Today it is Christmas, a day like any other in Vietnam. The businesses are open and the kids are in school. I am looking out at a sunny and warm day. It is as if nothing happened yesterday, but let…
Month: December 2010
Owee Easy Rider?
Sometimes a person has to love this place. You never know what will be trown into your lap. It seems word has gotten around that I have a new bike and a few easyriders have approached me with the offer of…
A Slum or a Landmark?
The Cai River runs through Nha Trang and for as long as I have been coming here, there has been an area where the poor had built wooden houses along it’s banks. Not really a slum, but more of a…
Beware the Foreigner
Just when I thought I had regained my faith in human nature, some jerk had to come along and spoil it all. I understand some of the trouble that the Vietnamese can cause a foreigner here, but I had never…
Corrosive Climate
A person that travels to Vietnam is often struck by how so many things look old and worn out. Looks can be deceiving. Remember that I have been living here one year so far? In that year I have purchased…
A small matter of face
In the past I tried to give a basic description of the concept of face. It is probably one of the hardest things to understand about Asian culture and there are nt a lot of westerners that really get the concept. The original post…
A typical side trip to Saigon
I am sitting in a budget hotel in Saigon trying to collect my reeling thoughts after a day of unexpected events, but then, I am sure I have mentioned before that things do not always go as planned in Vietnam.…