Hanging out with our Lao language partners and friends at the Guest House.

I think I’ve met more people from different countries here in Vientiene than in any other places in the States.  The community here is so international.  It’s hard not to bump into someone that isn’t from an interesting place in the world.  There are even a few Turkish students studying here at the Lao-American College, who went/are going thorough similar struggles learning the Lao language.  There is also a large population of Indian people here.  Just the other night Yaeng, Sandra, one of our language partners (who happens to be Indian/Lao), and I went to an Indian fushion restaurant across from the Lao Plaza Hotel.  A gentleman who lives near the restaurant came in and was complaining about the ventilation system.  The restaurant owner responded to the gentlemen in nearly perfect Lao.  It was weird seeing a “foreigner” speaking a language that was also foreign so well.  To be honest, I was a little ashamed.  I mean, I am part Lao. I should know how to speak Lao! Then, here is this guy speaking much better than myself.  Therefore I have set a goal.   My goal is to master the Lao language well enough so that I can have an argument with someone completely in Lao… and hopefully win of course.

Drinking tea and having fun!

…but I can’t really understand it all. Which is ok, I guess. Vocabulary has been the most difficult part of learning Lao so far. There are so many different ways to say the same thing; its hard to keep track of them all. I get really frustrated sometimes because of my inability to retain all of the words, but I have to stop and think that I have only been studying for a month. It would be impossible to know all of the words at this point. Therefore, I bought a dictionary to remedy my vocabulary problem. It is my new bible. I take it with me wherever I go. Whilst my vocabulary is growing everyday I find that I am able to understand more and more speech. I’m also trying to speak Lao with as little an accent as possible. I feel that learning it incorrectly will only create a bad habit which will become problematic in the future. Apparently I’m doing well. My language partner says I have a “Siang Vieng” (Vientiane accent). It is important to be heard and understood correctly. Especially with a language like Lao where if you mispronounce a word you could accidentally say something different and which could sometimes be offensive.

We have come so far since we first arrived. It’s strange to think that I only started learning Lao a few weeks ago. I don’t even want to think about leaving soon. I will miss all the new friends I have made here. Its been such a wonderful experience so far.

Traffic in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

I don’t get it. Why do all masculine products here include a whitening agent of some sort? Back in the States it’s GOOD to be a little tan (not a tanorexic though)  whereas here they all want to be white(er)… like me heh.  Everyone seems so intrigued by the way I look.

For example, Sunday we went to Taad Moun, a “waterfall”  outside of Vientiene.  It was our first unpaved rural road experience.  It was raining.  Wow, so much red mud. I was glad we didn’t get stuck because guess who would have been pushing had we have been.  Yep, us.  Anyway, there was this group of people across the water sitting under/on/around a tree playing guitar and singing songs.  I was standing in the sun on the other side trying to dry off a little, and randomly some of the women started to take pictures of me.  “Ok, that’s weird” I thought.  They tried to be discrete about it at first but discretion was *not* one of their strong points.  I thought it was funny so I did like the Romans. I started posing.  I did a traditional “I’m Asian and I’m taking a picture” pose.  They went crazy, and the guys started to improv a song. I think they said something like “you are so handsome, come hang out with us!”

Children at the Donkoi afterschool program.

Hello everyone,

So, Laos… wow. AWESOME!!! We’ve been here for 3 days and I already feel like I’ve been here for a month.  Just today I took a little over 200 pictures; some from That Luang and also the NGO we visited. I will post them when I have time, but for now stay tuned.

Our classes are pretty intense, by the end of tomorrow’s class we will have learned (memorized how to read/write) all 27 of the Lao consonants and all 28 vowels as well as some vocabulary.  It’s crazy. I like it though.

Today we visited our first NGO.  It was a quaint afterschool(ish) program thing for children.  They did a little performance for us and everything. It was so cute! We also met some of our future Lao language partners yesterday.  They were all really cool.  Later we are going to have a BBQ and go bowling with them.  They had to literally tear us apart from the lunch picnic we had together and force us to go to class!  We all clicked instantly. It was great.

Hopefully I will have time to blog more later, and post pics.  We have to go to a internet cafe because the internet at LAC (Lao American College) is pretty slow, and we don’t have Wi-Fi at the Guesthouse. So I’m cutting this convo a little short for now.

Until next time,

Brandin (or “Ban-dan” as my Achaan says)

Not that I would be asleep anyway…

It’s almost 2 am here in Iowa.  I leave for the airport in an hour or so. I’m tired. Still, I can’t sleep. It has finaly sunk in that I am going to Lao soon.  I can’t believe it! I have wanted to visit ever since I was a child.

Saying goodbye to my family was also a lot more difficult that I thought it would be. My mother started to cry when the time for me to leave came. She thinks a snake is going to bite and kill me as soon as I step of the plane. Moms will be moms, I guess.

My head is filled with wonder about what Lao will be like.  What is the guesthouse like?  How are the professors? Will I die from heat (Sorry if you’re reading this mom)?  I’m too impatient. For now, I will imagine that it’s just a resort and be content.

Well I should get back to  ripping dvds to my laptop for the plane ride.  See everyone in Lao.

-B