Hospitality

 

I felt that something in my stories was missing so I decided to write about hospitality in many countries that I experienced. You may say that I was lucky because not everyone visiting a foreign country gets to experience the hospitality I received so I thought that it must be mentioned for each country. It will then become a part of my story.

Vietnam

                         Vietnamese farmers catching fish in their rice paddies

I will take you to the war time Vietnam where there was violence, disruption of normal life, poverty and prostitution but here I found the poor farmers loved me and invited to their social events with food and drinks. They would often ask me to stop my car and prepare most delicious food one can imagine.

During the rice harvest, the farmers and their children caught a lot of fish in the rice paddy which they roasted on charcoal. They put the roasted fish in a paper-thin rice paper, add shredded cucumber, some lettuce, Vietnamese basil and roll it into a burrito that they dipped in a fish sauce they called Nuoc mam. It was heavenly in taste. They were poor but they had a big heart.

Japan:

                                     Japanese fishermen with cormorants

Now I will bring you to Kyoto in Japan where I spent some time. One evening I was walking with an American ex Peace Corps volunteer through the narrow lane where we entered a pub to have some beer. The Japanese noticed us immediately and started to ask where we came from etc. and produced two large bottles of Asahi beer right away. Now mind you that the Japanese beer is served in large bottles that you will have a hard time to finish. The Japanese were now competing among themselves to show their hospitality by promptly serving two more bottles. Now we were in big trouble because they would not want us to leave and take no money for the beer. Somehow, we were able to leave after praising their hospitality, but it was just the start because a more interesting hospitality was waiting for us just down the lane.

There we saw an old person with Ho Chi Minh beard carving or making beautiful brass objects, so we stopped to watch his craftmanship. The old Japanese craftsman noticed us and invited us inside his house and politely asked us to sit down on the tatami floor. Soon his wife and children all came out to sit with us. Then his wife brought excellent Japanese food to feed us and insisted that we eat more. We were not expecting this level of hospitality, but the old man was not finished with us. He gave both of us a small gift to take home. It was a very nicely made brass object with intricate decoration on it. Can you imagine ?

The next surprise was waiting for us further down the lane. We saw a fisherman who was preparing for night sortie to catch fish in the ocean with the help of his cormorants. I had never seen cormorant fishing anywhere although I know that it is how people catch fish in China and now in Japan as well, so I was very interested. The fisherman then invited us to go with him fishing during the night, but the American was hesitant and told me that it could be risky, so I lost my chance to see how cormorants catch fish, but I greatly appreciated the invitation and said so. Three in a row was more than enough to say that the Japanese are very hospitable people

Hong Kong

                  People in Hong Kong invites you to sumptuous meal for free

Now we will go to Hong Kong. I have been to Hong Kong many times but once I decided to see the China border, so I took the train from Kowloon to get to the last station called Sheung Shui which is near the China border. Here a taxi man noticed me and agreed to show me the border, but he wanted to know if I had a place to stay. When I said no, he brought me to a small hotel run by a Chinese woman. She asked no question and gave me a clean room and clean bed right away at a low cost.

The taxi man had a name. He introduced himself as Kam Fat and we then drove to see the sights while Kam Fat talked mile a minute and asked me where I was going next, so I answered briefly that I was going to the USA to start my college education there. He was very surprised and impressed that I was on my own in an expensive country like USA. I had to tell him that I just came from Vietnam where I worked as a volunteer agronomist helping farmers.

He then invited me to his home to have dinner with him and his family in the evening. This surprised me more when I saw where he lived and how he lived. It was a slum full of wastewater logged area where people lived in ramshackle houses built on poles. There you had to walk on planks to get to their house. So, I met his family who were told about me that impressed them and were also excited so offered me excellent Chinese food. When the time came to leave, Kam Fat gave me a gift of a porcelain eagle.

They had a big heart that surprised me. I would meet Kam Fat again during my next visit to Sheung Shui. I wrote a blog called Kam Fats of this world that you can read.

USA:

                      Americans invite foreigners to their Thanksgiving dinner

My next experience was in California where I was enrolled at the University for my graduate studies. One day I started walking through the town in the evening just to get some fresh air. All of a sudden, a gentleman came out of his house and invited me to his home to share a meal with him and his family. I did not know that it was the Thanksgiving Day in the United States that people there take seriously and prepare a lot of food that may include a roasted turkey. I was naturally hesitant, but the gentleman insisted and introduced me as a student from India etc. It was amazing to experience such hospitality. His kids then asked me to tell them some stories which I did.

Algeria;

                         Algerians serve lamb and couscous dinner during Idd

I do not know how many of you have ever heard of Algeria or visited the country, but I was working there as an agronomist in the Mostaganem province. I used to ride my motorbike to go to the villages where I worked with my farmers. One day while I was riding my bike through the mountains, it started to rain cats and dogs getting me very wet. My Algerian gown made of camel wool they called Jellaba was soaked so one Algerian man came out of his house and invited me in saying Please come in. His wife then offered delicious food while my gown was being dried. Hot coffee followed while we chatted. He said that he often saw me riding my bike and wondered who I was and from which country. In Algeria only the gendarmes ride big motorbike, so he wanted to know so I said that I was working as an agronomist for the government and visit my farmers. I was very impressed by their hospitality and thanked them profusely.

The next experience was even more interesting. One day my office mates invited me to their village where they were celebrating Idd which is a great event for the Moslems. So, I took the bus to their village and found them waiting for me at the bus stop. They brought me to their home where their mother and sisters soon brought huge platter of lamb meat and couscous and fed me until I cried uncle. They never asked me if I was a Moslem and treated me like royalty. Then in the evening they brought me to a cinema where we enjoyed a film on Algeria’s struggle for independence. It was a very unique experience for me.

During my travels through many countries, I experienced such hospitality that few can write about. Was I lucky? It shows that there are many nice people in many countries I mentioned above who have a big heart and treat you with hospitality but ask nothing in return.

I will not write about the bad behaviors in some countries that I experienced but perhaps among them too, there may be good people who will receive you with friendly gestures like one time I was in Sofia in Bulgaria where people fed me and did not want to accept money. In fact, all of my expenses of hotel stay and food etc. was paid by the Bulgarian Government which surprised me. If you have some bad experience during your travel to some countries, you will not easily forget. It may be the taxi driver who over charges you because his meter does not work, or vendors of tourist junks sell to you at a high price and laugh at your back. You cannot avoid such incidence unless you learn to avoid them by walking away.

You should not lose your faith in the humanity just because you were cheated somewhere. I assure you that there are Kam Fats in many countries. They will invite you because they see something in you, they appreciate and, they will see your honesty.