7th Months

Happy 7 Month Anniversary, Huyen!

Thanksgiving Day Blues

I've been asked a couple of times what I did for Thanksgiving. The highlight of the day was when Huyen rang my doorbell at 10:45 AM holding a giant mango and an even bigger smile. I asked here why she was at my house so early on a work day and she said, "To wish you a happy Thanksgiving day."

Huyen and I ate the mango together and in this way it was the closest I've ever come to the original Thanksgiving -- sharing local crops with the natives.

Besides that though the day was uneventful and frankly depressing. I had to work until 9:30 PM and then had my big Thanksgiving meal by myself since Huyen had dinner with Ryan's parents who were visiting. I went to my favorite new chicken spot (been there 5 times in 8 days) and ordered the largest plate of chicken they had and pretended it was turkey:

After I got home Huyen and I went for coffee and shot some pool. I think it goes without saying that besides my family, the thing I'm most thankful for this year is Huyen.

That said, I was definitely homesick on Thursday. There's really no replacement for sitting in my dining room in Livingston with my family. Perhaps next year Huyen can join us for Thanksgiving!

Not MIA

About a week or so ago I didn't post my daily blog. Well, sure enough I got a frantic email from my mother with the subject line: "Where are you?"

This was the first part of the email:

no blog yesterday or today... is everything ok?

Just so you don't worry, Mom, I'm going on a weekend trip with Huyen to Cat Ba Island. We'll be back on Sunday night. Love you!

(Yes, this is a cheaters way to post a blog...and yes, I emailed my mom too!)

Have a great weekend and lets hope that LT and Michael Turner have great games so I can make my fantasy football playoffs!

My Weakness

I've been told before that I'm a competitive person. However, my joy of winning is trumped by Huyen's. About five months ago she "accidentally" smacked me in the berries while were jokingly wrestling with each other. I immediately fell to the ground with a loud, "Uh! My nuts." Huyen was obviously confused why I had nuts in my pants but didn't let that stop her from celebrating her wrestling victory with a jubilant, "I win you! I found your weakness!"

Indeed Huyen has found the chink in my armor and has often exploited it. A common line from her these days if we're jokingly arguing about something is, "I know your weakness and will win you."

Now as funny as this is, it brings up a serious subject. In Vietnam they don't have sex education classes. Boys and girls are left to investigate their bodies on their own and via the internet. After about the -- oh, let's see -- eighth smack to my crotch I said to Huyen, "You know that is very bad for me. If you keep doing that maybe I can't have children." Huyen looked shocked and immediately apologized with these words: "I'm sorry. I'll find another weakness."

Happy Thanksgiving!

I asked my students if they knew what turkey was and they said it's a country. As much as I love Vietnam, there's no replacing Thanksgiving in America -- my favorite holiday bar none.

My mouth is watering for the turkey drumstick my mother puts aside for me every year.

Happy Thanksgiving, America!

Do I Look Like I Need A Surveillance System?

(PICTURE: Some literature on new surveillance products.)

The other day Huyen and I stopped by the Hanoi Expo Center to visit her friend who was working at a booth. The exposition was on new surveillance equipment and business security devices. It was actually a really cool exhibit with tons of high tech devices. I kept thinking how my friend Sam Friedlander who always buys crap from Sky Mall Magazine on airplanes, would have sold his truck to buy some of the cooler gadgets there.

I thought Huyen and I were just going to lunch during her lunch hour so I was wearing jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. I hadn't showered yet and frankly looked like crap. When we got to the Expo center we met her friend who was wearing a suit and tie with his credentials around his neck. He gave us each a pass for the exposition and we began to walk around. Huyen and her friend both looked like working professionals and I looked like a guy who was just outside raking leaves. Despite that, every person from every booth ignored Huyen and her friend and came right up to me to demonstrate their new products. I tried to tell them I wasn't in the market for $100,000+ surveillance equipment but they didn't get it. I wanted to give the brochures back to the people but Huyen told me it would be rude. So, I've now got a bunch of new toilet reading.

All that said, maybe I should buy a home security system. I mean I was robbed by ninjas once already.

James Bond

(PICTURE: Nguyen. Huyen Nguyen. Shaken not stirred.)

Huyen and I saw the new James Bond movie the other night. We both thought it was great and left the theater pretending we were spies. I'm now trying to convince Huyen to introduce herself to people like Bond: "Nguyen. Huyen Nguyen." It just rolls off the tongue.

Anyway, there are always reminders that I'm living in a socialist country and seeing the movie was just another small one. It was quite clear that portions of the movie had been edited to fit Vietnamese cultural standards. Frankly, I paid money to see Daniel Craig with his shirt off and only got a glimpse of his Adonis like body for a mere two seconds. Clearly they had edited out the sex scene(s). From what I could tell there was just one but who knows. There was also another time or two during the movie that the action would just cut and resume in a different scene indicating something was missing.

Despite that the movie was still really enjoyable. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Daniel Craig is the best Bond yet.
(PICTURE: Wayyyyy more skin then they showed in the theatres here.)