, and they had a huge parade downtown, ending fittingly at the "Reunification Palace," which was formerly the "White House" of South Vietnam, and is where the tank symbolically crashed through the gate on April 30, 1975, and ended the war. I intended to go watch the parade, but it started at 7 a.m. and I had trouble waking up, and by the time I drove down there, it was over. I saw a bit of it on TV, and I also saw some of the preparation in the weeks leading up to it. For a celebration of peace, they seemed to have a lot of uniformed military people involved — though they were mostly dancing, so it wasn't too threatening.
There were also fireworks at night, and I did get to see those, though I had to drive a little ways to get a clear view. (And it was still a bit obscured.)
There's a lot to say about this day, but I don't know if I have the capacity to say anything worth reading. It's an interesting time. We lost. We fled the country. The "bad guys" took over. Everything REALLY sucked for about 15 years. But then things started to get better. And people started to forgive. And people started to come back. And people started to have more freedom — to study, to work, to travel, to use Facebook. To not be starving. And the Vietnam of 2015 is really not a bad place at all. Sure, there's corruption, and there's massive inequality, and many people are still struggling and suffering, but I feel that the overall "happiness" level is reasonably high. It's a safe place to live. It's an exciting place to live. It's a place where you feel like next year will be better than this year, and the year after that will be even better...
I sometimes try to imagine what would happen if April 30th hadn't happened — or if the U.S./South Vietnam would have won. Would there still be two countries? Would there have been a peaceful merger? Would things have ended up better? Or worse? Maybe it's pointless to even think about it. What happened, happened. And, despite the tragedy of lost lives and years, the ending isn't nearly as bad as it could've been. The young generation of Vietnamese, now that they're not worried so much about survival, are starting to get politically active. They've already made the government reverse some of their plans. Maybe the whole Communist regime will fade away. (But, again, will what comes next be better?)
***
On to some personal things...
I haven't written since Tết, which was now more than two months ago. To recap my "Tết resolutions":
1. I finished War and Peace over the last holiday. That was a source of immense relief. When I start a book, I need to finish it, and that one made me feel guilty for more than a year. But then I quickly jumped into another project: Reading the entire (available) works of L. Frank Baum. They're much easier than War and Peace, but there are a lot of them.
2. I'm using my iPhone 6. You've possibly seen photos taken with it.
3. I got my suitpants hemmed, and have worn one of my suits twice. (I haven't worn the other one yet.)
***
This week has been another holiday week. There is, as usual, the April 30-May 1 (International Labor Day) combo, but this year Hùng Vương (Hung Kings — the founders of the country) Day fell on April 28 as well, because Tết came so late this year and pushed it back. I hadn't really realized that Hùng Vương Day was a lunar holiday. I guess I thought it was a "third Thursday in March" kind of thing, but it's not. So there were three holidays this week, and most government agencies turned April 29 into a holiday, too, by working on the previous Saturday. My company (the intellectual property side) followed that schedule as well, so I took the Saturday option and I am now in the middle of six straight days off. Of course, I didn't plan very well, so I'm still in the city. I thought about going to Korea to visit Jim LV, but didn't get tickets in time because some other things were in flux.
***
Last Sunday, my friend Flora had a farewell barbecue at her fancy apartment complex. (She's not actually leaving Vietnam, just quitting her job and moving to a different apartment.) It was very interesting to find myself in the company of a continuum of "Vietnamese-ness": Flora, like me, is half-Vietnamese. There were, of course, full-Vietnamese people there. But there was also a 1/4-Vietnamese, 3/4-French guy, and a 1/4-French, 3/4-Vietnamese woman. So we had a Vietnamese rainbow. I hit it off pretty well with both of them. I think we "mixed" people have a kind of — what's the word for when you are naturally inclined to like someone? — affinity? something else? for each other.
***
Random anecdote from a few weeks ago: I went to lunch with a friend/colleague who had some friends visiting from Hanoi. There were three women, and their names were Han, Hanh, and Hang. Now, in Vietnamese, these are actually three distinct vowels and three different tones, so they're not THAT confusing, but those are pretty darn similar for novices. And I can't remember which was which.
As you probably know, what Americans call the "Vietnam War" ended on April 30, 1975. (From what I've read on Facebook recently — sort of ashamed I didn't have this memorized — Mom, Khoi and I left on April 13 (possibly April 12? EDIT: No, it was mid-March), and Dad left on April 22.) This day has been celebrated as a holiday in Vietnam ever since, going by various names: "Victory Day," "Liberation of the South Day," or the more politically gentle "Reunification Day," which seems to be currently in vogue. This year is the 40th anniversary of Reunification, so there have been some major celebrations throughout the country.
I had heard that the ceremonies in Hanoi were going to be toned-down this year (no need to gloat), while the focus would be in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, with an emphasis on the "wholeness" of the country and, importantly, the 40 years of peace. (Well, if you ignore the other wars and skirmishes that Vietnam has been involved in — but those were relatively short-lived, and there hasn't been anything major in at least 25 years. So... anyway.)
The Prime Minister was down here today, and presumably many other government bigwigs, and they had a huge parade downtown, ending fittingly at the "Reunification Palace," which was formerly the "White House" of South Vietnam, and is where the tank symbolically crashed through the gate on April 30, 1975, and ended the war. I intended to go watch the parade, but it started at 7 a.m. and I had trouble waking up, and by the time I drove down there, it was over. I saw a bit of it on TV, and I also saw some of the preparation in the weeks leading up to it. For a celebration of peace, they seemed to have a lot of uniformed military people involved — though they were mostly dancing, so it wasn't too threatening.
There were also fireworks at night, and I did get to see those, though I had to drive a little ways to get a clear view. (And it was still a bit obscured.)
There's a lot to say about this day, but I don't know if I have the capacity to say anything worth reading. It's an interesting time. We lost. We fled the country. The "bad guys" took over. Everything REALLY sucked for about 15 years. But then things started to get better. And people started to forgive. And people started to come back. And people started to have more freedom — to study, to work, to travel, to use Facebook. To not be starving. And the Vietnam of 2015 is really not a bad place at all. Sure, there's corruption, and there's massive inequality, and many people are still struggling and suffering, but I feel that the overall "happiness" level is reasonably high. It's a safe place to live. It's an exciting place to live. It's a place where you feel like next year will be better than this year, and the year after that will be even better...
I sometimes try to imagine what would happen if April 30th hadn't happened — or if the U.S./South Vietnam would have won. Would there still be two countries? Would there have been a peaceful merger? Would things have ended up better? Or worse? Maybe it's pointless to even think about it. What happened, happened. And, despite the tragedy of lost lives and years, the ending isn't nearly as bad as it could've been. The young generation of Vietnamese, now that they're not worried so much about survival, are starting to get politically active. They've already made the government reverse some of their plans. Maybe the whole Communist regime will fade away. (But, again, will what comes next be better?)
On to some personal things...
I haven't written since Tết, which was now more than two months ago. To recap my "Tết resolutions":
1. I finished War and Peace over the last holiday. That was a source of immense relief. When I start a book, I need to finish it, and that one made me feel guilty for more than a year. But then I quickly jumped into another project: Reading the entire (available) works of L. Frank Baum. They're much easier than War and Peace, but there are a lot of them.
2. I'm using my iPhone 6. You've possibly seen photos taken with it.
3. I got my suitpants hemmed, and have worn one of my suits twice. (I haven't worn the other one yet.)
This week has been another holiday week. There is, as usual, the April 30-May 1 (International Labor Day) combo, but this year Hùng Vương (Hung Kings — the founders of the country) Day fell on April 28 as well, because Tết came so late this year and pushed it back. I hadn't really realized that Hùng Vương Day was a lunar holiday. I guess I thought it was a "third Thursday in March" kind of thing, but it's not. So there were three holidays this week, and most government agencies turned April 29 into a holiday, too, by working on the previous Saturday. My company (the intellectual property side) followed that schedule as well, so I took the Saturday option and I am now in the middle of six straight days off. Of course, I didn't plan very well, so I'm still in the city. I thought about going to Korea to visit Jim LV, but didn't get tickets in time because some other things were in flux.
Last Sunday, my friend Flora had a farewell barbecue at her fancy apartment complex. (She's not actually leaving Vietnam, just quitting her job and moving to a different apartment.) It was very interesting to find myself in the company of a continuum of "Vietnamese-ness": Flora, like me, is half-Vietnamese. There were, of course, full-Vietnamese people there. But there was also a 1/4-Vietnamese, 3/4-French guy, and a 1/4-French, 3/4-Vietnamese woman. So we had a Vietnamese rainbow. I hit it off pretty well with both of them. I think we "mixed" people have a kind of — what's the word for when you are naturally inclined to like someone? — affinity? something else? for each other.
Random anecdote from a few weeks ago: I went to lunch with a friend/colleague who had some friends visiting from Hanoi. There were three women, and their names were Han, Hanh, and Hang. Now, in Vietnamese, these are actually three distinct vowels and three different tones, so they're not THAT confusing, but those are pretty darn similar for novices. And I can't remember which was which.