-^-for posterity-^-

one english teacher that we don't know very well has a brother. his brother is 12 years old. his brother has survived 12 years. he is in good health. he sleeps well. he has not died. he lived through all the different animals of the chinese calendar. he survived the goat, monkey, dragon, rat, tiger, dog, horse, rooster, buffalo, snake, rabbit and pig. he was finished his first cycle of life.

this is an important day. a child has an important birthday on two occasions: after they have survived for one month and after they finished all twelve animals in the chinese calendar. he was born in the year of the goat and the cycle has refreshed.


i find parties like this hilarious. we all went to this english teacher's home in a town called 'o mon'. the town is famous for their grapefruit. i didn't know they were famous for their grapefruit until i actually arrived and people told me. so, the party is in celebration of a young boy. we saw the young boy one time and no one bought him a present or actually really took note of him. people spent the whole party talking about the family and the house and how wonderful grapefruits were. it was really a celebration of the family and their ability to keep this boy alive for 12 years. they did a wonderful job.

one man from o mon was very interesting. he was an important member of the government and he came to our table to chat. we had a very nice time. his hair was long and parted similarly to mine. it looped down across his forehead and over to his right ear. it was beginning to grey. he had a broad smile and nice set of healthy teeth. he had a wide nose. he wore glasses that somehow covered his face from the lowest part of his nose to the lowest part of his lengthy bangs. they stretched from his left ear to his right ear. they were black framed and square. the lenses were so thick that, when you looked at his eyes, they were notably distorted. they looked much smaller. the glasses looked like some sort of diving goggles that jacques cousteau might have worn.

he was such a wonderfully warm person. his english wasn't good so we talked in vietnamese. he kept yelling to julie 'forget me not!' he would look at her, the idea would flash across his mind underneath that mat of floppy hair and his expression would change. he would raise his hand and yell, 'forget me not!' he did this repeatedly.

he would tell me i was handsome. his character changed in a similar way. he would see me, stop, the idea would flash across his mind and he would scream 'em dep trai lam!' he said this repeatedly and gave me a very solid hug at the end.

we also watched a game being played by about 8 old men. they were sitting around a table across the room and laughing and yelling. we walked over to see what all the commotion was about. it turns out they were playing some sort of vietnamese drinking game with a duck's head. they had a duck's head in a large bowl covered with another smaller bowl. someone would shake the bowl and rotate the duck's head. no one could see what direction the head was facing because of the covering bowl. the bowl would be placed in the middle of the table. all the men would grin and think. the host would ask if anyone would like to 'fix' the bowl. some men would rotate the bowl a little to one side and a little to another side. they would yell at each other 'it's pointing at you!' and 'i'm going to fix it because i'm sure it's pointing at me.' the host would then ceremoniously place his hand on the top bowl. silence. he would lift the bowl and all would see what direction the head was facing. immediately, everyone would erupt in laughter. the man who the duck had chosen would have to drink something that looked like dirty tap water.

we left the party and headed home. the school van was filled with famous o mon grapefruits and coconuts. for some reason, we were bringing coconuts home even though there were maybe 100 coconut trees surrounding the campus and you could buy fresh coconut juice for about 7 cents a cup. sometimes things just don't make sense.

i'm almost done my second cycle of the chinese calendar and all the thanks and gifts should be directed at my parents. they are the reason i have survived so long. the party will be in june of next year. if you have questions about accomidations or want more details, email my dad. davidray123@yahoo.com