A New Installment

I have once again slumped into neglect of this blog and so this is my response to a request for a new installment. I guess one reason that I have not been writing lately is that things are pretty much as usual at this time. In Vietnamese language I would say, "Toi binh thu'o'ng.", just to show off a bit, and that roughly translates to, "Same ole, same ole." My language classes are very challenging so I spend a lot of time practicing and studying Vietnamese, but I am becoming a bit more conversational every day.

Unfortunately I have had pretty annoying sinus trouble for about a week which has prevented me from enjoying swimming. Every day I think the next day I will feel well enough to resume swimming, and I am hopeful tomorrow will be the day I get back to the pool. I have really missed the exercise and the refreshment of the cool water. It's really getting hot and this is only the beginning. Well, at least I won't have to mow the grass in this heat.

I know that I promised more pictures so yesterday I set out to take shots of some of my hangouts here, and the batteries in my camera were dead. I was going to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, a vegetarian place with a Buddhist Tibetan theme and Vietnamese style veggies. I really wanted to share a glimpse of this place with you, but alas, battery trouble. When I placed my order at the restaurant I changed my mind about something and thought I was cancelling one selection. I guess I did not get my point across and I ended up with three yummy dishes, much more than I could eat. I still have leftovers in my fridge which I will eat tonight.

I guess everyone is aware that April 15 is looming in the near future, so I have decided that now is the time for me to make the long trip back to America to take care of my taxes. I am not looking forward to the marathon flights back and I hope that I will find a way to take care of taxes more easily next year. My planned routing at this time looks like I will leave Saigon at 8 PM on April 1, fly to Bangkok and connect there to Shanghai. I will have to spend a whole day in Shanghai before catching American Airlines to LA at 9PM on April 2. I arrive in LA late afternoon on the 2 April (Remember I gain a day because I cross the IDL.), connect to Miami and take the early morning flight on April 3 to Tampa. I am hoping for an opening on a Japan Airlines flight from Saigon to Tokyo which would make a much easier trip, so please keep your fingers crossed that I get lucky.

Well, as I mentioned above, "Toi binh thu'o'ng" (Same ole, same ole) Ahence the dearth of news. Just being here is an adventure, and I usually have more than one or two amusing surprises every day. I am sorry not to have posted in a while, since one reason for the blog was to let you know I am still alive. Let me assure that I am alive and well in Viet Nam.