Cultures and customs...

 Tonight I was on shift with Thuy (pronounced- twee)..he's lovely, and as we spent the evening sitting outside the workshop on the little bamboo stools, handing out brochures and saying hi to the passers by...we shared our stories with each other. Thuy got married last year and he and his wife are expecting twins in August, hopefully I'll be here when they arrive. Thuy and his wife live with Thuys' parents, a grandparent and Thuys' younger brother. It is the custom here in Vietnam for the new bride to move in with her husbands family, at least for the first year, and it is expected that the new couple will have a family straight away. And the parents will help raise the children. Thuy and his wife may move out one day if they get enough money to build their own house.

I asked Thuy if they get engaged like we do, and he said yes, and told me how he took his (now wife) down to the beach and proposed to her, and then they had their 'first kiss' as in traditional customs, the boy and girl don't kiss or touch before they get engaged. And Thuy and his wife are very traditional. Before he proposed, he had to bring his girl around to meet his family and she has to cook a meal for them all to see whether she would be acceptable to his family. ( he told me a funny story)... Sometimes the boy and girl trick the parents into leaving the house and they go and buy a meal, and sneak it into the house and pretend to the family that she cooked it. Then they will 'love' her..

So cute....

Maybe I should set some new ground rules for my girls!!!!!!!!!

Jokingly I said to Thuy...so what happens if when you kiss her (after you just proposed)... And it's not good ? .....too late..

Also with Thuys' help tonight I tried some street food from the mobile venders that walk the streets with their carts of delicacies...

I had a banh mi which Thuy kindly bought for me....this is a long bread roll filled with pork, cucumber and lots of chili sauce...quite yum....I asked how much it cost....7000vnd. -35c

Then I got the pick of the day....banh bao (some sort of ground rice set in a mould with something that resembled curry spooned on top, sprinkled with dried onion rings and more chili and fish sauce....

This one cost me 2000vnd -10c.......

I'm NEVER gonna want to pay Aussie prices EVER again....eek...

Mumma bear  needs sleep.....night all be hugged :)

Next door to the workshop is a small house, and I've been noticing an old lady who stands outside the house on the street. She occassionally crosses to the other side of the street and then stands there for ages, then crosses back again to our side....this goes on all day.

I asked Thuy what's the story...she lives there with her family,,she is the elderly grandparent, and I guess she just fills in her day by watching the world go by...and for a different perspective, she crosses the street and watches from the other side....

She came and spoke to us last night..I think she's been watching me for a bit too..and she told me she is 80 years old, she has a daughter same age as me. The Vietnamese love to ask you your age..

Her name is Chau..and she used to be a great singer. She would win awards for her singing.. Thuy asks if she will sing for us..and she thinks for a while, then says she has so many songs to choose from..then she sits very close to me...and begins..she looks intently at me the whole time..I asked Thuy if her songs are like stories, as she seems to be trying to tell me something. Her hands begin to move slowly thru the air also....I asked Thuy if it was a sad song, and he said 'yes' all the old traditional songs are songs of lost love or something along that line..

She finishes her song and laughs at me, and pats my hand...I have No idea...

Then she starts on a new song...which sounds 'to me' exactly like the last one, but hey....free entertainment at work...I'll roll with it.

I get a few more songs before she finally decides she's heading in for the night....

Another little gem I have been given :)