Nhớ Nguồn

In recent news, China and Vietnam entered into what was the most outwardly aggressive tussle in the last 13 years. If you didn't catch it, you can read more  here . I wrote about the conflict between China and its Asian neighbors before, but I wanted to revisit the issue, this time with more of a focus on Vietnam. The situation is a lot less tense now, but feelings are still hot around the city. A Chinese Coast Guard ship using a water cannon to spray a Vietnamese police boat. The Chinese initially denied such actions, but later claimed responsibility.  A Chinese coast guard vessel (R) rams a Vietnamese marine police boat to protect an oil rig China towed into Vietnam's territorial waters in the South China Sea. Credit: Tuoi Tre I took a trip to Mui Ne recently and saw this little guy moored in a marina close by my friend's house. Note the covered machine gun mounted on the bow of the ship. The kids here are exposed to propaganda-like signs regarding...

Because, why not? Enjoy! Shout out to my mom for sending me this picture. This little guy is my spirit animal.  I taught and demonstrated  to one of my adult classes the word, "selfie." I don't know if I should be proud of that. I helped make this! Maybe I should consider another career change. One of my students made this! It's supposed to be a T-Rex. I should add, by the way, that he drew this while blindfolded. Picasso, eat your heart out.

It’s been a long time, I’m sure you’re aware of that. I’d like to say that I’m glad you are well, but I have absolutely no idea how you are. There are few strands between us now. And yet, I can still feel the weight of our friendship, how once we were inseparable, the best of friends. Now that weight is nothing more than a fleeting memory in moments of solitude, but it's one that never stays away for very long. You can’t be forgotten because forgetting you would be like forgetting myself. But then again, maybe this distance is right. Maybe we are better off as far apart as possible. Perhaps we were never meant for each other. We knew it would never work, and we know now that the friendship we had before created a bond that would make slipping back into romance too easy. It would make repeating the same mistakes too likely, repeating the same heartbreak certain. That's something I'm not willing to risk. Breaking my own heart would be my responsibility to bear, but I can...

Today will be the first day in the last 10 months that I will be in HCMC, but not return to my aunt's house. After a crazy last few weeks getting everything sorted, I am now living in my own apartment again, independent, free. I can't say everything was rosy, though. Just a few days ago, I became privy to the knowledge of just how precarious my former living situation was. I suppose all things have their goods and their bads, but I do wish that my departure could have gone somewhat differently. Regardless, I am thankful for what I had. One of my original missions for coming to Vietnam was to learn more about the culture and more about my family. Living at my aunt's house, I got both in spades, and I believe that had I made different decisions earlier on in my stay here, I would be lesser for having done so. It makes me proud to know that after I leave Vietnam, I can confidently say to others that yes, I do indeed have family here. The public government schools are wrap...

The latest interest I've taken in my quest to learn more about my Vietnamese heritage is the game of Chinese chess. It is a bit ironic to look for Vietnamese culture in a game that has the word "Chinese" in its name, but I found that it is only so for the sake of translation. I have taken to this game for a number of reasons. 1. The game has cool historical references that have survived even today. Let's start with the board itself. Unlike a chess board, which is played on the squares, Chinese chess is played on the intersections of lines.  What is most recognizably different from normal chess boards, however, is the large gap in the middle of the board as well as the lines that form an "x" on opposites sides of the board. The square that contains the "x" is known as the "fortress," or 宮(gōng )  in Chinese. The center divider is the river where s ome Chinese words are visible. The words on the left say,  楚河 (chǔ hé ) , mean...

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 ...