2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: Saigon (I)

Our first day of arrival in Vietnam was in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.  A number of people referred to it as Saigon; this seemed to (unofficially) not be a big deal

Breakfast.  The small glass container held yogurt. This form of yogurt was pretty universal during our time in Vietnam:

 

Items at a convenience store:

Celebrating 50 years of reunification:

Looking down towards the French colonial City Hall, built between A.D. 1898 and 1909:

The Saigon Opera House, built between A.D. 1898 and 1902:

Saigon has its share of modern architecture as well:

A close up of City Hall:

As part of our first day, we took a Hop On - Hop Off tour bus:

The Saigon River:

A statue to Trần Hưng Đạo, Prince of the Trần Dynasty, who defeated two Mongo (Yuan Dynasty) invasions:

Winding Down

As we clearly roll into Autumn, I have become ever more conscious of the concept and idea of winding down.

It is clear from the garden and the local trees of course:  things are dying back - leaves become golden yellow or red before plummeting towards the ground, garden plants drying up.  It is evident in the daylight hours as well: here in New Home 2.0 we have lost almost 90 minutes of daylight in the last five weeks.  Sunset is now well before 1900 and will continue to fall; in a mere 3 months it will set before 1630.

Which honestly works out.  The combination of decreased garden responsibilities and decreased sunlight make a pleasant combination.

It has given me much to think on about the general winding down of things as well.

As I am spending more time now in civilization's distant past thanks to my ongoing Classical Studies, one becomes intensely aware of the disconnect between reading about civilizations that were at their height and those civilizations now.  Study enough of their history, and one will find that civilizations, just like Nature, have their own periods of winding down.

Mycenean Greece - where I have spending the bulk of this week through The Iliad - did not foresee the 12th Century B.C. disaster (whatever it actually was; we still do not fully know) that would overwhelm the entire civilization for almost 400 years. Its successor, Classical Greece, did not realize its end coming in turn in 338 B.C. when, at The Battle of Chaeronea, the entire structure of the last 500 years had passed to Macedon and what would become the Macedonian Empire.

And Macedon to Rome.  Etc., etc.

I look out my window at the Autumn sunlight - now clearly in its Autumnal look - and think of the turning leaves and falling civilizations and even my own winding down as Winter comes.

Autumn is not inherently a period of defeat of course; the winding down is merely the precursor for Spring. Leaves left to decay become the humus of tomorrow.  The same is true for civilizations as well: without Mycenean civilization, who knows that Western civilization would have taken the path that it took?

It gives some hope for my own winding down for the season, of course.  Even if it will be in ways that I cannot fully imagine this side of Winter.

A Year Of Kindness (XXXVII): Someone

 

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Someone will need my kindness today.

It will very probably be someone that I have no idea needs it. 

It will likely be in a way that I cannot know would be the most helpful for them at that moment.  

It could be something as simple as a smile or an opened door.  It could be something more:  a conversation I did not intend to have but did, a deed I did not think I would do but it turned out to be only a  little effort, a laugh that I did not intend to create, an accidentally encouraging word I gave without realizing it.

But someone will need my kindness today, someone who will not tell me that they do.

Someone will need it every day.  

Do Not Loop Me In

 

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The older I get, the more time I spend trying to stay out of loops.

There was a time that I wanted to be in the loop. I fought for it.  I hung onto the edges of conversations, sought out meetings, researched and read.  All to find some reason to be in the loop.

But loops are not what one thinks that they are, at least most of the time.

Once in the loop, one becomes committed to the loop.    One becomes responsible for parts of the loop.  Not paying attention to the loop becomes not just a dry exercise of not doing something, but a sincere questioning of one's commitment level to much of anything - and the loop, of course.

And - honestly - the loop is usually not nearly as interesting as one thought; over the years the illusions of the "grand things" that occur in loops is replaced by the knowledge that most loops are, in fact, loops.  They lead nowhere.

So please - oh please - do not loop me in.  I have a great many other actual important things to attend to.

Trying To Be Something Else

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I find that I lead two - possibly three - very different lives.

The first life is my public persona.  Somewhat due to the nature of what I do for a living - and possibly some natural character traits - I come across as a rather exuberant extrovert.  I am loud.  I am friendly.  My day is generally a series of greetings, jokes, and conversations to move things along.

The second persona is my "off-hours" persona.  This one is not nearly as exuberant and very much an introvert.  Given his choice, he would come home and likely not talk at all, but bury himself in the various projects he has to work on.

The third persona is the one that writes here - neither extroverted nor introverted, but arguably a lot more "himself" than either of the other two.   A certain level of anonymity and generally talking (instead of specifically talking about things) - allows that. 

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It is a fair question to ask why this is.

To be honest, I cannot really tell you.  Things just sort of happened this way.  I grew up one way (introvert), I needed to be something else for work (extrovert), and I needed an outlet for the disconnect, which is apparently what this blog has come to be:  a meeting ground for the two very different sides of my life, where a neutral third party can think about things and ponder on them.

If ever get the three of these gentlemen in a room together, what a conversation that would be.

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Nature is not like this though.  In Nature, everything simply is what it is.

A cat acts like a cat, a rabbit like a rabbit, a tree like a tree, wind like the wind.  They are only, ever, what they actually are.  In that sense there is a sense of peace even though Nature is not peaceful:  Even on a mountain with snow and wind, it simply is what it is.  It does not try to be anything else.

Only people, it seems, have this peculiar trait. And perhaps people are the least peaceful thing about Nature.

I wonder what what life would be if I, too, simply was what I was?

 

A Year Of Haiku (XXXVI): Dinner!

 

Of all the food groups,

the best may be fresh pizza

paired with a cold beer.

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: A Brief History Of Vietnam (IV) – Modern Vietnam

 French Indochina (A.D. 1887-1954) saw direct French involvement in the governance of Vietnam.

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The region as a whole was ruled by a Governor-General, with various sub-administrations.  The French exercised direct control over Cochinchina, while the Nguyễn Dynasty in theory controlled the Tonkin and Annam regions (but under the "beneficial" eye of the French).  The Imperial capital was in Hue; the French administered from Hanoi and Saigon.

The region was designated a "Colony of Exploitation" with local taxes and monopolies (salt, opium, rice alcohol).  Over time, the colony diversified into different raw materials (tea, rice, coffee, zinc, pepper coal and rubber) and industries.  The rubber industry in particular became important in the 20th Century A.D. with the advent of the motorized car.

Independence movements started as soon as 1885 with the Cần Vương movement (through A.D. 1895).  A series of movements continued after that, fueled partially by World War I and the over 100,000 were conscripted from the overall colony, where they became exposed to Western thought and political discussion.  One of these movements included a man, Nguyễn Ái Quốc, who history later knows as Hồ Chí Minh.

In A.D. 1940, the Vichy Regime granted Imperial Japan's request for access for the region.  From A.D. 1940-1945 Japan access to the region and its raw materials.  In March A.D. 1945 the Japanese overthrew the French colonial administration and created the very short lived Empire of Vietnam (March - August A.D. 1945).  On 02 September A.D. 1945 the last Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated.

Vietnam Post 1954

I feel woefully inadequate to comment on post WW II Vietnam in any detail, partially because events that happened in my lifetime have indirectly impacted me and directly impacted others.  My commentary be purely based on events.

A.D. 1945: French return and take direct control of French Indochina.  Forces of the Viet Minh (Communits organization under Hồ Chí Minh) begin the First Indochina war.

A.D. 1954:  Battle of Dien Bien Phu.  The Democratic Republic Vietnam (Northern Vietnam) and the Republic of Vietnam are established.

A.D. Late 1950's -1975:  Vietnam War.  Southern Capital of Saigon falls on 30 April 1975.

A.D. 1976: Socialist Republic of Vietnam declared.

A.D. 1986:  At the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party, the economic policy of Đổi Mới ("Innovation") is declared.  The intention is to create "a socialist-oriented market economy".  Additionally, the "Old Guard" of Communist Party is replaced by reformers.

A.D. 2025:  TB and The Ravishing Mrs. TB arrive in Vietnam.

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