2012

I made it through another year a few hours ago and most of you back on the east coast have probably just set down your empty champagne glass, if you even bothered to stay awake until 12. It doesn't seem as important to be at a party after 60 + years as it once was. I got home well before midnight last night.
I was in the big park last night for a while. The crowds, the enthusiasm, the music, etc. far surpassed any public new year gathering even in South Beach. The variety of music ranged from traditional Vietnamese performed on a raft floating in the lake to popular western rock performed by 2 sexy Filipinas and a great back up band. The food vendors sold Thai, Indonesian, Malay, Indian, Mexican, German, Russian, of course Vietnamese and plenty of 333 (ba ba ba) beer.I have not seen black eye peas anywhere, so I hope my luck will be good anyway.
Best wishes to you for 2012. You are in my thoughts and prayers and I ask the same of you.

That Was Christmas

Christmas morning mass at Notre Dame Cathedral which was built but the occupying French in 1863 and is a famous landmark in central Ho Chi Minh City

It is now 10 PM on Christmas here in Viet Nam, and my day is winding down. I expect back in the good ole Eastern time zone you folks are getting ready for Christmas church service to be followed by a festive holiday lunch. Well, I am thinking of you and sending my love from half way around the world.

You might be wondering how I spent my Christmas holiday. For starters, let me say it beat the pants off last year when I spent about 20 hours on various forms of transportation from Koh Phanghan in Thailand to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Last night, Christmas Eve, I went for coffee, which is what people do here in lieu of cocktails, with another resident of my apartment complex, a girl named Quy who is from Hanoi working and living here in HCMC until next week when she returns to Hanoi. We went to my favorite neighborhood restaurant for a hot pot, the Vietnamese version of fondue, and then said good bye to each other for the night as we both had made plans to meet friends later in the evening. I continued Christmas Eve evening with another friend Phu and we set out on foot to the center to view the festivities there, but turned back after deciding it was way too crowded. Instead we sat in an outdoor cafe near my place to drink beer and people watch.
This morning I went to Notre Dame (Catholic) catheral in the Center for the 930 English mass. Well, most of the mass was in Vietnamese, but a little was in English. I thought it interesting that the nativity scripture was from John, "In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.", and not, "for unto you is born this day in the city of David.... The message of the brief English homily was that Jesus was born an infant dependent on his parents and from that we should learn dependency on each other. The choir sang "Joy to the World" in Vietnamese, and hearing it brought sentimental tears to my eyes.

Walking back home from mass, I was surprised to get calls from William and Pam Mackey in Sea Island for Christmas and also from Alberto Costilla who is visiting his family in Argentina for Christmas. Hearing from my friends was indeed the highlight of the day.
This evening I attended a potluck Christmas party at the home of a new friend, Teresa, a Vietnamese lady who lived many years in Toronto but now lives back here. Since I have no cooking facilities I took Australian and South American wines for potluck. There were so many delicious dishes-egg rolls, spring rolls, grilled fish, chicken (complete with feet), salads, pork ribs and a lot of things I could not identify but ate anyway. There was no potato salad and no deviled eggs which inspired me to find some way to boil eggs and take that ole time favorite if I am invited to another potluck. I did not expect to have much conversation at the party and was so pleasantly surprised to meet quite a few friendly fluent English speakers. I really had a very nice time there. The only downside to the evening was that the new batteries I loaded in my camera especially for the party quit on me after just one photo.
As Christmas 2011 wanes I just want to say how thankful I am for my family and friends and the good life I enjoy. I try to remain always mindful of all God's blessings, because I am truly grateful for what I have. On some special days such as Christmas it just seems appropriate to share my gratitude and love. Warmest Christmas wishes to you from HCMC.

The usual frenetic traffic in HCMC was at about a 10X level on Christmas Eve as it seems the whole population descended on District 1 to celebrate the holiday.

It's Looking Like Christmas

Sai Gon is brightly lit for the Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year. Stalls are being set up on the streets and in the parks and I expect these will be full of things to buy or admire in a few more days. There is a festive air about as the holidays come closer.

Blue Christmas

Sai Gon is getting really decked out for Christmas, especially here in District 1 which is the shopping and tourist center. To my color blind eyes it seems the color of choice for the ubiquitous Christmas lights is blue. I commented to someone that red is out traditional Christmas color, and he told me red is the color associated with new years here. Since I am feeling less of a tourist these days I usually do not take my camera out with me but I will make an effort to get a few pics of some of the decorations that I see here.
This is the Sunday before Christmas and I am feeling nostaligic, so I am off in a few minutes to find an English church in hopes of some Christmas music. Last year on the Sunday before Christmas I was in Bangkok and I ran into an Anglican candle light service much like the ones we have back at FPC in Valdosta. I hope to be as lucky this year.
On the culinary front, I expanded my menu selection last night to include ostrich. For a long time I have heard the accolades of this low cholesterol healthy option, so instead of choosing the beefsteak for which the last night's restaurant was known, I went for the ostrich steak. It was a dark reddish color with a texture and taste more like beef than chicken. I will surely return to the same restaurant which had about the best french fries I have eaten and I will likely repeat my order of this new discovery.
Now I am off in search Christmas carols. More later.

Call Me

I thought I would pass along my local phone in case anyone has a hankering to phone one day. I think of the Blondie lyrics, "call me, call me anytime". Actually, the time in VietNam is exactly 12 hours ahead of eastern US time, so noon there is midnight here.
Well, if you have Skype and a few free minutes, I would love to hear from you. Just scroll down the list of countries in the Skype menu, select Viet Nam and then dial my number 127 477 6237. It is that easy thanks to amazing technology.

Staying Fit

The former French Country Club of Sai Gon, now know as the Labor Club

Since I have plenty of time on my hands here in Sai Gon I have made it a priority to try to improve my level of fitness, so I located a gym and swimming pool not far from my apartment. I think it is quite interesting that this facility was once the French country club during the days of colonialism. Often in my travels in this part of the world have I been outraged at the audacity of the European powers who overpowered the local authorities and established a European society. In the case of the country club it is built immediately in the center of Sai Gon on prime real estate next to the former presidential palace. It is easy to understand why the Vietnamese hated the French so vehemently when seeing something like this abuse of power.

Now however the former country club is far more egalitarian, open to the public and is called "The Labor Club". I love the irony of the name and also love that it sounds so very communist. The once surrounding golf course is gone, replaced by polular badminton, tennis and basketball courts.

I have a month membership in the gym for $6 and also can pay less than half a dollar to swim in the huge pool whenever I want. The gym is pretty basic, most of the machines probably having been welded together based on some rough idea of what an equivalent Nautilus machine would be, the free weights are scattered all over the floor instead of neatly racked, and the cooling fans hardly work at all. The Y in Valdosta looks pretty % star in comparison, but this is a friendly place and convenient so I am determined to get into better shape while here.

I took a picture of one page of the snack bar menu at the Labor Club. Whenever I go into the snack bar I always nostalgically think of Esther and Robert from the snack bar at the VCC when I was growing up. No hotdogs and hamburgers are on this menu, but you certainly have a wide variety of rice dishes. There is a pidgin English phrase used all over southeast Asia, "Same, same but different." That is how I feel about the snack bar here in Sai Gon.

The whole facility would be much improved with a coat of paint and I suggested posting notices for a volunteer work party to spruce up one Saturday. The very practical response I got was, "Who would supply the paint?" I still have this idea in my mind, however.

Settling In

On December 1 I moved in to an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City and for the first time since early October I have a place to call my own. Where I am living is pretty simple and basic, just a room with a bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a television, a fridge and a bathroom. This is a petty common set up for foreigners living here and there are 6 other similar rooms in this building. I am in an excellent location near the center of HCMC, so there are plenty of cafes around and I will not go hungry here.

It is refreshing to be so minimalist in my needs. TodayI went shopping for my new place and my list was short---coat hangers and a large coffee cup. (Coffee here is served in cups only slightly larger than a demi tasse.) I want to buy a reading light for my bed and that should about complete the furnishings I require.

My next project is to find some work. I really do not expect much pay but I think a raison d'etre ici is important. I have a few leads to follow however this country will have Christmas, New Years and Tet within the next few weeks, so hiring may be slow at the moment. I did just buy a white shirt and necktie preparatory for job hunting.