I realized today that in the whirlwind of activity, we never actually received a tour of the city so I don't have a good feel for the overall layout and plan for the town. There are so many districts I did not visit and it wasn't until our departure that we passed through some very upscale shopping district I didn't know existed. Even close to our hotel, there were many interesting shops and vendors which we didn't get a chance to see - partly because they all close in the middle of the day when the heat is strongest, somewhat akin to the Mediterranean siesta. Thiem told us that normally he goes home at 11:30 each day to have lunch with his entire family and returns to work at about 1:30 or 2pm.

I also learned from reading the Festival Guide - which I didn't get until I suggested we visit the Festival "center" on Tuesday (nothing more than a large vestibule with a couple of tables) - that there was a large economic expo happening during the festival designed to promote the products and industries of Hue. I would have welcomed an opportunity to visit this but time now just would not allow. I was confounded as to why I wasn't brought there almost from the beginning.

Anh and I have discussed many possibilities for our continued relationship and he is particularly interested in my putting together a delegation of NH visitors for next year or the 2012 festival. Certainly I can do that for tourism as well as to bring some educators, but it's unclear to me how I might connect our two cities on economic or business levels.

The festival program was not well promoted - at least not to non-Vietnamese speaking visitors such as myself. The short program guide doesn't tell enough about the individual performances and activities to clearly identify what it is. I learned after the fact that the French had sponsored a parade or some sort - right on the street where our hotel is - on Sun or Mon morning. But we never knew it was happening so we didn't chance to see it. The same was true for many other free events.

At one point Ahn had suggested that the Festival would welcome participation by the City of New Haven by sending performers or supporting activities. But it's not clear how to do that or what type of performers we might send. Since New Haven is truly a theatre city, that would be a natural, yet the cultural & language gap is too wide as to be appropriate. The venues also all seem to be rather large scale, outdoor spaces, mostly inside the Forbidden City within the Citadel. So while I think this presents a great opportunity for NH artists, I'm not sure exactly which type of artists might be appropriate.

All this is not intended to criticize our hosts as they all went above and beyond anything I might have expected. But rather to suggest that in spite of our bonds and good intentions, the language and cultural barriers are so very great. There is so much more I would have liked to seen in Hue. But happily I feel I am leaving with a thirst for another return (as soon as I can!) so I can learn more about this very interesting and welcoming place.

To be continued...

Source: http://www.traveljournals.net