Transitioning from a Jewish mother to a Vietnamese wife

I've commented in the past that there are way more similarities than you would think between Jewish mothers and Vietnamese mothers. Well, I'm starting to learn that there are a lot of similarities between Jewish mothers and Vietnamese wives too. Recently I fell ill with either food poisoning or the stomach flu; I'm not sure which one it was but it was absolutely brutal for twenty four hours. While sick, the caring and nursing of me by Huyen was right on par with how my mom used to take care of me when I was a child. In fact, I could basically hear my mother's voice coming from Huyen's mouth a few times...minus a couple of nouns which were interchanged -- specifically the noun "rice."

There was one moment where Huyen said to me, "You need to eat rice to feel better!" I looked at Huyen and said, "Rice? I've never eaten rice to feel better in the past." A little while later I had some homemade soup (with rice in it) and did feel quite better. It wasn't exactly my mom's chicken soup (although she offered chicken but I wasn't in a meat eating mood) but it definitely did the trick.

Gestures Not To Do In Front Of Teenagers

The other night I made my biggest teaching gaffe ever. I was teaching thirteen teenagers some very basic classroom language with the help of a slightly blurry worksheet. One of the students pointed at the picture of a pencil sharpener and asked what it was since it wasn't clear based on the picture. All the students looked up at me at the same time as I said, "That's a pencil sharpener." At the same time I made a fist with one hand and stuck out my index finger with the other. I then repeated "pencil sharpener" as I attempted to make a pencil sharpening gesture by inserting my index finger into my fist and turning it. Well, it took only a half second for every student to start giggling uncontrollably at the clearly sexual-ish gesture. It took another half second for me to wince and shake my head, clearly knowing I made a teaching gaffe.

On a side note to any teenagers who might be reading this: If you ever put your "pencil" into a "sharpener" and it gets grinded (like in a pencil way, not in a fun way), I promise you won't be laughing.

Is that an egg in your pocket or are you happy to see me?

The other night Huyen came home from work and threw her bags onto the bed. She then took of her puffy vest and threw that on the bed too. When that hit the bed there was a small, but noticeable cracking sound. Huyen immediately winced and pulled out a plastic bag with two egg in it from her vest pocket. I looked at her quizzically and then asked, "How long have you been carrying eggs in your pocket?" Huyen shuck her head at the egg and answered, "I just bought them." This was a true Vietnamese moment to me for a few reasons:

1. In America we don't buy just one or two eggs at a time.
2. We surely don't stop on the street on our way home from work in the city and buy two eggs to carry home on our motorbikes (or cars for that matter).
3. We always have sort-of-protective cardboard egg crates to keep our eggs from breaking. Here they just put eggs in plastic bags.
4. It was a testament to how fresh dinner is every night that these eggs in Huyen's pocket were minutes away from being in our meal.

As a foreigner, I just found this moment very funny. I'm pretty sure I've never carried eggs in my pocket.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Today is officially the saddest day of the year for me as there is nothing in life I enjoy more than spending the last Thursday of November with my family. To make me feel better, Huyen has clearly done her research on Thanksgiving this year. This morning, the first thing she said to me was "Happy Thanksgiving" and then began to tell me what she was thankful for. Besides that, I discovered some Thanksgiving recipes she had downloaded off of the internet. I know she's planning on cooking me some traditional food tonight including mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. Although, the later will be a tad difficult though since we don't have an oven.

I really hope that this is the last Thanksgiving that I'll ever spend away from my family. The great thing about marrying Huyen is that we'll never have to fight over where we spend Turkey Day. Equally, I'll always agree to spend Tet at her family's house rather than mine.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'd like to take a moment to say what I'm thankful for:

First, I'm thankful for my amazing family who have not only been supportive of me over the last few years, but forever. I'm thankful for how they have welcomed Huyen into their lives with open arms. A person couldn't ask for more amazing parents or siblings.

I'm thankful for Huyen who has made every day of my life better since I first met her. It doesn't take Thanksgiving for me to realize how special she is to me. Every morning I'm thankful when I say good morning to her and every night I'm thankful when I say goodnight to her. I can't wait to spend the rest our lives together.

I'm thankful for the whole Nguyen family who have accepted me from the start and have welcomed me into their family. Huyen's whole family treats me like one of their own, which has given my life extra meaning.

I'm thankful for my amazing friends in America, Vietnam and around the world. I can't put into words how lucky I am to have such great friends. Soon Huyen and I will be celebrating our wedding with friends from Japan, Australia, America and Vietnam. However, we've made countless other friends over the last few years from all corners of the world. Whether close or far, I'm thankful for the friendships I've made over the years.

Finally, I'm thankful for all my blog readers. I started this thing for my mom and it has evolved into so much more. Every time I think about ending the blog, I think about all the people out there who read my blog on a regular basis. I appreciate your readership and support. The blog has definitely turned into a part of my life, and it wouldn't be without all of you.

Have a great Thanksgiving! Make sure you tell everyone who you're thankful for what they mean to you!

More Carrying Giant Vases

(PICTURE: An unusual site in Huyen's village -- a foreigner doing manual labor.)

After unloading all the stuff at Huyen's parents house, I was told we had to bring some things over to the new house in the village. The problem with the house in the village is that the street isn't drivable. This meant I had to lug a whole bunch of heavy things down the small alley. Whereas earlier in the day we had a teamwork element to moving things, at this point I found myself carrying everything by myself.

Sure enough the site of me carrying giant vases down the alley brought out all the locals. Every time I would make another trip back to the truck, a few more old heads would pop out of the alleys and start smiling, waving and talking to me. Clearly nobody there is used to seeing foreign people doing manual labor in their village.

Where's the party at?

(PICTURE: Huyen and I unloading the truck.)

I had been told that we were going to Huyen's parents' house to have a lunch party with relatives to celebrate the completion of the new house. However, when I showed up at the old house, Huyen's father was nowhere to be seen. I was quickly told that he was in the ceramic village and would be coming back in a few hours with some stuff for the shop. Well, sure enough a few hours later a U-Haul sized truck shows up filled with ceramics. There were some small ceramics and some very very very very big ceramics.

The Nguyens and I rolled up our sleeves and began to unload the truck. Sure enough, I quickly found myself carrying huge vases with Huyen. While my sweat started to stream down my face and chest, I began to wonder, "Where's the party at?"

Happy Birthday To My Amazing Sister!

(PICTURE: Hannah and me in Thailand almost two years ago!)

I'm not sure how she does it, but every year my little sister makes me prouder and prouder to be her brother. With her amazing sense of humor, her Ivy League/Almost-perfect-SAT brains and her natural beauty and charm, my sister's got it all. I often feel like a parents when I talk to people about my sister because I'm constantly bragging about her. However, the fact is that Hannah is not only my sister but one of my best friends.

I can't wait for you to get back out to Hanoi, Hannah! Love you!