history and food

As mentioned in today's NYTimes:
On Dec. 30, 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
It's always good when such destructive activities end. It took another couple years to get the U.S. out of Vietnam and that day, 30 April, is celebrated each year as a day of autonomy.
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Last night on OPB there was an episode of Globe Trekker, a new one it seems, that focuses on food in Vietnam. While it was inaccurate in a number of ways (phở is not pronounced phah, it's closer to phuh with a question sound thrown on). She mispronounced most cities, i.e. Ha Noi is a nice ha (as in haha) and not the hard ha (as in hat) that she gave it. Funny how little things like that'll drive me nuts.

Anyway, beside her mispronouncing the Vietnamese names and foods worse than I do, it was pretty okay. I wish they would have focused on the more everyday things that people eat (jackfruit, dragonfruit, bun bo Hue, banh mi trung, etc) and less on the things that are rarities (snake heart and water buffalo blood/heart soup). It was fun to see places we'd been, like the train stations in Hue, Ha Noi and Lao Cai. Ha Long Bay must have been cleared for the cameras, or she went on a lousy day, because it was packed to the gills when we went.

More info on the show here; check your local listings for air time.
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Today is finally our Christmas. My aunt Diana came up from Sacto, while my sister Stephanie and her two kids left Los Angeles to join us for a Christmas celebration. It'll be nice to be together again. Last time was just before we left the country. And here we are again. That means I get to show off my photos again. Yea!

One year later

Here it is the day after Christmas once again, but this year is markedly different from last. 365 days ago, we were in Seattle waiting to board our Korean Airlines flight to Viet Nam, the culmination of nearly 10 months of planning and saving. A day we thought might never come.

And now, a year later, I sit in the "living room" of our two-room space, chatting via Yahoo with Tung, a former student in Thanh Hoa. One of my favorites, he taught Audrey Vietnamese and basketball, and constantly livened up our classroom. Stuart is playing video games while Audrey catches up on sleep.

The memories of our time in Viet Nam overwhelm me a bit and I'm suffocated by my life here. After nearly a month of job searching, I've yet to score even an interview. Time's running out and I'm bordering on panic, again. Coming back to the States was supposed to be easier than this constant drama of never having enough money and having to choose between being a provider or a caretaker for my kids. They deserve better than this and I regret ever getting on that plane back here, thinking that would solve any problems.

The financial stress is awful and Audrey often complains that I'm just so grumpy, but I can't help it. All I can think of is "How am I going to come up with another $300 to pay rent?" or "Where am I going to find some money for food?" or "How do I explain that no one is getting any Xmas presents from me?" It weighs over me like a ton of bricks and no matter how polished my resume gets, it doesn't seem to be doing me any good.

And then I compare this feeling of an elephant on my chest with the times we were playing on the beach at Sam Son and i can't help but get teary-eyed, aching for those days when the stress didn't come from how we were going to eat, but having to get lunch prepared before I headed off to class for a couple of hours.

I'm hoping that the new year will bring a bit more ease into our lives and some happiness to my heart. It's been a heck of a year with extreme ups and downs that I would have never believed possible.

Merry Christmas

secret codes and long lost packages

One of my few attempts at decorating our living space has been to buy cone hats from the local Asian shop (FuBonn) and hang them over the locks on the double-hung windows. It provides only minimal coverage for the windows, but it looks cool. I've only got two now, but I'll get enough to go all the way across sooner or later.

A couple weeks ago, Stuart noticed that the sun shining through the window made something show up one of the hats; there seemed to be words on it. On closer inspection, sure enough! It says "Thuong Ha Thong Luu." It's been woven into the hat so that it isn't visible except when it's held to the light. I think it's one or two names. The person(s) who made it? I don't know, but it's interesting. The other side of the hat has an interesting design woven into it, as well, though it isn't quite as intriguing as the name(s). Now, our other cone had has nothing secret inside of it, but you can be sure that when I get the money to buy some more hats, I'll be holding them up to the light first.
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In other news...
We got a package from Vietnam the other day. Turns out, it was the package my mom had mailed to us in April. It made it all the way to Ha Noi, in June, then didn't make it to the hotel before we left on 7 July. By that point, we figured it had been filched, never to be seen again. But sure enough, some 8 months after being sent, it showed up in my parents' mailbox, filled with mail, bandaids, vitamins and spices. Just a little late.

why it drives me

I know a lot of people don't understand, but it's scenes like this, situations like theirs that make me crave to do more. The video documents a trip to Ba Vi Orphanage outside of Ha Noi. There are 124 special needs kids, thought to be 3rd generation Agent Orange victims, being taken care of by 1 doctor, 2 nurses and 4 caretakers. They are given little money to care for them, so all their resources (time and money) are stretched to the limits. So sad.

Watch the video.

Making ends (of the highway) meet

From an article in the New York Times:

"The Vietnamese section of the project is to be designated Asian Highway No. 14. It is to link to a highway under construction on the Chinese side of the border at Lao Cai. ... Both are now vastly more interested in markets than in strategic jostling. The highway is one of several projects integrating the economies of northern Vietnam and southern China. It is seen by government and Asian Development Bank officials as a vital spur to the region’s growth, particularly lifting the pace of development in the four poorest provinces of Vietnam."

Lao Cai is right on the edge of Vietnam (to China) and where we stopped on the train before bussing it up to Sa Pa. It'll make some big changes in the way the two countries interact commercially. Should be interesting.

Read the full article.

Viet class

Audrey's plugging right along with her Vietnamese classes. We finally found a place for her to learn: the Van Lang Vietnamese School. Classes are held every Sunday for 2 1/2 hours. The first class was a bit overwhelming since everything is done in Vietnamese and neither of us could figure out what they were talking about for the first 15 or 20 minutes of the class. She began to piece it together and has done okay. Thankfully, though she understands little of what is said, she isn't feeling overwhelmed, but rather feels like she is starting to get it a bit better.

Unfortunately, she's at a bit of a disadvantage as the sole (as far as I've seen) Caucasian with no Viet spoken at home. Everyone else speaks Viet, but are there to learn correct Vietnamese. Audrey is there to just learn it. But she's doing okay. I'd like to find her a tutor for once a week, but that'll have to wait for a bit. She's trying hard and for that, I'm happy.

The only frustrating part is that the kids laugh when she tries to speak it. That's irritating for both of us, but especially hurtful to her. Just don't know how to change that as it's always been the case. Bummer.

Clothes are getting ready to go....

Thanks to some sales on eBay (with some more coming soon), I was able to raise about $75 toward shipping some packages to the kids in Tam Ky. I got some of the smaller boxes together and it'll take way too many of them to send them that way (though it is quick and a good deal: $37 for the flat-rate box). I just can't get enough of the shirts in there. I did pack one full of 16 pairs of pants, so that'll head out to them early next week and should be there within two weeks. Fingers crossed. I'm also going to send some handmade Xmas candies to the volunteers there.

Then I was thinking maybe you guys could mail off some Merry Christmas or Happy New Year cards to them, as well. You could include cards for the volunteers, Mrs Hanh, Yen and/or the children at the orphanages. Just do NOT send cash. It'll get pilfered long before it gets there.

So send some cards to:
GVN Volunteers
158 Hung Vuong
Tam Ky, Quang Nam
VIETNAM

and give them all a reason to smile. I'll get a box or two of pants, socks and candies off soon and the holidays will be a bit nicer for those who are away from their families.