Visiting from home

Choo choo!

All the chairs at the Train Café had been moved aside, and on either side of the tracks, onlookers gathered. Riding the train through a residential area is a hidden gem for visitors to Hanoi. Shortly before, we had enjoyed an egg coffee at that café, which is located right next to the railway line and is a specialty in Hanoi. We, meaning my parents and me, who were visiting me in Vietnam halfway through my study abroad program and combining it with their vacation. We were on our way to the famous water puppet theater, which can only be found in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, when we made a stop in perfect weather. Now the time had come. The waitress motioned for the crowd, which had grown to about two dozen people, to stand against the wall and be careful. Promptly at 4:30, the train from the north rolled in with a loud honk. While the tourists prepared with their phones and cameras, the locals calmly removed the last items from the tracks. It's not like we had never seen a train before, but having one pass one meter in front of us was new and exciting. A few seconds later, the spectacle was over and we continued on to our intended destination.

Even though the puppet show was in Vietnamese, we could follow the story, which was accompanied by traditional music, quite well. The history and mythology of Vietnam were depicted in 17 short acts by several highly articulated wooden puppets. The puppeteers stand knee-deep in water and manipulate the figures with long poles.

A week earlier, my parents had arrived in Hanoi, and I picked them up from the airport. It was their first time in Asia, so they were amazed by the local life. Things that I now consider completely normal, like a hairdresser on the side of the road with only a mirror, scissors, and a hair clipper, were surprising to them. That same evening, we went to the most famous Bun Cha restaurant in the city, where Obama had dined before. On my first visit, the former president's table was just like any other, but now it was behind glass. Of course, we also enjoyed a fresh Bia Hoi, Vietnamese draft beer, before parting ways for the day. The next day, I led the group, which had grown to six people, to a Pho restaurant and another pub where the beer was served in glasses using a garden hose. The reason why six Germans were now following me was that my parents' group had one more free evening in Hanoi before continuing to Halong Bay and Central Vietnam.

On the last day, two weeks after their arrival, we had a Korean barbecue before saying goodbye at the airport. Thank you so much for your visit, I was very happy to see you!

However, my parents' visit was not the only one from Germany during that time. I also met with Mrs. Voigt and Mrs. Weiß from the International Office in Greifswald, who had assisted me with the organization of this semester, along with Mrs. Nga from the University in Hanoi, to discuss my semester in Vietnam. Thank you as well for this enjoyable conversation and the souvenirs from Greifswald!

Next month, the university will be keeping me quite busy again, as the semester is coming to an end and I'm finally starting a Vietnamese language course. Let's see how much time I have left for writing.