I made it to Hanoi. I’m staying in a super-fancy place that levied an unexpected additional $46 per day charge for Internet bundled with services I don’t need. Like I get three pieces of clothes ironed a day. I don’t have three pieces of clothes here, unless you count my underwear. But I crumpled what I have and took it down to the front desk, just to get my money’s worth. I’m also entitled to […]
Read moreMonth: July 2011
Water Snakes
I should go back and add captions to my slide show, but I don’t want to. Remember the two slithery pictures: one of snakes and one of eels (plus a crab one)? That was at the rollerskating restaurant. I asked our Vietnamese tour guide if it was okay to take off the lid of the cages so I could get a better picture, which he did. Then I asked what kinds of snakes those were. […]
Read moreYou Don’t Look Like An American
The sobering fact is that we in the U.S. have an international reputation for being obese. Eating as much as I have been, I am rapidly heading in that direction. However, I’m having fish-sauce difficulties. First, as you know, on my first day here I drank it in gulps before realizing what it was. Immediately thereafter a Vietnamese told me not to ask what was in it. Then yesterday, I spilled a vat of fish […]
Read moreThe Opposite of Attrition?
Detrition? Extrition? Antitrition? Help me here, people. In any case, the pattern of enrollment in classes here runs counter to my vast and varied experience in the teaching world. I started off class with 12 students, and now I have 15. I’ve never seen it go in that direction. My students are delightful. Today the class got out of control with mirth and I attempted, once time was running short, to rein in the glee […]
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