Feeling a V.I.P.

If you want to feel important, try being unique.

In my case, it works quite good. Well, it is not that I am trying to be unique, but rather that I am unique here. Not only my appearance is totally atypical here (noone has beard, and most don't even know what dreadlocks are), I am the only international student in my faculty, and one of the few in the whole university. Of course, this leads to some funny, ridiculous, touching, interesting situations.

The most typical thing happening is being stared at by most of the people in the street, and greeted with a "hello!" by many of them. If the situation involves personal proximity, then asking about and touching my dreadlocks is also quite normal. And sometimes even asking for pictures with me!

However, sometimes situations go far beyond that. Two weeks ago, for example, a delegation from the Wakefield College in the UK came to our faculty here to deal with some issues about a double programm that they are preparing. So, being the only international student of the faculty, they asked me to join in their activities. First, wellcome meeting in the conference room: big part of the faculty's board around a table with Vietnamese and English flags. English guys in the English side, and me, surrounded by Vietnamese in the Vientamese side, asking myself wtf I was doing there. However, they were quite nice and I soon felt at ease with them. After that, some excursions and visits (photos here), lunchs and dinners with the delegation and the faculty's heads, including the dean. And to close the week, a dance and music event of the minority ethnies that can be found all over the country (photos here). Not only were we seated in the first row, we even had to go to the stage to salute, in front of around 200 people. But it also has good things, hehe. After the event there was a dance around a firebone outside, and in the wihrl of the dance one of the dancers belonging to some of the minority ethnies gave me a very nice scarf, typical of his region (see picture!).


A week later another concert, this time of the Cuban group "los Tradicionales", at the academy of arts (photos here) . Again, first row, next to the academy's president and boss, and talk after the concert with the artists.

And this week, where I though I was safe, going to the faculty's canteen to grab some lunch, a group of vietnamese sitting around a table told me (by gestures of course) to come closer. When I got there, filled up two shots of rice liquor, and invited me to drink with them. I tried to reject (it was midday and anyway I don't drink), but it would have been too unpolite, so there I sat and drunk cheap rice liquor shots with some unknown people at 11:00 AM (yes, here lunch is very early).

Sometimes I think that I don't deserve so much, but then I think... of course not, but let's enjoy it anyway, these things don't happen that often!