I got pulled over...

I'm surprised that I made it in Vietnam, driving all over the city for more than 10 months, without being pulled over until this past Saturday night!

My friend, Elizabeth, was pulled over this past Fall and she started speaking in rapid English to the cop... how she was going to pick up her Vietnamese license that coming week... how she was going to go buy bananas after work... etc. etc... anything! The cop just let her go (we assume because many of them are uncomfortable with their English skills...). Awesome!

My experience was a bit different... but same outcome (thankfully!).

I was turning left from a one-way street onto another one-way street, just as the light changed to red for me... I continued my turn and then saw the cops on the side of the road up ahead of me about 15 or 20 feet.

Uh oh.

(BUT... I must mention that it IS a plus that I was even going the correct direction on this one-way street... as this is often not the case for drivers in Vietnam... anything goes... until, perhaps, a cop is in sight!).

I put my blinker on, slowed down, and pulled over to the right side of the road next to the cop.

Unlike Elizabeth, I didn't say a word (not even a polite, Xin chao).

And... he didn't say a word to me either!

I was thinking two things...

• When he says something to me, I'm going to ask, "What did I even do wrong?!" and...
• Oooo... I get to show him my Vietnamese driver's license!

Well... there was no need for either, because the cop waved me forward with his baton. (Yes, a baton.) I thought he was telling me to pull up in front of the other guy they had pulled over... but then realized, [Sweet!] he's telling me to just go away! haha

So... I drove off and met Sarah for dinner!

I assume that the cop told me to just drive on when he noticed I was a Westerner... who knows, really... but I do think that's probably it. Whatever the reason... Awesome!