First off- I attended the wedding of one of my closest friends, Le Thuy Linh. Although she and her French-Canadian husband are already married on paper (foreigners are only allowed to live with a Vietnamese person if they are officially married in the eyes of the government), they had the wedding ceremony on Thursday. Since Gabriel didn't have any family come to Hanoi for the wedding (they are having a second wedding in Canada next month), I went to the pre-wedding family party to give him at least one English person to talk to. I arrived at 9am to Linh'smother's house, where I sat around with some very ancient family members and attempted to socialize in Vietnamese. This was a complete disaster, since the older generation seems touse a more formal, dated version of the language, and we couldn't understand anything the other was saying (this happens to me with really old Vietnamese people all the time). So, I proceeded to sit around, have copious amounts of tea poured for me, and wait for Linh and Gabe to make their entrance. Finally, Gabe and Linh descended down the stairs through a shower of confetti (I only managed to get all the stuff out of my hair two days later), and made their rounds greeting the family members. Gabe was really relieved to have me there, as I could tell he was pretty stressed having all these old women talking to him in Vietnamese at the same time.
Per tradition, Gabe served tea to the mother andgrandmothers, while Linh catered to the men. Linh also did some translating for her grandma, who was begging Gabe to "be fertile and have a lot of children". To this, he replied by downing an entire cup of tea and scalding his mouth. We made our move to the wedding "limo", which was actually just a black sedan covered with flowers. I carried Linh's train behind her, trying to keep it off the dusty roads, and I got blasted with another confetti canon in the process. When we got to the hotel, it was business as usual. Linh and Gabriel took their posts underneath the balloon archway, and took pictures with every single arriving guest. I stood around with some friends to chuckle at Gabe, who seemed more awkward than ever posing with all these Vietnamese families (he is a very tall guy...).Aftereveryone arrived, the wedding proceeded like every other Vietnamese wedding I have been to: the couple are declared married by an MC on stage, they pour champagne into a fountain of glasses filled with dry ice, and smile and nod for more pictures. The guests spend this whole time eating a traditional wedding meal which consists of chicken, fried shrimp, mushroom/egg soup, fried fish, beef, sauteed veggies, and creme caramel. I always find it strange that during the "ceremony" up on stage, all the guests are eating, chatting, and drinking. The couple then made their rounds with decorated glasses, toasting each table. By the time Linh and Gabe arrived at our foreigner table (they had placed us at a table in the back, which seems to happen at every wedding I've been to) they both seemed ready to call it day. An hour after the wedding began, the hall was almost empty. Guests pretty much come to weddings for the free meal and drinks, then leave. I hung around a bit longer to get some more time with Linh, but soonenough she had some more family obligations and I headed home around 1pm. All in all, very enjoyable, but very fast-paced.
Two days later, the CAMA International Music Festival hit Hanoi. I had attended last year and had an amazing time, so I naturally planned to go again this time around. A bunch of my friends got together for some bun cha, then walked over to the American Club (a big outdoor venue) at 1pm to take in the day. I had prepared myself with lots of sunscreen (a mistake I had learned from last year) and very light, breathable clothes. Luckily, they had set up a giant tent to help with the sun factor, and by the time evening rolled around, the multi-colored lights reflecting off the white tent made for a very convincing festival experience. The music during the day was great, and we all sat around enjoying fruit juices, good food, and good company. CAMA is a big event for the expat population, showcasing music from all over the world, so literally every foreigner friend of mine in Hanoi was there. As the night wore on, the music got very heavy-metal, which is, in my opinion, not the most enjoyable party music, but given the crowd, the drinks(they had Coors Light, which cannot be found on a normal basis) and the food, I hung around until it was over. The music last year was WAY better, so that was a bit disappointing forme, but I had a blast hanging with my friends, which left me quite satisfied.
(CAMA photos credit of Aidan Dockery, check out more of his work here)
This evening, I am attending a Bubble Show; the most famous bubble performing artist is in Hanoi for a couple days, and I feel I would be cheating myself if I didn't go. He holds a bunch of world records for biggest bubble, most consecutive bubbles, and so on and so forth. Honestly, I don't know how many things you can do with bubbles, but a friend of mine went to the show already and said it involved lasers, audience participation, and overall, was an extraordinary experience. So, I'll let you know how that goes. :)
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