Week 5: On Gore, Ghosts, and Dissertations...

On the way down to Nghe An, I took a bus with the Hanoi delegation. Among them were some of the biggest names in Vietnam Studies. I was easily the youngest person on the bus by at least 30 years--as well as the only female. And I was definitely treated as such. At lunch, I sat surrounded by elderly men with white hair. One of the men scruffily said to me, "Girls have to pass out the chopsticks." And so I was put in my place. It did not matter that I was also a part of the Hanoi delegation (in fact, I was part of the American delegation); nor did it matter that I was a fellow researcher. I was a girl, so that meant that I had to pass out the chopsticks and scoop out the rice. With a smile on my face (taking care not to show my teeth as to be uncouth), I did as he asked. After all, there's really no point in deflating another's ego to save your own, is there? But as a subtle form of resistance, I gave him a pair of mismatched and crooked chopsticks.

Saw a horrific sight on the trip down to Nghe An. After travelling at a breakneck speed for a couple of hours, our tour bus got caught in traffic. Police cars, driving on the curb, raced past us. Curious, I looked out the window to see what the commotion was about. I will never forget the sight--a mangled dead body lay on the side of the street, the victim of a high-sped motorbike accident. The force of the crash ripped the head clean off the body--its contents spilled all over the road. A colorful coffin lay open next to the body, while policemen scooped body parts into it. I know factually that traffic accidents are the #1 cause of death in Vietnam, but its another thing to view it firsthand. I've seen accidents in the city before, but this was far worse. In the rural areas, the careening trucks combined with the higher speeds pose a higher risk for fatal traffic accidents. When driving my own motorbike, I sometimes find myself taking needless risks--passing in front of oncoming traffic, running yellow lights, driving way too fast. After seeing this sight, I quietly vowed to myself that I will buy myself a helmet when I return to Hanoi.

Ended up chatting with an elderly man who claimed to have spoken to Phan Boi Chau beyond the grace. "Grandfather Phan (the term is used out of respect similar to how Ho Chi Minh is referred to as Uncle) has spoken to me," he whispers quietly. "We had a private conversation. He is truly an enlightened human being."
"Did you see him?" I asked.
"I spoke with him through a medium."
Curious, I asked him, "What did he say?"
" I cannot say. But he said a lot."
"Does he know what happened in Vietnam?"
"He does, and he had a lot to say."
Intrigued, I pressed him further, "Like what?"
"Let's just say that his viewpoint is not Communist."
I left it there. I have no way of proving the validity of his claims, but even if they were complete false, it reflects much about the man's own views. He went on about the medium: "She's helped a lot of people. There was this woman, already 25 years old, and still not married (Editor's note: !!!!!). She tried for years, but just couldn't find a husband. Finally, in a last ditch effort to get her hitched, her mother brought her to the medium. As it turned out, the girl could not marry because someone in the netherlife secretly loved her. A ghost wanted to marry her, and thus prevented her from marrying a living person! The medium had to persuade the ghost to marry another ghost--a young girl who died at 15. They even staged a wedding for the happy deceased couple, complete with paper clothes, food, money, and offerings. Soon after her deceased admirer married, the girl married a rich, handsome, and (most importantly) LIVING young man. (Makes me wonder If I have a ghost admirer!)

Am currently in search for the perfect gym. Been trying out all the hotel gyms nearby: the Sofitel Plaza, the Metropole, the Nikko, the Guoman, the Sheraton, and the Hanoi Hilton Opera. Need a space where I can go and zone out, shut out stress. While all of them are decent in terms of equipment, I have a feeling I'm not going to like the gym culture here in Hanoi. The practice of gym-going is still really new in Vietnam, so only really wealthy Hanoians have gym memberships. I usually like the in-and-out gym trip--short and efficient. I've found that Vietnamese tend to hang out at gyms for hours at a time chatting, wearing the latest fashion athletic wear, and doing a minimal amount of exercising. Now, I don't mind people chitchatting, but do people have to do it while on the lat pulldown machine?

Finally started on my dissertation this week! Had my first full day of work on Wednesday. Because the newspapers I work with are so old that the brittle paper will instantly pulverize at the slightest touch, I had to read them off of microfilm. After an hour of squinting in the poor light at the half-broken film-reading machine, the librarian took mercy on me and let me see the actual documents. It was so COOL--I could imagine living in 1932, reading those newspapers for the first time. The issues they dealt with were no different than today--women's rights, politics, fashion, poverty, war... (I'm getting all excited about yellowed pieces of musty paper--does that make me a dork?)

About the dissertation itself--to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what to do first! So I just sat there and input newspaper issues into Endnote (how researchers did work before computers, I don't know). I figured the first step is to figure out whether I have the entire run of both newspapers. Next step: Acquiring the missing issues. I should actually sit down and devise a plan of action before proceeding further.

Kat is throwing a combined housewarming and mid-autumn festival hot pot party tonight, so I have to go help set up. Will write more next week...