Same Old

Nothing much happened this week. I've been working a lot and going out at night as usual. DiDi and I saw the movie "Monsters vs. Aliens" which was pretty good. We also went to the party for Obama's 100 days in office and shot a lot of pool. Last night I went out to a jazz club with Inny, DiDi, and Phuong and had to swat away the men as usual. :) One guy approached DiDi and I and told us that he's seen us together about eight times before. It was pretty funny.

On Wednesday night one of DiDi's friends called her to see if she knew of any foreign women who could be interviewed for this t.v. show called "Smiling Viet Nam." Since I had a two hour break between teaching morning and afternoon classes on Thursday, the tv show came and picked me up in a giant van and we went to this Vietnamese woman's embroidery factory (aka her living room). The show wanted to get my reaction when I was shown this woman's amazing embroidery. She uses silk thread and her works are so detailed that they can take her up to two years to complete one masterpiece. The catch is that the woman is disabled. She walks with crutches and her knees don't work correctly--they seem to bend both backwards and fully forwards. The director wanted me to say that this woman "is disabled but she's nice and useful," which I refused to say. There's a lot of prejudice directed towards the disabled in this country. They're seen as burdensome and useless.

We had a really good time filming and then got some lunch. They're going to give me a DVD of the final cut and will call me when the show airs. It was a pretty cool experience--just something to do once in your lifetime. Next month, I'm going to be an extra in a movie. Again, something to add to the list of things I've done once. :)











After a month of searching for good deals on a flight back to the states, I found a one-way flight for $630 dollars. I booked it right away so as not to miss the promotion. On the night of August 1st I will fly into New York City. Then on to Boston for a few days before flying to Florida for the annual Seadale family vacation (which I am stoked about).

Next week is a Vietnamese holiday--their Independence Day (the time they beat the French, not the Chinese or Americans)-- and I am going with Inny, Phuong, and DiDi to the jungle and then to the beach. So I'll post another blog entry after those adventures. :)

As usual, here are some of my favorites from this week:























Miss you all terribly...