Belated Birthday Blog

(PICTURE: I swear I had nothing to do with the writing on this cake.)

I had promised on January 10th that I would eventually blog about Huyen's birthday. I'm so far behind on my blogs that I'm just getting around to this a month and two weeks later. Well, to celebrate Huyen's birthday I planned a small surprise party for her. I had called her friend Hang and asked her to call Huyen's friends and to have them meet us at our favorite goat hot pot place. The one problem with this place is that it's all outdoor seating so there isn't a good place for people to run out and surprise a birthday girl. Luckily Huyen didn't see her friends sitting outside when we first pulled up to the restaurant. Immediately I turned her around and pretended that I had something in my eye. Huyen was very concerned for my eye but equally confused why I was slowly pushing her backwards. When she eventually turned around she saw everyone and got a very big surprise. It was pretty awesome because she had NO CLUE that I had planned a party.


(PICTURE: Huyen's first surprise party.)

However, I decided that one surprise party wasn't enough. The next night, on her actual birthday, I planned another party with all of our Apex students. When Huyen arrived to our class (she always comes late to our TOEFL class because of work) we were all ready and waiting with cake and candles. Again, Huyen had no clue that a party was planned and got a second great surprise.


(PICTURE: Huyen's second surprise party.)

No Market Allowed

(PICTURE: Our local market after most of the vendors have left.)

Part of my food tour for Rick was to take him to our local market. While walking through the market, Rick pointed at this sign and asked what it said:


(PICTURE: Notice the exclamation mark.)

Using my amazing Vietnamese I translated that it said, "Market" and pointed at the word "cho" and ignored the other words around it. Immediately Huyen starting laughing and explained that the sign actually read, "Market not allowed."

To me this is just a great symbol of Vietnam: Everyone knows the rules/laws yet blatantly ignores them. Here's this big sign that says no market yet every single morning and evening a market forms and is packed with all the locals from our neighborhood. Shoot, I'm sure gonna miss Vietnam!

Rick and Pri: Parents Of The Year

(PICTURE: Rick at the temple of literature.)

My parents of the year award this year goes to my friend Rick and his wife Pri. Rick and Pri did something so awesomely non conformist that I've got to tip my hat to them -- they decided to move to Sri Lanka for six months so their two little kids could learn about the place where their mother and grandparents were born. To me, this is an experience that will be with their kids forever and go a long way for them to understand who they are. I really want to make sure that my future kids know Vietnamese and are proud of their Vietnamese background; doing what Rick and Pri are doing is definitely something that I hope Huyen and I could do too in the future. You can follow Pri's fantastic blog about their time in Sri Lanka here.

While the rest of his family is living in Sri Lanka, Rick is commuting back and forth to LA where he is producing a few television shows. On one of his trips back to LA recently, he stopped in Hanoi to say hello and to be given a Hanoi food tour. You see, like me, Rick is a total foodie. Even while living here, he has sent me emails about restaurants in both New York and LA. In fact, when he arrived he not only brought us some delicious Sri Lanka tea but he also gave us a gift certificate to one of his favorite restaurants in New York as a wedding present.

During Rick's visit we took him to almost all of our favorite spots. He was so thoroughly stuffed by the end that he barely ate any of his goat at my favorite goat hot pot restaurant! To me, Rick was the perfect type of visitor: someone who just wants to take in as much of the culture as possible while eating every step along the way.

On a side not, Rick got to experience how cold Hanoi could be. Before we went motorbiking around the city he borrowed my vest and one of Huyen's scarves. You can see them in the picture at the top of the blog. At some point during the day (I think exactly when I took that picture) it occurred to me that he looked just like Huyen in this photo:


(PICTURE: Huyen roller skating in my vest and her red scarf.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been nearly two months since our wedding and I'm happy to report that we're still married!...which means I need to do something for Valentine's day.

While I think up something romantic, you all can check out our amazing video my friend Mark Morgan shot/directed/edited from our wedding. Mark is a genius with his camera and somehow managed to make a great wedding video while still having time to party and pluck chickens.

Okay, okay, I get it. Nobody actually likes to watch someone else's wedding video, right? Well, the beauty of this one is that it's just three minutes and a lot of fun. Heck, you didn't even need to go to the wedding to enjoy this! Thanks again, Mark!

OUR WEDDING VIDEO!!!!!

Oh, and happy Valentines day to the best darn wife I've ever had! Love you, Huyen!

Learning New Things Everyday

One question you get asked after you get married is, "Is there anything new that you learned about your husband/wife since you got married?" Considering we had lived together for a year before getting married, there's nothing really new to report...except one thing.

I've recently learned that my wife doesn't know how to take pictures. I'm not sure how I've overlooked this fact over the last couple of years but it must be because I was always taking photos for the blog. During our honeymoon though, I asked Huyen to take a couple of photos. Check one out and see if you can see a problem:

(PICTURE: Me and Le, the bus driver.)

Maybe Huyen is just so sick and tired of me that she doesn't want to see my face anymore.

Welcome Back Mai!!!!

(PICTURE: Mai and me.)

Mai:

A) One of my favorite people I've met over the last few years...
B) The Godmother of the Hanoi Ultimate Club...
C) Now a green card holder living in California..

...came back to Hanoi for Tet! It was Mai's first trip back to Vietnam after living in the United States for over a year. Seeing Mai was not only awesome but also a very eye opening experience for both Huyen and I. Mai married an American last year and has been living in working in California. Hearing about her first year experiences was definitely very exciting and informative but also nerve wracking. Mai is one of the toughest people I've met out here and she confessed to us that she cried nearly every day because of homesickness. Specifically Mai said she really missed her family, friends, the food and the culture in Hanoi.

Neither Huyen or I have any doubts that Huyen will suffer from homesickness too. It's not going to be an easy transition but, like Mai, Huyen is a tough girl. I think Huyen and I also have some advantages over Mai when it comes to our transition. For one, I have been living here a long time and understand Vietnamese culture. I think that will go a long way. Mai's husband, who is a great guy, never lived in Vietnam and might not fully understand the little intricacies of Vietnamese culture (I mean, I say I understand but there's still so much I'm oblivious to I'm sure). Secondly, Mai is living in a smaller city. Huyen and I plan on living in a big city as soon as we can get jobs. I think this will make life more exciting and help Huyen interact more with other Vietnamese people (Mai told us that she goes to the local nail salon to chat with girls there in Vietnamese). Thirdly, Huyen and I will have the goal to make sure Huyen visits Vietnam within the first year away. Our plan is for Huyen to come back to Hanoi next Tet so that she has a set time to return and something to look forward to. Finally, Huyen and I are going to give her parents a computer and set up Skype for them. Mai has talked on the phone with her family but I think seeing someone really makes a huge difference.

It was great seeing Mai and catching up. Huyen and I definitely plan on visiting her the next time we're in California!

Are you pregnant yet?

Coming from America, you always expect the first people to pressure you into having kids to be your parents. However, in Vietnam, everyone pressures you into having kids ASAP. I swear to you that at the wedding, more than a couple of Vietnamese people asked me when we were going to have children. Since the wedding, a countless number of times people have asked Huyen, "Are you pregnant yet?" Even today, we saw one of my friends (who was married in October and is six months pregnant) who basically yelled at us to get knocked up.

This is definitely a case of cultural differences. In Vietnam -- as I've mentioned on here before but now that I'm married it is really hitting home -- people get pregnant right after (or right before) the wedding. People just don't seem to understand the "we're planning on getting pregnant in two years" excuse we keep telling everyone. We literally get looks as if we're Galileo trying to explain to people that the Earth is round. People have inevitably started to ask questions and wonder, "What's wrong?" now that we've been married for nearly two months and don't have a bun in the oven.

Yup, I sure can't wait to get back to American where we'll have at least a year or so before my parents start to ask us when their next grandkid is coming.