For a few years now, Da Nang City has been hosting an International Fireworks Competition where countries come from all over the world to compete. This year, we got to enjoy shows from Italy, Korea, China, the UK and Vietnam.
So let me set the scene for you so you understand what we went through the first night. Imagine a sidewalk filled with people….and since you have an American mindset…times the number of people by two or three and then picture that in the streets as well. People here in Vietnam don’t really mind crossing over personal bubbles. In fact, one kid that was near us was using Lily for a backrest. Another kid’s head was in Nicky’s side and yet another guy had his leg pretty much overlapping mine. It was a mess and the greatest part of all was that we sat like this for nearly four hours!
Everyone told us we needed to get there early so we went down at five and claimed a spot. We played UNO and attracted a lot of unwanted attention but it passed the time. At around 7:30, Nicky and Lily volunteered to get us some food and when people saw a gap, they filled in. Our friend, Duy, and I had our legs spread out so we could save room for the girls but nothing worked. Had they gotten back five minutes after when they did, I am pretty sure they would not have found a spot. There were a ton of police there controlling the masses and because of them, no one could stand up except for the people directly behind us. At one point I remember looking back to see a guy literally restraining people. We agreed at that point that the police could whistle all they wanted but we were going to stand up, in fear that we might be trampled when the fireworks started…which the finally did…at 9 o’clock.
The first night, we watched shows by the UK and Korea and because the masses started to leave, we figured the night was over, only to find out that Vietnam was still to go. We were able to see the tale end on our roof though. The next night, the girls and I made spaghetti and had a nice dinner at home. Because we did not care to deal with the sweatiness of the crowd, we decided to watch the last two countries from our roof top and it was not a bad seat.
Even though the first night was complete chaos, it was an experience that I didn’t mind having... once. Today was another on the move day. After church and lunch, I came home, took a quick nap to prepare myself for the rest of the day and headed out with a group of students to get some yogurt. While we were there, one of the girls handed me her pocket book that had translations of food words in it. As I looked through, I mentioned that I like ban beo which is a flour or rice patty with shrimp on top….maybe. Apparently my pointing was enough for them and we took off to get ban beo for dinner. I am a little bummed that I haven’t been to that restaurant until now because it was amazing! After two hours of hang out time with them, they took me home so I could go to karaoke with the Shine girls.
Carol, Jenny, Lona and AlexI should have known that the Shine girls would not be there on time, since people here don’t usually come at the time they say they will, so we waited until 6:30 to leave. Now, at the beginning of the year, we had a really fun time at karaoke with our staff and their friends and up until now, no one has been able to beat that but after tonight, it will take a lot to top this night. We had SO much fun dancing around and being crazy. This night solidified the fact that the girls bonded during the program. I am so thankful I got to be a part of it and am so happy that they bonded with us as well! After our graduation, they obviously didn't want any of the relationships to end...hence a wild and crazy night at karaoke!
What a weekend! Thank goodness we have one more day to recoup!
This is only a sneak peek into what went down. By the way, "Dancing Queen" (not featured in this video) was a hit. It got everyone up and dancing...even the one random guy that showed up...I think he was a boyfriend of one of the girls...what a brave guy!
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