Hello USA!

This afternoon I was one of four judges for the "Hello USA" competition at school. Three teams, representing the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, the Center for American Studies at Hanoi University and the University of Social Science and Humanities, competed in games that tested their knowledge of American history and culture. Hanoi University won. They were quite impressive. We were a distant second. The photo below is some of the students setting up the rehearsal (Both photos were taken from one of my student's Facebook album - the guy sitting at the computer.).

Christmas 2009

For the first time, Christmas in Vietnam seemed as hectic as Christmas in the United States. Many people in Hanoi have begun to celebrate Christmas as a time to have a party. Unfortunately, most don't seem to "get it" any more than I understand the reason for having a party on St. Patrick's Day.

Two "Vietnam: Christmas traditions have developed for Nancy and me. One is making Christmas cookies with students. It's incredible how artistic they can be.

The other, which dates back to the 2007 VTF team, is helping to wrap and deliver presents for the preschools sponsored by CAMA Services. (The kids memorize lines from the Christmas story and put on a little play.) It wouldn't feel like Christmas in Vietnam without it.

 

(L to R) Innkeeper, Mary, Joseph

Shepherds and Angels

Magi

Twitter

Someone suggested that in order to understand Twitter, I need to try it out. So, here goes. But if you're in North America and you get tweets on your phone, you'll want to check out Setting sleep time for text messages. No one likes hearing their phone in the middle of the night!