same same but different...

och here I am again, a bit more alive than last time, with still loads to write, and still totally uncapable of doing it the right way...ie that everyone can understand without getting into my psyche.
At 6.30 this morning we all (in the hotel) got woken up by loud yelling coming from outside, it lasted 30 minutes or so, and after a wee snooze at the end of it, I was due to get up anyway and that was that.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not appreciate getting woken up by yelling...in fact I don't like getting up at all, so if that had happened at home, I would have yelled something back and that would have been the start to a very very very bad day.
well, in Hanoi this early morning yelling did not have the same effect on me...it was so surprising to hear somebody actually getting angry at something, that I wished I understood what he was saying.
Confrontation is not part of this culture (Vietnamese, Asian....?? don't know) and to be confronted in any way and under all circumstances may cause loss of face. I think I have experienced a loss of face situation, and it's not a nice thing.
which is why, the one thing I keep banging on about, ie the traffic in Hanoi, still doesn't cause any road rage, and everyone keeps honking horns and smiling at each other, despite seriously risking their lives.
each one of us new volunteers saw an accident during these two weeks, from mild to almost serious serious, and the reaction was always the same: a big crowd gathering around the wounded, the person being taken away, and everything going back to normal.
Osie, just to let you know that I think and talk about you all the time, cos the "same same but different" thing now makes total sense.
cheerio