My Lil’ Saigon

I had a class before I left for America, 13-14 years old, dominated by boys. This class was odd and defiant to be sure, but they had a funny streak in them. When I was on vacation a month ago, I asked them to write letters for an assignment. When I came back, half the letters were made out to “death lord”, “blade master”, “dark lord”, or “space marine”, and they were all matching in content (space marine was trying to escape and the death lord was trying to kill me, etc…) They were hilarious to read due to content, but poorly constructed grammar wise.

That being said, I just noticed this link on Amake’s site. I think they would make this assignment into something amazing…. To bad I wouldn’t teach that class as a whole again, they made me angry more often than not.

Kudos to the man who did this — Penny Arcade Remix–

Here I sit, sipping my “mocha cappuccino” (I never knew such a thing existed, especially in powder form!), overlooking our back yard. If I had a camera (Maybe later this week??) I could show you the scene. For me it is quite normal, I’ve looked at it the last 23 winters, the only difference this year is that the pine trees have gotten a bit bigger.

I suppose I could try to describe it for those of you who have never experienced a winter wonderland. From my window the land slopes down gently until meeting the stoic soldiers guarding the riverfront plain. The soldiers in this land happen to be Oak and Maple trees, they have have stood there for many years more than I have watched them grow. Between the guardians and myself there is only an expanse of uninterrupted white. On the left side of this land are the 3 wisemen, White pines trees that were planted a decade ago in land that should not have yielded such great growth, as below them sits only stone and sand. In the summer time there is a consistent green hue, while in the winter time you’ll be hardpressed to find anything besides white and brown. Within the contrast of those two colors a certain beauty prevails, where there were onces leaves now there is only snow covered branches, life giving aromatic leaves now replaced by cold cryptic crystals.

For most viewing this scene from a warm house with a hot drink the scene is fantastic, beautiful, magical and mysterious. For the daring, a stroll out into the cold beauty provides a different appreciation. Biting winds and numbing cold control your every move, only those with neccesary business or a unique intention will enter this harsh reality. For those strong enough, a splendid reward awaits. Most people have only seen such things in pictures, but the intrepid person will see these things with their own eyes, a winter wonderland where no other has traveled, where every step brings a unique, unreplicable scene.

With that in mind, I’m gonna go sit under the blankets and read about tropical places.

Seriously. Though temperatures are above normal, it still seems very cold to me. I am not actually complaining though, it is a nice change of pace. I especially am enjoying the ability to wear multiple layers of clothing, as well as hats.

I’ve gotten over the most difficult part of my jet lag, but I am still fighting a cold, which does make things a bit more difficult. I am now in Madison, sitting in the awesome Memorial Union, I am currently in the Rathskellar, a beer serving cafeteria, one of the only places to get beer on a university campus in the country!

In other news… I have finally put up my pictures from Đà Lạt on my flicker account (See Here!), and I will hopefully continue to update and improve my multimedia presentation on this site.

Anyway, off to find some hot cocoa. Damn, it is cold.

Well, I arrived in Madison safe and sound. I actually was able to sleep quite a bit on various parts of the trip… like all the way from Saigon to Hong Kong, and 5-6 hours from Hong Kong to San Francisco, and then another 4 hours from San Francisco to Chicago. As well as an hour and a half on the bus from Chicago to Madison. Total travel time: 29 hours, and about 13ish hours of sleep. Not bad. Still jetlagged to all hell though.

I am currently in Kewaskum where I suprised my parents by showing up about a week in advance of what I had told them. That was fun.

Anyway, the search now starts for a new camera. Wee!

I leave for Wisconsin very soon. The time before my flight seems to escape my grasp faster than I can complete all my tasks ( you know… like buying gifts for everyone and anyone who comes into my mind). With nothing other than my trip in mind… There are some things that I am looking forward to..

In no particular order.

1. No Ice in my beer. Good lord will I be happy for this. The beer here is already watered down (Tiger and Heineken aren’t very stout) and the ice doesn’t help.

2. A typical Wisconsin diner/cafe breakfast, including a bottomless cup of coffee. Now, I can get eggs, sausage and toast with coffee almost anywhere, but it just is not the same as the glory that is a Wisconsin backwoods diner. When I walk into the establishment, smell poorly roasted, brewed and served coffee, with a waitress that looks like she’s halfway dead (skeletor with a cigarette) asking me in a husky voice “Hey hun, you want some grub?, the special is on the board” while also mumbling under her breath that she’s tired and there hasn’t been many customers lately, then yelling at the old men who have been sitting at the counter for likely 2-3 hours sipping that bottomless cup of coffee into oblivion, I can’t help laugh and order the special. This happens to be 1/3lb of kielbasa with toast and an egg, and you know what? That is awesome. Only at the Northwoods cafe! (That’s for you Luke)

3. Walking around Madison. Plain and Simple.. I enjoy the lakefront.

4. Beer, Beer, Beer. Anyplace I have more than 5 choices of beer I will be happy.

5. The ability to walk around in the forest and not see anyone for an entire day. (Weather permitting) I plan on heading to the central part of Wisconsin to my family’s cabin and then walking around the public land (if it is still public) and taking some pictures/looking for wildlife. I am sure I could walk all day and not see another human. I would be joyous.

6. Old friends, new stories. People in Wisconsin seem to think I live an exciting life, if they only could understand that its the same ole’ stuff just a different language. The culture is different, as well as food, but you know… with the mixture of cultures you can experience in the states, and after spending a while here, it isn’t all that different in the end. Same idea, different methods.

7. I’m sure there is more to say… but these are the only things that come to my mind immediately.

Now.. something you will only find in Vietnam.
Let me tell you a story. I was driving through the streets of HCMC at about 4 in the morning. Why? To drive to Vung Tau, roughly 3 hours away. Anyway, driving through the nearly empty streets I suddenly came upon the most intoxicating smell. It was sweet, fragrant, and utterly delicious. What could it be? Those of you who have smelled this before would agree with me I’m sure. What is it? It is the amazingly simple noodle soup of this country. Amazingly simple in content, but complex in construction. Phỏ. It takes 3-4 hours to prepare, and tastes very good (understatement there). The fragrance that floats about the pot of broth while being prepared makes my mouth water every time.
During the daytime hours, this fragrance is masked by pollution and omnipresent grilled meat. Only during the early morning can you truely enjoy the fragrance. To me, it is in the top 5 odors in this world. I cannot recall anything else that made me desire a single food so much, and at the same time lighten my mood.

Anh ơi, cho mọt tô phỏ bò tái!

I’ll be back in the States in just over a week. It is very exciting. When I am not teaching my mind is soley on my trip. Though I am procrastinating the necessary gift purchasing, I can only think of what I will do when I am home. That and how happy I will be to reset my teaching schedule when I return.

The worst part of my entire trip is that Ly cannot come with me. She makes excuses like “I need to work” and “the ticket costs too much”, which are true, but I wish she would just come. Of course her company is on the very final stages of launching their product (which is pretty cool I might add, I’ll link to it when it is finished), so that might play a part in her inability to leave. That and her mom would veto it in a second, since Ly couldn’t even go with me over night to Vung Tau.

My second regret is that I won’t be back until after the Tet celebration is underway. The first few days of Tet are the best I’ve been told, and those are the days I will miss. Oh well I guess, there is always next year.

I’ve been trying (a little bit) to think of things I need to get accomplished when I’m in America. The most important thing to do while there is… Buy a camera. I’d like to begin to learn how to be a good photographer (as you can see, I am currently pretty horrible) and I need to have a good beginner’s camera. I could use some help on this, so please feel free to comment.

Until Later,

Brian

I’m sorry Lil’ Ms. Saigon Blog, I know I havent’ been taking very good care of you, but don’t worry you’ll get lots of updates and improvements soon, I promise.

For the rest of you, you are just going to have to deal with the lack of updates until I get back to the States because my internet at home sucks and when I”m not there I’m busy. Luckily I have a few minutes before class tonight to write something.

The only thing I really want to say right now is that teaching has become a burden. I feel absolutely no motivation to be energetic and well prepared for lessons. This has lead to a decline in my performance. This lack of motivation could be caused by more than a few things. I have a couple classes from hell, and I have been extremely frustrated with my little rugrats lately. I also want to escape from my current schedule, which is a disastrous 7 days a week. I don’t want that, but to get my hours high enough to be full time I have had to. In the next few months VUS will be offering a full time teacher contract which is sure to be a lot better than my current contract. I am still not sure I can handle the 7 days a week crap any more though…. Maybe when I come back I should enquire at other schools….

 Enough of that though!

I must teach…the little hellions.