Today was Teacher's Day, the national holiday in honor of educators across Vietnam. In return for my faithful service, I received:

- a day off from school
- a new notebook
- a card
- a rather ugly striped blue shirt
- A donut with the date and 'teacher's day' written in frosting
-Best of all, a conversation with a pack of Argentines in a pizzeria on Thai Van Lung St. Excellent pizza and I got to hear 'mira vos!' for the first time in over a year.

Cutting More than Hair

I was sitting in a hot toc (barbershop) getting my tri-monthly haircut when a red-faced woman came rushing in brandishing a pair of scissors and attempting to stab one of the hairdressers. The rest of the staff quickly restrained, disarmed, and expelled the offender, then everything went back to normal.

When in Saigon...

Something They Didn't Teach Me at TEFL

Among other things, what to do when you get this text message, as I did about an hour ago:

Hello teacher im your student I have a truth that i want to tell u Do you have any girlfriend? Hope no coz i love you really Let me know your feelings

I don't even know who the student is. I only gave out my cell number in the first place in case the students had any questions on the upcoming exam.

In any case, it's a dangerous situation on a number of levels. I'll have to defuse it carefully.

Chain of Foods

While KFC and Lotteria are quite common (Pizza Hut just moved in), they only make up a tiny percentage of restaurants in Vietnam.

Vietnam's two major contributions to the world of chain restaurants have yet to spread to other countries as yet. They are:

Highlands Coffee


Essentially a slightly-expanded version of Starbucks, offering meals and fruit juice in addition to the usual coffees, mochas, etc. A pleasant and elegant place to while away the afternoon, though the prices are (by local standards) sky-high. What you're really paying for is the ambiance.

Pho 24


The guidebooks invariably refer to Pho 24 as 'clean', and that it certainly is, making it ideal for squeamish tourists who can't stomach the idea of eating pho on the street. The bowls and utensils are clean of course, but so are the herbs, onions, scallions, and lemons that come with it, and the sauces are exactly the same proportions every time. A little creepy, if you ask me. Why '24'? because Vietnamese people usually eat pho for breakfast - this tried to make it an all-day thing.

Yes We Did?

Goodness, there's a surprise: almost everything went according to the Democrats' plan.

Whether you like it or not, this is going to be a pivotal moment in American politics. Essentially an Obama landslide with comparatively small Democratic gains in the House and Senate.

I do wish I were there now, so I could see things up close. I tried to talk about the election with my class this morning, but wasn't sure that such thorny issues as democratic elections would go over well with my Vietnamese minders. Luckily they already seemed familiar with the American political system, and other than one 6th-grader yelling 'Obama Banana!' when I mentioned BHO's name.