A Countryside Afternoon

A colleague and friend in the DAV English Dept. faculty recently invited the rest of the teachers in the department to spend a leisurely day in the country. Our gang, American and Vietnamese teachers, their spouses and children, piled into a car and small tour van for the 1-1/2 hour drive north from Hanoi to the village of Pho Yen, in Thai Nguyen province. Here our hosts have built a 2nd home in the village of the husband's family ancestors.

A warm welcome was extended by our teacher friend's in-laws, who are retired and take care of this home. Inside we entertained ourselves by group singing karaoke style, snacks and drinking tea, playing with the children, and walking around on the beautifully worked property. It's a small farm where the family raises chickens (about 300!) and grows vegetables for the household. Much of the 3 hectare (7 acres) property is still being developed around  farm plots, a pond where you can find shade in a thatch roof gazebo, a large swimming pool(not quite finished yet), and the tennis courts. There's lots of room to take a walk and just enjoy the quiet.

After resting from the drive, we had lunch. For the limber bodied, dining was upstairs where everyone sat crosslegged on mats. This worked for Susan and I for a short time, but we eventually moved to the dining table and chairs, back downstairs. The array of food included chicken, rice, veggies, beef and noodles, potato salad, and our favorite traditional food - nem - fried Vietnamese spring rolls. A word of caution: Vietnamese eat a lot of chicken, and they eat it all! (see photo).

After lunch we strolled the property, played with 3 darling little girls - daughters of the VN teachers, and just enjoyed pleasant company in a peaceful setting. Everyone had cameras and it was group photo time.

All too soon it was time to pile back into the van for the drive back to Hanoi. The Vietnamese countryside around Hanoi is like all the classic pictures of Asia. Alongside a super highway you see people working in rice paddies, cows scrounging for grass, or water buffalos lounging in mud holes.

Unfortunately but inevitably, you also see the billboards and construction, all signs of a new rising economy and evidence that you're back in the city. Hmmm, think I'll go look at my pictures of Suttons Bay for a while.