Selfies in the park; back on the bike

I finished my daily walk on Sunday in the usual fashion. I stopped at the park near our house to do some tai chi in an ongoing effort to relieve the pain in my back and ankle from my recent motorbike wrecks. Sometimes, there will be photo shoots in the park of couples who are going to get married. One couple even wanted a picture with me in it, so we all stood in front of a tree and the photographer snapped away. It was quaint. On Sunday, a guy was taking pictures of a girl while another girl with them stood off to the side taking selfies. That girl took selfies for more than 20 minutes -- the time it takes me to do yang style long form. Amazing. How many selfies can you take in 22 minutes?
The reactions I get on the walk are always interesting. Hostile stares, plain old boring stares, blank stares, some smiles, an occasional  thumbs-up. I see the same folks every day -- and I've seen them daily for more than two months. I'm always amazed at folks who show no recognition or acknowledgement of someone they see every day over an extended period of time. People are like this in the U.S. My town, Yellow Springs, Ohio, can be either very friendly or very snobby. And  I'm one of those morons who always says Hi! and smiles when I pass by someone. I get snubbed quite a bit, so I don't do it as much as I used to. But the more I walk here, the more people acknowledge me. I don't think they're snobs here, just a little confused and disoriented by the sight of a White Monkey in Bien Hoa.  And people here seem a little shy. This is especially true with students who lack confidence in their English. They won't even make a guess if it requires speaking.
Many of the people I pass are working at little stands selling sandwiches, pork, chicken, duck, bread, fruit, and vegetables. The heat always makes me wary when I buy at the market or on the street, and I give whatever I want a thorough inspection before money changes hands. The people I buy from always say hello or nod when I walk by. The others just stare.
I went into a gift shop to buy a small present for Phuong -- just because. I picked out some plastic flowers in a fancy cup that said I Love You on it.  A sticker on the cup said 60,000 dong (about $3). I went to buy and the little girl working at the store pulled the flowers out of the cup, and the flowers had a sticker on them that said 50,000. So I said 110,000 dong in my very mediocre Vietnamese and smiled while pulling out my money. I'm not sure why, but the girl got agitated, gave me the hand wave in my face that really pisses me off (I don't accept that element of the culture), and said "NO, NO, NO." Then she said 110,000 in pretty much the same way I said it. I repeated what she said, and she responded with more NO's. I put the flowers and little cup down and walked out without buying, the money still in my hand. But I've noticed that people here don't care if you buy or not. I guess they don't need the money, or it's more important to humiliate the White Monkey than to take his money. I'm not a particularly difficult customer, but there about 12 businesses and restaurants I  won't do business with here. Just like Peru or the U.S., it's usually the younger kids that have the attitude, but a lot of adults don't mind being ass clowns either.
Sorry, Phuong, but no plastic flowers for you today. But Phuong has other things on her mind. Her stomach looks like a basketball. Really. It's round,  brown, and beautiful. The heat isn't making her pregnancy any easier, but she's tough and completely focused on doing what's good and right for our baby. It's just another reason why I love this woman so much. The doctor doesn't think the baby will wait until its due date of July 4.  He believes mid- to late June is more likely. We don't care when, or if we have a boy or girl. We want a healthy, normal baby, like any other expecting parents.
I'm approaching 20,000 views for this blog. For the numbers geeks out there, here's the top viewing countries with number of hits on the blog: United States 7,972; Vietnam 5,462; Peru 1,264; Russia 841; Germany 484; Australia 467; France 286; United  Kingdom 218; China 173; Ukraine 140.
I'm half  Ukrainian, so I was happy to see the Ukraine make the top 10.
I've said it before, but I'm proud people read my blog. I try to put some thought into it and I care. I'm a concerned ass clown.
Speaking of ass clown, the White Monkey is back on the motorbike. Really, I have no choice if I want to go anywhere outside of walking distance from my house, like a grocery store.  Phuong and her family worry whenever I leave on the bike. I worry, too, but screw it, I've got to do what I've got to do. And Phuong lets me use her bike, a Honda Air Blade, which is bigger and much nicer than the bike I destroyed, a Honda Wave. The Air Blade has an automatic clutch and shuts off automatically when the kickstand is dropped down. Let's ride.
I celebrated two months of not smoking cigarettes by not smoking another day.  Phuong has the White Monkey trained quite well.