Happy New Year!

Hello loves, I hope you all enjoyed your turn of the year! I had a lovely dinner with colleagues and friends and then relocated to a different rooftop for drinks and fireworks with other friends. All in all, a wonderful night, though the fireworks must have been invisible - Saigon's really got to get a handle on all of the tall buildings going up (which, mind you, are mostly empty).

Of course, it wouldn't be so obviously a good night had I held on to my phone - now lost somewhere in the backpacker area. I hope someone that really needed a phone found it :)

I'm getting ready to start planning a two week-ish trip to the Philippines! Excited to see what all the fuss is about. I've also got another 10 days to kill before the end of Feb. Chime in: not including the States - from where would you like postcards!?

As for what I do in my free time (aside from fulfilling my New Years Resolution by upping my study time for French): a. I'm obsessed with MasterChef US. b. Even after having a full meal, without fail it makes me hungry. c. "What the hell is 'fish sauce'? And why does it taste like death?" HA! It's really not so bad, but surely shouldn't be consumed alone by the mouth-full.

Thinking of you all here in sunny Saigon. Big love! <3

Butts and such

So, Big Boss is ridiculously proud of some silly blog he wrote in French months ago. He's gloating, while also goading us to up our game. Meanwhile, we write once a week and he chimes in every couple of months, of course his isn't just being churned out due to necessity. Anyway, I think this is my best yet. Read it and tell a friend - it needs more views than his ;)

The Naked Truth by Le Lorrain, rather, yours truly.

This just in...

A random list of things learned or discovered on a random Thursday:

1. A poor night of sleep in a hot room due to a broken air conditioner will lead to reading "Baby girl (+/- 12 mths) Christmas dress for sale" as "BABY GIRL FOR SALE".

2. Daft Punk, distorted through headphones and two seats over, sounds like bagpipes.

3. When you need the day to be longer, it flies by, and when you wish it away, it's slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.

4. Being caught with water dribbling out of your mouth is still better than spilling an entire bottle on your multiple projects and key board.

5. If you say enough ridiculous things to non-native speakers, they'll start saying them, too. Which has lead to: "Maybe it's a tumor." "YOU'RE a tumor." "Wow, that was kind of mean."

6. Thursday generally proves to be the most entertaining and interesting day of the work week.

7. Though, Thursday will never be as joyous as Friday. Unless it's a three day weekend. Have a good one! Happy December!

Good-bye America, I'll miss you.

Well, I'm off. After a three day delay - thank God I waited at my mom's rather than sitting in the airport; and damn you, Sandy, damn you. Though, I suppose that one day I'll tell my grandchildren about it. I'm heading back to 'Nam. Excited, fulfilled, and full of love, I'm happy to have experienced the US as a vacation destination.

Driving up to JFK was much less stressful and more promising that I originally thought it would be. There was only traffic at the end, near the airport. Perhaps Sandy and her watery ways scared everyone off as much as I was concerned that it was a waste of time. We walked in and within 30 minutes standing there I had a ticket and was rushed off to the gate - because the plane was leaving in another 30 minutes - like LEAVING, not just closing the doors and sitting there. Lessons learned? A) Do not take China Eastern. B) Wait three days and forge ahead with previous plans. C) Show up with one hour to go, they'll take you ;).

It was great seeing everyone I managed to fit in, in such a short period of time. Thanks to all for making a much anticipated journey and experience totally worth it. I'll try not to wait nearly two years to get back again!

Notes from the back of the plane: Sitting by the bathroom is the worst. Not only does it smell from 30 minutes after you sit down, but people crowd around waiting for it to be empty. No, sir, he's not going to come out any faster just because you're standing here.

Also. How does one board a 15 hour flight with NOTHING to entertain himself? I'll never understand.

Happy Birthday, Momma!

Now that all is said and done I can stop being so damn secretive.

My brother and I planned what turned out to be a really amazing surprise birthday party for our mom. We managed to break into her phone, address books, and email accounts to notify friends from near and far, past and present. The Chelsea Hotel is a great venue - surprise or not. It was a terrible secret to keep, but she truly enjoyed it and I don't think we could have given her a better gift.

Being back on the east coast has been such a relaxing experience. It's been so wonderful to see so many familiar faces and know that while I'm far in distance it is clear that I'm never far in heart. It's cliche to boast of how wonderful your family and friends are, but I couldn't ask for a better set, either in the States or abroad. I've been really lucky to build such an incredible "fan" base (as Bill and I like to call it) and I'm happy to know that where ever I go, I'm going home.

That said. I came to see you suckers. Now come see me!

I'm coming home...

I tried to stay awake and reflect on my feelings about going back to the US for the first time in almost two years, but it was simply too hard and I was too sleepy. A four hour nap can't really mess up trying to catch up to the east coast time zone can it? Thankfully there are sleeping aids.

Getting off the plane in Shanghai, or wherever I am, sadly, I'm not even sure, the lines separated Foreigners and Citizens. And it hit me. I'm not, for just a few short weeks, going to be a "foreigner" anymore! The idea of walking through in the States and it being mine (in some grand scheme of things) - gotta admit I got a bit teary. If they don't say welcome home, I'm going to be really disappointed.

A few hours later: It all comes flooding back, you know? Ebbing and flooding like the tide. The reasons you left, the reasons you wish you'd stayed, the various reasons in either case that you may regret in years to come.

I don't think this will be entirely easy. Enjoyable, but not easy. And luckily, I'm not one for regretting.

Happy October!

Well, Jenny's gone and I'm working with my FOURTH English editor since I've been here. At least Jen stuck out the year - otherwise I'd think there was something wrong with me.

Know those flatmates I make reference to all the time? Meet Cat and Chris:

Chris and I are moving down two floors and over three apartments in the same building to a 2br this weekend. Cat's going back to the UK for an indiscriminate amount of time. Meanwhile, I'm slowly working my way to having my very own place for probably the first and only time in my life - not on purpose, I'm just tired of shuffling through different flatmates.

Stay tuned in coming weeks for exciting news! (No, I'm not having any babies, or puppies for that matter. I DID try to get a baby chick, but Dan discouraged it, probably for the best.)

Walk like summer, talk like rain

Lots of fun, crazy, exciting, and sad things to come starting this weekend through the end of October. Here's a photo from last weekend - gearing up for it all.

This is after being caught in an epic rainstorm, chauffeuring Maren and myself on my bike, down to the backpacker area for a little R&R after a long week, sitting in a cafe DRENCHED. Later met up with some other friends for a hop around town - we walked everywhere (it wasn't raining anymore, but I felt damp for the rest of the evening, ugh) and I'm incredibly proud of us. (Sidenotes: A) Check out the yellow nails! B) We are not pinching Dan's ear, Kat is leading me elsewhere. C) Thanks, Glenn, for finding this gem!)

Hope your smiles are as big as that one. Love!

Children

Me: I hate children. (sneeze) They touch things and then give me their germs.

Dan: No you don't.

Me: Fine, I like them like I like dogs, in theory.

My youngest student (I was going to say child, but I wouldn't want any of you to think I'd lost my mind and ventured into parenthood) was coughing and sneezing on me last week; "Andrew, cover your mouth!" never worked very long. So now my eyes are itchy, my nose stuffy, and my throat scratchy. Ugh, (germy) children. Maybe I'll take tomorrow off.

On a much happier, less congested note, Happy, happy 30th birthday to my dearest brother!

I saw one of my facebook friends did 27 random acts of kindness for her 27th birthday - something to consider for my 28th.

Hoi An and learning French

I'm working on this (never-ending) project and happened across a museum site that is only in French - which is weird because their other languages are Luxembourgish and German, but not the point. So, I needed to work out the address, contacts, opening hours, etc and was able to figure it all out without consulting a translator. I did have to ask what a word that turned out to mean "weekly" was, but in the big picture, my French is really coming along. Now, if only I made more time to study and practice.

In other news, I just returned from a three-day weekend in Hoi An. It is easily the most beautiful beach and town I've been to in Vietnam yet. We stayed in a four-star hotel with olympic-sized outdoor pool, just 20 meters from our room and another 20 meters from the beach, a pool bar on one side and a spa on the other. We rented a motorbike to drive in and out of town for the length of our stay and I got three dresses, 2 shorts, and a skirt made. I also got a bathing suit made, but it got left behind because it wasn't the right size and we ran out of time to wait for it to be fixed. Surely I will return. I've caught the tailor-made bug and the only cure is moving somewhere in which tailor-made clothes are unrealistically too expensive.

I took a few photos, but not many. And in the last three hours of the trip I broke my camera: a plastic bottle of Revive (energy drink) was just below the bank on the sand, moments away from being swept away by the tide. I noticed it while I was taking photos and decided to pick it up; walking over, I fell down the bank, dropping my camera in to the sand, so now the lens cover won't open all the way. Disappointment. I got it fixed once before in Nha Trang, so maybe I can again, but what ever is broken this time is different from what was broken before. Maybe if I bang it against enough things, the sand will fall out and all will be saved - surely I know that will only break something else. The good news: I rescued the plastic bottle.

"That's what you get for trying to save the environment." :P