13 Months!

Thank goodness for technology. Nearly every day, twice a day, Huyen and I talk on skype video. The time difference between New Jersey and Hanoi works out great for us since Hanoi is eleven hours ahead of EST. When it's 10AM in Vietnam, it's 11PM here -- the perfect time for Huyen to say goodnight to me. When it's 11 pm in Vietnam, it's noon here -- the perfect time to say goodnight to Huyen.

Being far apart from someone you care about is obviously never easy. However, being able to see them and hear their voice every day makes it a lot easier...except on your monthly anniversay when you would give nearly anything to hug one another.

Happy thirteenth month anniversary, Huyen!

1st Annual West Hampton Jewish Under 32 Invitational Tennis Tournament

I have a confession to make. I never went to Vietnam. The truth is, I spent the last 15 months training in an undisclosed location for the 1st Annual West Hampton Jewish Under 32 Invitational Tennis Tournament.

The tournament was this past weekend and all my hard work and dedication paid off. I won the tennis tournament against Jed Tamarkin.

Being the winner is quite an honor despite the fact that there were only five people invited to the invitational...and two of the five weren't exactly tennis players. The tournament -- run by bracket master and third place winner Alex Bertsche -- was the final event on Jed's final weekend as a single man. Yes, I know what you're saying: "You beat Jed on his last weekend?" For a second I thought about letting Jed win...but then nailed an overhead slam right by him.

Since this blog is about Vietnam, I should make this post relevant: Tennis is very popular in Vietnam. There are actually lots of tennis courts in Hanoi but you generally need to have reserved them weeks ahead of time. While in 'Nam I played tennis twice. I won my first doubles match...thanks to my doubles partner Long who was way better than me. The second time I played we got rained out after about five minutes. That's one of the troubles of playing tennis in a country with a rainy season.

Reverse Culture Shock

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

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

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










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

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

Generation Gap

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

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

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

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

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

A Really Goode Job

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

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

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

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

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

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

Max Frank Zucker

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

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

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

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

Congrats, Cuz, Rachel and Max!

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


















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


















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

Babies On Parade

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

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

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

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