My Lil’ Saigon

Apparently…

The entire country of France was looking at my website at one time….

Dear America,

Please show your faces in Vietnam. I look at events occuring around the city (via this website, HERE) and there is not a single one hosted by American company or organization or even a person!

I see Australian chamber of commerce, Canada, England, etc, etc. NOTHING is by America. I’m starting to feel alone here. Sure I could host an event, but I’m just little fish. All I’m asking for is a American company to host “An American Breakfast: discussing business in Vietnam” or something (I don’t care for the business, but I could go for some eggs, sausage and bacon with a cup of American coffee, even though it doesn’t taste as good as the type brewed here).

Is that so hard to do?

Help me!

I need to start exercising. I used to be in excellent shape but since I’ve been here I’ve done absolutely nothing. I used to cycle a little, do sport climbing, play basketball, and lift weights. I would love to pick up a sport here, I am open to swimming but I don’t really know how do to it very well. Tennis: ok but I need a partner.

I know there are some organized activities in D.7 but the ones I know about occur at times that I am unavailable. I’m terrible at soccer but am open to playing (and sucking). if anyone has a suggestion, please feel free to post a comment.

No, this doesn’t have anything to do with the copious amounts of meat I had last night, I don’t feel like a fatty today.

This evening Ly’s brother wanted to show us a restaurant with German beer. Which I wasn’t sure about, since almost everywhere that I was told it was German beer, it has been Czech Pilsner. Which isn’t too much of a difference to many folks, but I like to think that I could tell the difference. Anyway, since Anh hai had not been to this place in a while, it did not exist anymore. In its place was the Restaurant Brazil: Churrasco. As the name implies, it is a Brazilian restaurant, but it only serves one dish: Churrasco. It is a buffet style BBQ. Before I begin to talk about the food, let us see what a Churrasco is supposed to be like.

“In Brazil, churrasco is their term for a barbeque. A “churrasqueira” is just like one’s grill at home. Usually an oven with supports for spits or skewers, where the meat is put on. Portable “churrasqueiras” will have a grill support, similar to those used to prepare the Argentinian and Uruguayan Asado (see Cuisine of Argentina). However, most often the Brazilian “churrasqueiras” will not have grills, only the skewers on top of the fire. A churrascaria is a restaurant where the served meat is prepared in such ovens. Most of these restaurants are all-you-can-eat serving of meat; the waiters will go around the restaurant with the skewers, slicing the meat on the client’s plate. This serving style is called Espeto Corrido or Rodizio.
It can refer also to cooked meat on large metal or wood skewers rested on a support or stuck into the ground, roasted with fire on charcoal or firewood (what is typical in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, whose inhabitants also are called Gauchos). In other parts of Brazil home-made churrasco is a typical weekend event, where it is usually served outdoors with beer, music and possibly watching soccer games on TV with friends.”

Thanks Wikipedia! I must say that description pretty much is perfect of my experience. The waiters would come around with hot meat before we were finished with the last serving. Every waiter had a different meat. Some were like prime rib, others were pig or beef leg, there was a fish one, shrimp wrapped in bacon, and I think a tenderloin like meat. They came by so often I didn’t have time to get up and go get more side dishes from the buffet. The non-meat buffet had a good spread but the quality was only mediocre. The meat was of decent quality, and I can tell the chef is trained well. Overall it was a good meal, I could only complain if I was very picky, which of course I am not. Also we saw the (former?) head coach of the Vietnamese national football team there. I also thing some of his players were there as well, most of them were very large and muscular.

The cost of the meal was a bit of a shock at first, but after their generous servings of meat I understand why. It was too bad I misjudged the amount of cash in my wallet and ended up having to scrap my pockets to procure enough money. All in all, I’d go again, but maybe with a bigger party of people. Seems like it could be pretty fun, though a bit expensive for here. A meaty BBQ (serves 1) = 250k VND.

Nothing too exciting to report. I think the rainy season is coming, but I’ve been thinking that for over a week, and not a drop has fallen. It has been windy a few days, and more clouds have appeared, but alas no rain. The temperatures continue to rise, which is fine as long as the power doesn’t go out in the classroom. I feel like I am finally starting to drag my feet on teaching, I’ve had a motivational low for the last week at my VAS classes and may have relied on the VCD a bit too much, but hopefully now that we are finished with the boring units of “baby brother, baby sister” and “Review of Thank you and You’re Welcome” Things should get better. Only 6 more weeks to whip these kids into shape for 1st grade.

A couple National Holidays are coming up. April 26th is Hung Kings day, a celebration of the first line of Vietnamese kings. I’m not sure why it is April 26th, but I wish it didn’t fall on a thursday this year. Next up are May 1st and 2nd. I saw that these days were “freedom days” but I’m not sure which freedom it is. Either way, long weekend for everyone. Kinda like labor day in the U.S.

Ly’s mother has “allowed” Ly to go on an extended vacation with her brother, sister-in-law, and myself. We are going to go to Vung Tau, which is a beach about 100km’s from the city. We go there because her brother likes it, it is cheap, and about halfway there is the location of Ly’s Sister-in-law’s hometown. Personally I don’t think Vung Tau is very nice. I do like that there are fewer foreign tourists there, but it is also the place where many Vietnamese tourists go. A vacation is a vacation though, and I look forward to a few days without thinking about teaching, and hopefully a lot of sun. Maybe I’ll get to see that big jesus statue too.

The addiction has been broken, sadly. I knew this day would come, but I never thought it would be so soon. I think I will probably be ok, I don’t think that I’ll have withdrawl problems (See Here). I know I haven’t been addicted for very long, but I do know I will miss it.

I’m sorry Wilbur Smith, Your book The Lion Feeds broke me. By the end of the book I actually wanted it to be over. While I wanted to know more about the main character at the end, I didn’t care for anyone else really, I wasn’t even concerned about his wife. Any way you put it, the final two books of yours that I have may take some time for me to read, unless I find something interesting in the next 100 pages. No more late night reading sessions though, although I suppose that might be a good thing.

The love is back! How I have missed you Mr.RJD2. I have my friend Alex to thank for this music. I loved it about 2 years ago when I first heard it, and then it faded from my ears, and now again while I was cruising my computer for music to have my teenagers listen to for lyrics, I stumbled upon it again. While it is not good for my classes, I remembered how much it rocks and I couldn’t help but mention it.