Rainy Day

(PICTURE: An adoring letter from my former student)

It has rained on and off all day today which is exactly what the doctor ordered for me (that's just an expression I'm using and not what the pharmacist who is treating my heat rash told me to do). 

Today was literally my first lazy day in three months and it has felt great. The only problem with lazy days is they don't make for great blog entries. Luckily, former Vietnamese girl students who have crushes on their teachers do and one such girl happened to email me today (she asked for my phone number in Saigon and I just gave her my email instead). This girl is the same one who handed me (and Ryan) a letter on my last day of teaching in HCMC. I promised then I'd eventually post the letter and well, today's the day. 

For those of you who can't click on the letter to read it, it says: "Dear Mr. August, Deep in my heart, I'm very happy when my English teacher is you _ Benjamin. How do you feel when you taught us? For me, thank you for teaching enthusiastically. Every class, I learnt them by my heart. I know I sometimes made a noise in our class. :-) Sir, i don't like to finish our class. Huhuhh, I feel so sad asq I don't look at you. Who teachs me? After the class, I hope you have a lot of happiness from teaching English in everywhere. Thank more again so you were my English teacher who has a cool smile, friendly face and seldom you have a strict face. For me, I like your cool smile (very friendly). May happiness follow you where just like we do. A student of you. Nguyen Xuan Hieu. 

That was the very sweet letter she handed me. This was the email she sent to me today:

Dear Ben, (BLOGGER NOTE: We're now on a first name basis apparently)

Hi, sir. How are you? I'm a student in your class, Hieu. Remember me. now, where do you live? What did you do? when will you come back to HoChiMinh city? Are you going to work in VietNam or USA in the future? ah, How many places have you been in Viet Nam? How do you feel them? My dream is to meet you again at USA by my earning. That time I hope my pronunciation is better to talk to you about everything. I miss you! May you have everything wishing for. Student of you HXN.

I've still got it!!! 

A Nose Closer To 30

(PICTURE: How does he keep track of them all?)

Happy Birthday, Bier. You're a nose closer to thirty.  Maybe we should get girlfriends this year?

In other more exciting news, I think I'm back to my normal sleeping pattern since I woke up this morning at 6:24AM. I'm not totally sure if my body got all the sleep it needed or if my neighbor's dozen chickens woke me up. Yes, my neighbor has a chicken coop on his roof. Avian flu anyone?

Love Ain't Easy

 (PICTURE: Ryan explaining to me that he'll "shoot anyone who comes between us.")

This is going to be a short entry because my heart is heavy. After nearly six weeks, Ryan and I have broken up. The song, "Leaving On A Jet Plan" has been playing in a loop in my head ever since 6PM this evening when Ryan got into a taxi to head to the airport for his flight back to Saigon.  I feel like history is repeating itself--this feels just like senior year in high school when Fischgrund and I broke up because I was going away to school. Well, Ryan is going away to school -- to teach -- and the distance is just too great to stay in this monogamous relationship. Sorry, Ry, but I've got to spread my wings and fly. 

That said, it's been a great month and a half hanging out with Ryan. The highest compliment I can bestow on a person is to say that, "he's a good guy." Well, Ryan is a really good guy. 

In other more fun news:

1. I saw a 60 year old Vietnamese man with a blonde toupe. 

2. Today is Vietnamese Independence Day (i.e. We kicked Americas ass day) and to celebrate they have monkeys and Vietnamese Girls roller skating in the Old Quarter. Yes, roller skating. I know, what you're thinking: "It's 2008, get a pair of freaking roller blades."

3. Today while practicing badminton I met some local girls who are friends with my new friend Christina. One of the girls, Lan, wants me to help teach her English. She just wrote me these text messages:

LAN: Hi.

BEN: Hi, Lan.

LAN: I'm onlie.Do you onlie?Nick name: (will leave this out so you ahoy hanoi stalkers can't find her)

BEN: Sorry, I don't online.

LAN: I want to you help learn english.

BEN: Sounds good. You can help me learn Vietnamese.

LAN: When you free time?I'm help you speak vietnamese.

BEN: I have a friend in town. Maybe next week. 

LAN: Do you get up?

BEN: I'm not sure what you mean.

LAN: I don't understandble you.

I decided to stop texting back for the night. 

Jenny's Journey

(PICTURE: Joy riding in Ha Noi at 2:40AM)

When I was a kid I had a computer game for my Apple IIe called, "Jenny's Journey." The game was really simple: Jenny needed to get to X place in town and you had to give her directions based on a map. Well, I rocked the game and grew up with an uncanny sense of direction. If only Mom and Dad had bought me another Apple IIe game called, "Vu's Vietnamese Lessons" I'd actually be able to talk to a pharmacist and say, "I have a very red and irritated diaper rash." 

Anyway, that's besides the point. The point is, in general I have a very good sense of direction. Last night this came into play. Here's the cliff notes version of what happened (for the long, Asian slanted version go read Song's blog):

After a long night out a bunch of us left a French ex-pat party to go to a late night bar/club/lounge called Solace. Five of us were in a cab, two were on motorbikes and one was on a bicycle. The one on the bicycle was Ryan. This was a bad idea since:

a) A bicycle is much slower than a car and a motorbike

b) Ryan doesn't know Doi Can from Han Phu from Ba Ding street or any other street in Ha Noi.

c) Despite a genius plan of Ryan following a motorbike, the motorbike took off without him.

d) We were in a part of town very far from anywhere Ryan had ever been. 

It only took two minutes for Ryan to be separated from the pack and then two hours to figure out a plan to get him home. The plan--I believe it was plan D-- involved me riding the bike home at 2:30AM while Song and Ryan enjoyed the rain-free luxury of a taxi. There were a few problems with this plan too: 

a) The aforementioned rain.

b) The map I took from the cab driver was torn exactly on the route I needed to go.

c)  The only vehicles on the road late at night are GIANT construction trucks.

d) The fact that I was wearing A BLACK SHIRT and DARK JEANS and the bike HAD NO LIGHT made me a tad invisible to those trucks mentioned in C.

e) The pot holes that line the streets here were filled with that rain I keep talking about so I really couldn't see them. 

Well, those are the first five problems. The good news was:

a) My late night bike riding practice in Santa Monica prepared me for this journey.

b) My map skills that I bragged about at the beginning of this email were in full effect. 

c) I could hear the big trucks coming so I would casually ride over near the sidewalk and wait for them to rumble by. 

d) I got out of paying any part of the HUGE taxi fare that was accumulated do to two hours of dropping people off at Solace/looking for Ryan/trying to get Ryan home, etc. 

As they say, alls well that ends well. (although I'm not sure how happy Christine, the bike owner, is going to be when she finds out she has come crosstown to get her bike). 

Finally, I want to give a big ahoyhanoi happy birthday shout-out to the mother of my niece. Happy Birthday, Kathy!!!!

 

Turn Down The AC!

 (PICTURE: Guards in front of Uncle Ho's Mausoleum. No, these guys weren't saluting because it's part of their job, they were saluting because they are big "ahoy hanoi" readers. The third one down on the left recognized me right away and challenged me to Connect Four tonight.) 

This morning we went inside that giant concrete building and checked out Uncle Ho in his glass resting case. A few casual observations:

1. It was the most air-conditioned room in all of Asia. It was freaking freezing in there. 

2. There was a special step-stool around the case for little children; and there were a lot of little children on school trips checking out UH. 

3. I think I can get one of the Guards' uniforms copied in Hoi An for about $40 (depending on whether I want to step up to a nicer material).

4. It seemed a little tacky but they were playing Queen's "We Are The Champions" on a loop inside the mausoleum. 

5. Despite, every guide book saying Uncle Ho looks like wax, I thought he looked like a really old dead guy in glass. 

It Takes A Big Man To Play Basketball And Checkers

(PICTURE: Some random dude who looks like Chris Place. I forgot my camera --aka didn't want to ride my motorbike with it-- so I stole this picture from this guy's blog. That's John McCain's flight suit in the glass case behind him)  

Yesterday I went to the "Ha Noi Hilton"--the place where John McCain spent 7 years during the Vietnam war-- and it turns out that it was called the Hilton not as a joke, but because these guys were kept in plush luxury. According to the photos at the museum -- and the Vietnamese Government would never slant anything -- these "prisoners" got to play basketball in the courtyard, checkers in their room, snack on almonds by the stockades and overall just get to chill out. Even solitary confinement was a breeze here since two people would get to share "the hole." Frankly, I'm decent at basketball (I can rebound), not too shabby at checkers, I love almonds, and hey, put me in the hole with a buddy of mine for a few days and we'll share laughs and stories without a problem.  What I'm trying to say is, I'd really appreciate it if everyone could start referring to me as an, "American Hero."

Yes, I'm bitter that my guts telling me that somehow the Republicans are going to win in '08. 

In other exciting news, I finally have mastered how to say, "I'm an English Teacher here in Vietnam and those two are tourists. They buy. I don't." This comes in handy whenever Ryan, Steve and I are approached by annoying, haggling street vendors. 

No Red-Heads In 'Nam

(PICTURE: Brett busy reading my blog at work)

Despite having been in Asia for two months, I'm still not over the feeling that people look at me as if I have three heads whenever I walk down the street. People still turn in wonderment, children still yell out "hello" followed by a giggle, and motorbike drivers --even if I'm standing next to my motorbike holding a helmet-- ask me if I need a ride. 

That said, I was thinking yesterday: "If they think I'm a freak, I wonder how they would react to a pale red-head." Just like birds in Guangzhou, I haven't seen a red-head in 'Nam yet. They just don't exist. Nada. Zilch. None.  Speaking of red-heads, I wanted to give a shout out to my favorite one-- Happy Birthday, Brett!

In other news, I was told the other night that during the rainy season my alleyway floods about two feet high. Thank goodness my room is on the second floor!