hanoi.

i have traveled north to strengthen the bi-lateral ties of north and south mennonite central committee vietnam. the two factions have not had a history of animosity but this good-will trip was made under the auspices of increasing cooperation and mutual understanding.

hanoi is different from the south. hanoi is stripped oddly with tiny roads much like a european town. hanoi is always bustling with activity. hanoi is also not as economically developed as the south. on the 13 km trip from the airport to the center of town, one finds themselves passing constant rice paddies and farms. anywhere 13 km outside of ho chi minh city one will find buildings and urban sprawl. the people also speak indescribably differently using different words and tones.

mcc recently moved to a new building located on a confusing stretch of twists and turns in the middle of town. the building is large and beautiful. the move is mostly completed and the mcc staff are in good spirits.

all in all, the trip has began successfully. initial talks have lead to promises of more coordination and cooperation with the north promising to supply extra funding to the south. the southern coalition has been very well received and a celebration is planned for tonight as a further demonstration of the two parties future commitments and everlasting relationship.

here are the pictures form my 'giac gio' treatment which sucked out the bad wind from my body. i do feel better and i don't know if it is because of the treatment or if i just got well.

english speaking club: the chaos, the glory.

tonight it all began. i organized a speaking club (with the help of a wonderful person from the library who studied in the us and can guide me along cultural lines) after weeks of preparation and meetings and proposals, we began.

the night was hot and musty and the sky had just finished giving it's last blessing of violent rain. we walked to one auditorium in the back of campus. students were milling about waiting for the door to open. all the important people from the english department were sitting on benches away from the students. the students were dressed in their gym uniforms or casual button-up shirts. they gathered in bunches and talked in muffled voices.

there was no key.

there was no projector for our computer.

there was no one there to work with the electronics.

debacle after debacle.

we sent people to get things while we tried to appease the patients of the waiting students. i ran around and sweated heavily. they brought a key but it was the wrong key. they got a projector but the cord wasn't long enough to reach the wall. people ran for an extension cord and another key.

finally all began with a speech from the head of the english department. she welcomed everyone and thanked everyone. formalities aside, i walked to the front of 150 people, grabbed the microphone and gave an energetic speech with lots of whooping and hollering. i wanted to suck them in. i wanted them all to love me and love languages and learning. i wanted them to be drawn to me as an infant to their mother. i wanted them to think about me before they went to bed and when they woke in the morning. i wanted them to thirst for my presence. such a combination of narcissism and altruism.

the activities began and things went incredibly smoothly. the students were given prizes and they cheered and clapped. they hung on words which were first spoken in english and then translated. they all sang a song by the beegee's called massachusetts. they students learned it and sang through it twice with fervour.

we had a scavenger hunt. i explained the game, gave the clues and the room emptied as i have never seen a room empty. 150 people poured out of the room as if it was tilted on its side and shaken. they left screaming and laughing.

all in all it was an incredible success. the faculty of the english department and the students helped tremendously. my fine friend from the library was invaluable. we ended the night after two hours of activities with cries of, 'more! more!'

i know most of you think i’m a quasi-socialist on the verge of a bolshevik-type revolution at any given moment but, i assure you, that is not the case. i often peruse conservative websites for entertainment and a good chuckle. i found these pictures on a website that was explaining the liberal bias in the media. while i still don’t understand the argument (it seems to me that the gigantic multi-national super-corporations that own them (ie. www.msnbc.com? controlled by none other than general electric, microsoft and nbc) would have quite a vested interest in not being too liberal), i was moved by a few of their photographs. i am not sure what the purpose of the photo’s is but, i think i can unequivocally say, they are hilarious. (oh, and the second one's pretty racist too!)

yesterday was a fascinating day.

we started out the day (after teaching four hours in the morning) by going to a friend’s wedding. this is the friend whose family lives right beside 2 million dollar hill. he is very petite and has a very handsome face.

the wedding was very pleasant and we all sat around circular tables in the middle of the road. it felt wonderfully comfortable and warm. i looked around the party and recognized almost everyone. familiar faces abounded and i couldn’t help but smiling. we ate and chatted and i felt completely at home.

in the evening we had a halloween party. about 150 students showed up to the party and the guest house where we stay was far too small to hold them all. they were all dressed in costumes and all the lights were out. people milled about and i didn’t recognize anyone. people chatted in large groups and laughed and had a wonderful time. on the roof we had a haunted house which i was in charge of. we set up long rows of black cloth and had some of the second and third year students hiding throughout. we would bring groups of students to the top of the steps where i would be waiting for them in the dark. i would tell them the story of a former volunteer teacher who, two years ago this evening, came up to the roof at night to lament being so far away from home. the next day some people found here dead. no one knew why. i explained that the ghost of this teacher still haunts the roof. they would proceed cautiously. the girls would scream and scurry around. the boys would be macho and would walk as if walking down the road on a sunny sunday afternoon. both sexes overdid it.

all in all, it felt wonderfully like home. the students faces are familiar. the teachers faces are familiar. this is one large family and i’m happy to be a part of it.

oh, also, one of my students wrote this in her last test that i'm currently grading: don’t ask what your country can make to help you but let think tht what you can do for yours. that made my day indescribably better.