Happy Birthday, Big Bro!

Every day my brother Zev sends me baby pictures of Lilah. Now it's my turn to show everyone baby/childhood pictures of Zev. Happy birthday, big bro!

Pittsburgh Pirates

(PICTURE: Roberto Clemente, my dad's favorite baseball player ever.)

In 1956 my dad and his best friend Mark decided to stop rooting for the Yankees -- apparently they were too good -- and each picked a terrible team. My dad picked the Pirates and his friend Mark picked the Orioles.

Although the Pirates haven't had a winning season in fifteen years, my dad had lots of great years with the Pirates in the 60s and the 70s. My dad's favorite player was Roberto Clemente and when I was a kid I collected Clemente cards at baseball card conventions to show off to my dad. In turn, Clemente became my favorite legendary player.

Despite being a huge Pirates fan, my dad had never been to Pittsburgh. While living in Vietnam, I told my dad that I was going to take him to a Pirates home game when I came home. I asked my brother if he wanted to come along and well, I'm in Pittsburgh this weekend with my dad and brother.

Last night we went to PNC field -- a gorgeous stadium overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline -- and saw the Pirates lose 3-1.

Why Vietnam?

I often get asked the question, "Why did you choose Vietnam?" That's a tough question to answer but I'm pretty sure it's because as a little kid I was abnormally obsessed with The Wonder Years. The Wonder Years -- which was set in America during the '60s -- premiered in 1988 when I was nine years old. In the pilot episode Winnie Cooper's brother is killed in the Vietnam War. That episode has always stuck with me.

As I got older I started to read both fictional and non-fictional books about the Vietnam war. In high school I took an elective class specifically about Vietnam. It's always just been something I think about. In fact, while I was cleaning my room on Tuesday I found an "Extra Cedit" essay I had written on the Vietnam War. Unfortunately there is no date on the essay but I'm pretty sure it was from 5th grade because it was written on perforated paper. Yes, perforated paper. The last time we had perforated paper in my house was when we had an Apple 2E....which was a long long time ago.

(PICTURE: The essay I found. Unfortunately I can't figure out how to make it big enough to read.)

Spring Cleaning

I'm living at home which means one thing: My mom is on my back to clean my room.

Yesterday I spent the WHOLE DAY cleaning my room. When all was said and done, I had 3 1/2 giant bags of paper recycling, two giant bags of garbage and a bag of old electronics. On top of all that, I had three bags of clothing and other goods for the Vietnam Veterans.

I've written a couple of blogs about reverse culture shock. This isn't reverse culture shock, but I can say that over the last fifteen months I've learned to live with a lot less. I basically spent the last year plus living a life that filled just two suitcases. Sitting in my room, looking at all my stuff, makes me feel good that I can give a whole bunch of things away to people who need them more than me.

That said, the coolest part of cleaning my room is that now I can ask my mom for my allowance on Friday!!!!

The Good And Bad Of Blogging

THE GOOD: When you're at a wedding and someone comes up to you and says, "My brother was traveling in Southeast Asia and told me about a blog he was using for advice. It turned out to be your blog."

THE BAD: When the day after you blog about a wedding you get an email from your sister, "Who is the Jeremy in your pics from Jed's wedding?....he's cuuuuuute."

Wedding Differences

This past weekend was my friend Jed's wedding in Cape May, New Jersey. The whole wedding weekend was fantastic and got me thinking about some difference between Vietnamese weddings and American weddings. Here's a few obvious differences:

1. There are no destination weddings in Vietnam. Weddings are always at the house or in the city of one of (or both) the people getting married. Nobody just chooses a spot because it's beautiful.

(PICTURE: Cape May, NJ)










2. There is no rehearsal dinner.

(PICTURE: My friend Jeremy and I at the rehearsal dinner.)






3. My Vietnamese isn't exactly that good, but I'm 99% sure there are no "roasting" style speeches at Vietnamese weddings.

(PICTURE: Jeremy, Brett and Alex doing their best Three Stooges impersonation.)

4. There is no dancing, let alone a couple's first dance.

(PICTURE: Jed and Lena's first dance.)














5. There is no cocktail hour.

6. There is no band.

7. There is no open bar. There's just all you can drink beer and vodka.

8. There is no after party at a bar after the wedding.













9. There is no brunch the next day.
(PICTURE: One guy didn't get the memo to wear a blue shirt.)








10. And finally, there's definitely no NY Times Wedding announcement.

Reverse Culture Shock #3

(PICTURE: It is a rarity to eat a meal or a snack out of a can or a box in Vietnam.)

As I just finished my cold bowl of cereal, I find myself reflecting back to my daily morning breakfasts in Vietnam. I miss my hot bowl of pho and my warm sticky rice. I miss Banh Gio and my tofu with bun noodles. I even miss eating the half developed duck eggs in broth.

In fact, I'm really missing Vietnamese food in general. For one, I love the taste and variety of Vietnamese food. Secondly, everything in Vietnam (minus the globs of fat on pork) just feels healthier. So many things we eat in America are processed or grown with pesticides. I'm pretty sure in the month I've been home I've eaten more things out of cans than I did in 15 months abroad. Also produce is just so much bigger here. Every piece of fruit I eat in America is about twice as big as its Vietnamese cousin. I'm not a farmer (although I do love gardening) but I'm pretty sure fruits and vegetables aren't bigger here just because mother nature wants it that way.

All of that said, perhaps I just miss the food in Vietnam because I've gained a couple of pounds since I came home. In fact, Huyen called me fat the other night on skype! But on the other hand, perhaps I've only gained a few pounds because of a cuisine in America that Vietnam can't compete with -- my mom's home cooking.