61 A short visit to Vietnam
August 2000
Dear Pat Biddinger,
I just finished a wonderful month in Vietnam, and I thank you for your efforts in making it all possible. Talk about red carpet treatment!
The email connections in Papua New Guinea were very unreliable and when I left there last week the emails from Dr. Tai had not been coming through, so, I flew on to Hoe Chi Minh City hoping that they had received my itinerary and that someone would be meeting me at the airport.
Sure enough, Miss Phuong, Dr. Tai’s assistant was there waiting with my name printed in large letters as I walked out of the customs area. (I was prepared to take a taxi into town and find Hoe Chi Minh University myself.) Any way I was delighted with Miss Phuong who is so extremely pleasant and helpful.
They had put together an itinerary for my visit that I could not have planned better. Miss Phuong took me to my hotel (that the University paid for!) and arranged for all of my coming and going around the city.
The next day I was taken to the University where I met Dr. Tai and Dr. Lam and was given some time to prepare for my talk. My slide talk on my research in PNG went well and Madam Tao and Dr. Laong both attended.
After the talk Miss Phuong took me on her motor bike over to Dr. Leong’s Mangrove research Center where I met with Madam Tao and Dr. Laong. The following day I went to Madam Tao’s Mangrove Park. I enjoyed that very much.
As it turned out, Dr. Tai, knowing that my research focus was the same as his, decided that a visit to rural Viet Nam would serve us both. It also gave him the opportunity to expose his his urban staff to the countryside of their homeland by requiring them to join our bus trip to An Giang, the most western province of Viet Nam.
“File:Administrative map of Vietnam from Aug2008.png” by Tonbi ko is marked with CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fabulous trip! It took all day and after many sights, sounds, smells, and a half a dozen ferry rides, we arrived.
I am not sure that his staff of thirteen appreciated the tour as much as I. Dr. Tai wanted the staff to have some awareness of the Vietnamese rural life. We spent two nights there and toured a wide area over the Mekong Delta and came back on Monday.
I was intrigued with the intensity of the rice paddy agriculture and the water control that went with it. The paddies included fish that contributed to pest control and soil fertilization. It dawned on me that the use of water reduced the number of weeds, and over all created a surplus of water tolerant rice that has supported the huge human populations in the Asian domain. I do not think that any of the other food cereals around the planet can match the volume of this continuous sustenance.
Interviewing Farmer in the Mekong Delta. Photo by Dr. Tai 2000.
It was great to have the cultural experience of viewing the rural landscape along with the perspectives of all those urbanites. The Vietnamese are such hospitable people!
Back in Hoe Chi Ming City, the next day Madam Tao showed me the tiger cages where prisoners was imprisoned during the “small world war”. It is hard to imagine this sweet little lady as a Viet Cong! The traffic police officer even let her off for some violation when she told him that she was a VC! Her little pickup truck seems to go where it wants!
Professor Vic Childers from IUPUI showed up out of the “blue” and Dr. Tai invited him to join us for dinner at a nice restaurant. Dr. Tai wants me to come back and do a two-week workshop next year. If I am able to arrange next summer the way I want, I will.
Thank you again for suggesting that I come through Vietnam. I will see you at the office in the next weeks whenever you are up to coming into work. I have some things from Madam Tao for you.
Dr. Rick Bein, IUPUI Geography Department