Saigon Ultimate

Besides Regionals 2009 and Chicago Invite 2010, I think yesterday was my favorite time playing ultimate in the rain. I took a cab because I had no idea where the fields were located, but apparently the driver didn't know where it was either, despite his look of certainty when I showed him the address. He dropped me off about a mile away from the fields, which were part of the RMIT International University. I just kept showing people in front of shops the address, and they kept pointing me further down the road. It started drizzling, but I had come so far and was only a half an hour late at this point, so I was determined to find it. Finally, I saw giant "RMIT" letters on a huge building. I asked the security guard at the entrance where the football fields were, and he pointed me further in the same direction. Even though I had to walk another mile or so within the campus and the rain was falling harder, flying discs were eventually in sight and Justin Bieber's "Eenie Meenie Miny Mo Lover" was in earshot.

As I approached the fields, I couldn't help the ear-to-ear smile that came over my face. It was raining and still sweltering hot, but I felt the most comfortable and content that I've felt since I arrived in Vietnam. I started talking to a couple people on the sidelines, who were super friendly and proceeded to tell me to lace up my cleats because I'll be playing on their team for the evening. We played mixed (men and women) for the first 45 minutes or so that I was there. There were enough for three teams, so we played games to two. The winning team would stay and play another game, and the losing team would take a break while the previously idle team would come face the victor. After a while, Lien, the best girl there called for the women to start our own game. We played five on five with one sub until one girl pulled her quad or something. I was really impressed with a few of the girls, and they all were super sweet and welcoming. It was fun listening to them speak in Vietnamese but then hear "handler" or "swing" every so often.

The Saigon Ultimate Club started at RMIT University when someone did a clinic there. A handful of the students started playing often, and now most of the people that play are RMIT alum. Of course there are a handful of foreigners, too, like Chris from the US and Tibo from Hungary. Because most of them went to the international university, they speak English exceptionally well, which made the whole experience that much more comforting.

Although I hadn't played or really run in a while, I couldn't have been more antsy to touch the disc and sprint across the open field. I think it means I played alright if some of them asked me how long I've played for :)

I found someone who lived in my district, but I didn't have a helmet to ride with him on his motor bike. Quyen & Lien are cousins and said I could drive back to their place with Lien's dad to borrow a helmet, and then ride with Vu, Lien's boyfriend back to my district. Since both legs of the trip were pretty lengthy, we stopped at Quyen & Lien's house for a little while. It's just the two of them in this gorgeous house, but apparently more of their family stays with them every weekend. Lien's dad plays ultimate but lives in one of the far provinces, so he and other members of the extended family come into District 1 for the weekends. It was fun to just hang out for a while and see what their family interactions were like and to just see the interior of a house other than the guesthouse I live at.

The motorbike ride was super fun, and Vu and I had a good time talking about ultimate in the region. I knew that Singapore had a good team, but he said that they probably don't have any fun. "Robotic ultimate" is how he described their method of play. Vietnam is hosting a hat tournament in December for all of Southeast Asia, and Bangkok is hosting one in February. I'm hoping to be able to go to both, and I'm probably going with them to play some beach ultimate a couple of hours away this weekend. They're all pretty laid back and just enjoy playing the game.

I'm excited to play and hang out with all of them and to have a smaller community here in general. I never doubted finding ultimate here, but I'm so happy now that I've actually found it!