This post is about a relatively old event, but it’s a story worth recounting.  Some weeks ago, some expats recommended we check out the local English-speaking Club, a Sunday morning gathering sponsored by the Party to give Vietnamese youth an opportunity to practice English together.  They said we’d be super popular, near celebrities, with everyone crowding around the speak with us.  It sounded fun, a little intimidating, but well worth the 7am Sunday wake-up – after all, one main goal was to meet our “global counterparts.”

Well, it turns out that super popular was an understatement.  We all eventually found the area where the English Club congregates, and as we entered, conversation grew quiet and all eyes swiveled toward us.  There was a brief awkward pause until I simply introduced myself to someone, loudly enough to communicate to everyone present that we were here to talk to *them.*  Instantly, students swarmed around us, hedging closer, leaning in to speak and listen, and slowly claiming every square inch of our personal space.  Questions would get asked and then asked again by new people who just joined the group (and there were probably around 20 – 30 students around each of us).  One girl handed me a tissue because I was so obviously sweating in the humid morning surrounded by a wall of bodies.  One guy got me a water, in appreciation for me speaking to everyone.  And finally, after hours of talking, we took a group to get some coffee, where we sat and learned a little more about each other – where we all worked, what we did on Saturday nights, and what our names actually meant, just to name a few.  It was such an invigorating experience, and we walked away with a crop of phone numbers and email addresses.  We’ve since hung out with some of our new friends, but we’ll have to post those adventures separately…