tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26633256927001125622024-02-24T15:54:38.732-08:00Ahoy Hanoi!Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.comBlogger1228125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-34182571243684165472015-01-18T21:50:00.000-08:002015-01-19T01:10:44.208-08:00Two Years!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fCCBEMB-HA8DU41gZrvb6L8ncNUXNYmVR7POqkLAUg3t-fqVTV11H8WgzBaaH4YdeNWy6iLfb3YmymWFPSZ2a8OmobjSq8Mw_kDxIYyqLr-qWJ0u1xWsiWPUzSf30RSqIKDv4h0ncoVq/s1600/IMG_9854.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fCCBEMB-HA8DU41gZrvb6L8ncNUXNYmVR7POqkLAUg3t-fqVTV11H8WgzBaaH4YdeNWy6iLfb3YmymWFPSZ2a8OmobjSq8Mw_kDxIYyqLr-qWJ0u1xWsiWPUzSf30RSqIKDv4h0ncoVq/s1600/IMG_9854.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Blogspot won't allow me to post my video which is probably the internet's subtle way of saying, "Nobody besides your parents wants to watch a ten minute montage of Shayna." However, this blog was initially created for my mother so I won't be deterred. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FYyeUVtpsA">Here's a link to the video. </a><br />
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If these past two years have taught me anything, it's how precious life is. Twenty one months ago Huyen's mom came to stay with us in New Jersey and help take care of Shayna when she turned three months old. Having her in the states -- her first trip outside of Vietnam -- was an amazing experience. Her mom was so full of life and embraced a world that was completely foreign to her. The two months she spent with us were truly some of the happiest in our lives. We not only had our wonderful new daughter, but Huyen also got to share her life with her mother. That's something we'll always be thankful for.<br />
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In April, when we got the terrible call about Huyen's mom's health, our world was truly rocked. We packed up our lives as quickly as we could and moved back to Vietnam to be with my mother-in-law as she battled Pancreatic Cancer. Her bravery fighting the disease was heroic. She tried every treatment the doctors would allow and never once complained about how unfair it was that she was stricken with this horrendous disease. Despite Pancreatic Cancer being incredibly painful, Dung always had a smile on her face and was able to grit her teeth and find a way to laugh. But some battles can't be won. Sadly, that's a reality that's hard to accept.<br />
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It's been a month since Huyen's mom passed and I still find myself shaking my head saying, "She can't really be gone?" It doesn't feel real that someone so full of life couldn't still be with us. People say that every day gets a little easier. I'm not sure how true that is. Two days ago Huyen called her father and Shayna spoke into the phone in Vietnamese, "Where's grandma?" That made the pain rise up to the surface, knowing she can't fully grasp that her wonderful "ba" is no longer with us. Although her body is gone, my mother-in-law's memory and spirit will last forever. Huyen and I will make sure that Shayna knows just how much her grandmother loved her and can show her the evidence through the pictures and videos on this blog. As you'll see if you can get through the video, you'd be hard pressed to find someone with a more beautiful, innocent smile than my mother-in-law.<br />
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Although there's so much to be angry at, I also constantly find myself saying how thankful I am. I'm thankful my mother-in-law embraced me as part of her family. I'm thankful my family came to Vietnam for my wedding and got to spend time with Dung in her home. I'm thankful my mother-in-law gave Huyen her blessing to move to America. I'm thankful we fought through the challenge of getting Dung a visa to visit America. I'm thankful Dung was brave enough to travel across the world by herself. I'm thankful Dung helped take care of Shayna every single day for two months during the beginning of her life. I'm thankful for every day she was in our home and got to see how we lived our life in America. I'm thankful we were able to pack everything up and move across the world in May. I'm thankful we got to live with my mother-in-law and take her to Halong Bay, somewhere she had never been but wanted to go. I'm thankful she got to spend another seven months with Shayna. I'm thankful that, in the end, she went peacefully and surrounded by her family.<br />
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I know this blog entry should be about Shayna but in a way it is. Sometimes in life, we don't take the time to think about each day. I'm as guilty of this as everyone else. When you first have a kid, you take thousands of pictures a week. Then a little less, then a little less...and then you stop bringing the camera with you everywhere you go. To me, we should never forget that each day is a gift and we should treat it as such. Hug the people you love and tell them how you feel about them so that no matter what happens, you'll never have regrets.<br />
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For two years we've been blessed to have Shayna in our lives. Every day's been a gift. And that's something we'll never take for granted.<br />
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Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-78172685447940964212014-10-06T00:00:00.000-07:002014-10-06T00:00:05.279-07:00Stitches, Talking, Swimming...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Last night Huyen and I watched the movie BORN AGAIN (from the same writer/director who did ONCE). In the movie there's a father-daughter story line and throughout the film I kept thinking, "What will my relationship be like with Shayna when she's fourteen?". I had this weird warm feeling in my stomach that's hard to put into words. Despite this story line being the minor one in the film, it was the one that touched me the most. It seems so obvious to even say this but Shayna's really changed our lives. Here's the biggest example:<br />
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Since graduating college I've been dreaming of having a script of mine made into a film. I'd sold some stuff over the years but none of them ever came that close to going into production (something very common in Hollywood). Well, after thirteen years of writing, my first film went into production this summer. In August I went to Toronto for three weeks to watch the end of filming. Thirteen years of work to see my dream come true for three weeks. Well, I can't tell you how long those three weeks felt as all I wanted to do each day was Skype with Shayna in the morning and night. I don't regret going away for so long but it was definitely hard. It also made me realize that my life dreams really have changed. Yes, I still want to be a successful screenwriter. But more than that, I want to be a good father.<br />
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So here's some things that happened over the past three months:<br />
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1. Shayna now speaks Vietnamese. She definitely understands both English and Vietnamese but the only English words she really uses are "Daddy" and "Apple." I'm not sure what I have in common with an apple but I'll take it!<br />
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2. Shayna had her first stitches. Long story short, she was at school and fell running. Of course it happened five minutes before I picked her up so when I came to school she was covered in blood. I like to think I'm calm and collected in situations like this and handled it very well. I told Huyen right away we needed to go to the best hospital and have a plastic surgeon do the stitches. So we went to the French-Vietnamese hospital and immediately saw a doctor. Shayna couldn't have the stitches that day because she needed to be knocked out. The doctor who we saw had ENT written on his door. I told Huyen, "This guy isn't a plastic surgeon, he's an ear-nose-throat doctor." But she assured me he said he was. But yeah, he wasn't. Let's just say the stitches aren't as nice as the ones I had as a kid. That said, I think the scar is actually pretty cool and definitely makes her look a little tougher.<br />
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3. Shayna's terrible at sharing. Terrible. Two days ago she had a big scratch on her face because she saw another kid playing with her favorite toy and wrestled him for it. Apparently she won but yanked it out of the kid's hands so hard it smacked her in the face.<br />
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4. Huyen went to China for two weeks right after I returned from Canada, which meant I got to take care of Shayna while completely jet lagged. The good news is that I had help. Su, Huyen's brother, became our personal chef and dishwasher and really made my life a lot easier. But of course Shayna got some weird virus the day after Huyen left. Su and I went to the hospital and I'm still not exactly sure what she had since Su's English isn't exactly fantastic. But luckily the day Shayna missed at school for being sick was the day hand-foot-and-mouth disease broke out in her class. Literally every kid got sick except Shayna and one other. For the next week the teachers outnumbered the kids in the classroom.<br />
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5. Shayna can count 1-10 in Vietnamese. She can sort of sing "Happy Birthday." And she can kind of catch a beach ball. She's also 50% potty trained.<br />
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6. Speaking of the beach, we took a fantastic five day trip to Phu Quoc Island in the south of Vietnam. This place is about to blow up with tourists starting in November. We flew into the brand-spanking-new international airport which was gorgeous but empty. Next month there will be direct flights there from Russia, Cambodia, Singapore and a few other places. Shayna loved the beach and loved the pool. She swims like her mom though. Not good.<br />
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Finally, I'd like to say thanks to all the people who reached out to me after the last post regarding Huyen's mom health. There's been lots of ups and downs since we got here and unfortunately we're currently in a downswing as the cancer has spread to her bones. I've got to say though that Huyen's mom continues to smile every day and keep up a positive attitude. She's truly an amazing person and we're thankful for every day we're getting to spend with her. </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-22089764848445026262014-07-07T01:33:00.001-07:002014-07-07T02:07:55.832-07:00Shayna moves to Vietnam! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On Thursday April 10th, at 3AM, Huyen's cell phone rang. It was Huyen's sister in Hanoi giving us some news you never want to get -- Huyen's mom was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Needless to say, this was a shock. Huyen's mom is only fifty eight, in great health, and probably the nicest person you'll ever meet. She was having back pain so she went to the doctor who ran some tests and discovered the cancer. After a few more tests they realized it had already spread to her liver. Immediately upon hanging up the phone we decided to move back to Vietnam. Within a month we packed up our lives, rented our apartment and car and moved back to the other side of the world. Huyen and I had always talked about living in Vietnam again for a couple of years so Shayna could learn the language and know her family, but obviously this wasn't the reason we wanted to go back.<br />
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We've been in Hanoi for nearly two months now and, most importantly, Huyen's mom is doing pretty well. She's been responding positively to the chemotherapy and, for the most part, is feeling great. She does yoga every morning, cooks every night and smiles every minute of the day. She's truly a remarkable woman and a great role model for anyone who has to take on a hurdle in life.<br />
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Things have been much harder this time around for me. Being here with a kid is a whole new and sometimes terrifying experience. When we first arrived we put Shayna into "the best" day care in the near vicinity of my sister-in-law's house. The place was a prison for children. Literally when we walked in, every child was standing with their back against the wall in near darkness. Shayna though smiled and went right up to some kids to play. After we got the nerve to leave her there for the day (with her cousin Hien who goes there) she apparently had a good time. She was all smiles when we picked her up and we thought that the old idiom was true, "all a kid needs is a cardboard box to play with". You know, since the day care had no toys. But what do you want for $75 a month? The next day reality set in when Shayna freaked out upon going back. My heart broke seeing her so sad and I told Huyen we had to get her into one of the international day cares. Thankfully we found a phenomenal place about thirty minutes away. This meant we had to take Shayna in a taxi to and from the school. The problem with this is that Hanoi traffic is terrifying and we don't have a car seat. In fact, I've only seen one car seat in all my time in Vietnam. After a week of a terrible commute, we decided that we needed to move closer to the school. We found a great place but unfortunately it's not available until this upcoming weekend. So we paid a deposit and decided to suck up the commute (and living in a three bedroom house with nine people) for a month and a half. I'll be honest though, I've nearly gone crazy. Somehow I've become the de-facto babysitter for my sister-in-law's kids. Our bedroom almost always has Shayna, her 4-month-older cousin Hien and her 8-year-old-cousin Viet Hoang in it. The three of them tear it apart every day and her cousins have basically broken all the toys we came here with.<br />
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There's a thousand stories to tell so let me just try and give a few highlights:<br />
1. We've been trying to potty train Shayna as kids here don't wear diapers. Needless to say it's been a messy couple of months. On top of that, her cousin Hien has also decided that our bed is a suitable place to go #1.<br />
2. While looking for another day care we heard rave reviews about a former teach in our neighborhood who watches a handful of children during the day. We called the teacher and asked if we could bring Shayna in. She sounded very skeptical but hinted to the fact that if we paid more money than the other kids that she'd be able to watch Shayna too. So the next morning we went to her house and when we walked in we saw two kids playing with an odd looking toy. It turned out to be a dead cockroach. Great teacher!<br />
3. One day I went to the swimming pool with Su, Viet Hoang and a neighbor kid. While taking a break from swimming laps the lifeguard came up to me and said he was impressed I could swim. I'm pretty sure he couldn't. And even if he could, he was piss drunk.<br />
4. I was just on VTV News for playing ultimate frisbee. I'm trying to resurrect my Vietnam soap opera career but so far I haven't had any bites.<br />
5. I can barely recognize Hanoi. In three years the city has doubled in size. There are literally hundreds of new tall buildings. One can only imagine the safety codes these places wouldn't pass in the states. There's a new giant mall called Royal City that we went to the other night. There's an ice rink in the mall which means my dream of one day playing on the Vietnamese Olympic Ice Hockey Team is getting a little closer.<br />
6. I've been playing tennis with the parents of my former private students. These families have been amazing to Huyen and me for years. It's really nice that we've been able to stay in touch with them and they've taken us under their wing once again. Every Monday I play doubles with the fathers and then go to one of their houses after for a huge meal. My favorite part of playing tennis though is that these guys drink beers while playing. They told me it's good for your health to drink while exercising.<br />
7. Yes, we've taken Shayna on a motorbike. We've only done it a couple of times in quiet areas. But she loves it. I'm gonna need to buy a side-car so we can take some road trips!<br />
8. Shayna misses her family back in the states. She's constantly pointing at the computer and saying "Grandma and Pop Pop."<br />
9. Shayna speaks more Vietnamese than me. It's pathetic and everyone lets me know it.<br />
10. I'm trying to convince Huyen to let me invest in a bar in Da Nang. Can someone please send me a copy of Cocktail to get her fired up! </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-26582991913827230052014-04-07T11:34:00.003-07:002014-04-07T11:34:33.170-07:00Shayna Goes To Washington!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's a White House tradition that when you stop working there, you get to take a photo with whoever you worked for. Since my sister worked for both Obamas, she got to schedule an "exit photo" with each of them. The great thing about an exit photo is that you can bring your family along when you take it. So, a few weeks back the whole August clan headed down to Washington to have our photo taken with the Obamas.<br />
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Our first photo was with the President in The Oval Office. Meeting the president was pretty cool but to me, the more surreal thing was being in The Oval Office which we've all seen a thousand times on television and in movies. We spent about five minutes with the President, grilling him on when he's finally gonna close Guantanamo Bay. After we solved that issue, we talked a little bit about the new National Geographic series Nova and of course how wonderful my sister was. Shayna was on her best behavior with the President and was nice and calm during the photo. My favorite things that happened while in the Oval Office were:<br />
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1. The president's secretary shaking a box of White House M&M's behind the photographer to get the kid's to smile.<br />
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2. My nephew Cole walking up to a bowl of apples and stealing one. The President saw him do it and said, "Take one. That's what they're there for."<br />
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3. Leaving The Oval Office and Huyen saying, "I just stood next to the President." I mean, Huyen never imagined visiting America when she was growing up, let alone being at The White House. Seeing the look on her face was by far the best thing that day.<br />
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After meeting the President we headed over to the East Wing to meet The First Lady. We waited for her in "the map room" which gave Shayna some time to run around and play. When The First Lady came in, she immediately started to chase Shayna round the room. It was very cute. We then spent about ten minutes with FLOTUS who also had some great things to say about my sister. After our photo (which Shayna was not so good posing for) FLOTUS said goodbye and started to leave. My nephew Cole chased after her and The First Lady picked him up and disappeared down a hallway. After about a minute my niece was told she could join them in the hall where the three of them pet the Obama's new dog Sunny.<br />
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The whole experience was obviously a once in a lifetime event. Unfortunately we weren't able to use our cameras when meeting the Obamas so we don't have the photo evidence yet. The official White House photographer who took the pictures should be sending them to us in the next month or two. </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-58198922421007008872014-03-06T09:13:00.002-08:002014-03-06T09:13:20.726-08:0014 Months! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yesterday was the first time that Shayna didn't want to hold my hand when walking. Usually, if I'm in the vicinity, Shayna will reach out to me so we can walk hand-in-hand. However, when we left her day care yesterday she pushed away my hand as if to say, "I don't need you anymore, daddy." Unbelievable. Next thing you know she's gonna be able to change her diaper on her own.<br />
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Speaking of diapers, Shayna HATES being changed. This kid is like an ant. I swear she can lift eight times her body weight because when I put her down on the changing table she can fend me off and I weigh a heck of a lot more than she does. We're heading back to Vietnam in a couple of months and Huyen's mom has promised that in two weeks there she'll have Shayna potty trained. I'll believe it when I see it.<br />
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This month Grandma and Pop-Pop bought Shayna her first pair of shoes. Whenever we put them on her she just knows it's time to walk. That said, she also likes to kick them off from time to time. Twice this week we've walked into day care and one of her shoes was MIA. The first time I found the shoe in the car and the second time it was in the street. I know one of these days I'll lose a shoe and it'll join the boot and glove I lost last month. Somewhere there's a kid out there with a lot of mismatched clothing. But clothing isn't the only thing we've lost. A few weeks ago we somehow lost our baby carrier. Long story short Shayna was sleeping in it while we were at ShopRite. Then she woke up and wanted to go in the cart. So we put the baby carrier under the cart and forgot about it until we were unloading groceries at home. I drove back to ShopRite and walked through the store, peeking under people's carts to see if the carrier was there. No luck and I'm pretty sure security now has me on some special list for creepy dudes in their store.<br />
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Last weekend, while Shayna was napping, Huyen and I looked through photo albums of our Vietnam motorbike trip and our vacations to Myanmar and Thailand. It's a little weird to look at photos of yourself pre-kid and realize how much life has changed. Someone once said (I can't remember if it was a friend or in a movie or in a book) that you never realize how selfish you are until you have kids. I'm not sure "selfish" is the right word (maybe self-centered) but you definitely don't realize how much you only think about yourself until you've got a little one. But hey, nobody's complaining. In fact, we kept saying while looking at the picture, "I can't wait to take Shayna here." </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-9402311043850965382014-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:002014-02-06T00:00:16.315-08:00We have a walker!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This was the first really challenging month in fatherhood. Shayna has entered a tantrum phase and, well, it's not a lot of fun. If she doesn't get what she wants (or often for no reason at all) she'll throw herself backwards and cry like the world is coming to an end. As with all parenting information, there's two schools of thought on what to do when this happens. Our pediatrician believes that you need to ignore the kid and it'll break the habit. Others believe you need to try and get the kid over the tantrum since they're frustrated that they can't properly communicate what's wrong. I fall somewhere in the middle. At first, we ignored Shayna's tantrums and she would snap out of them pretty quickly. However, there's been a few where she gets herself so worked up it's no longer an act. Her crying turns into the most intense sniveling I've ever heard and she inevitably has snot all over her face and hair. This is generally when I break. If not then, it's when she bangs her head on the ground. We have wooden floors so the noise is like a kick to my stomach every time it happens. The doctor says that the kids won't do it if it actually hurts them. But every time she does it I picture her college dreams going from Harvard to, well, a school that doesn't require you to know how to spell Harvard. <br />
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Shayna's day care has canceled school a few times this past month which means I've had her to myself during the day. Don't get me wrong, I love having Shayna all to myself but when she throws a tantrum I wish to god I could have a nanny delivered to my door in thirty minutes or less.<br />
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The other day I picked up Shayna from school and one of her classmates was having a terrible tantrum. The teacher said she had been crying nonstop for an hour. I'm clearly a terrible person because I started to smile when she said this. It's nice to know Shayna's not the only one.<br />
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Now all that said, when Shayna's not busy being a head banger, it's been tons of fun. A week ago I showed up at school and Shayna immediately stood up and walked to me. It was awesome. Even more awesome is that I got to see her walk before Huyen! </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-51054147794647128602014-01-07T14:36:00.002-08:002014-01-07T14:36:58.700-08:001 Year! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As I put together this video, I just couldn't stop smiling. And well, that's basically how it's been for the past 365 days. Sure, Huyen and I haven't been to a movie in a year (despite that being my industry). Sure, we've gone out to dinner on our own once in the last year. Sure, our bedroom has become a nursery. Sure our living room has become a playroom. Sure, I've been peed on...and pooped on. Sure, I've been awoken in the middle of the night too many times to count. Sure, my life feels like I'm constantly packing and unpacking diaper bags. Sure, I've been to the pediatrician and hospital more times in twelve months than I've gone to the doctor in twelve years. Sure, I've become that annoying person who only posts things on Facebook about their kids. Sure, Huyen and I have had little arguments about who-knows-what baby things. Sure, I've been that parent who brings their infant on a flight. Sure, I've....<br />
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Well, you get the point. But those things are so trivial when all it takes is one smile from Shayna to make me feel like my heart has never truly melted before. The other night Shayna learned a new trick. She started teasing us with food. She would offer up a Cheerio and then pull it back as soon as we went to eat it (a small sample is in the video). Every time she giggled and laughed like she was the funniest person in the world. We literally let her tease us for about thirty minutes and it never felt old.<br />
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Every day I feel so lucky to have my girls in my life. Huyen is such an incredible wife and mother that it makes me strive to be the best husband and father I can be. When I watch this video (which I've done way too many times already) it makes me really conscious of how special each and every day is. Kids change so quickly, that you have to take a moment to appreciate each stage they're in. And I'm not talking about the "crawling stage" or "walking stage". I'm talking about the minute stages that fall in between there. The "oh my god she just went on her tip-toes for a quarter of a second" stage or the "she just made a farting sound with her lips" stage. Or the "she learned how to turn the TV on stage" or the "I'm gonna throw myself on the floor until you let me play with ___" stage.<br />
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One of the reasons I take so many pictures and videos is because it forces me pay more attention to the little things. I used to say that I blogged in Vietnam because it made me find something special each day. And the same is true now. If I can take one picture of Shayna each day it means I'm finding something special. And well, I can honestly say I've found something special every day for the last 365.</div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-91574598738217207872013-12-07T07:39:00.001-08:002013-12-07T07:39:13.762-08:00Eleven Months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to use this blog post as an opportunity to list a bunch of the things I'm thankful for:<br />
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I'm thankful for Huyen. Besides being an amazing wife and mother (and sugar momma), she's an incredible daughter-in-law to my parents and granddaughter to my Nanny. Every day I count my lucky stars for meeting someone so intelligent, kind, nurturing and supportive. Knowing that Shayna has 50% of Huyen's genes is a more than comforting feeling.<br />
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I'm thankful for Shayna. Since the day she was born, our lives have changed for the better. Don't get me wrong, I loved life before being a parent. However, since she entered our life I can feel my heart beating differently. Every smile she gives us, every time she learns something new, every mumbled word, every time she falls asleep in my arms is a perfect moment.<br />
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I'm thankful for my family. At Thanksgiving my mom cooked a feast for thirty family members. This is the norm for all the major holidays. Although the meals are usually chaotic with kids running around screaming and people talking/arguing politics, it's nice to know that my family always enjoys coming together. My parents are incredibly supportive of everything we do. And my brother and sister-in-law and cousins have given us so much stuff for Shayna (clothing, toys, etc.) that we've gotten to the point where we need to store things at my parents' house. A couple of weeks ago I went to my Uncle Barry and Aunt Donna's house and filled my car up with wood for our fireplace that my uncle chopped. I then went on a hike with my uncle and cousin Dana (after beating both of them in pool!). It's little things like that that remind me how special family is. <br />
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I'm thankful for my Vietnamese family. I truly miss my in-laws every day. Yesterday I was gushing about how amazing it was to have my mother-in-law staying in our small apartment for two months and how I wanted her to stay longer. I'm pretty sure nobody else I know would ever say that about their mother-in-law. Huyen's family have treated me as one of their own from Day 1...okay, maybe Day 1,001. We're going back to Vietnam for a couple weeks next May and I'm counting down the days until I'm sleeping at my in-laws on a wood-plank bed.<br />
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I'm thankful for my friends from home, my friends from college, my friends from LA and my friends from Vietnam. I can honestly say that I have friends all around the world. One of the sad truths in life is that as you get older and have a family, you start seeing your friends less and less. However, that doesn't mean your friendship means less. In fact, when you find the time to see one another, you're always reminded how truly special friendship is.<br />
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I'm posting this a day late which means we're one day closer to Shayna's first birthday. I find myself asking the same question every month, how is it possible time has gone by so quickly?! </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-37351036682433439342013-11-06T08:13:00.001-08:002013-11-06T08:13:17.545-08:00Double Digits!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Before having a kid, I must have heard a hundred times that babies usually say "Da-da" before they say "Ma-ma." Well, nobody told Shayna that. This kid says, "Ma-ma" about a thousand times a day. When I walk her to school: "Ma-ma." When I pick her up from school: "Ma-ma." When I feed her: "Ma-ma." When I change her diaper: "Ma-ma." When I bring her to the park: "Ma-ma." Yeah, you get the picture.<br />
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About a month ago one of Shayna's teachers told me that she says "Da-da" whenever I come to pick her up and stand behind the soundproof windows. I was skeptical of this and thought that she was probably saying, "Ba-ba" which is her second favorite thing to mumble. For the record, "ba" is grandma in Vietnamese.<br />
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Yesterday I had a parent teacher conference with Shayna's head teacher and she also told me she says, "Da-da" all the time. I asked her if she was sure or if it was perhaps "ba-ba". She looked at me and said, "Uh, yeah, I think it's ba-ba."<br />
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All that said, Shayna did say "Da-da" one time. It happened a few weeks ago in Central Park. I had Shayna in the baby carrier and we sat together on a tire swing. As we started to swing she looked at me and, clear as day, said, "Da-da." IT WAS AWESOME! Even more awesome is that we got picture of the exact moment. And yes, those pictures are included in the montage.<br />
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Some firsts this month:<br />
1. Shayna is standing while holding onto stuff. This also means she's falling when not holding onto stuff well enough.<br />
2. Shayna has officially claimed the refrigerator as her own. You can open the fridge for a second without her crawling 6MPH toward it.<br />
3. Shayna has started to only like non-baby food. She's not into the pureed stuff anymore. She wants texture and things she can hold. Her Asian side is coming out because she apparently loves rice.<br />
4. Shayna celebrated her first Halloween. Unfortunately she was sick on the actual holiday and missed her day care's parade. We took her out at night for about fifteen minutes (just so Huyen and I could get some candy) and then dressed her up again a few days later so we could get more pictures.<br />
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It's unreal that Shayna is already ten months old. Unreal. Can someone please tell me how to slow down time! </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-68532961416749747602013-10-07T10:52:00.002-07:002013-10-07T10:52:52.168-07:009 Months!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's mind boggling that Shayna has now been out in the world as long as she was in Huyen's belly. I haven't been able to get that out of my mind for weeks.<br />
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This blog is a day late, but I have an excuse. I was away last week in Los Angeles for work (yes, sometimes I work) and didn't get home until Saturday night. And yesterday I wasn't about to sit down and blog after not having played with my daughter for almost a week. This trip was the first time I was away from Shayna. The hardest thing about leaving your kid is not being able to explain to them what's going on. We're not really by-the-minute routine parents but inevitably we still have our own routines. For example, I take Shayna to Day Care every morning and pick her up in the afternoon. After I get her we go to the park and play before coming home. A couple of weeks ago I had a conference call in the evening so Huyen picked up Shayna at school. I wouldn't say Shayna was upset that Huyen was there but she was definitely a little confused and kept looking around for me. I had this in the back of my head the whole time I prepared to go to LA.<br />
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Let me just say that I'm 100% confident in Huyen taking care of Shayna by herself. Honestly, Huyen can do everything and anything. She's amazing. However, I was just sad that I couldn't chip in and do the things I always do. Shayna was totally fine, albeit a little confused where I was. Unfortunately we only have one computer so I wasn't even able to Skype with my girls but I did talk to them on the phone a ton and get about 1,000 videos on my phone from Huyen.<br />
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Being away from your family is hard. When connecting at the Nashville airport (I had credit to use on Southwest and that was the best connection) I saw a mom and her kid playing on a kid's playground in the middle of the terminal. It made me really sad. And every chance I could get in LA I somehow brought a story around to Huyen and Shayna. I guess you could say I'm just really proud of my girls. <br />
<br />
Anyway, it's great to be home!!!<br />
<br />
Some firsts this past month:<br />
1. Shayna crawled backwards...<br />
2. ...then crawled forwards.<br />
3. Shayna is saying "mom mom" a ton. Her teacher says that she says "dad dad" too but I don't believe her.<br />
4. Shayna was named one of the "artists of the month" at her day care. There's a picture of a her artwork in the video montage.<br />
5. Shayna outgrew a ton of clothing and is now wearing 18 month pajamas to sleep in. How that's possible, I don't know. <br />
6. Shayna's two teeth are really protruding and she bit my finger really hard. She's got a third tooth coming in on the top which should make for more biting fun. Luckily I don't have to breast feed. <br />
7. Shayna can hold on to things and pull herself up. We had to lower her crib last night. <br />
8. Shayna started to wear her hair in lots of different styles. Her teacher at school is amazing at doing her hair. I told the lady that I'm gonna open a salon for her to style kids hair. <br />
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On to double digits!!! Ten months here we come...</div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-88944072475190026712013-09-06T00:00:00.000-07:002013-09-06T03:53:34.560-07:008 Months! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of my favorite things about being a dad is walking around Jersey City with Shayna in the baby carrier. Having a cute baby knocks down shyness barriers and allows total strangers to come up to you and tell you how cute your kid is -- something a proud parents never gets tired of hearing. I've met so many people over the last couple of months from taking Shayna to the park and walking her to day care. In fact, a couple of days ago I was walking down the street on my way to get Shayna and the owner of a local grocery store said to me, "Hey no baby today?"<br />
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Last week I was walking down a street and I heard some smokery-voice call out, "That is precious." Some lady and her friend were sitting on a stoop and basically cat-calling Shayna and me. At the park, a few mothers have come up to me and said how cute Shayna is. Naturally you have to say, "Your baby is so cute too." <br />
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This isn't new information but having a baby really brings out the smiles. It's like having a dog, except you don't piss anyone off when it takes a dump on the sidewalk (well in Vietnam babies sometimes do poop/pee on the sidewalk). Anyway, I've become almost expectant of passing people to smile at me and Shayna. Which makes what happened yesterday extra weird: Shayna and I were going to the local supermarket to pick up some tomatoes for dinner. When we were about a block away a middle-aged, well dressed black man was walking to us. The man smiled at me and I smiled back, ready for him to give a compliment. Instead his eyes got all buggy and he looked right at me and said, "Jesus died for you." I wasn't sure what to say back:<br />
a) Just for me? What did I do?<br />
b) That's a bummer but do you think my baby is cute, Mr. Crazy Pants.<br />
c) L'Shana Tova.<br />
<br />
In other news, here's some of Shayna's monthly highlights:<br />
1. She got two teeth! Her sharp little teeth can really bite...just ask her mom.<br />
2. Shayna is racking up the airline miles. We flew to Colorado for Ryan and Jessica's wedding (where I was the officiant!). We actually had an emergency landing on the way in Ohio because apparently our plane was on fire. Shayna didn't panic at all. <br />
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(PICTURE: Jessica, Ryan and Shayna in Golden, Colorado.)<br />
3. Shayna finished her first day care and started at her new one. At her old one she was one of the few girls and was about the middle of the pack in age. Now her class is mostly girls and she's one of the oldest. <br />
4. Shayna can sit on her own. However if you sit behind her she'll lean on you like a barcalounger.<br />
5. Shayna broke my nose two times. Seriously I heard it crack...twice! I was reading to her on the bed and she head butted me. She seemed 100% fine while I was in pain for hours. <br />
6. Shayna can sort of crawl backwards in a circle. We're thinking of attaching a swiffer to her since she's dragging herself all over the floor.<br />
7. Shayna went to her first national park -- The Garden of The Gods in Colorado.<br />
8. Shayna has started to learn how to flirt. She was all over the flight attendant on our plane and the guy sharing our row. It was awkward.<br />
9. Huyen bought Shayna a potty-training toilet. So far Shayna still prefers her diapers.<br />
10. Shayna got pink eye. She still looked cute though.<br />
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I can't believe my baby is 8 months old! </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-33169932865825913262013-08-06T00:00:00.000-07:002013-08-06T00:00:01.191-07:007 Months! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Nobody is more disappointed in me than me for not putting together a six month video. But I have legit excuses. First, I was knocked on my butt for two weeks with Coxsackie virus. Yeah, that's a real thing that some clearly immature doctor first named. The day after I finally started to feel better, Shayna, Huyen and I went on vacation to Nantucket. Yeah, that's how we roll. By the time we got back it was already halfway to month number seven so I made the executive decision to combine the last two months. <br />
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I can't believe that Shayna is seven months old. It's insane that's she's more than halfway to being one! It feels like just the other day we were coming home from the hospital with her (I know I'll be saying this the rest of my life). So many firsts happened during the last two months. Let me list them:<br />
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1. Shayna started on food...and she LOVED it. So far she's eaten sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, summer squash, zucchini, apple, pear, green beans, chicken, fish, pork, kale, broccoli, mango, grapes, bananas, strawberries, melon...and basically any other fruit or vegetable we have in the house. The kid's an August -- she likes to eat. <br />
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2. Shayna went on a swing for the first time....and LOVED it. As you'll see in the video montage, she goes on swings all the time now. We literally took about 800 pictures of her swinging. Almost every day after school I take her to the park and watch as she lights up as soon as she sees the swing set.<br />
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3. Shayna had her first plane ride...and she LOVED it. Okay, I don't know if she loved it but she didn't cry at all. My friend Taylor had given us a tip to breastfeed Shayna during take-off and landing. It worked. I should also mention we were on a tiny plane and sitting right by the engine. Despite the noise, Shayna was all smiles the whole time. We even got a nice compliment from a fellow passenger for how behaved she was.<br />
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4. Shayna went to the beach...and LOVED it. When we arrived at the beach it was pretty windy and I was a little nervous Shayna wasn't gonna be happy. This feeling doubled when she took one of her biggest poops ever as soon as we set up camp. However, a few minutes later she was all smiles as she dipped her feet into the water. She also loved digging her feet into the sand. As you'll see in the video, Shayna spent a lot of time at the beach and really enjoyed it.<br />
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5. Shayna took her first boat ride...and LOVED it. Okay, technically it was her third boat ride since Huyen and I took a boat to Block Island while Huyen was pregnant. Also, technically Shayna slept on the boat about 90% of the time. Still I'm chalking it up as a victory since she didn't cry the whole time.<br />
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6. Shayna had two days of constipation...which she DID NOT LOVE.<br />
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7. Shayna started teething...which she definitely DOES NOT LOVE. <br />
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8. Huyen got bronchitis...which Shayna DOES NOT LOVE. Because of Huyen's medication, she can't breastfeed for ten days. Shayna has adjusted to this better than Huyen who definitely misses breastfeeding her. That said, Shayna's eyes go wide whenever Huyen holds her to her chest. Yeah, mommy's a tease. I can't tell you how proud I am of Huyen though for not only breastfeeding but pumping like a champ. She pumps at work and comes home every week with a huge bag of frozen milk. Our freezer is literally filled to the brim with milk...which is a good thing since Shayna's now chugging her way through it during this ten day breastfeeding break. <br />
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9. Shayna can hold her own bottle...sort of. Shayna loves to take her bottle while feeding her. She usually holds it to her mouth for about five seconds and then pushes the nipple into her forehead.<br />
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10. Shayna sits in a high chair during dinner. Our dinners are starting to feel like a family event. My brother Zev and sister-in-law Kathy hooked us up with their high-chair which we've now been feeding Shayna in. While Huyen and I eat dinner Shayna sits between us sucking on frozen fruit in her teething net. It's really nice sitting at the table together. <br />
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The only real negative from the last two months (outside of someone always being sick) was that going on vacation destroyed the already loose schedule we keep. The biggest issue was that Shayna stopped sleeping through the night. After two months of ten-plus hours straight sleeping, Shayna began to wake up around three times every night. We've been spoiled by her sleep habits so we were due for a few tough nights. Thankfully, as of typing this, Shayna has slept through the night for three straight nights. <br />
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I promise to be better the rest of the year! No more missed months.<br />
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Hope everyone is having a great summer. </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-45507462955179865112013-06-06T00:00:00.000-07:002013-06-06T07:16:26.040-07:00Chau Yeu Ba! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For a couple of years while living in Vietnam, Huyen's mother and aunt always teamed up to give me a hard time about moving to America with Huyen. The conversation went like this:<br />
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Huyen's Mother and Aunt: Don't move to America.<br />
Me: I'm sorry but we're gonna go. I promise we'll visit as much as possible.<br />
Huyen's Mother and Aunt: You found Huyen in Vietnam so you should stay in Vietnam.<br />
Me: Okay, that's a fair point. But I think America has more opportunities when we have children. Plus, did I mention we'll come visit as much as possible? <i><b>Also, you can come visit us in America. </b></i><br />
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This last line was directed at Huyen's mother and always got a giant laugh in response. To her, the idea was so far fetched it truly sounded like a joke.<a href="http://ahoyhanoi.blogspot.com/2009/09/its-better-than-on-tv.html"> If you remember, this is the same woman who had never seen the ocean until we took her to the beach! </a>Vietnam is a skinny country, lined by water on the east, and my mother-in-law had never gone to the beach! The beach is less than hundred miles from where she lives. Compare that to New Jersey which is ten thousand miles away. Yeah, the idea of visiting America <i>was</i> laughable. Was. <br />
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There's all types of bravery. My mother-in-law coming to America, truly is a special kind of brave. Despite not speaking a word of English and barely having traveled in her own country, she boarded a Korean Airlines flight two months ago and came to America. To say she was taking a dream vacation would be wrong. She never could have dreamed about coming to America.<br />
<br />
The two months that my mother-in-law were here were amazing. It's hard to imagine a home being filled with more joy than having a newborn in it. Yet somehow, our level of happiness was raised each and every day by Huyen's mom. For Huyen, it was so special to be able to show her mother what her life is like in America. You could see the pride in Dung's eyes all the time. On one of her last days Huyen drove her around my parents' neighborhood. Dung got a little emotional and told Huyen that she was the first woman in their family to be able to drive a car. Luckily she didn't know that Huyen started the car with her foot on the accelerator and "turned off" the car while it was still in drive. For Shayna, it was two months of being doted over. If you think that you can't spoil a baby enough...you haven't met Dung. Shayna's eyes went wide every time she saw her grandma. The other night we skyped with my mother-in-law and Shayna stared at the computer wondering when she was going to be wrapped up in a blanket. For me, the joy came in watching my wife and daughter spend time with Dung. I kept telling Huyen that her and her mother were like two high school girls when they get together. They were always giggling together and sharing stories. I know half the time they were making fun of me but I didn't care. I found myself always smiling, watching how happy they were together. And as a parent, nothing feels better than knowing your child is loved. And my mother-in-law LOVES Shayna. As Dung told us many times, she wasn't going to miss me or Huyen, she was only going to miss Shayna.<br />
<br />
Huyen and I know that Shayna will probably never remember spending this time with her grandma. Whenever I think about that it makes me sad. Really sad. However, Huyen, Dung and I will always remember it and we'll tell Shayna stories. For the past two months I've kept a journal and can't wait to share it with Shayna one day. Until then, I printed a handful of 8x10 photos of my mother-in-law and Shayna which we'll be putting up around the apartment. <br />
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Huyen, Shayna and I live in a one bedroom apartment. Before my mother-in-law came I worried that our apartment would feel very crowded. However, I can honestly say that it never did. Since she left though, it's definitely felt very empty. <br />
<br />
We all miss my mother-in-law but are also so thankful that she was able to come here and be part of our lives. And the best thing is, we're already talking about when she'll come again. </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-55067505280285125912013-05-06T04:21:00.004-07:002013-05-06T05:18:49.227-07:00Sleep Training<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our doctor encourages parents to sleep train their children around three-months of age. For those of you not familiar with sleep training, it's when you basically lock your kid in their room at night and let them cry it out when they wake up at three in the morning (while you lay in bed feeling like the worst parent in the world and begging the gods of sleep to quickly descend upon your baby's crib). The basic instructions of sleep training are this:</div>
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Step 1: Have a nightly routine with your child. i.e. Give them a bath at 7PM, read them a book at 7:30PM, sing them a song at 7:45PM and then put them into bed.<br />
Step 2: Once in bed, leave the room.<br />
Step 3: Don't return to the room until the morning.<br />
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We were told that it takes three nights to sleep train your child and to expect them to wake up twice and to cry for about twenty to thirty minutes. We've been pushing off sleep training because it goes against every fiber in my mother-in-law's body. To her, the second a baby cries is a half second after you should have been shoving a nipple/bottle in the baby's mouth. Since my mother-in-law arrived we've talked a great deal about sleep training. When she came with me to the doctor's office I asked our doctor if it would be okay to wait until my mother-in-law left. She said that it would definitely be to late since Shayna would be six and a half months by then (NOTE: I've surveyed a few friends who don't use our doctor and they sleep trained their kids around six months so I'm sure it would have been fine).<br />
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To me it doesn't make sense not to sleep train your kid as soon as possible. It's never gonna be easy to let them cry for an extended period of time so why not just get it over with? About a week ago my mother-in-law said to Huyen that we should try to sleep train Shayna. I thought Huyen must have been mistranslating but she assured me she still understands Vietnamese.<br />
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This past Wednesday we agreed to give it a try. I emailed our downstairs neighbor and gave them a head's up and offered them a box of earplugs. They declined the earplugs and wished us luck. Believe me, I knew we were gonna need it! That night we tucked in Shayna at 8PM and had a quick conversation if we should sleep in our bed or in the living room. You see, we only have a one bedroom so we share a room with Shayna. We decided we would stay in the same room but just remain silent when Shayna woke up. Sure enough, seven hours later Shayna woke up at 3AM. I'm a light sleeper and heard her first little movements. After a couple minutes her whimpers started to build into cries. When they got a little louder, Huyen woke up and I whispered to her that Shayna had been awake for about ten minutes. Right around this time I heard some rustling from the living room and thought to myself that trouble was brewing. A minute later Huyen's mom started to call out from the living room, "Huyen, Shayna's crying." We tried to ignore her -- hoping that she would remember we were sleep training -- but that didn't exactly work. Moments later there was a knock on our door: "Huyen, Shayna's crying." And so much for night one of sleep training. I got out of bed, picked Shayna up and brought her to Huyen for a late night snack. The next morning my mother-in-law said that Huyen hadn't reminded her that we were sleep training that night.<br />
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On Thursday, we decided to try it again with a few changes. We put Shayna in bed at 8PM and then ourselves in bed at 10PM. However we decided to sleep in the living room. We put my mother-in-law on the couch and we slept on her Japanese-style floor futon. At about 10:05 I realized that Shayna's crying was nothing compared to my mother-in-law's snoring! For such a tiny, fit woman she sure can make a lot of sounds in her sleep. After finally falling asleep I woke up at around 2:30AM to Shayna's whimpers. Soon Huyen and my mother-in-law were up too and we all laid there as Shayna cried for about twenty minutes. There were a few times it seemed like she was done crying and then after a few silent moments she would cry again with vengeance. At one point she was silent for about fifteen seconds and then let out a series of powerful sneezes. Following that she let out one more cry and then fell asleep until 6:30 in the morning...when my mother-in-law went into the room and took her out of bed! Despite feeling like a horrible parent, it was a successful night. Shayna slept 10 hours!<br />
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On Friday we followed the same routine...including my mother-in-law's snoring. I woke up at 4AM and whispered to Huyen, "Have you heard anything?" She said she hadn't...or at least that's what I think she mumbled. Although it could have been, "Why are you waking me up at 4AM when my daughter is sleeping?" Well, Shayna ended up sleeping straight through the night until 6:30AM. I can't tell you how proud we were of her. I mean, she's half Asian so she's obviously pretty smart. It only took her a night of sleep training to learn to sleep through the night...<br />
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...or at least that's what we thought. On Saturday night we followed the same routine. However this time Shayna woke up at 3:30 and cried for about thirty minutes. Her cries were much louder this time and sounded like she was saying, "Me! Me!" ("Mom! Mom!" in Vietnamese). After about fifteen minutes my mother-in-law started saying, "You should go pick her up." However, we hung strong and after her last cry she slept until 6:45 in the morning. <br />
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Last night we slept in the living room again. Our schedule was off a little and we ended up putting Shayna down around 8:45PM. We thought for sure she would wake up during the night because she had taken a very long nap during the day. However, she proved us wrong -- she woke up at 6:45AM!<br />
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<u><b>So let's call it official -- today, on Shayna's four month birthday, she can sleep through the night!!! </b></u><br />
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Yeah, I know by typing this we're totally screwed.</div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-35599849788578952072013-04-08T07:01:00.004-07:002013-04-08T07:01:56.289-07:00Welcome Ba! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After a tough end to Shayna's second month, the third month brought nothing but smiles. Sixteen days ago Shayna's ba (grandma in Vietnamese) arrived from Vietnam. The two of them bonded immediately even though her ba kept insisting she was cold, even though she wasn't. For the first week or so we had to battle with my mother-in-law to stop covering Shayna with blankets and unnecessary outfits. My mother-in-law felt cold and assured us that Shayna must be cold too. Every time we turned our back, Shayna would have another layer on. My Vietnamese sucks but there's a few words I can easily recognize such as "lanh" and "ret." Both mean cold. My mother-in-law basically said these words a minimum of ten times a minute. It got so ridiculous that I changed the lyrics to Old McDonald to this:<br />
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<i>Old McShayna had a farm,</i><br />
<i>Ee i ee i oh!</i><br />
<i>And on her farm she had a ba,</i><br />
<i>Ee i ee i oh!</i><br />
<i>With a "ret" "ret" here,</i><br />
<i>And a "ret" "ret" there,</i><br />
<i>Here a "ret", there a "ret", </i><br />
<i>Everywhere a "ret" "ret". </i><br />
<i>Old McShayna had a farm,</i><br />
<i>Ee i ee i oh!</i><br />
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It's become an instant hit in the house. <br />
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Huyen's maternity leave ended last week so it's been just me and my mother-in-law at home during most of the day. Despite some culture clashes, it's been amazing having Huyen's mom here. She's really wonderful with Shayna and has embraced the way we want to raise her. Here's a few things that Huyen's mom isn't used to but has quickly adjusted to:<br />
1. Babies shouldn't leave the house for the first six months.<br />
2. Babies should spend all their time on their back. There is no tummy time in Vietnam.<br />
3. Babies shouldn't use a pacifier or suck their thumb.<br />
4. Babies should spend ALL of their time eating and sleeping. <br />
5. Babies should be attended to the very second they cry.*<br />
6. Babies should be held until they're fast asleep.<br />
7. Babies shouldn't be comforted by their fathers. That's a mothers job.<br />
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*I don't like when Shayna cries but sometimes you need to give her a minute to let out a ten second cry and fall back asleep. For the first few days my mother-in-law would sprint into the bedroom and start clapping and singing right in Shayna's face to get her to stop crying. The problem is that Shayna usually would nap for an hour more after she has her ten second cry. Soon instead of taking three long naps during the day, Shayna was taking five short naps. <br />
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The next couple months are gonna be really interesting for all of us in our one bedroom apartment. I've started to call my life's sitcom: "Two and a Half Vietnamese Women."</div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-41336258892734971282013-03-08T10:54:00.000-08:002013-03-08T10:54:46.135-08:00Shayna's Second Month<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
People will tell you that being a parent gets better each and every day. Well, that's mostly true except when your kid gets sick. Last Friday Shayna got her first cold. On Monday morning it had taken a bad turn and we went to see our pediatrician first thing in the morning. It turns out that she had <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002531/">RSV</a> which led to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001970/">bronchiolitis</a>. Shayna was having a pretty hard time breathing but she was still eating. The doctor told us that we could either go to the hospital or keep monitoring her from home. We decided to do the later. However, by the next morning Shayna didn't want to eat and had thrown up twice. We went back to see our pediatrician and she suggested that we play it safe and go to the hospital.<br />
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We had been prepared to go to the hospital and had our bags packed. After the doctor's visit we jumped in the car and drove to Hackensack Hospital which supposedly is one of the best pediatric facilities in the country. After a few hours of observation and some unsuccessful nebulizer treatments, the doctor tried a much stronger medicine. Immediately Shayna responded and started to breath better. Soon enough she was eating and crying again (she had been so lethargic she couldn't cry). Her crying-screams really sounded like Mozart at that point. After a few more hours the doctor told us we could go home. Honestly, there's nothing better than hearing your child doesn't have to sleep overnight in the hospital.<br />
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It's been a few days since the hospital and Shayna has definitely rebounded well. She's still a little sick but she's getting better and better every day. The point is, just when you start to think you've got this parenting thing figured out...you realize you don't have a clue. It's beyond words how much it sucks to see your child in pain...and equally how great it is to see them recover. <br />
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Besides that though, Month #2 was fantastic. Here's some highlights...<br />
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Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-7482309644387236212013-02-04T11:18:00.005-08:002013-02-04T14:20:38.056-08:00Shayna Phuong<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On Saturday January 5th, Huyen and I had our friends Heidi, Seth and Sal over for dinner. The three of them left around 10PM and we went to sleep around eleven. Three hours later Huyen woke up with stomach pains. At first she thought she ate too much but after they didn't go away we cleverly deduced that they were contractions. We downloaded a contractions application on our phones and started to time her contractions around 3:30AM. At first we thought that they must be Braxton-Hicks contractions (AKA "fake contractions") since we weren't due for another two and a half weeks and since the contractions were all over the place -- some fifteen minutes apart, others just two minutes. I told Huyen to take a warm shower and made her a smoothie to help her relax. We then started to watch a DVD the hospital had given us that we were waiting till the last minute to watch. We got about ten minutes into the video when Huyen's contractions started to become five minutes apart. Our doctor had told us that this was the time to start heading to the hospital.<br />
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Huyen had packed her hospital bag weeks earlier and it was in the trunk of our car. As we got ready to leave I asked her if she packed anything for me...she hadn't. So I quickly threw a few things together...and then a few more things -- including our backgammon board -- thinking that we'd be at the hospital for a long time. When I finished packing the bags, Huyen had her most painful contraction yet; she literally bent over in pain and had a tear coming down her face. At this point I was 100% sold that we were having our baby since Huyen is one of the toughest people I've ever met. We quickly went down the stairs of our building and I ran to get the car. When Huyen got in I called the doctor's office and was told that the doctor would call us back. Thankfully it was 7:30AM on Sunday morning so there was no traffic at all going to the hospital. We arrived at St. Barnabas thirty minutes later and as I pulled into the lot my phone rang. It was a doctor (not our doctor or any of the ten from his practice) asking us what the situation was. I told him we were having contractions four minutes apart and he said to come to the hospital. I told him we'd be right upstairs.<br />
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After checking-in, the nurses examined Huyen and told her that she was six centimeters dilated. It was almost go time. At this point Huyen was so nauseous and in so much pain that she couldn't speak. She went probably three hours without saying a word. Actually the only time she spoke was when I was coaching her to breath. She turned her head and looked at me and said, "DON'T BREATH IN MY FACE!" She didn't say anything else again until she had her epidural.<br />
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Once Huyen had her epidural she was in heaven. She took a little nap and I decided to watch a little football. I turned on the TV and started to watch the Ravens vs. Colts playoff game. After a few minutes the nurse came in and examined Huyen. She then asked me to hit a little red button on Huyen's bed. The intercom came on and the nurse said, "Please tell the doctor to come in. We're ready to deliver." Five minutes later, four pushes by Huyen and three snips of the scissor on the umbilical cord by me, Shayna Phuong was born. It wasn't like how I had pictured it or how a thousand movies had depicted it. Everything was very very calm. Shayna didn't cry but just stared at us with her beautiful eyes. She was immediately placed on Huyen's chest and just like that, we had a family.<br />
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That was four weeks ago. The best four weeks of our lives. <br />
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Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-5914615031233403952012-08-28T05:29:00.001-07:002012-08-28T05:29:50.976-07:00Epilogue: Table For Three<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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About an hour after finding out that we're having a girl, my family was sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner. After taking a bite of food, a thought popped into my head and I blurted out, "Shit!" My parents and Huyen looked at me with concern. My mom said, "What's wrong?" So I told everyone what was wrong: "I have to pay for a wedding." <br />
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The stress of having to pay for a wedding (and let's not forget college) is nothing compared to the joy we're feeling about having a baby. Huyen and I couldn't be more excited to have our blond-haired blue-eyed baby (shhhh, don't tell Huyen that's not gonna happen) and we can already feel our love for each other reaching a new level. As every parent and expecting parent knows, all you want is the best in life for your children. That said, I've got two or three decades to convince our little girl to get married in Vietnam. Until that time though, I'll be posting occasional stories/pictures/videos on Ahoy Hanoi. </div>
Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-33026763579732471292011-08-29T09:58:00.000-07:002011-08-30T04:42:01.342-07:00The End<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhHhROEkCbUWvyaEKc_hlH-Ib8_dlE-rtv3cLvi3pDDyuAFVTDi0lBG9vjbQ1qqOk-NA6S2hdpqWTwXZ2wNwLkpdlx3wqbMS4XZQR03eDZAXKV1F76jpVjZ23RhzQ6uLxhM7wVeBkbWKy/s1600/62263_1617724012328_1513220860_1553174_4184624_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhHhROEkCbUWvyaEKc_hlH-Ib8_dlE-rtv3cLvi3pDDyuAFVTDi0lBG9vjbQ1qqOk-NA6S2hdpqWTwXZ2wNwLkpdlx3wqbMS4XZQR03eDZAXKV1F76jpVjZ23RhzQ6uLxhM7wVeBkbWKy/s320/62263_1617724012328_1513220860_1553174_4184624_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646340559830477522" border="0" /></a>
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<br />As all my loyal readers know, I started this blog for my mom. I thought it would be easiest for her to know what I was up to if I posted a day-to-day account of my life when I left America. My mom's a mom and mom's worry. We all know that. The blog was meant for her to ease her nerves while enjoying my adventure. The fact that 75,860 unique visitors from 170 countries/territories started to read my blog just became a bonus and some extra writing motivation over the last few years.
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<br />Instead of going out with a bang, I'm sad to say that Ahoy Hanoi has fizzled to say the least. After writing nearly a blog a day for three years, I've written less than one a week since coming home. And well, I'm sorry about that. The truth is though, it's my mom's fault. Yup, that's right, I'm blaming my mom. Now that I'm living back home, my number one reader gets her Ahoy Hanoi updates straight from the blogger's mouth. Okay, it's not totally my mom's fault. Just like 96%.
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<br />I've thought for a while about how I wanted to end my blog. I thought about writing a giant <a href="http://ahoyhanoi.blogspot.com/2009/05/goodbye-vietnam.html">thank you list</a> like I did two years ago when I first left Vietnam on May 8, 2009. But I've already done that and truthfully, most of the people I would be thanking would be the same people I've already thanked. I thought about doing one final video of all my time abroad but I'm pretty sure most of my readers are over my videos.
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<br />Instead, I want to try and give the moral to my story as I see it.
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<br />In 2007 I wasn't happy. Frankly, I was probably depressed. My life wasn't where I wanted it to be. I had moved to LA to become a writer and I had failed miserably at that. I was working on a reality TV show that I hated and felt like I was wasting away, spending long days in a dark edit suite. On the relationship front, well, there was no front. I hadn't had a meaningful long term relationship in about seven years and didn't have any prospects on the horizon. To top everything off, I was living far from my family and my closest friends. Yeah, things weren't great.
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<br />I'm not exactly sure when I first got the idea to drop everything and move to Vietnam. Regardless of when it happened, it sparked something inside of me. I've always been a person who does what he says. Once I verbalized that I was moving to Vietnam there was no stopping me. I sold all of my things including my car and furniture. I donated a ton of clothing to the Salvation Army and then packed up all my stuff. I had whittled down my possessions to so little that I was able to get it all back to the East Coast by having three friends and my sister take home an extra suitcase for me when they flew back for the holidays. Truly, I was starting with a blank slate.
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<br />When I flew out of JFK on February 2nd, 2008 I had no idea what to expect. Even as a writer, I couldn't have imagined the stories and experiences I would have over the next three and a half years. At some point recently, I realized that I had spent more time in Vietnam than I did in Syracuse, my alma matter. That realization hit a chord in me. Vietnam was truly like a second education for me; it was my graduate school for life.
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<br />When I left LA, I had failed as a writer. When I returned to America I had written over 1,200 blog entries AND had a screenplay optioned for an original family comedy script I wrote. I had never had a script optioned in LA, yet had one optioned while living on the other side of the world. The script presently has a director attached to it and the production company is paying me to do a rewrite and a polish on it. This isn't even close to being a big deal in Hollywood, but it's a big deal to me. On top of that, Huyen and I went to LA for three weeks last month where I had a bunch of meetings. Hopefully the writing career will continue to move forward...but if it doesn't, so what. There's other things in life that are more important. I can honestly say that one day teaching at the school Huyen and I started was more rewarding than any paycheck I ever earned.
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<br />When I left LA, I was single. Well, obviously that's not the case anymore. Everyone knows my love story. Most of you feel like you know it too well. For those of you who somehow stumble on to this blog, here's the jist of it: During the first week I was living in Hanoi, I met the love of my life. Huyen has changed my life for the better and, just from two months in America, I can already see her changing my family for the better too. No matter how long I live, I'll always be thankful for meeting Huyen.
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<br />When I left LA, I was living far away from my family and closest friends. Logically one would think that moving to Vietnam wouldn't solve that problem but somehow it did. Not only was I welcomed with open arms into Huyen's amazing family but I also made some great new friends. Upon leaving Vietnam, I thought we would have to make a tough decision on where to live in the USA. It would be easier for both Huyen and me to find work in California (besides Hollywood, there's a huge Vietnamese population in California that Huyen could have networked with). However, there was no decision to be made. Huyen laid down the law and said we were gonna move to NJ/NY so we could be close to <span style="font-style: italic;">our</span> family.
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<br />So what's the moral of my story? Well, it's simple: Live life.
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<br />It's so easy to get stuck in the daily pattern of life. Well, sometimes we need to change things up and just go for it. Moving to Vietnam was the best decision of my life. There's no doubt about that. However, one doesn't have to do something so drastic. If you hate your job, quit it. Things will work out. If you're miserable in your relationship, end it. Things will work out. If there's a girl or boy you like but are scared to ask out, go for it! What's the worst that can happen? If you wish you could spend more time with your family, do it! Don't talk about it. Do it! Live life!
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<br />With that, Ahoy Hanoi has come to an end. However, don't fret. From time to time I might post some epilogues. For example, Huyen and I are planning on going to Hanoi next February for Tet. I'm sure there will be lots of fun stories to write about after nearly a year away.
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<br />And for those of you who like Huyen more than me (which is probably everyone who has met her), get ready for some great news -- Huyen is starting her own blog. Check it out: <a href="http://www.photasticusa.blogspot.com/">Photastic USA!!!</a>
<br />Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-81054675071599570292011-08-20T07:00:00.000-07:002011-08-20T07:00:04.080-07:00My Grandma<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirqc85yAFvaoMZm0vGy1iPnG00JjZjOT_ZVZ9w6XdmGphi28OHKjALQZaUlTgzuWVd1yVLB3MS0T3Qqa-hRmRTysK00eRNX3NorOw8uhK1qyg_nbCrtFzdU3czTIyITw4tr_vB3tcWPUeO/s1600/Family+Portrait+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirqc85yAFvaoMZm0vGy1iPnG00JjZjOT_ZVZ9w6XdmGphi28OHKjALQZaUlTgzuWVd1yVLB3MS0T3Qqa-hRmRTysK00eRNX3NorOw8uhK1qyg_nbCrtFzdU3czTIyITw4tr_vB3tcWPUeO/s320/Family+Portrait+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642586237561743026" border="0" /></a>
<br />(PICTURE: My family -- Grandma is in the middle, as always.)
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<br />While we were traveling in India, my Grandma Cele's health started to deteriorate. Huyen and I immediately tried to change our flight home but the cost was astronomical. We called my grandmother a few times every week and constantly checked in with my parents to see how she was doing. With about twelve days left to travel, her health got a little bit worse. Huyen and I quickly called the airlines and once again tried to change our flights. This time the cost was reasonable so we booked it and canceled the rest of our travel plans. We ended up landing in the USA ten days earlier than we had planned and drove right to see my grandma. Well, thank god we did. My grandma was very weak when we arrived but she was lucid and able to communicate with us. She got to meet Huyen and talked to her whenever she had strength. The two of them held hands and constantly exchanged kisses on the cheeks. Right around the time we were supposed to land home, my grandmother's health declined even further. She passed away two days after we were supposed to come back.
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<br />There's no good way to die, but my Grandma did it right. She had a great life and passed away with almost her whole family by her side, holding her, as she took her last breaths. It was sad but also beautiful at the same time.
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<br />At her funeral, I spoke for my siblings. Here's the eulogy I gave:
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<br />GRANDMA'S EULOGY:
<br /> <style>@font-face { font-family: "Courier New"; }@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast { margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }ol { margin-bottom: 0in; }ul { margin-bottom: 0in; }</style> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >I want to start off by apologizing to Grandma for three things. First, Grandma, I’m sorry for throwing Zev off the bed in 1983 when you were babysitting us. Sure, I meant to teach Zev a lesson not to mess with his little brother, but I didn’t mean for him to have to go to the hospital to get stitches. I know you had a little anger bottled up towards me over the years so I just wanted to say sorry. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >Secondly, I’m sorry if there’s any incorrect grammar in this speech. Growing up, if I said, something with incorrect grammar, Grandma would strain her eyes and pretend like she couldn’t hear me. For example, if I said, <span style=""> </span>“Grandma, Zev and me were wrestling on the bed and...” Grandma would stop me and say, “Who was wrestling?”. <span style=""> </span>I’d say, “Zev and me”. Grandma would say “Who?” again and again until I’d caught on and said, “Zev and<b style=""> I</b> were wrestling on the bed and I pushed him off and he hit his face and he’s bleeding a lot.” </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >My grammar was so bad that Grandma had to pretend to be hard of hearing so many times that I’m pretty sure I’m responsible for her actually going hard of hearing.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >Thirdly, Grandma, I want to apologize that this speech is gonna be more than thirty seconds.<span style=""> </span>I know you liked to keep everything short and sweet and well, this speech is a gonna be a little bit long. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >When Grandpa Leo was alive, if you called over to my grandparents’ house, Grandma would pick up the phone, talk to you for ten seconds and then pass the phone to Grandpa who would talk to you for roughly twenty five minutes to around three and a half hours. After Grandpa Leo passed away, here was a typical phone call with Grandma:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">Ring. Ring. Ring. Grandma picks up.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">GRANDMA: Hello?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">ME: Hi, Grandma!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">GRANDMA: Oh, hi Justin.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">ME: No, it’s Ben, Grandma. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">GRANDMA: Oh, hi Ben. What’s new?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">ME: Well, A, B and C are new. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">GRANDMA: So, when are you coming home? </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">ME: I’ll be home in a month. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">GRANDMA: That’s too long.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">BEN: Well, I’ve got midterms.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;">GRANDMA: Well, okay. Goodbye. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >ME:<span style=""> </span>Wait, uh, Grandma. I lo--CLICK. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >I swear, I didn’t get my first full “I love you” out until I was in my thirties.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >But that was Grandma’s way. For Grandma, actions always spoke louder than words. Grandma didn’t need to tell us that she loved us. The proof was in the pudding.<span style=""> </span>Or really, the proof was in the chocolate squares, the apple crisp, the strawberry cheesecake, the fruit mondolas,<span style=""> </span>the chocolate chip cookies, the oatmeal/raisin cookies<span style=""> </span>and about 2,867 other sweets that all of us grandkids will think about fondly the rest of our lives as we’re dealing with diabetes.<span style=""> </span>Frankly, we all knew Grandma loved us because she wanted more of us – thirty to fifty pounds more of us. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >But Grandma didn’t just cook. She could eat with the best of them too. Grandma <u>always</u> finished everything on her plate…even her second and third plates. Whenever everyone comes over to our house, we usually do buffet style. Whenever I’d get Grandma a plate I ‘d ask her what she wanted. Her response was always the same, “Everything.” </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >Zev was saying to me the other day how Grandma would eat a full rack of ribs, with two sides, at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que when she visited us in Syracuse. Let me just tell you that a full rack of ribs with two sides even makes my dad full. And well, my dad weighs a little bit more than Grandma did. But Grandma, as always, would clean her plate. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >Besides in the kitchen or the dining room, I always think of my Grandma at Temple Beth Shalom. If you’re a temple member, you knew exactly where to find my Grandmother on high holidays. She’d be on the right side, about five rows back and would have a wall of protective siddurim around her, saving seats for her family members who didn’t want to show up to temple at 3:30AM.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >I just want to be clear about something though, Grandma was a proud Jew, but I know she only went to temple at the crack of dawn so that us grandkids could have the furthest walk possible through the crowd so that every temple member could see who her grandkids were. And just in case people weren’t absolutely sure who her grandkids were, she then introduced us to every person over the age of 40 who was within seven rows of us even though she had introduced us on every Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur since we were able to walk.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >On a side note, being at temple with Grandma on Yom Kippur was the only time us grandkids were ever with her when we were hungry. In fact, I’m absolutely certain that nobody had a harder fast than us because our stomachs had been trained to expand whenever we were within sixty feet of Grandma. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >Us grandkids are so fortunate to have grown up so close to Grandma and Grandpa. Throughout our childhoods, they were at every event we participated in. Whenever we’d finish playing a sport, or finish up a concert or a play, Grandma and Grandpa would be there, beaming with pride. We’d always be greeted after our event with a “How about that” from Grandpa and a smile and kiss from Grandma.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >I know that all of us are gonna miss Grandma. But nobody is gonna miss Grandma more than my mom, who not only lost her mother but also her best friend. With Grandma, actions always spoke louder than words. And well, my mom did every action there was for Grandma. She took her to the beauty parlor to get her hair done and to salons for manicures. She took her grocery shopping and to doctor’s appointments and anywhere else my grandmother wanted to go. Sure my mother takes after my grandpa in that she can talk A LOT, but her actions were always those of an angel. My mom is an amazing person and I know my grandmother loved and appreciated her with every bone in her body.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >Like I said before, Grandma used to hang up the phone before she said I love you. In fact, until the last couple of years she never said I love you to me – although in retrospect maybe I’m the only one she didn’t say I love you to since I threw Zev off the bed. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >Anyway, I know she loved her whole family and in the last days of her life, she couldn’t stop saying “I love you” to all of us.<span style=""> </span>She loved my mom and she loved Barry. She loved my dad and she loved Donna. She loved Adam, Justin and Dana and she loved Zev, Hannah and myself. She loved Kathy and Rachel and she loved Huyen, who she liked to talk to on the phone more than me and who she got to meet in the last week of her life and smothered with kisses. And of course Grandma loved Lilah and she loved Max. And she loved Linda, who took such great care of her over the last couple of years. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >Us August and Zucker kids are so lucky to have known all of our grandparents. My Grandfather Macky died eighteen years ago and my Grandpa Leo died 10 years ago and I still think about them all the time. Just as I know Adam, Justin and Dana think about Grandpa Leo and their Grandpa Harry. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >As I lay in bed t<a name="_GoBack"></a>wo nights ago, just as I did after Grandpa Leo died, I could picture the scene up in heaven between all of them.<span style=""> </span>Grandma arrives and is greeted by Grandpa Leo, Grandpa Macky, Grandpa Harry and all of Grandma’s sisters and brothers and parents. Grandpa Leo greets Grandma with a big hug and kiss and says, “How about that. Cele, you lived to 94. What were you trying to show off?” And Grandma smiles at Grandpa and everyone else and says, “Is anyone hungry?” And Grandpa Leo says, “Of course. But first let me finish explaining to Max and Harry how to properly plant a hydrangea.” And then Macky quickly gets a word in and says, “Cele, maybe you should start cooking. Leo’s been explaining this since 2001.”<span style=""> </span>And then Grandma heads off to the kitchen and starts to prepare a brisket and an apple crisp. And well, lets just say everyone up in heaven is about to get a little bit fatter. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="line-height: 200%;font-size:14pt;" >We love you Grandma.<span style=""> </span></span></p>
<br />Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-73887746610924660432011-08-19T07:29:00.000-07:002011-08-19T07:48:54.792-07:00Goodbye, IndiaI've been in the worst blog writing slump since I started Ahoy Hanoi. There's basically two reasons for this:
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<br />1. Huyen and I arrived in America and have been running around like crazy.
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<br />2. I think I'm sad to end the blog and know it's about time. It's sort of like dragging out the end of a relationship that has lost its fizzle.
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<br />I've had more than a few readers yell at me recently that I need to wrap up India and get on with the blog. Well, I'm a man of the people so here's a goodbye to India video:
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<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dziDWx4UeyjlOthuahcW93sQgxKSjmZWvklyZmx9ddEvVqZQJ8WjbJ4B-Owf-tVYZsCq99QykMyMZYdR9vAIA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>
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<br />India is an intriguing place. There's no arguing that. However, it's hard for me to make generalizations about the country because we only visited a small percentage of it. There was so much to like but also so much to despise. I loved the history. I hated the way the people treated us. I loved the energy of the cities. I hated the vile litter and filthy streets. I loved the colors and the scents. I hated the scams and the lying.
<br />Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-76842100886617872012011-08-02T03:00:00.000-07:002011-08-02T03:00:04.029-07:00Our first friend<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwEfgGKOquy5fkBvf_t8WlQvS3031D_6ZydNyOY7WsD6YsAE9WbrUl3zmMzpD4z_r7J5K1QCN91EpbHTg6W_fJxsNYbf5mA0xhCx6-iL5l4BNF4zgcaQmSRwl2wokY4tV8K6BVblmO_tX/s1600/IMG_6663.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwEfgGKOquy5fkBvf_t8WlQvS3031D_6ZydNyOY7WsD6YsAE9WbrUl3zmMzpD4z_r7J5K1QCN91EpbHTg6W_fJxsNYbf5mA0xhCx6-iL5l4BNF4zgcaQmSRwl2wokY4tV8K6BVblmO_tX/s320/IMG_6663.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635880834984811058" border="0" /></a><br />In the past, whenever I've traveled I've made some friends. When you travel alone or with a friend, it's very easy to meet new people. When you travel with your wife, it's not as easy. For one, we were generally on the backpacker path in which couples are at a minimum and married couples seemed to be almost non existent. Secondly, you usually end up making friends at night when drinking at bars. In India, there just weren't that many bars and well, Huyen and I rarely drink. Those two things combined meant that Huyen and I had another month of basically just each others' company. Yes, I know, Huyen is a lucky woman.<br /><br />On the bus to Agra we met our first friend -- Nate.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSksFt0haUn_GcBzdb3uz2xeWIn-4ADI77ANHlmGKuYLUwz4dLv0FEYW1WaLNIHP1P03wZHoG4C5RxcpYkaDUhMJdgZx9MTOGQxLrVpwmA524k1wKf-MpXa1Lr4sKGKF2YMQGOeOIsvBBn/s1600/IMG_6758.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSksFt0haUn_GcBzdb3uz2xeWIn-4ADI77ANHlmGKuYLUwz4dLv0FEYW1WaLNIHP1P03wZHoG4C5RxcpYkaDUhMJdgZx9MTOGQxLrVpwmA524k1wKf-MpXa1Lr4sKGKF2YMQGOeOIsvBBn/s320/IMG_6758.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635880844992957954" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In a case of it being a very small world, Nate taught English in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. This obviously gave us an immediate thing to talk about. When we arrived in Agra we shared a rickshaw and ended up at the same hotel (Nate, being a way better backpacker got a way better rate on his room then we did). Over the next couple of days we ate and toured with Nate who turned out to be a very cool guy despite the handlebar mustache.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vQNrHhfRKfBfsiGn2M-PSju4OGgQykEilupieZ4kWU7OJLgvebzYtJtDzJRCo7qwgTvhgE1ZsXB_i1F5x5oXc7gmqcRZE6P62pkOja3EeVocgE8LNokwjwJK7aZF5SWCdGscfXc8qqJP/s1600/IMG_6719.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vQNrHhfRKfBfsiGn2M-PSju4OGgQykEilupieZ4kWU7OJLgvebzYtJtDzJRCo7qwgTvhgE1ZsXB_i1F5x5oXc7gmqcRZE6P62pkOja3EeVocgE8LNokwjwJK7aZF5SWCdGscfXc8qqJP/s320/IMG_6719.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635880840769626786" border="0" /></a>Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-66785484068253572372011-08-01T06:13:00.001-07:002011-08-01T06:29:09.899-07:00More of Agra...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXepTRSvydgAyMQhfedwL4B2fIJKq5C6PFYuozYmUcAEmft-zJILw-RTUPS_GdvTWOKds27VUbEDSiGQR8idVJBRUAVPszVmyaFWI0xqDRIwDicXUjfswfzqi01Zs_9NzzDJ4C1TGDg01/s1600/IMG_6607.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXepTRSvydgAyMQhfedwL4B2fIJKq5C6PFYuozYmUcAEmft-zJILw-RTUPS_GdvTWOKds27VUbEDSiGQR8idVJBRUAVPszVmyaFWI0xqDRIwDicXUjfswfzqi01Zs_9NzzDJ4C1TGDg01/s320/IMG_6607.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635876019145361490" border="0" /></a><br />Most people only think of the Taj when they think of Agra. However, there's actually a ton of other cool sites like the Red Fort and Baby Taj.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOaqaRxviYwgJ_6s_4WlTq_czsPhNfcVS0z-4nZYRsih32sTsJuSNrbPfSmDtTXKn8jgdJBiBQoWSxAppoDlB__G6BVPUgXlyojsnWiOtma4otDD-mxtp5OV9BgPAUG5Jbte1GBHTetVlL/s1600/IMG_6518.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOaqaRxviYwgJ_6s_4WlTq_czsPhNfcVS0z-4nZYRsih32sTsJuSNrbPfSmDtTXKn8jgdJBiBQoWSxAppoDlB__G6BVPUgXlyojsnWiOtma4otDD-mxtp5OV9BgPAUG5Jbte1GBHTetVlL/s320/IMG_6518.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635877872836259410" border="0" /></a><br />To me, the Red Fort is really interesting because the rich dude who paid for the Taj was actually overthrown by his son and imprisoned in the Red Fort. He spent the last years of his life staring at the Taj with this view:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJ5Gi7bDsX5hgGCj6aimOXUyRHL6qE0R1a5Q0MPYxcRlW1EOBdAnJGmWUUq5bgNl7_paAY_oZk7pn7sC412npvirmoV11Pc_xxd4x7gG0NaRp6AM6uga1NE4jhJjMFa29cXZw26JENxV-/s1600/IMG_6507.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJ5Gi7bDsX5hgGCj6aimOXUyRHL6qE0R1a5Q0MPYxcRlW1EOBdAnJGmWUUq5bgNl7_paAY_oZk7pn7sC412npvirmoV11Pc_xxd4x7gG0NaRp6AM6uga1NE4jhJjMFa29cXZw26JENxV-/s320/IMG_6507.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635876027745433234" border="0" /></a><br />(PICTURE: The Taj is out there somewhere.)<br /><br />There were two common themes among all the sites:<br /><br />1. We would inevitably be harassed by freelance tour guides as soon as we set foot near the site. The guides would grow increasingly angry at us when we told them we didn't need a guide. We had our travel book which gave a brief history, and frankly that's all I could really retain after seeing so many sites.<br /><br />2. The ticket agents would try and scam the site. They had this little scam going where they would take your new ticket and then give you back an old ticket someone had put into a special "return ticket" box. The scam is so simple and brilliant. Basically the ticket agents would take our new tickets and return them to the cashier for money. It doesn't affect tourists (unless you want to keep your ticket as a souvenir). Instead, it just rips off the Indian government.<br /><br />Here's some other pictures from sites...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_oxPTu6Gf7lVXzTuCOpTqPxirFJR50pYfB7xC55qTrGdOgvJGO2Ep0tG2ambx5pSAeVaKYuvsTNJ3s1o0F4GjLyNppp5mc7H8trz7yomx5__GsdKaPEXu_-DPRd9ZQjERMC0qSZCX-L1/s1600/IMG_6624.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_oxPTu6Gf7lVXzTuCOpTqPxirFJR50pYfB7xC55qTrGdOgvJGO2Ep0tG2ambx5pSAeVaKYuvsTNJ3s1o0F4GjLyNppp5mc7H8trz7yomx5__GsdKaPEXu_-DPRd9ZQjERMC0qSZCX-L1/s320/IMG_6624.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635877867899954546" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3cAghHm6S3MG_8pvnlHFdTYP312zxiPv9s-W7xZPJWBq8Tb6nFPgCHx68OVAYjVGNULaXXgHJQmYFFyoq7Q5e5yc4U3HL-7q43J0WPpfopyvH_4Xqa9LCiC_Z2VQqw9PG0G_3dmunOpc/s1600/IMG_6717.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3cAghHm6S3MG_8pvnlHFdTYP312zxiPv9s-W7xZPJWBq8Tb6nFPgCHx68OVAYjVGNULaXXgHJQmYFFyoq7Q5e5yc4U3HL-7q43J0WPpfopyvH_4Xqa9LCiC_Z2VQqw9PG0G_3dmunOpc/s320/IMG_6717.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635877875630147858" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUBOpgz3CSlNLQetuMVdbuduk4CXGQTncFsnHz7Pkc5eACI6mJtOOzynYsSQpiAqZhQHhXiqRfc344I3TWwk95B3YHmTEXVtSJ3_4Fw9zMFzDTfs89l0-yNFZ9xkTuc2GbjFsRfgtKNDZ/s1600/IMG_6718.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUBOpgz3CSlNLQetuMVdbuduk4CXGQTncFsnHz7Pkc5eACI6mJtOOzynYsSQpiAqZhQHhXiqRfc344I3TWwk95B3YHmTEXVtSJ3_4Fw9zMFzDTfs89l0-yNFZ9xkTuc2GbjFsRfgtKNDZ/s320/IMG_6718.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635878919439230434" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrs1fIzT19HqT_PZyE0YS2y3NeY26hk4Piqf_-AHiD9lmexXDoynC5tpvy6YI9rVXffCKAuSABSWrXO8MbhtLd7jVkcWYVmn-q_8YCLrAw4nYevqu472cyP9AJOPCo6JgA9T6txXoYMbOJ/s1600/IMG_6710.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrs1fIzT19HqT_PZyE0YS2y3NeY26hk4Piqf_-AHiD9lmexXDoynC5tpvy6YI9rVXffCKAuSABSWrXO8MbhtLd7jVkcWYVmn-q_8YCLrAw4nYevqu472cyP9AJOPCo6JgA9T6txXoYMbOJ/s320/IMG_6710.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635877879097831970" border="0" /></a>Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-25634131585457249322011-07-30T06:58:00.000-07:002011-07-30T07:05:01.081-07:00The TajThe Taj Mahal was impressive. I'll let the pictures do the talking on this blog entry:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlF3V9dlh-kePWlxZet10fVkSDCG2kPKoItZFAhRAOdiX2xJXGou_mN-8npcXZNw1mJ60acG8OjX7CfBCnZ6rovGQBc-lYsuPSgYqG5vWP9-IAJ0rs6ZSqEFy9SGItFZ9tt1qqC16XaGv/s1600/IMG_6439.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlF3V9dlh-kePWlxZet10fVkSDCG2kPKoItZFAhRAOdiX2xJXGou_mN-8npcXZNw1mJ60acG8OjX7CfBCnZ6rovGQBc-lYsuPSgYqG5vWP9-IAJ0rs6ZSqEFy9SGItFZ9tt1qqC16XaGv/s320/IMG_6439.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635145917613368898" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95-KBeT9iDwK8Hrv32l1g_1gqNynYpxxDvLWlmEpgN27gOrVaTziSPc9YSzwaLevfDQFeEFz2VhYfVHT3GFGGsKoMZctID8qnjnJpgf2QcOPU-Jj-fYS4_ZsSa0n1gOGi3ZCUZijIh60F/s1600/IMG_6408.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95-KBeT9iDwK8Hrv32l1g_1gqNynYpxxDvLWlmEpgN27gOrVaTziSPc9YSzwaLevfDQFeEFz2VhYfVHT3GFGGsKoMZctID8qnjnJpgf2QcOPU-Jj-fYS4_ZsSa0n1gOGi3ZCUZijIh60F/s320/IMG_6408.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635145913632513954" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDqmGV9-mMvJTtAWqiz3xk9MT_LXDJDzVUhA-W38LUXewl4nzPAraffhVNgL1VTIIOkl4i5lWZezXHJOENmS_UdIHwWUMJhGnfQwUnLQKdNqwWVnF9jFsklt1xoYhOxiPpRcIFbF1uPXXX/s1600/IMG_6451.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDqmGV9-mMvJTtAWqiz3xk9MT_LXDJDzVUhA-W38LUXewl4nzPAraffhVNgL1VTIIOkl4i5lWZezXHJOENmS_UdIHwWUMJhGnfQwUnLQKdNqwWVnF9jFsklt1xoYhOxiPpRcIFbF1uPXXX/s320/IMG_6451.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635145885438549618" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZvfkFaOHpYaog0Ubc5EkxAID9YjjkbWZhJVOt8l2LD8-XP-MdsapUV1skGcfZ0eCLN5pQLIjJXz08JlNAYNhYKVaHq1WmpuhMxwiKOJhlIg-xqsFF94O-OSygKG7FGKNpsCWSAGNrTtm/s1600/IMG_6361.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZvfkFaOHpYaog0Ubc5EkxAID9YjjkbWZhJVOt8l2LD8-XP-MdsapUV1skGcfZ0eCLN5pQLIjJXz08JlNAYNhYKVaHq1WmpuhMxwiKOJhlIg-xqsFF94O-OSygKG7FGKNpsCWSAGNrTtm/s320/IMG_6361.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635145342778048898" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvpAZeWKlc7gSvvmN0O4RTkmlBnkNHcMvy236LtgQGaxLOIzlT7pBdZNlrz-CN77d1WL-AJzUuuB44bQasUm7rnHlXK562am2zjoYgKKrRWlgOPvBHg0w5WhMmevvqZ7Ol5tSvJZB0U-O/s1600/IMG_6372.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvpAZeWKlc7gSvvmN0O4RTkmlBnkNHcMvy236LtgQGaxLOIzlT7pBdZNlrz-CN77d1WL-AJzUuuB44bQasUm7rnHlXK562am2zjoYgKKrRWlgOPvBHg0w5WhMmevvqZ7Ol5tSvJZB0U-O/s320/IMG_6372.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635145339729447074" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisH6VLVgDsQvVKNyHXXbZUXAtkklSqh1fbPkO6BA_d-3U8NfNkf9tcGQz4pgbjLuC_9uZPMXdLJrGb6_vvVn6StfdvAOwccHHoO2x2FQzFdtRWL8g4jGCSVJr6i3Ewxzr9Wn1345iVtECf/s1600/IMG_6373.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisH6VLVgDsQvVKNyHXXbZUXAtkklSqh1fbPkO6BA_d-3U8NfNkf9tcGQz4pgbjLuC_9uZPMXdLJrGb6_vvVn6StfdvAOwccHHoO2x2FQzFdtRWL8g4jGCSVJr6i3Ewxzr9Wn1345iVtECf/s320/IMG_6373.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635145335080258210" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9joeNlDCshxolOZv46paGxfOJ6GG-bPk4AIcbIlzQrrr0rgCvAFHkzRfV5zIrnyr2Ojvuegze8PWfKjAQhwd4Bn2ippbStKmMG6l-0-baNnAyXzBR5QgYS0Bqb7UY2hIu4gPOaeGz5R4z/s1600/IMG_6339.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9joeNlDCshxolOZv46paGxfOJ6GG-bPk4AIcbIlzQrrr0rgCvAFHkzRfV5zIrnyr2Ojvuegze8PWfKjAQhwd4Bn2ippbStKmMG6l-0-baNnAyXzBR5QgYS0Bqb7UY2hIu4gPOaeGz5R4z/s320/IMG_6339.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635145332485543170" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JxoPtZ0icB4EbZWqlaYucUVGpYRRTTzweNkTUB3VLOZsAD_svt7RV6aKTec-TF3wl7s2Eple8VpwxvxTiFCTX6ElbUtL7_i6wsm5G55HjEtY-z7A599Fy1en7hOtfx9y1VWsJRebNfa4/s1600/IMG_6323.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JxoPtZ0icB4EbZWqlaYucUVGpYRRTTzweNkTUB3VLOZsAD_svt7RV6aKTec-TF3wl7s2Eple8VpwxvxTiFCTX6ElbUtL7_i6wsm5G55HjEtY-z7A599Fy1en7hOtfx9y1VWsJRebNfa4/s320/IMG_6323.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635145328132187058" border="0" /></a>Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663325692700112562.post-8078744013521991272011-07-29T07:15:00.000-07:002011-07-29T07:23:55.103-07:00Laughing Yoga<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWBDUudfTXSLhj5gyFTmFh48OOjW39cjbgM0esEEgFmCGIXyTZN2s6Bh0chMYlOP-ijBfCJPTifT3VoIh0I62eyqUDy4rJRA88C-14GBPmhuM9-ztlIk7WvAYXqnEivgI0tgQsUDvRI6sZ/s1600/IMG_6065.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWBDUudfTXSLhj5gyFTmFh48OOjW39cjbgM0esEEgFmCGIXyTZN2s6Bh0chMYlOP-ijBfCJPTifT3VoIh0I62eyqUDy4rJRA88C-14GBPmhuM9-ztlIk7WvAYXqnEivgI0tgQsUDvRI6sZ/s320/IMG_6065.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634777861358952978" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My friend Kevin Rodin (also known as Huyen's new swim teacher) told me that he and his wife Beth tried to go to laughing yoga in Kolkata. I was intrigued by the idea of laughing yoga and asked someone in Kolkata about it. This one guy told me how it was very healthy to laugh and that since Indian people don't laugh much, it was good to make oneself laugh in yoga class. When he told us this, my first thought was, "Indian people don't laugh a lot?". After he said that I started to notice that indeed, people didn't seem to laugh as much in India as in other places I've been. For example in Vietnam, everyone always seems to be laughing (except when they're stone faced on their motorbikes).<br /><br />In Kolkata, we tried to find the laughing yoga and failed miserably for two hours. Perhaps the laughing yogis were watching us search for them and this inspired their laughing. Well, in Varanasi we signed up for regular yoga and it turned out to be a laughing yoga class. The guru was the weirdest dude I've met in a long time. Besides his dyed purple hair, he just had this comical look to match his big belly. I found myself giggling because all around his yoga studio were pictures of him featured in newspapers around the world. The pictures were clearly from a few years earlier when he was a tad bit trimmer. Anyway, he started to lead us in laughing yoga which was actually a lot of fun. We did thing like making funny faces and forcing ourselves to laugh. It wasn't too hard to make ourselves laugh though because everyone looked utterly ridiculous, especially the guru.<br /><br />Just as we started to feel good and relaxed, a joke was played on us -- the guru said he had to go and had his assistant take over the class. His assistant, a girl, looked like she hadn't laughed since, well ever. She had the most serious look on her face and started to instruct us like a drill sergeant. Needless to say, there were no more laughs the rest of the class.Benjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06425453650024691669noreply@blogger.com0