5/4: Uncle Ho and UNIS school visit

Evergreen group shot in front of Ho Chi Minh mausoleum

It was quite an interesting scene seeing the embalmed Ho Chi Minh. There are a lot of rules you must follow when visiting Uncle Ho. We had to walk into the mausoleum two by two. We couldn't bring anything in with us, or wear sunglasses. We had to wear long pants, and walk silently, with hands down by our sides. The guards stand like statues, but that doesn't stop them from reprimanding you if you put your hands in your pocket (one of the students learned this), or walking too slowly (another student learned this). For Vietnamese, visiting Uncle Ho at least once in your life time is of utmost importance. He is almost like a god to them, and visiting the mausoleum feels like a very serious religious experience. Ha, our national guide, told us that he couldn't sleep at all on the night before he visited the mausoleum for the first time. Ho requested to be cremated, with his ashes being divided between three urns, with one being place in the north, one in central Vietnam, and one in the south. But after his death in 1969, the Russian government convinced the Vietnamese government that Ho was too important to be cremated. So for two months every year, Ho was shipped to the Soviet Union for "maintenance." Now, the Vietnamese know to do the maintenance themselves, so he no longer has to leave the country.

Parliament building near the mausoleum

One Pillar Pagoda, also near the mausoleum

Farris, Galen and Alfred looking not too energetic at One Pillar Pagoda. I think the combination of having to get up early and hearing a lot of history wiped the students out a bit, for they were really dragging.

Max at the Temple of Literature

After the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex, we went to visit the Temple of Literature, the oldest university in Vietnam, which trained the Vietnamese elite in Confucianism to become Mandarins. It will be celebrating its 1000 year anniversary soon.

Madison playing the bamboo stick game with Daniel, a UNIS student

Students had been writing their pen pals at a Vietnamese school all year long. We had made plans with the school to interact with our pen pals over a three day period. A few weeks before our arrival in Vietnam, we were informed by the Vietnamese school that the visit would be impossible. We don't really know what happened (we never got a straight answer), but it had something to do with the government and their attempt to control every aspect of the Vietnamese educational experience (this happened to us once before, but we were able to salvage the experience a few years ago with a lot of effort). All our attempts this time failed, but fortunately, we were able to organize a visit to UNIS (United Nations International school (which is not controlled by the Vietnamese government).

Galen playing a different version of four square

Ike playing chakra

Group shot of the Evergreen students with the UNIS students

After an hour of playing international games as a sort of "ice breaker," students were divided into small groups and participated in an activity exploring the impact of tourism in Vietnam from a variety of perspectives. We are very thankful to the teachers at UNIS who were able to coordinate our visit to their school with very short notice.

Bus entertainment: after Ha and I managed to soak each other with our feeble attempts to drink water like they do in India - without letting your lips touch the bottle (though in India, they don't pour for each other), students wanted to get in on the fun. Here Ha is pouring water into Rebecca's mouth, with Josh and Tom looking on