Monsoons

One thing that New York and Hanoi has in common is monsoon-like torrential downpours. Yesterday for the second time since I've been home, I've gotten caught outside in the middle of a ridiculous thundershower. There are a few differences in getting caught in the rain in Vietnam and in "The Big Apple" though:

1) In Vietnam everyone and their brother will try to sell you a poncho as soon as it starts to rain. In New York, every other store will sell you umbrellas.

2) In New York you can duck into the subway to stay dry and get where you need to go. In Hanoi, You've got to throw on your poncho, roll up your pants and drive your motorbike.

3) In New York you're pretty sure lightning will hit a tall building with a lightning rod. In Hanoi, well, you might be that tall building.

Congratulations Dave and Abby!

(PICTURE: Dave and Abby.)

I'm getting closer and closer to earning the title of "Last Man Standing."

David Levinson, one of my oldest friends, recently got engaged to his girlfriend Abby. I've known Dave for as long as I can remember. When we were little kids we lived around the corner from each other. I always loved to sleep over Dave's house because he had a real tent that we used to attach to his bed. There's little doubt in my mind that my love of camping started by sleeping over Dave's house.

When we got a little older, Dave and I invented a modern form of Gladiator combat called "Sock Wrestling." Basically Dave and I would each wear tube socks on our feet and have to maneuver to step on the other's feet in order to pull off the other person's sock. It sounds ridiculous but was actually a lot of fun...until Dave tripped me and I hit my head on the edge of his door and got probably the first concussion of my life (Dave later went on to be one of the best high school wrestlers in the state...or at least the county. I can't remember but want to say state since it makes me look better that a kid half my weight could take me down so easily.).

Dave was also the person who I always talked ice hockey with. Dave was a hard-core New York Rangers fan while I was idiotically a Boston Bruins fan. Up until 1994 I could win any argument with Dave by simply saying "1940." Now, I've got nothing to brag about when it comes to hockey.

I've only met Abby a couple of times but can easily see why the two of them get along so well. Abby is a ton of fun and really feisty -- something a girl needs to be in order to put up with Dave. In fact, I have no doubt that Abby could kick Dave's butt in sock wrestling.

Congrats to Dave and Abby!

Vietnam Science Might Be Right

(PICTURE: A common chart at a Vietnamese Hospital.)

On Saturday August 8, 2008 I wrote a blog called "Vietnamese Science." Basically in the blog I made fun of Huyen for some of the crazy things Vietnamese think. One of the scientific things Huyen had told me and that I pointed out in that post was:

Dr. Huyen: "Married couples must have a lot of sex to get rid of bad genes. It's science."

Well, my brother sent me a link to a medical article the other day entitled, "Daily Sex Helps To Reduce Sperm DNA Damage And Improve Fertility."

I guess I owe Vietnamese Science an apology because this study basically confirms Dr. Huyen's statement. As Huyen would say, "I told you. That's science!"

Ahoy Hanoi Turns 500!

This weekend Ahoy Hanoi had it's 500th post. That's right, 500. It is pretty surreal to me that I've written 500 blogs over the last year and a half. Sure, I know some of you are saying to yourself, "If you didn't count your monthly anniversaries with Huyen and your blogs about family and friends birthdays/weddings/engagements and blogs about how many blogs Ahoy Hanoi has had (like this one) then you'd only have like 400 blogs."

There are lots of cool things about having a blog. One of my favorite things is when I randomly see an old friend who I don't keep in regular touch with and they say, "Ben, I love reading your blog." And then I say, "You read my blog?" And they say, "Yup. Almost every day." This actually happened yesterday when I saw my friend Jeff from high school. I haven't seen Jeff since I've been back and the first thing he said to me was, "I owe you a big thank you. Your blog has been a great way to waste time over the last year." To me, it was quite a compliment especially since I had absolutely no idea Jeff had ever read even one entry.

The other great thing about having a blog is that it's the best journal I've ever kept. While cleaning out my room I've found a few old journals of mine. Rereading old entries are hilarious but unfortunately I would usually only write entries for a few weeks or less before quitting. The blog has been a great way to write down all the important things that have happened to me since February 2008.

So, on behalf of my 500th entry here are the latest stats (Note: I have only kept stats since August 26th of last year):
- Ahoy Hanoi has had 29,915 visits to the page and 49,604 Pageviews.
- Ahoy Hanoi has had 6,716 Absolute Unique Visitors (77.55% return to the site).
- The average time spent on Ahoy Hanoi is 2 minutes and 37 seconds.
- The day Ahoy Hanoi was read the most was Monday, November 3rd -- the day before the election.
- Ahoy Hanoi is currently read in 97 countries. Some interesting places: Iran, Yemen, Kazakhstan (yeah, Borat!), Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Namibia and Nepal!
- Ahoy Hanoi is read in every United States state except South Dakota. What the F, South Dakota! Honestly, has the internet not arrived there yet?
- The first two google searches to find my blog are "ahoy hanoi" and "ahoyhanoi." The third is "Hanoi massage." Why do so many people want massages in Hanoi?

Thanks for reading everyone! Here's to the next five hundred....

Skype

(PICTURE: Huyen in her traditional Vietnamese pajamas skyping with me.)

One night in Wildwood my father let out a frustrated plea: "Why don't you come home already?"

As great as my parents have been about me living abroad, they obviously wish I was closer to home. I have no doubt it is tough on them but I also know they want me to do what makes me happy.

Last night -- in an attempt to make things slightly easier on them this year -- I downloaded Skype and installed a digital camera on their computer. I know it's not the same as me being home, but being able to see me in their home whenever they want, will definitely make things a little easier.
Hearing someone's voice is comforting but seeing their face is a thousand times better.

My Summer Reading List

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been on a reading tear. Here's the books I finished the last ten days:

The books:
The Nuclear Age by Tim O'Brien. O'Brien is my favorite author who writes about Vietnam.
To A God Unknown by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck is my favorite author.
After Dark and Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is perhaps the most well known modern Japanese writer. These were my 2nd and 3rd books I've read of his.
King, Queen, Knave by Nabokov. I've always wanted to read Nabokov and this one had the catchiest title.
Burr by Gore Vidal. My buddy Seth lent me this book and it was pretty great.

That said, I've now got no books left on my reading list. Does anyone have any suggestions? LH, if you're still reading I'm hoping for some picks from you. You had suggested some a while ago but I can't seem to find the blogs were you made those comments. I'd love to read more books on Vietnam and Japan.

Wildwood

You may have noticed that I slightly slacked off on my blog last week. I have a good excuse though -- I was spending quality family time in Wildwood, New Jersey.

As a child, my family would go down to Wildwood, New Jersey seemingly every summer. A few years ago -- for my Dad's 60th birthday -- we took our first trip back there after probably a decade. We had such a good time that we decided to do it again this year.

My brother found an amazing condo for rent and we booked it from Sunday to Sunday. It was great spending so much time with my family especially since I'm leaving for Asia again in a couple of weeks. I've seen my niece Lilah a bunch of times since I've been home but the two of us didn't really bond until this weekend. After a week of playing with her she definitely recognizes me now and smiles when she sees me. In fact, one morning I went for a bike ride with Hannah and happened to bump into my parents, Zev, Kathy and Lilah on the boardwalk. When I was about ten feet away Lilah saw me and started to smile and wave. It made me feel pretty good...I just hope she recognizes me next year!

Some highlights from the week included:
1. Destroying my father in backgammon! The student has become the master.
2. Getting my first ever Bingo (using all seven letters) in Scrabble. My mother won 2 games and my sister and I each won one (although I think my sister cheated when she won).
3. Giving Lilah "victory laps" whenever I would win in any game. Basically I would lift her up and run her around the apartment. She loved it!
4. Tons of beach time with Hannah.
5. Lots of R&R. After running around this country for nearly two months it felt good to do nothing. In fact, I read 4 1/2 books in 7 days. I can't remember the last time I was able to read so much.
6. Great meals every night. The majority were grilled by my mom.
7. Eating more ice cream than I have in a year and a half. If you go to Wildwood get a Duffers small ice cream. It's gigantic.
8. Seeing my family for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day...