Nhớ Nguồn

My first week back after the Tết break, I set the theme of my lesson to the Sochi Winter Olympics. Essentially, I created a number of events for my students to challenge each other and see who was the best at something. One event was to find the "Best Drawer," and these are some of the results.

In Vietnam, the biggest and probably most important holiday of the year is Tết Nguyên Đán, otherwise known simply as Tết. This year I finally had the chance to experience Tết in Vietnam. It's worth mentioning that although I've celebrated Tết in the U.S., this was the first time I didn't celebrate it by just memorizing meaningless Vietnamese phrases to recite to relatives for "lucky" money. I can say without much doubt that celebrating Tết in Vietnam was the most interesting experience I've had here. Already I'm looking forward to next year's celebration! The holiday started for me with Phan Tay Ho middle school. A week before Tết, the school held a Spring Festival for the students. Each class was asked to bring flowers for decoration, and you can see some of them gathered here in this picture. It was a beautiful sight to see so many plants around the school. While classes were in session, a competition was held in the main quad area ...

To any of my faithful readers, I offer my sincerest apologies for my prolonged absence. I can only imagine how frustrated you all must have been, waiting for my next post. Fear not, dear readers, as I will begin my weekly blog entries anew. Before I do that, however, lets go back in time to December 2013! This was the first burrito I had in Vietnam. Notice I said first, because after I discovered there was Mexican food in this city, I couldn't just stop at one. I've come to understand that my desire for perfectly made carne asada burritos is one thing that makes me Californian. Unfortunately, as good as the burrito was, I also realized I was going to be continuously dissatisfied so long as I live in this city. My company had a Christmas party. They brought Western partying to Saigon, complete with scantily clad dancers and an open bar. I bought a new pair of suspenders and a self-tie bow tie for the occasion. Our center also brought Christmas to our weekend classes ...