All These Geese are Swans

I don’t know what it is that cracks me up about these geese, but I just get the biggest kick out of them. I often see them in the morning when I am on the xe om going to work and then I will occasionally see them when I walk home. They are usually out foraging ... but their territory is not a meadow or a pasture or a riverside ... it is đường Nguyễn Văn Linh, which is a busy city street ... a divided six-lane busy city street. I worry about the four of them, as they waddle out into traffic sometimes. Silly geese.

And as you can see, there are all manner of vehicles they have to contend with ... including the ones that go the wrong way down a one-way street!
Today on my way to work, I noticed they were dirtier than usual; as it had rained last night, there were quite a few mud puddles for them to muck about in. They looked like they were enjoying themselves immensely. This afternoon, I took a taxi home due to a monsoonly torrential downpour, so I didn’t see them. But I hoped that they were safe and having a splashing great time. Silly goose.

A Week In

So, I have met all my new classes now and the students seem very nice. As WPP is not a mandatory class, I hope that students will be coming because they want to be there and see value in the learning related to workplace preparation. I only see students for 2 hours a week and so that is not much time to cover all the areas in our curriculum ... and I wonder about the relationships I will develop with students when I see them so little and when they are (rightfully) focused on their degree program and future careers.
This question popped into my mind yesterday when I saw two groups of students from my first and third Level 6 classes. I was so happy to see them and hear about their degree programs. And I was struck by how close they had remained, even though they had all gone off to various degree programs ... commerce, design, professional communications, IT, accounting and BIS. I loved seeing them all sitting around and hanging out ... I know they often go out for coffee, play basketball, tour around, eat lunch together and so on. That bonding and those close-knit relationships are things I really love about ESL and hope that that sort of mutual support and care can be carried over to WPP as well.
There is so much to learn about career development and workplace expectations in the Vietnamese context. I have started to learn a little bit about that and while I am grateful that I know the content of the WPP material really well, I am glad I have a bit of a gentle introduction to WPP as I begin to meet people at RMIT and both local and multinational employers and try to make sense of their standards and expectations of RMIT grads. I attended a networking event this past week, at a fancy restaurant called Shri, which I enjoyed a lot. I look forward to going to more such events and meeting people, especially employers, in the community. And of course, what would a networking event be without food? In this case, there were delicious canapés, which I accompanied with watermelon juice. I thought about the mango margaritas, but felt perhaps my tenure at RMIT was a bit too tenuous to go there just yet.
On to more food ... before I went home for holidays, my Vietnamese teacher, Thúy took me to a couple of places for noodles for my birthday. One was very reminiscent of some of the noodle places I used to go to in China, where the noodles were made in front of our eyes. These pics were taken at that location ... it was a lovely evening and the food was really delicious. I need to look for the card so I can find the address and go back one of these days. The young man in these pics, Loc, did agree to have his photo taken, but I think it wasn’t his preference. Owell. It really is for educational purposes ...

First there was measuring (by weight) the flour, eggs, oil, and water to make the dough.

Then came a whole lot of mixing ... all by hand. Can you imagine how strong his hands and forearms must be?

After this part, the dough was allowed to rest for a few minutes, while Loc prepared the kneading and cutting surface.The dough was divided into parts and rolled out into sections. Each section was then worked. Loc pulled and twisted and tossed the ropes of dough into the air. Each successive pass and combination of 'moves' meant the strands of noodles got thinner and thinner. It was really an interesting sight. I wonder if Marco Polo saw people making noodles in this manner 700 years ago.

When Loc had gotten the noodles to the desired thinness, he would toss them behind him to the broth area, where the noodles would be immersed into broth to be cooked and then to be combined with meat, seafood, or vegetables and served. Really delicious.
Hope all is well with you all and that summer is going well. School is out for some of you and I hope that means some great days by a lake, listening to loons, and having an occasional paddle for exercise. Others are traveling ... if so, I hope your trips are full of fun and light on stress. If your summer is focused on work, know that I am with you! Our time will come soon enough ... says the one who just returned from 6 weeks away ...

Back at It

I have been back in Vietnam and I have to say it has been a bit dislocating ... I was not exactly ready to come back and I have had fairly severe (for me) jet lag, which is just now beginning to abate. And the weather ... hothothot ... and my phone didn’t work and I have a new job. But I feel like I am on the road to normalcy and things are starting to feel a bit more regular now.
It seems much focus this week has been on food, glorious food. On Saturday I did have delicious phở' from my favourite Phu My Hung restaurant Phở' 36. Then my new colleagues and I went for lunch at a Korean barbecue restaurant one lunch hour. It was nice to spend time with them all and get to know them a bit better. Then one evening, Barbara and Sara (RMIT colleagues who work in the English department) and I went to a restaurant called la brasserie, before going to the English Department trivia night at the Tavern Restaurant. Barbara and Sara had been to the restaurant before and said it was good, so we agreed to meet there for 6 ... plenty of time to get to the first question, which was set for 7:30. We were soooo wrong. The meal was right out of Fawlty Towers. From bringing red wine instead of white to bringing my main course 45 minutes before Barbara and Sara’s to overcharging me for my meal to not bringing Barbara and Sara’s dessert, the whole thing was quite a fiasco. And of course, we were waaaay late. The food was pretty good, however. We didn’t win trivia either.
So, considering our experience at la brasserie, last night’s meal at Cham Charm was quite wonderful. We went there to bid Barbara a fond adieu, as she is heading off to Australia for a month’s holidays. Cham Charm is a high-end restaurant in Phu My Hung ... not too near my part of PMH ... around a 7-minute taxi drive. It is probably the nicest restaurant I have been to in Vietnam, along with its sister restaurant, the Ming Dynasty.The decor is Champa, similar to what you would find in some parts of Central Vietnam (My Son) or Angkor but the cuisine is very eclectic ... Japanese, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, and some Western ... with a major focus on seafood, particularly oysters. Yumyumyum. And the desserts ... omigoodness, they were great.We had a lovely time, enjoyed the physical surroundings immensely, and were enchanted by some of the beautiful customers. The little girls are not all sisters, although they were wearing matching ao dais. Their parents told us the kids were 3,3, 2 and 6 (from left to right). And, as it was buffet and/or cooked in front of you, we did not have to wait for anything. Well, we did have to wait a couple of minutes for slab ice cream, as there was a bit of a line from time to time. Very lovely evening!

As always, more pics on flickr ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/raven_chick. Hope all is well with people who have to do their own cooking:-)

Leaving Again

Today as I was pulling out a particularly pernicious and persistent patch of binderweed (which you all by now know is the bane of my gardening existence) the words from 59th Street Bridge Song came tripping into my head ... life I love you, all is groovy. Haha, it seemd ironic, as I was trying to KILL as much binderweed as DEAD as I possibly could at the time.

But then more lyrics came into my mind ... Slow down, you move too fast ... you’ve got to make the morning last ... and there was another timely message. Time is speeding up as I prepare to go back to Ho Chi Minh City. So many things not accomplished ... I never got to Stratford, Toronto, Ann Arbor, or the Detroit Institute of Art ... all of which were on my agenda. So many people still to see. So much of my garden still untended. Appointments unmade or unkept. Various things unkempt:-) But I still got to see and do plenty and so there is much to be grateful for ... even if it wasn’t quite enough.Errol and I had a lovely visit with old friends Betty and Stephen in Goderich last weekend. Errol and I used to work at Homestead Group Home years and years ago when we lived in our little log cabin in the woods by the lake. Long ago and far away. So it was very nice to reconnect with them. Errol and Steve had gone down to West Virginia together last fall to visit our friend, Patrick, but I hadn’t seen Betty and Stephen for two years. They have a large property that is part therapeutic treatment centre and part hobby farm ... and if I think my garden is a lot of work, well I need look no further than Homestead to know what work really is! And it was great to see the kennels, the stable, the chickens, the art and play therapy facilities, and the biggest attraction of all ... pregnant ewes and baby lambs. Before heading off to Goderich, I had just finished reading ‘The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd’ by Mary Rose O'Reilley. She discusses at some length the challenges of raising sheep, especially keeping some of the babies alive. It is an interesting book and her descriptions of being at the Buddhist centre in Plum Village in France were quite interesting ... especially those relating to Western/Vietnamese interaction/communication.
So food for thought as I begin to prepare physically and psychologically for Vietnam. I hope all my stuff will fit into my suitcase and that it is not too late to get a decent seat on the plane(s). While the weather here is beautiful (today) I understand it is incredibly hot and there are frequent power outages in Ho Chi Minh City(although perhaps not in D7 so far). A new job awaits and I do hope I have made a wise decision there. And I hope I am not leaving too much of a mess for Errol and Cait to clean up. Worryworting to the end ... it is what I do, no? I hope this finds youall very well and ready for a wonderful summer ... seems strange to have my holiday over already :-(. But best wishes for great hiking, canoeing, theatre-going, vacationing, travelling, working, playing, parenting, relationship-building, journeying, adventuring ... living! Life I love you, all is groovy ... even if I do have deeds to do and promises to keep.

A Glimpse into My Garden

I have been home for 3 weeks now and the time is going so fast! Cait and I spent a few days in Oklahoma when I first came back to North America and had a wonderful road trip home. I only drove about 3 or 4 hours in total ... perhaps Cait was a bit apprehensive about my driving her new car after my not driving for 10 months, but if she was she hid it well. So diplomatic, my girl!
While visiting Errol’s mom and brother, I paid special attention to the gardens of Oklahoma, as they are usually a couple of weeks ahead of Ontario. I was hoping I would still see a few tulips and perhaps even a daffodil or two. The peonies, roses and iris were almost finished while we were in Big Cabin, so I wasn’t really hopeful. But it all worked out! When we arrived home in London, there were plenty of late tulips still blooming ... purple and deep pink ones and there were some late narcissus as well. And lots and lots of forget-me-nots and lily of the valley. So nice! It was really cool and rainy for a week or so, and so things are a bit delayed. The peonies, iris, clematis, delphiniums, and wild geraniums are just in full bloom now and poppies and early lilies are starting. Oh, my goodness, what a lot of work the garden has been, As I mentioned, the early part of my time home was very cold and so it was almost impossible to work outdoors and now the pendulum has swung so far in the other direction that from 7-10:30 is when it is possible to work as it is soooo hot. Oy. That is Canada for you. We went from using the furnace to air conditioning in about 3 days. So typical.
And having had all that rain, followed by heat, the garden is popping! The weeds ... all I can say is creeping Charlie is at least easy to pull out .... binderweed is the bane of my existence. I have to accept that I will not get it all gone over once before I go back to Vietnam. There is just not enough time. So sad. But I love every minute ... even if my back, legs, and feet all hurt and my arms are all scratched up.
It seems hard to believe that I will be back in Ho Chi Minh City in 2 weeks and getting ready to start a new job at RMIT. I saw a job ad at the university that seemed written for me ... lecturer, professional skills. The focus is on career development and workplace readiness. All I could think of was all the courses over the years in which I have taught those skills. We were given a chance to do some mock interviews with graduating students just before I left to come back to Canada and it was so much fun! I loved doing it. It was nice to see students at the end of their time at RMIT, instead of at the beginning. I hope to get a better sense of Vietnam as a part of the team in the Career Centre.
It was strange applying for the new position from afar and the phone interview was a bit ridiculous as I got the timing mixed up and was sound asleep when the committee called. I felt I had totally blown it, but perhaps my qualifications compensated for my dead-headedness during the interview. Not my finest 45 minutes .^_^. And some dear friends and colleagues gave me some very kind letters of reference. So, I will miss teaching ESL, but I am hoping I will bring some of my ESL background to benefit the courses I will be teaching. I will miss my ESL colleagues as well, but I am sure I will be trekking up to the 5th floor to Bobby Brewer’s at least once a day. It will be VERY hard to leave home this year; it was a great time of year to come home and it has been wonderful being with family and friends. Errol and Cait seem fine but it does seem like such a short time somehow. We haven’t had the chance to do half the things I had thought we might. But I am hoping the new job will present some new and fresh opportunities and that is always something to get me interested. And I am hoping for a couple of great trips and so that can keep me occupied, right??? I will keep you posted.