A day at Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

I applied to be a volunteer at Vietnam Museum of Ethnology for the event of Mid-Fall Festival, which is expected to take place on August, 15th (according to lunar calendar). There are various activities for volunteers but I chose to be on a team whose work is making hand-made toys from leaves for children. We are to learn how to make the lovely handicrafts, perform before the crowd in the fest and present to people how to make them step-by-step. The organizers arranged a training session today for volunteers before picking out the most excellent ones for the days of performance.

When I decided to take part in this activity, I just follow my heart's call. I've taken a keen interest in hand-made toys since I was little. That doesn't mean I am dexterous or things like that, but in this case, it is actually the opposite - I was totally clumsy - more than you can imagine. For instance, when I was in primary school, there was a subject in which pupils were taught how to make some paper-and-glue crafts. As a matter of fact, I was always stuck in some step and far from completing the works, so I, very often, asked for my mom's help. Understandably, a mother would do her best to help her child in school thing like this. Thus, I always get good grades in this subject, which I really didn't deserve at all. To add more illustrations to my gawkiness, I have a staggering record of breaking things. I've broken virtually anything vulnerable in my house: from glasses, bowls, plates, to vases.

Getting back to my volunteer work, I ventured to apply to the handicraft team not because I am confident with my ability, but because:
(i) I love hand-made toys. That's me, I will go for anything I like, regardless of  how inept I am in that field.
(ii) I thought this craft work wouldn't be so hard to learn. Maybe most of other volunteers have the same start as mine: they don't know how to make toys from leaves and expect to learn about it. Plus I have some faint ideas how these toys look like and I reckon it doesn't take so much effort to create such a thing. The most popular leaf toys are grasshopper, fish and flower.

Morning, 8a.m, I set off upon my journey to the museum. As usual, I went by bus. No sooner had I found a seat near the bus window than I discovered a little grasshopper on the window's edge. I got so delightful and interested in seeing this green creature while no one else on the bus ever seemed to realize its presence nor did they mind watching it if they saw it. So basically, I was the only one to enjoy watching the grasshopper from the first moment I spotted it till the time I got off the bus. One reason why I felt so excited about this insect is because my volunteer training session would be about making the grasshopper from leaves! I even gotta feeling that this was a sign sent from God that I would be "the chosen one" for the performance. I tried taking photos of it from many angles and even recorded a video ;)

My companion on the bus

I arrived at the museum and had trouble finding the "House of H'Mong people", where we were supposed to gather. I then returned to the main yard and consulted the museum's plan.

I have never been good at reading map or plan (even though we can learn it easily), but this time I was very satisfied to find the right place by reading the plan. This is indeed a useful and easy-to-navigate plan! When I entered the house, I was told by a girl in charge of the place that my group had moved to another gathering site nearby. I hurriedly left the house, heading for that other place, murmuring to myself that it was a pity I wasn't be able to have a stroll around the museum in this nice morning.

Everyone had seated themselves already and the instructor was about to demonstrate the making of a grasshopper from leaves. We all listened to her attentively and observed carefully every single manipulation. Attentive as I was, I could hardly remember the very first step and even when I'd got the help from a dexterous affable girl beside me, I still couldn't make it! :'( I felt like a complete idiot. The girl who instructed me was incredibly kind and patient to be able to stand my dullness! She just kept on demonstrating every step, explaining in the most tender voice I've ever heard and never showed a smack of irritation. Oh, god bless her. May she come to the next round.

I felt a profound sadness and despondence as everyone else had completed their own products. The memories of my failures in the past kept haunting me. And this time, mom isn't beside to help me through. I sometimes felt like giving up and I was even on the point of telling the instructor to eliminate me right off :( But I wanted to make a grasshopper from leaves so badly that I continued trying. At last, I got the hang of it, although I was left far behind by other people and my grasshopper doesn't look so nice. Anyway, I'm glad I did it!

Palm leaves - the material

My group

My work

 After a long training day without a nap, I was kinda fatigue. I handed in my product, 100% sure that I would be ruled out. There ain't miracle here in this story so yeah, I was K.O :P But I feel there's no need to be disappointed. From this, I learn about my true ability and learn how to stand on my own feet.

Before leaving the museum, I had the chance to fulfill my little wish - taking a tour around the museum. Here are some photos I've taken. Enjoy! ^^

After all, I have come down to the fact that I've got no talents in drawing, music or handicraft... My parents often say the only way for me is studying academically. But taking part in these activities now and then is a lot of fun, isn't it? ;)

A two-task list

During the continuous rainy days, I made a to-do-list for the day the sun generously scatters its luminous light all over my region again. That sounds-great list is actually composed of two entries:

1. Clean the house

2. Wash the stuffed animals

The time had come. It was Thursday and the sun shone brightly in the sky, signaling it was time for me to become more diligent and active, be it for a day!

Task 1: Clean the house

It went smoothly as I have done this job quite often. The only difference is this time, I could beg for no help from my mom and my sister. It turned out that doing this job without mom by my side instructing me to clean this or that, or reminding me to watch out for breaking her vases was more comfortable. The only observer was perhaps the dog which ran about in the yard when I was rinsing the mop and sometimes looked into my house with his tongue sticking out.

Mission 1 completed!

 Task 2: Wash the stuffed animals

The work of washing stuffed animals is nothing different from washing normal clothes, at least that’s what I learn from my experience observing mom doing it back to 4 or 5 years ago. Yeah, I last had my stuffed animals washed that long time ago, and virtually left them untouched for as long as 2 years or so. I remember making a pledge to the little innocent, unable-to-talk animals that I would never leave them, but now it is painfully true that I spend too little time for them. Fearing that people would laugh at me on discovering I am still playing with stuff animals is one reason, but having so many distractions is another, which is also the major, I admit.

I didn’t ask Mom for instruction on how to wash those toys, and I just went for it, doing everything I reckoned was right. And I pumped the water into the washing machine, added some detergent, eagerly dipped the little things into the drum, and started the automatic washing process. When mom came home and checked what I’d done, she went furious for I had used 1½ cup of detergent while I should have done with only one-third of that amount. She shook her head disapprovingly and explained to me how many clothes could be washed with that lavish amount. To her, waste is a sin. I felt somehow relieved when she stopped nagging, and all I could do next was pray that no more trouble would occur until the washing process was finished. But…

I was washing the dishes when I heard some noise upstairs. My sister accidentally became the victim of this mess, just because my mom thought anyone who ever played with these animals must be responsible. And the problem was, the biggest stuffed animal (a big panda) is so heavy that it sank to the bottom and absorbed all the dirt from other animals. As a result, his fur transformed to a dirty dark color and my sister had to wash him by hand. I must be grateful to her a lot for she had done the job I was supposed to do. My mom was much angry about this unexpected second wash for a single toy! So she decided to let the machine perform the task “spin” only. You know, the washing process must go through several stages and if you want to jump to a certain stage, you must operate the machine in some way. My mom, she sure knows how, but not me. However, she was too out of patience to help me solve the problem I had triggered off. This means I have to do this all alone despite the fact that I risk making another mistake. Hell, yeah, I did cause trouble again and did drive my mom crazy, too :( I hit a button repeatedly as if I weren’t aware of what I was doing, and this made the machine malfunction, I guess, by looking at the timer. Discovering my guilt, my mom hit “stop” button and pulled the big fat panda out of the machine, threatening me: “That’s enough. You’ve ruined the washing machine. Let’s see what your father will do about this.”

 I held the animals and went straight to the terrace to dry them under the sun. I kept thinking why mom reacted like that. It seems like the properties should be valued above all, even her daughter’s childhood souvenirs. These stuffed animals meant the world to me when I was small. In other words, they are a part of my beautiful younger years. Isn’t it wonderful when you have an animal kingdom of your own, and you can put the lovely animals in a setting and pretend that they are starring in a movie? Adults are usually apathetic to the little things especially if they don’t bring about any physical benefits. I am afraid I will grow to think that way, but I will try not to. Nevertheless, after thinking for longer, I concluded that both sides have faults. And the tense atmosphere broke out when one was too assured that the other was wrong. Anyway, we will come to peace. Thinking so, I clipped the animals by the ears on the clothes-line, kissed them goodbye and let them sunbathe for a while. 

Sunbathing animals :)