During the past weeks Hanoi has offered me many great experiences. However, it was amazing to visit the countryside in Mai Chau although it was only two days. Hearing only the wind, cows and grasshoppers taking noises after 3 weeks of chaotic and busy lifestyle all around you made me so relaxed and calm. We cycled around the rice fields, hiked 1200 steps to a cave inside a mountain, enjoyed some delicious local food and spent our night in a bamboo house surrounded with lizards and insects (luckily we had a mosquito net). Alright, I ended up returning home with a fever but other than that, our trip was succesfull. Thanks to my lovely roomates for sharing it with me!
Coming from Finland having no intonations in your mother language makes it really hard to learn a foreign language especially here. A tiny difference in how you say a word makes a huge difference and you can find yourself insulting someone when you tried to thank someone. Another thing is that you really have to pronounce properly for the locals to understand you. How many times have we gone to a taxi and tried to pronounce our address without having a mutual understanding? Every time. Then you give up and show the address on google maps and the driver days: "aaaaah, nhat chieu!!" Yeah, that's what I just said!! Rule number one of taking a taxi here is keeping google maps always on. The driver won't know the way even when he seems to be very certain about it. Suddenly, he can stop the car in the middle of an intersection and ask you for the way.
How come we don't have Vietnamese restaurants in Finland? Or do we? The food here is amazing. Not better than Thai but still. Fried noodles with beef and chicken, Pho, Bun Cha, Banh Xeo (no I cannot pronounce any of them understandibly) and noodles with noodles. Haha, we eat rice too. Okay, just googled "vietnamese restaurant Jyväskylä" and there is one!!
It is difficult to see photos of your family and friends getting ready for Midsummer. If I could only be in two places at the same time haha! Still, I'll be home soon and won't miss out the long evenings of Finnish summer. Oh, how I miss playing beach volley!
I hope everyone back home is having fun spending "nightless night" with their close ones and staying safe. This hasn't been the easiest trip I have taken but certainly has given me some new thoughts about life already. Maybe struggling and losing your nerves is just a part of the learning experience and growing process and I'm willing to pay the price.
Stay tuned
Ilari, Larry, Rally, Eluhree
hyvä teksti!!
VastaaPoista