The Rainy Season

I thought I left Vietnam. Since I came home it's been, well, not summer weather. For the last few days the weather has felt a lot like Hanoi's rainy season. It has rained nearly every day this past week and we've even had some thunder and lightning.

One thing that I don't miss about Vietnam is riding my bike during lightning storms. I always remember being told as a kid that if lightning hit our car, we'd be fine since our car is grounded with its rubber tires. Science was never my strongest subject, but I'm pretty sure despite my motorbikes' rubber tires, I'd be toast if lightning hit me on my motorbike.

Today I will be driving down to Cape May, New Jersey for the first of two friends' weddings. Luckily I'll be driving the 3+ hours in a car. The thought of having to do the same on a motorbike gives me the shivers.

Vietnamese Rain Fact: Huyen told me that when it rains, if you look at the ground and bubbles come out of a puddle, that means it is going to rain for a long time.

Reverse Culture Shock #2

Before I left for Vietnam, many people in the states – specifically in New York and LA -- had blackberries. Now it seems that every single person in New York has a blackberry or an iphone. This has been one of my biggest culture shocks since coming back.

For those of you who know me, I admit, I’m an email addict. I love getting email. But I also like the feeling of not checking my email for a couple of hours and then BAM, having three waiting for me in my inbox. So this blog entry isn’t about judging people’s blackberry addictions but merely saying it’s a strange transition from an almost blackberry-less Vietnam to a "you-don’t-have-a-blackberry?" America.

My one knock on blackberries (and cell phones) is that they make people less friendly to those around them. A good example of what I’m talking about is this: About a week or so ago I was staying at my friend Brett’s apartment in New York. In the morning I took the elevator down 20+ floors. The elevator made four stops on its way down. Each time it stopped a person got onto the elevator with their head down, typing away on their blackberry. Literally there were five of us in the elevator and I was the only one not writing an email (or I suspect in one or two cases, pretending to write an email). There were no morning greetings or half assed forced smiles exchanged. It was merely get on the elevator, type away as if this box was their cubicle, and then get off the elevator as if nobody else was there.

In contrast, in Vietnam, when you’re in an elevator your head is up. You look around. You say hello. You even smile from time to time. One time a woman even started a conversation with me in an elevator and I ended up tutoring her for the next few months. It just seems, well, friendlier.

Shronster The Monster Turns 30

(PICTURE: Brad in the greatest Halloween costume ever.)

Happy 30th Birthday, Brad! Yes, that kid in these picture is thirty years old. Trust me, I've seen his ID and have known him since we were in nursery school together 27 years ago!

This blog puts me in a tough situation. I have so many funny stories I want to tell but I've got to censor myself because Brad's wedding is just 19 days away and I don't want to give away any of the speech that I'll be giving with my co-best man Jeremy.

What I will say is this though: there is something about the picture above that is very symbolic of Brad. No, not the tube socks that went out of fashion a decade earlier. No, not the caveman vest which is merely covering an equally hairy chest underneath it. No, not the leaf across his crotch which is generally a sign of purity or someone who poops outside. No, it's none of those things. What is symbolic is Brad's left knee. Take a look. Take a close look. Somebody shaved it. Who shaved it? I have no idea...although I wouldn't bet that it wasn't me (but I honestly can't remember...although I think it might have been David Levinson.). Okay, I don't really know what the symbolism of a shaved knee is but I do know that Brad is the friend who always seems to have a funny story about him whenever my group of friends get together. As I think back upon my childhood, Brad is always by my side, making everything we ever did a little more fun. Happy Birthday, Shron!












(PICTURE: Brad and me in Israel.)













(PICTURE: Brad, Mike, Jeremy and I in Vail.)













(PICTURE: Brad and me at a wedding. His is next!)

13 Months!

Thank goodness for technology. Nearly every day, twice a day, Huyen and I talk on skype video. The time difference between New Jersey and Hanoi works out great for us since Hanoi is eleven hours ahead of EST. When it's 10AM in Vietnam, it's 11PM here -- the perfect time for Huyen to say goodnight to me. When it's 11 pm in Vietnam, it's noon here -- the perfect time to say goodnight to Huyen.

Being far apart from someone you care about is obviously never easy. However, being able to see them and hear their voice every day makes it a lot easier...except on your monthly anniversay when you would give nearly anything to hug one another.

Happy thirteenth month anniversary, Huyen!

1st Annual West Hampton Jewish Under 32 Invitational Tennis Tournament

I have a confession to make. I never went to Vietnam. The truth is, I spent the last 15 months training in an undisclosed location for the 1st Annual West Hampton Jewish Under 32 Invitational Tennis Tournament.

The tournament was this past weekend and all my hard work and dedication paid off. I won the tennis tournament against Jed Tamarkin.

Being the winner is quite an honor despite the fact that there were only five people invited to the invitational...and two of the five weren't exactly tennis players. The tournament -- run by bracket master and third place winner Alex Bertsche -- was the final event on Jed's final weekend as a single man. Yes, I know what you're saying: "You beat Jed on his last weekend?" For a second I thought about letting Jed win...but then nailed an overhead slam right by him.

Since this blog is about Vietnam, I should make this post relevant: Tennis is very popular in Vietnam. There are actually lots of tennis courts in Hanoi but you generally need to have reserved them weeks ahead of time. While in 'Nam I played tennis twice. I won my first doubles match...thanks to my doubles partner Long who was way better than me. The second time I played we got rained out after about five minutes. That's one of the troubles of playing tennis in a country with a rainy season.

Reverse Culture Shock

The number one question everyone asks me is, "Is it weird to be home?" Well, it's not. I think having lived in America for 28+ years has made the transition pretty smooth. However, there are lots of little things that I keep noticing that feel sort of strange to me. For the next couple of days I'll point out some of those things.

The first thing that felt weird to me was carpet. Yes, carpet.

(PICTURE: Look at that nice soft, dust free carpet.)










For the last fifteen months I've been walking and living on hard wood floors. I think the only carpet I ever saw in Vietnam was at Language Link. However, at Language Link I always wore shoes. Since coming home, I've been re-acquainting my toes with carpet. It seems that carpet is everywhere in America.

Please take a second and vote for me to work in wine country (you can only vote once per email address):
http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=ENgJxigG7WU

Generation Gap

Nearly every time I drop my grandmother off at her apartment, she tells me she wants to introduce me to her friends. Back in January 2008, a few days before I left for Vietnam, my Grandmother had me knock on a woman's door on her floor. The woman opened up her door and we exchanged pleasantries. After a little banter my grandmother said, "Ben is going to Vietnam." The woman looked very confused and said, "Voluntarily?".

Well, the other day, I dropped my grandmother off at her apartment again and per usual, she wanted to introduce me to her friends. We knocked on neighbor's door and after a minute or so a woman answered. My grandmother said to the woman: "This is my grandson. He just came back from Vietnam." The woman had a look of disgust on her face and said -- and this is an exact quote -- "Oh god."

There is clearly a generation gap when it comes to Vietnam. If you talk to a young person they think it is really cool that you visited/lived in the country. If you talk to someone 80+, they just think it's bizarre.

Don't forget to vote for me to go to wine country! You can only vote one time so it's really not that much of a pain in the butt. Or as my grandma would say, "A pain in the tuchus."

http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=ENgJxigG7WU