Reverse Culture Shock

The number one question everyone asks me is, "Is it weird to be home?" Well, it's not. I think having lived in America for 28+ years has made the transition pretty smooth. However, there are lots of little things that I keep noticing that feel sort of strange to me. For the next couple of days I'll point out some of those things.

The first thing that felt weird to me was carpet. Yes, carpet.

(PICTURE: Look at that nice soft, dust free carpet.)










For the last fifteen months I've been walking and living on hard wood floors. I think the only carpet I ever saw in Vietnam was at Language Link. However, at Language Link I always wore shoes. Since coming home, I've been re-acquainting my toes with carpet. It seems that carpet is everywhere in America.

Please take a second and vote for me to work in wine country (you can only vote once per email address):
http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=ENgJxigG7WU

Generation Gap

Nearly every time I drop my grandmother off at her apartment, she tells me she wants to introduce me to her friends. Back in January 2008, a few days before I left for Vietnam, my Grandmother had me knock on a woman's door on her floor. The woman opened up her door and we exchanged pleasantries. After a little banter my grandmother said, "Ben is going to Vietnam." The woman looked very confused and said, "Voluntarily?".

Well, the other day, I dropped my grandmother off at her apartment again and per usual, she wanted to introduce me to her friends. We knocked on neighbor's door and after a minute or so a woman answered. My grandmother said to the woman: "This is my grandson. He just came back from Vietnam." The woman had a look of disgust on her face and said -- and this is an exact quote -- "Oh god."

There is clearly a generation gap when it comes to Vietnam. If you talk to a young person they think it is really cool that you visited/lived in the country. If you talk to someone 80+, they just think it's bizarre.

Don't forget to vote for me to go to wine country! You can only vote one time so it's really not that much of a pain in the butt. Or as my grandma would say, "A pain in the tuchus."

http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=ENgJxigG7WU

A Really Goode Job

The great thing about being unemployed is that when a really cool opportunity presents itself, you've got nothing to stop you from going after it.

My aunt told me about an amazing job that is right up my alley. In case you haven't heard about it, Murphy-Goode winery is going to hire someone to work for them for six months. In return, their new employee will blog about their experience.

This job is great for me because:
a) I love wine.
b) I can easily work for six months and then go back to Vietnam (Huyen and I will visit each other before the job starts if I'm lucky enough to get it).
c) As you may be aware, I blog from time to time.

I'd really appreciate it if everyone who reads this could take two seconds and vote:
http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=ENgJxigG7WU

Yes, I know: I'm sooooooo demanding. First I want money for a house, now I want votes for me.

I'd say I have a pretty good shot at making the top 50 so if you could vote for me, that would be really cool....and then you can visit me in wine country and not feel guilty.

Max Frank Zucker

(PICTURE: The happy parents...and confused son.)

Yesterday afternoon my family got a little bigger. My cousin Adam and his wife Rachel gave birth to their first child, Max Frank Zucker.

I gotta tell you, Max is one lucky kid. Adam and Rachel are two of the nicest people you'll ever meet. The other day I went over to their apartment in New York City and their excitement about becoming parents was contagious. I even thought for a second about flying to Hanoi...

Lets be honest, once in a while you see a pregnant couple and think, "Geez, they're gonna be parents." Yes, I'm sure some people will say that about me one day too. However, the exact opposite is true with Adam and Rachel. After you see them together for two minutes you just know they're gonna be an amazing mom and dad.

Congrats, Cuz, Rachel and Max!

(PICTURE: Adam telling Max that he'll do the color commentary and Max will do the play-by-play for all college sports.)


















(PICTURE: My Aunt Donna...now Grandma Donna.)


















(PICTURE: My cousin Dana...now Aunt Dana.)

Babies On Parade

(PICTURE: This is the age we should be having babies!...I'm talking about the age of the guy on the right.)

As I walked the parade route yesterday, I occasionally heard people calling out my name. Sitting and standing on the sidewalk were old friends of mine, parents of old friends of mine, former teachers of mine and former coaches of mine.

Seeing everyone made me realize that, well, I'm getting kind of old. All but one of my old classmates was at the parade with their baby. First there was my friend Andy's sister with her two children. Then there was my good friend Christie with her 8-month-old (http://www.ghetianbaby.blogspot.com). Next there was my friend Danielle LeBenger with her blue-eyed baby (age unknown to me). And then finally was my co-senior superlative best athlete Peter Cullen and his wife Amanda with their (I think) 4-month-old baby. Also next to Pete was baseball great Mike Violette. I don't know if Mike is married with a kid but I think there was a second baby carriage next to Peter's so I can only assume it was Violette's (unless he was using it as an easy way to carry his baseball glove and bats).

Finally on the route I saw my friend/LHS golf legend/my old carpool buddy Rob Fink. I'm happy to report that Rob -- although married -- was at least for the moment baby free. Thank you, Rob.

Memorial Day

(PICTURE: One of the war memorials in front of the Livingston oval.)

As Mayor, my father thought he might have to give a speech for Memorial Day. Like all of the Boy Scouts who were out for the holiday, my father is always prepared. And, well, in this case he was too prepared since he wasn't scheduled to give a speech.

So, I'm gonna let his would be speech be my blog entry for today since I think it really captures the heart of Memorial Day:

Memorial day is one of our most sacred celebrations on the US calendar. Yet like many holidays, Memorial Day is beginning to lose its meaning. A lot of people believe Memorial Day is important because it signifies the beginning of the summer season or just another day off from work or school. However, Memorial Day is much more important than that. Because of the men and women who have served in our armed forces we can all say freely what is on our minds, we can all read what we want, we can all pray to whom we believe in and we can all vote for or against our political leaders.
I am a history buff and I have seen many veterans who say they are not heroes. They often say that the heroes are those who died and those who were wounded in action. Well, you are all heroes and this country can be proud of its long line of heroes. From the Minutemen in the revolution to the sailors on the USS Constitution in the war of 1812, to both the blue and gray, to Havana Harbor, to the trenches of Europe, North Africa and Italy, to the beaches of Normandy, to Guadalcanal, New Guinea, to the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, to the cold of Korea, to the heat of Vietnam, to the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, and to the men and women who have served in peace time, you are all heroes in our eyes.
No matter what branch of the military you served in you were all willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.
I encourage everyone to take a moment the next time they look at one of our war memorials in front of the oval and think of those who gave their lives so we could live our lives the way we do. I would like to finish by quoting a veteran of the 82nd Airborne who parachuted on June 6th, 1944 into Saint-Mere-Eglise who said, “Freedom is not free but very expensive.”
Today, and always we thank all veterans and those serving in our armed forced for your service to our country. Thank you.

(PICTURE: The stage where the speeches were held before the parade.)

(PICTURE: They mayor and the first lady of Livingston passing out American flags to children.)

The Ultimate Test

Coming back to America, I had only one concern: was I forgotten by everybody? Between my blog and email addiction I wasn't really too worried. However, two of my favorite people don't email and well, they don't read my blog either. Yeah, that's right, they don't read my blog. I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Why do you care about people who don't read your blog?" Well, as they say, "You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family." I have to still love these non-blog readers because they're my niece and nephew:

(PICTURE: Rocky enjoying a snack, Bella smiling.)

I have a very strange gift. Rocky is fully potty trained, but whenever he sees me he pisses himself with wild abandon. Zev actually has to take Rocky out of the house when I first come over or else he'll have a pool of yellow on his kitchen floor.

Seeing Rocky was what I considered to be my Ultimate Test on whether I was away too long. Would Rocky still pee himself or was I totally forgotten by him? This may sound crazy, but I was a tad nervous that he wouldn't pee his brains out when he saw me.

Well, last week Zev brought the dogs over and put them in my parents' backyard. I peeked out the window at the dogs a couple of times before I mustered the courage to say hi to them. I finally took a few deep breaths and went into the backyard. As I approached Rocky he gave me a look of recognition. I then gave him a big smile and jogged up to him. As I rubbed his head, the fire hose burst out and watered the grass in the backyard. Yup, I've still got it! I was gone but I wasn't forgotten.

Meeting Lilah

(Picture: The August Kids)

Within the first twenty four hours of returning home I was greeted with two amazing things. The first was a foot long Espesito's roast beef sandwich with sweet red peppers, balsamic vinegar and the works. The second amazing thing was my niece, Lilah. I'm torn about which to write about but since I didn't get any pictures of the sandwich before I devoured it, I'll write about Lilah.

I make no qualms about it -- I don't know much about kids. One thing I do know though is that most kids cry, making them the least preferable person to sit next to on a plane. However, not a tear or a scream or any unpleasant siren-like sound came out of Lilah when my brother handed her to me. Lilah simply looked at me as if to say, "Who is this guy that I'm suppose to entertain now?" After a few moments of mutual curious stares, Zev told me to rub my cheek against her because she likes scruff. After a few gentle brushes with my five o'clock shadow, I had Lilah in the palm of my hand...or maybe she had me in the palm of her hand. Five minutes later I was feeding her some mashed fruit goodness:

As I've mentioned on the blog before, nearly every day that I was away, my brother emailed me pictures and videos of Lilah. I really felt like I was almost there with my family watching Lilah grow up these past months. However, like many other things in life, there's just nothing like the real thing. Holding my beautiful niece in my arms was definitely second to none.

Thank You!

I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to the Habitat For Humanity house. Yesterday three more checks came in the mail, officially putting the total over $2,000!!!!

I think it's pretty freaking cool that over sixty of my friends and family have contributed to help build a family a house in Vietnam! The contributions have ranged from $2 to $200. Little donation or big donation, we had a goal and together we achieved it.

If you often read the comments on the blog you would have seen one from LH from KY a few weeks ago. LH had suggested building a house for a Vietnamese War Veteran with the donations. LH also asked whether Vietnamese veterans get any benefits from the government. I asked someone in the Habitat office these questions and he wrote: We cannot be specifically targeting a Vietnamese War Vet for a particular build. I know that inside our programming, we do work with VWV to provide improving housing. FYI…VWV do get special social services from the Government of Vietnam.

Regardless of whether we build a house for a veteran or not, we can all feel good that we're helping someone in need.

Thank you again for all your contributions! That said, if you still want to contribute it's not too late. I anticipate a few more people donating in the coming weeks and will do a second bank transfer after collecting the money.

Ben

P.S. I've received lots of emails recently about when I'll start blogging again. Well, I guess this post answers the question. I'm back, baby!

Goodbye Vietnam!

This entry should be posting as my plane takes off from Hanoi to Taipei (yesterday my Eva Airlines flight was canceled and I was re-booked by Eva on to a China Airlines flight). For the last week I've felt a mix of excitement to see my friends and family and extreme sadness to be leaving Huyen and Hanoi. When I set off on this journey on February 2nd, 2008 I had no regrets. 15 months and 7 days have passed, and I still feel the same way. This has been the best year of my life.





CREDITS:

Someone once said to me that pictures are better with people in them. Well, the same goes with memories. My memories of this past year are of the people I’ve met, even more so than the places I’ve been. Here’s 100 people who have made this past year amazing:

1. Dr. Anh Thu Kieu. My Vietnamese-American doctor in Santa Monica who gave me my vaccinations before leaving America. She also gave me some Cipro which may saved my life/bowels about a year ago.
2. Air-treks Sarah. Sarah booked my flight from New York to Hong Kong to Sydney – Perth to Hong Kong – Hong Kong to Ghoungzou – Hong Kong to HCMC.
3. My friend Emma in Sydney. She picked me up at the airport, let me stay at her place, and didn’t wake up when I went #2 in her glass-door bathroom.
4. Kristy Cook. My friend who I met at the World Cup in Germany and showed me a hell of a good time in Melbourne. There’s few hosts better in the world than Kristy Cook. I can say that with confidence.
5. The Salter Family. My friend Lily, who I met in London, half-assedly invited me to your house in Australia. I took her up on it and she has turned out to be a great friend. I had a fantastic time with the Salter clan all over the West Coast of Australia.
6. Reuben – The Salters dog taught me that love between a man and a dog is okay.
7. Leo Li, the friendly Chinese guy I met on my flight to Beijing. Leo gave me a ride to my hostel and occasionally emails me about Chinese calligraphy.
8. The cute receptionist at my hotel in Beijing who twice gave me wrong directions to a restaurant.
9. Chi-Na and Jessica. I met these two girls on The Great Wall of China, drank with them in Beijing, and have kept in touch with them since. After a year abroad they’re still two of the coolest Americans I’ve met.
10. Eva. Eva is my friend Lene’s cousin in Shanghai. Eva met me as I got off my train from the airport and didn’t leave my side the whole time I was in Shanghai. Eva was the perfect tour guide – she took me to all the best eating spots in town. Oh, and Eva, you still owe me 87 beers.
11. Della. Della is Steve Song’s friend in Hong Kong. Della took me to a club where I got tear gassed for the first and hopefully last time. She also told me about one of the best hikes I’ve been on in the last year.
12. HIEN! HIEN! HIEN! HIEN!!!!! Hien and I emailed for months before I got to Vietnam and she has been nothing but a great friend since the moment I landed. I only wish HCMC and Hanoi were a little closer so I could see her more often.
13. Linh. Linh “taught” me Vietnamese. Considering I know like eight words I had to put taught in quotes. Linh has always been there for me when I text her a question and is always more than happy to make fun of me over text or to my face.
14. Au. Au introduced me to my love of pho via her father.
15. Ryan. I met Ryan on my first day in Vietnam and well, we basically never left each others’ side. When I first heard that there was only one other student taking the Language Corps program I got a little nervous. I mean, that sounded miserable. However, Ryan turned out to be one of the best guys I’ve ever met.
16. The girls at Howie’s Bar in Phenom Penh. These girls had to buy me drink after drink after I kept beating them in Connect Four.
17. The restaurant owner who served Ryan and I breakfast every morning in Phenom Penh. The man greeted us every morning with a few words in French and a great plate of eggs and pork.
18. Vi. Vi was the housekeeper at the Language Corps house in PP. Somehow she spoke five words of English despite living with all English teachers.
19. Darra. Darra was Ryan and my personal tuk-tuk driver in Phenom Penh.
20. Our private driver from PP to Siem Reap. This driver was by far the scariest in my one year of living in Asia. Once I survived that ride I knew I had a pretty good chance out here.
21. Hannah and Adam Cooper. This brother-sister combo sat next to Ryan and I while we waited for the sun to set over Angkor Wat. The sunset was a disappointment but the Coopers were anything but. I’ve kept in touch with both of them and Adam is personally responsible for giving my sister and I the best Thailand tips for our trip.
22. The little kids in Siem Reap. The kids there are infamous for knowing every state and country capital and well, I think they were right. They got Newark right at least.
23. Our Siem Reap tour guide. Our guide was a great introduction to “Business English.” The man could speak in English for hours about the temples but as soon as you asked him a question he froze up in fear and recited a rehearsed line about something completely different than I asked him.
24. Ashton, my friend Kevin Rodin’s friend, who joined Ryan, Hien and I in the Mekong Delta.
25. Tuyen. Hien’s roommate who made me a kick-ass “painting” that is all her own style.
26. My students from HCMC. I taught a free class for a couple weeks in HCMC and had a great group of energetic and enthusiastic students.
27. The coffee ladies outside of Language Corps. Ryan and I quickly became won over by Vietnamese coffee thanks to the ladies who sold it on the street by Language Corps.
28. The pineapple lady. I bought pineapple every day from one lady around the corner from Language Corps. I practiced my little Vietnamese with her and in turn bought a pineapple. When I went back to HCMC a few months later she was selling guava...which I didn’t know how to ask for.
29. France. France is a cool American expat living in HCMC who took Ryan and I out on the town. France has since opened up a coffee shop in HCMC.
30. The little girl who rode on my boat in the Mekong. She still ranks as the cutest kid I’ve met in Asia.
31. Trang. Trang was the front desk worker at our guest house in HCMC. She greeted Ryan and I ever morning with a big smile and helped us wave down taxis.
32. The guy who lost his keys in the giant sand dunes in Mui Ne.
33. My overpriced Easy Rider guide in Da Lat.
34. Hien’s father and cousin. Ryan and I spent a night at Hien’s dad’s fish pond eating all the local foods. By local I mean the fish from the pond, the frogs from the rice paddie, the chicken from the back yard and the bat from the tree.
35. Steve Song. Steve met me in Nha Trang and spent more or less the next month with me. Steve was a great traveling partner and left me the two best gifts I’ve gotten this year: 1) a new camera 2) Huyen (Steve approached her friend and that’s how I met Huyen).
36. Thuy from Hoi An. Thuy and I went to breakfast together. I use the word “together” loosely since she left me sitting there alone after about a minute because she had to run back to her tailor shop.
37. Marble Mountain Girls. The two girls who rode up alongside me and invited me to their house…a great scam they had working to try and get people to buy ceramics at their family’s store at Marble Mountain.
38. Da Nang University Girls. Ryan, Steve and I went to Da Nang University to meet the faculty who were friends of a friend of mine. We ended up being shoved into classrooms and told to teach two classes. It was ridiculous. To pay us for our services the girls took us to karaoke.
39. The girl in Hue who wore the “I ♥ CUMMING” t-shirt.
40. Pallavi. Pallavi is the girl who I emailed with for a month about moving into her house. She is also the girl who lied to me about the house being safe (it had been robbed while we were emailing). Pallavi is also the girl who left Ryan, Steve and I standing outside for about 12 minutes when we first arrived at my house.
41. Mirriam. Mirriam is this kick ass Spanish girl who lived in my house.
42. Mr. and Mrs. Muoi. The Muois rented me my bike(s) and always wave and smile at me when I’m in the old quarter. Mr. Muoi also has taken me out for beer a few times and called me his, “best friend.”
43. Devin. Devin is one of my best friends from college who wasted no time in visiting me. If it wasn’t for Devin making me pick him up at the airport I wouldn’t have met Huyen.
44. The Shapiro Brothers. Steve’s friend (and my buddy Jason Weinstein’s friend from Cornell) were in Hanoi and accompanied Devin, Steve and I to Halong Bay. Dr. Shapiro also took me to a pharmacy to get cream to clear up my only heat rash this year.
45. The Ninjas who robbed my house. Thanks to them I got to buy myself a new computer…although I really wish I still had my good camera…or even my other camera they stole…or my brand new ipod with all my photos on it…or my cell phone…
46. Son. Son is the guy who hooked Ryan and I up with a kick ass house…
47. Dzung and his *%$#@ wife Binh. If it wasn’t for them evicting Ryan and I, I wouldn’t have moved to my favorite house in Hanoi.
48. The gigantic spider that Ryan and I pissed our pants over.
49. The rat that I squared up against and lost.
50. Crazy Man. Crazy Man is the guy who walked along my old street and gave me strange stares. I was literally scared of him until the day he came up to me and told me that Dzung and Binh are bad people.
51. Nicky. Nicky is perhaps the nicest guy I have ever met. The guy has nothing but nice things to say all the time…except when being interrogated by army officials in the middle of nowhere.
52. Lyle. Lyle is the guy who I met who hooked Ryan and I up with De at Language Link.
53. De. De is the recruitment lady at Language Link who hired Ryan and I. De is also the inventor of the term “Edutainment.” If you ever have a question about teaching abroad, she’s your woman.
54. Jim Brennan. Jim is the kick ass Director of Studies at Language Link. I liked Jim from the moment I met him and not just because he is also from Essex County, New Jersey. Jim is one of the smartest, nicest people I’ve met since…well, ever. Jim is also the person I would talk politics with in Vietnam. Watching Obama win with Jim will go down as one of my favorite memories.
55. Chi. Chi is not only one of my favorite Language Link employees but she was also the first ahoyhanoi fan at the office.
56. Hung. Hung is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. Like many of the other CSO’s at LL she loves to give me a hard time. Hung is also the girl who gave me the most awkward hug I’ve ever gotten when I saw her at the night market. Her then fiancé was standing next to her (and Huyen was next to me) and she didn’t know how to react.
57. Linh. Linh is the teacher coordinator who I always jokingly give a hard time to. She jokes right back with me.
58. ALL the CSOs at LL. I’ve never worked with such a great staff of people. Every person is always willing to help you out with whatever you need and they do it with a smile.
59. Huyen the photocopy guy. Huyen mans the photocopy machine at LL and is a huge help for all the teachers.
60. Huong in HR. Huong helped me get my driver’s license/motorbike license and also kept me in the country by always renewing my Visa.
61. Matt. Matt was one of the veteran teachers when I arrived and really helpful if I ever had a teaching question. He also taught me that if I ever needed to go to the hospital here I should go to the French Hospital…where he had his ankle surgery after crashing his bike.
62. Hayden. He’s not only a great guy but THE DUDE SURVIVED BEING EATEN ALIVE BY LIZARDS!!!!!!
63. Mai. Mai is the king of HUC – Hanoi Ultimate Club. I found the club’s website when I first arrived and texted Mai about playing. She wrote me right back and we’ve been friends since.
64. The Frisbee Guys. Every week after frisbee I have gone out with a bunch of guys who have become good friends. Thanks Thanh, Tu, Hoan, Minh and Duc!
65. Jessica. My fellow New Jersian has been a good friend to me and a great girlfriend for Ryan (they’re still going strong!).
66. Mikka. Mikka is perhaps the funniest expat I’ve met this past year. Mikka also coincidentally is the daughter of an LA Producer my friend Elizabeth works with. Elizabeth emailed me last year asking if I knew a Mikka who had just moved to LA. A day or two before Mikka had just started working at LL and her locker was just a few down from mine.
67. Matt and Lindy. This cool New Zealand couple reminds me a lot of my friends back home. Matt actually plays soccer just like I used to play it – 100% intensity with a minimal skill set.
68. Long. Long is the center of the Hanoi universe. It seems that every single person in this city knows him…and likes him. I’m happy to call Long one of my good friends out here.
69. Corey. Corey is an American expat who has been living here for quite a while. He’s one of those guys who you could never find anything to say bad about. He’s a couple years older than me yet looks younger and has way more stamina than me during ultimate games.
70. My neighbors. I’ve been tutoring my twelve year old neighbor for over six months. The kid is fantastic at English (I take no credit) and his family are just really nice people.
71. The Sticky Rice Lady. Nearly every morning I walk to the local market and buy breakfast. The sticky rice lady is always particularly nice to me.
72. The teenage girl who sells oranges. There is one girl in the market who always waves at me and says, “Nice to meet you!” I have tried to tell her that we’ve met 100 times but she seems to like to say that line the most.
73. The Grandmother around the corner. There is a woman who serves tea on the street around the corner from me. Every time I walk by her she gives me a wave and laughs hysterically.
74. My barber. Despite the fact that he chopped off all my hair this week, I’m still gonna give him a shout out. If you have never had your face shaved with a straight razor you should fly to ‘Nam and have this guy do it.
75. Thuy, Thuy and Thuy’s Family. Over the last five months or so I’ve been tutoring three different girls named Thuy. They’ve all been really nice and fun to tutor.
76. The husband and wife banh gio team. There is this breakfast dish here that is like a gelatinous rice stuffed with pork. Despite OD’ing on this stuff after eating it nearly every day for a month, the husband and wife who sell it still wave at me every time they see me. The husband, on occasion, gives me vodka too.
77. The Army Guys who interrogated Long, Nicky and I. Without a doubt this was my scariest moment in Vietnam. It is also a kick ass story I can tell at weddings all summer.
78. The Cops who Huyen bribed on the dirt road. You gotta love corrupt cops.
79. Oot. The woman who showed Huyen and I around Babe lake for three days. You couldn’t ask for a better tour guide.
80. My cousin Justin. My cousin Justin came out here and the two of us took one of my best trips in Vietnam.
81. PJ. My buddy PJ came out and despite two motorbike accidents, we had an amazing time together.
82. Veronica and Loren. My childhood friends Loren and Veronica both visited me this year. Loren, her friend, Huyen and I took my first motorbike trip to Tam Dao. It was a great trip. Veronica visited a few months ago and was a pleasure to show around the city. Huyen and I went to Halong Bay with Veronica and had quite a one day adventure.
83. Sebastian. My friend from LA took a last minute trip out to Hanoi and was my +1 to Huyen’s cousin’s wedding. Sebastian also took some of the best photos I now have of my experiences out here.
84. Friends of Friends. Countless friends of friends have visited Hanoi and gotten in contact with me. Actually if I had to count I think the number would be around thirty. A couple times I was out of town for their visits so Huyen took them out. Also lots of friends of friends have been loyal blog readers. One who deserves a big thank you is my sister's friend Laura. Thanks, Laura.
85. Maria. Maria is one of my random blog readers who I can now chalk up as a friend. Maria visited Hanoi a while ago and we hung out a couple of times while she was in town. Maria is also perhaps the biggest fan of Huyen in all of cyberspace.
86. LH From Kentucky. LH, a Vietnam War veteran, has been a loyal reader for almost the whole time I’ve been blogging. LH can always be counted on to write a really wise, well thought out comment on my blog.
87. Strangers. I’ve received so many emails from people around the world who have stumbled on to my blog. I always appreciate hearing from them, knowing they took time out of their day to write something nice.
88. Alex and Brett. Alex and Brett, two of my best friends from Syracuse, have emailed me seemingly every day since I’ve been away. I’m a long way away from them but I feel like I’m just down the street. A few days from now we’ll be catching up in person at Dinosaur BBQ in New York.
89. Brad. When Brad asked me to be his co/best man I said to myself, “Now I know when I’m gonna go home.” I can’t wait to see Brad tie the knot in June. They make people bigger than Brad, but they don’t make anyone better.
90. Bier. Jeremy is the first person to email me whenever anything big happens to any of our Livingston crew. Jeremy’s also basically the last person besides myself not to get engaged or married. That said, Jeremy is now in a serious relationship…
91. All my LA friends who have kept in great touch this past year. Tom and Sam can always be counted on to send me video links to decently funny clips. Kevin for still tossing ideas back and forth with me about reality television stuff. Grahame for being my fellow Bruins fan (and probably soon to be disappointed Bruin's fan). Kunitz for his occasional ridiculous and repetitive emails with old pictures of us. JR for always offering to send me stuff. Taylor and Andrew for always inquiring when I'm gonna come visit. Jay for his music advice. etc. etc....
92. My sister Hannah. Without a doubt my favorite trip this year was with my sister. Hannah and I had an amazing time together in Thailand and Laos. I can honestly say she is the best travel partner I could ever imagine. My sister and I had a couple bumps in our relationship when we were teenagers but I can say that is long behind us and she’s now one of my best friends. Furthermore, I’m immensely proud of my sister. There’s a 1,001 things I could say about her but I’ll just comment on the latest: She was just promoted to Press Secretary for the US Justice Department. Go Hannah!
93. Zev, Kathy and Lilah. The biggest regret I’ve had this past year was that I couldn’t be home to see the birth of my niece. My brother and Kathy have sent me almost daily emails with pictures and videos of her. Lilah is as cute as they come and I can’t wait to hold her. I also can’t wait to see Zev and Kathy who have quickly turned into amazing parents.
94. My Nanny. Every time I talk with my Nanny she sounds so excited to hear from me and encourages what I’m doing.
95. My Grandma Cele. My Grandma Cele is also excited to hear from me but she always tells me to get the heck home.
96. My Aunt Jane and My Aunt Ronny. Jane always has my back. When Huyen didn’t get her visa, Jane was ready to march to Washington and knock down the doors of immigration. My Aunt Ronny is a world traveler and has from time to time given me priceless advice.
97. The Zuckers. A holiday can’t go by without an ecard from my Aunt Donna and Uncle Barry. They’ve raised three great kids and are about to be grandparents. I missed my niece being born but I’m timing my trip home perfect to see the birth of my amazing cousin Adam and his wife Rachel’s first child! There’s gonna be a lot of babies at family get togethers!
98. My Mom and Dad. Parents always want the best for their children. My parents have supported my living abroad from Day 1 despite wanting me near them. It’s a good feeling knowing every moment of every day that your parents love you. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m the luckiest kid in the world.
99. Huyen’s Family. One of the secrets to moving abroad is having a family away from your family. Obviously nobody can come close to replacing your loved ones, but its an unbelievably good feeling when another family takes you under their wing and completely embraces you. Huyen’s family -- from her three year old nephew to her 96 year old Great Grandmother -- have all shown me nothing but kindness.
100. Huyen. I was only supposed to stay in Hanoi for six months. I stayed because of Huyen. I wasn’t planning on coming back here again in the foreseeable future. I’ll be back in August because of Huyen. It’s no secret that Huyen has been my world the last year. Every day I wake up feeling fortunate that I have been able to find someone so amazing against all imaginable odds. Who would have ever thought that a Jewish kid from New Jersey would fall in love with a Vietnamese girl from Ha Nam Province? That’s the stuff they write movies about…or blogs.

All Alone In A Cave

(PICTURE: Me opening the gate to the cave.)

One morning in Babe, Huyen and I set off to visit a famous cave. When we got to the base of the cave, the cave caretaker wasn't there. However, there was a man across the street who had a key to the cave. The guy waved us over and gave us the key.

Huyen and I then walked up a path on a mountain to the entrance of the cave. There was a gate in front of the entrance and I unlocked it. Inside was an electrical box with a few switches. We flipped all the switches to "on" but only three lights came on inside the whole cave. Huyen and I had a flashlight with us but it was hardly illuminating. We decided to put our fear aside and started to walk down the path in the cave. A few times we stopped when we thought we heard noises in the darkness. I usually don't get scared, but I was kind of nervous in the cave. We tried to talk ourselves out of being frightened and agreed to walk to the next light. We did this twice until we thought we got to the end of the cave. However, we could see another light in the far distance that had been obscured by a rock. Huyen and I both looked at each other and said, "lets get out of here."

We quickly walked back up the path and exited the cave. Just as I locked the door a group of about twenty people came walking up. Huyen and I thought about going back into the cave with the group but were a) exhausted b) realized that that was just what the monsters wanted us to do.

Boating

(PICTURE: Oot preparing our boat.)

On our second full day in Babe, Oot took us out for a day on the lake. She told us we had two options (she always seems to have two options):

Option 1: Go on a fast boat with all the tourists.

Option 2: Go on her wooden boat.

We chose option two. To call her boat a boat is slightly pushing it. It's really more of a hallowed out tree trunk shaped sort of like a canoe.

The advantage of Oot's boat was that it was extremely relaxing. Huyen and I drifted off to sleep a few times while Oot worked her butt off. The downside of Oot's boat was that it was slow as hell. We were out on the lake for about four hours, hence why we kept falling asleep.

As you've read, Huyen isn't much of a swimmer. Shockingly our guest house had a lifejacket Huyen borrowed. Also, Oot brought along with us two life-preservers....which turned out to be great neck rests.

Our destination was a waterfall. To get to the waterfall, Oot brought us to shore and then pointed us down a trail in a cornfield.

(PICTURE: Our trail.)

The trail had a few obstacles along the way but finally led to the waterfall...where all the fast boats were parked.

(PICTURE: Huyen and I in front of the waterfall...which you can't really see.)

Overall, it was a great day out and a fantastic way to relax our muscles after the long trek the day before. By "our muscles" I of course mean Huyen and I. Oot, a grandmother, did the trek the day before and rowed us all day without breaking a sweat.

Trekking

(PICTURE: One of the villages we hiked to.)

Huyen and I got to Babe at 7PM on Thursday night. We found a local guest house that my friend Van recommended and checked-in to our room. By "our room" I mean a bed with a curtain around it. All of the guest houses in Babe are basically the same. The houses cram as many beds into a room as possible and separate them with curtains that would almost give you some privacy if they were long enough to actually form a complete wall and not leave foot and a half gaps at the edges.

The next morning Huyen and I went trekking with a woman named Oot who is the Aunt of the guest house owner. My friend Van from school told me Oot was her second mother and that she would take care of us. Oot led us on an amazing trek into the middle of nowhere. We followed a dirt path through a small village, past rice fields, up a mountain, down a mountain, through corn fields and finally towards a small ethnic village completely isolated from civilization.

(PICTURE: This is the dirt path that started the trek. It was also the most defined path the whole way.)

A couple highlights of the walk:

1: The countless make shift bridges that we had to cross. Watching Huyen balance on them makes me giggle every time I think about it...and now you can watch too:


2: Me saying to Huyen before the hike, "I wish I brought shoes that had some traction." I then proceeded to slip on nearly every wet rock.

3: Seeing a dead snake on the path within the first thirty minutes of the hike. I asked Oot if it was poisonous and she said that if it bit us we'd be dead in ten minutes.

4: Being told that we could take two different routes. Route one was a circle. Route two would be through the heart of the forest and come out to Lake Babe where a boat could pick us up. I emphasize "could". We would have to get in touch with the boat and since there is no cell phone service in the middle of nowhere that would have been a problem. The other problem would have been that Oot said we'd probably each get a bunch of leaches on us if we went that way. (Note: To be honest, I wanted to get a leach on me. How cool of a blog would that be?)

(PICTURE: A good way to get leaches. Stand By Me anyone?)

5. Being invited into an ethnic villagers house and eating a corn dish with broth. Huyen explained to me that the villagers were so poor that they couldn't afford to eat rice despite the fact that they grow rice themselves. They sell their own rice in the market for meat.

6. The fact that Oot -- a grandmother mind you -- was not only was less tired than us the whole time, but that she also carried a log with an orchid on it for 75% of the trip.

(PICTURE: Oot and her Orchid)

7. Huyen's ridiculously big walking stick.

8. The fact that I carried a watermelon for maybe five miles so we could eat it for lunch. Yeah, it wasn't worth it.

Overall the trek was great. When we got back all we wanted was a hot, powerful shower...but those things don't exist in Babe. We settled for some drips of warm water while being swarmed by gigantic mosquitos.

A Rough Start

(PICTURE: I'm going to miss green rice fields.)

This past Thursday was Independence Day in Vietnam. To celebrate the Vietnamese beating the Americans, Thursday and Friday wer a national holiday.

Huyen and I decided to take a road trip to Babe Lake which is located about 250 KM north of Hanoi. I told Huyen we should take my motorbike since it was a rental and well, the people who I rent from charged me an arm and a leg to keep the bike for 8 more days (an arm and a leg costs $24 when usually I pay $30 for a month).

There are always two problems with road trips in Vietnam:

Problem 1: The highways are scary as hell and frankly not fun to drive on.

Problem 2: My butt/anyone with nerve ends in their butt begins to hurt immensely after about thirty kilometers on the road.

For this trip, Huyen and I solved both problems:

Solution 1: I borrowed an extremely detailed map of nearly all Vietnamese roads from Long (where this map was on our bike trip I don't know.) Huyen and I took the highway for about an hour total during our 12 hour trip to Babe. Once we left Hanoi we saw nothing but gorgeous moutains and green rice fields.

Solution 2: Huyen sewed together His & Her Butt Pillows for my bike:

(PICTURE: Our butt pillows and luggage for our four day trip.)

That said, our trip got off to a rocky start. Just minutes after getting onto our first country road, I heard a POP. I chose to ignore it until Huyen said, "Stop! We have a flat." Sure enough we had a flat tire. Luckily we were literally 8 feet down the road from a repair shop. The shop fixed my inner tube and tire. He also tightened my brakes. My bike was as good as new.

(PICTURE: My bike getting its back tire fixed.)

The second rocky part of our trip happened a few hours later. Huyen and I were on a road that the map key classifies as a "dirt road." We were literally on a path in the middle of nowhere that was even tougher to drive on because 40% of it was muddy. Huyen and I finally got through the narrow path and emerged on a four foot wide paved road...where three cops were waiting for us.

The cops waved me down with a baton and I pulled over on to the side of the road. The head cop saluted me, which I thought was a way of saying "You're a foreigner so no problems here." Yeah, it didn't mean that. Instead it meant, "I'm going to try and blackmail you for money." The cop asked for my driver's license and passport. Luckily I was carrying my driver's license for the first time ever. Literally I had never actually carried it before because it's too big to fit into a wallet and nobody actually carries their license with them here. After I surprised the cop with my IDs he asked to see the motorbike registration/ownership papers. Since I rent the bike I don't have those papers. The cop shook his head and then showed Huyen his official notebook. By "official" I mean he had a notebook you can buy at any convenience store anywhere in the world. On the back of the notebook he had HAND WRITTEN some sentence with numbers next to them. He told Huyen these were the official fines for our offenses. Yes, offenses. Apparently we had two. Not only didn't I have registration papers BUT he said our license plate was on crooked. Yeah, it wasn't. The cop wanted 350,000 Dong. He said that was the fine or they would take my bike and hold it for thirty days. Huyen apologized to him and gave him 50,000 Dong. The cop quickly pocketed the money like he was doing us a favor.

If this wasn't ridiculous/infuriorating enough, a motorbike rode up to the three cops while we were stopped. On the motorbike were THREE MEN (three people on a bike is illegal). All three men WERE NOT WEARING HELMETS (not wearing helmets is illegal). Also I'm pretty sure all three men were DRUNK (I'm not sure if drinking and driving is illegal here). Yeah, the cops waved them through the checkpoint.

As we were leaving the head police officer told Huyen that there were two more police check points ahead. About fifteen minutes later we saw a checkpoint and did what any responsible person would do in that situation: we blazed through it while looking around obliviously. The cops didn't stop us.

On our way home Huyen and I were stopped by another checkpoint. I took off my helmet and mask and the cops saw that I was a foreigner. One of them said, "Let him go, he's a foreigner." They all laughed at me and waved me on. Man, why can't all cops be as cool as that?

Typical Day

(PICTURE: My 9AM class on my birthday.)

I thought I'd share one of my typical days with everyone:

7:00 AM Wake Up
7:30 AM Eat breakfast at the local market ($0.25)
8:00 AM Get to school, check my email (read about the Boston Bruins), and prepare my classes. Up until two months ago I didn't go to school until 3PM. However, I have taken on two classes recently to get some extra money before going home.
11:00 AM I finish my first class and go to the swimming pool. ($2.75 to swim)
12:30 PM Eat lunch ($0.85)
1:30 PM Teach a second class
4:00 PM Go to a cafe and write my blog(s).
5:30 PM Teach a family at their home.
7:30 PM Teach my final class at school.
9:00 PM Go to dinner with Huyen. (around $10 depending on where we eat).
10:30 PM Play pool or watch a movie with Huyen.

That is my schedule Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I only work three hours and write/exercise/eat/nap the rest of the day. Yeah, it's a pretty good life.

Thank You!/Worst Brother-In-Law Ever/Happy Birthday Lippman!

Last night I got back from a four day motorbike trip with Huyen to Babe Lake. The trip was amazing and I'll post pictures as soon as I download them...which isn't easy since my camera has been on the fritz for months.

Anyway, when I opened up my email yesterday I had almost two dozen emails with donations towards Habitat For Humanity. I also had a couple emails from my mother about all the envelopes that had arrived at my house. After counting up the total, we're halfway to reaching my goal of $2,000!!! That said, we're only halfway. I hope those readers out there send a couple bucks in the mail. We wouldn't be anywhere close to the halfway mark if it wasn't for the small contributors as well as the big contributors.

I want to take a moment and apologize to my sister-in-law Kathy. I am the worst brother-in-law ever. Not only did I forget her birthday but I also posted my dog post on her birthday. Kathy is one of the biggest dog lovers in the world. Sorry, Kathy!...but all dogs go to heaven, right? That said, she got revenge on me: she taught Lilah how to crawl! How freaking cruel is that?! She couldn't wait one more week to start crawling. Thanks a lot, Lilah/Kathy.


(PICTURE: Rocky is pissed that he's now gonna have competition for scraps on the floor.)

(PICTURE: Crawling is tiring. Luckily Lilah's got a great pillow -- my dad.)

Finally, happy birthday Adam Lippman! Welcome to the now populated thirty club. Adam, is one of my oldest friends who recently got himself a great birthday present -- a fiance.

My favorite memory of Adam took place in my driveway about fifteen years ago. My friends and I were playing roller hockey and all of a sudden Lippman was in a fight with our friend Wishnia. Wishnia, mind you, is the biggest/toughest/strongest kid I have ever known. Somehow Lippman won the fight. After that Buster Douglas moment, I can't remember anyone ever fighting Lippman again.

(Adam and his fiance Erika.)

One Year

Things just haven't been the same since May 2nd, 2008...

Happy Birthday, Nose!

(PICTURE: The two biggest shnozes to ever come out of New Jersey.)

I love Jeremy Bier for a thousand reasons. Here's one: Because of Jeremy, my dad stopped calling me "nose" around age 14. Thanks, Bier! Happy Birthday!!!

I know I've had a lot of birthday posting recently and that's because, well, most of my best friends were all born around the same time. Actually, the summer that I turned 21, Jeremy, myself, Alex and Brett (all born the same week) went to a bar in Union Square, NY. As we showed the bouncer our IDs he did a double take. He looked at us and asked something like, "Are these real? You all turned 21 this week?" We said yes and walked into the bar.

To add to this post, I'll give a little fact about Vietnamese birthdays. In Vietnam, you are supposed to buy everyone dinner/drinks at your birthday party. To me, this is a great idea. How many times have you gone to a dinner for a friend's birthday and ended up splitting a bill that seemingly cost way more than you'd ever spend on dinner? Here if you want to go to a nice restaurant for your birthday you pay for it. If you want to go to a dive bar you pay for it. And conversely whenever you go to a friends' birthday you don't pay a cent. It's a good system.

What I'm trying to say is, Bier you owe me dinner for your birthday. Thanks.

Please send Jeremy's birthday gifts to me and I'll donate them to Habitat For Humanity. Thanks!