| Hanoi, City of My Dreams |
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On the occasion of the New Year, VTG will hold a New Year party and the reward ceremony of “Make Hanoi Your Home” contest. We are proud to announce that the first runner up of the year 2007 is Mr. Ira Barrows With the most impressive essay named “Hanoi, City of My Dreams” Hanoi, City of My Dreams ------------------------ By Ira Barrows As a young man eligible for the draft in the 1960’s, I did not know much about Vietnam. Hanoi was a place I wanted to stay as far away from as possible. I read in the newspapers about the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison and the anti-war activist actress Jane Fonda was sarcastically dubbed “Hanoi Jane.” Much like Iraq today, Hanoi never figured into my plans as a voluntary destination. Years passed by. The war ended and eventually Vietnam faded from the headlines. I never had any thoughts of visiting Hanoi. In fact, I never had any thoughts of Hanoi at all. Nearly twenty years after what I knew as the “Vietnam War” ended, my wife Carol, as part of her study of the music of Southeast Asia, voiced a desire to visit Vietnam. As a sometimes vocal opponent of the war, I had no objections. When speaking to Vietnamese people about my first visit to their country, I always begin with “v ào n ăm 1994, t ôi d ến th ăm Vi ệt Nam l àn đ ầu ti ên.” Although we were totally tourists, this little trip began a love affair that has grown stronger each year. My first impressions of H àN ội were colored by the fact that we arrived after a twenty hour train trip from Hue, it was extremely hot and humid and I spoke not a word of the language. We may have been a bit tired and disoriented but we did know that the small hotel at which our car deposited us was not going to be our resting place that night. Desperately seeking a hotel that seemed more, shall we say hospitable, we hailed a couple of cyclos and had them drive us from hotel to hotel. The majestic old Metropole was extremely expensive but after seeing the alternatives, we wound up ensconced in one of their 1900’s style rooms and breathed a bit easier. Carol and I tried to gain entrée into the famous Hanoi Conservatory of Music, but were unable to do so. We did have the opportunity to explore the usual tourist sights and to walk around the Old Quarter, though we were often lost and couldn’t tell H àng Đ ậu from H àng Dau. Our visit did not get us close to the people of Hanoi, but it did make us realize that there was something special about this city with its French colonial buildings, wide tree-lined boulevards and old-world ambience. We returned to Hanoi in 1998, 2000 and 2003, this time armed with some introductions. It was our privilege to meet Ngo Quang Xuan, the Ambassador to the United Nations, and he was able to arrange a visit to the Hanoi Conservatory of Music and to the Ministry for the Care and Protection of Children. Our interpreter, Mr. Luu, became a friend, as did Ms Co, a young woman from Hanoi who was studying music in New York. With the help of these and many other people, we began to form a bond with this alluring city. My wife, Carol, established a scholarship at the Nhạc Viện HàNội for the study of traditional Vietnamese music. She also coordinated the Vietnam Jazz Project, a cooperative effort between the students of the conservatory and those at her school district in Pennsylvania. In between visits, we corresponded with our friends in Hanoi and attended events in the US, including a picnic for the diplomats of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia each summer and the annual Tet celebration at the Mission to the United Nations. Many of our friends told us we should move to Vietnam, but we held back despite our increasing affection for things Vietnamese. Finally, in March of 2005, Carol woke me up at 5 am to inform me that she had received an offer to teach music at the United Nations International School of Hanoi! We were stunned and delighted, but it was still a big step and we pondered for days before finally saying “Why not?” Carol retired from her teaching position in the US. I informed my brother, for whom I was working at the time, that we would be leaving in July. We told our respective families that there would be two fewer guests for the holidays and we set about making preparations. We sold our house, our cars and most of our other possessions and made ready to see if Hanoi was as good a home as it was a vacation destination. Rather than arrive and search for a home, we leased a serviced apartment in Sofitel Plaza Hotel. I realize that this may not be everyone’s Hanoi experience, I submit that mature professionals are as much a part of Hanoi life as youthful backpackers. We arrived, unpacked and marveled at the beauty of our neighborhood, with vast West Lake and the tiny, shimmering Truc Bach Lake. The people still looked a bit exotic and their language was a mystery to us, but we did feel that we were more than just visitors. On our second night, we had dinner with our friend Luu and he suggested something that radically changed my Hanoi experience. “If you are going to live here, you really should study Vietnamese.” I had never thought of it before, but it made me a part of the Hanoi community. I feel that I learned much more about the people and the culture than I would have merely by living in a Vietnamese house. My two teachers this year, from VTG, An Sơn and Hải continued my education. They were both exacting and demanding but they both worked with me so that I learned what I needed or at least what I thought I needed. All three also gave me a feeling of what it means to be Hanoian. While tourists often see more of the “sights” than residents of the city, I found that living in Hanoi gave me a greater appreciation for the city and its people. When we walk around the Old Quarter, it is fun to tell the vendors “Tôi không phải là khách du lịch!” and to see their expressions when they hear me speaking the language. We enjoy the culture in Hanoi and love to attend symphony concerts at the Opera House. Our close relationship with the Hanoi Conservatory makes the Hanoi Philharmonic concerts very special. I also have met several members of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra and they often chat with me in Vietnamese during the intermissions. One of my greatest pleasures is being accepted into the neighborhood in Phố Yên Phụ. Of course, as a Westerner I stick out, particularly because I am able to speak the language. While shopkeepers and cyclo drivers in the tourist area have at least some English, I must speak Vietnamese to communicate on the street. Ms Han, the laundry lady and her precious three-year-old daughter Quynh greet me enthusiastically when I drop off clothing to be cleaned. Ms Giang, the fruitseller, tells me what is the freshest that day and she will even shop with me for vegetables to ensure that I get a good price. Other shopkeepers are equally friendly and never hesitate to help me find the produce I am seeking. Carol and I are both moved by the way the people of Hanoi have taken us into their hearts. To us Hanoi is much more than just a place with old buildings, pagodas and lakes. Wherever we may be, Hanoi will always be home. Hanoi is a state of mind. |
