Happy days are here again

The great thing about the stock market is that it usually goes up after it hits rock bottom. This was true even after the Great Depression, like the one I had in Bien Hoa this past week. The rebound is in full force. First, my neighbors stopped staring at me. They, like everyone else in the world, probably realized I'm not much to look at. I've avoided the hot spots where people don't like me because, well, because I'm there and they don't like my face for whatever reason. I've minimized contact with people who seem irritated by my presence. Really, the nice people in Vietnam are some of the nicest people I've ever met anywhere in the world. (Knuckleheads are knuckleheads everywhere as well.) The guy at the nursery hooked me up with awesome plants and trees, then tied the stuff to my bike, which he then turned in the proper direction for me. The girls at the coffee shop actually know what I order and begin preparing it when my bike pulls up. I don't have to order. And they tease me about my Vietnamese in the most pleasant way. I'm drinking lots of coffee these days. A lady at Metro -- my new supermarket -- walked the entire store with me to help me find some items I needed for class. She must share my fondness for students. And my students are the greatest. I teach lots of different classes, and every class is a real pleasure. I honest-to-god look forward to teaching.  Since I understand grammar now, I do my best to make it simple, clear, and as much fun as grammar can be. Grammar isn't much fun, and games seem to cloud the issue, so I use my stellar personality to deliver the information. OK, so the grammar lessons are still a challenge.
Riding the motorbike everywhere is becoming like driving a car in the USA. Kids, and everyone else, drive like lunatics everywhere ... the USA, Peru, Vietnam. Crazy drivers are a universal truth. I may have been one myself, having totaled a car or two in my day. The point is, I was pissed off at this place for a while. When people scream at you when you try to help, or curse at you for no reason when you eat dinner, or stare at you like you're something less than human (white monkey) in 95-degree heat, then maybe you have a right to be pissed off. It doesn't change things, but it helps keep you sane in an insane world. Since I do not yell back well, or think fast on my feet, I use this blog to defend myself.  I can calmly think and say the things I should have said when I was unjustly confronted.  So to the folks who think I'm whiny, or a complainer, or a negative person, I want to say one thing: the best revenge is to live well and be happy.