No apples and peanut butter; no Hu tieu and crepes; Joanna will be U.S. citizen

I teach a group of government workers, and they're pretty nice folk. Most are older, with husbands and wives and children. I was explaining apples to the group -- things like core, stem, skin, seeds, pie, cider, and all things apple. I brought in some peanut butter and apples and explained how this is a good combination and popular with some people in my country. I invited the class to try a small slice of apple with a little peanut butter on it. The 10 students looked at me in horror, like I asked them to lick the top and bottom of my shoes. I had already cut one apple into quarters, so I slapped some peanut butter on a quarter and ate the damn thing, exaggerating how good it was. Really, it was good (USA apples and chunky peanut butter from Golden Farms, a local company). Finally, two women wanted to try a quarter slice with peanut butter, and I think they actually liked it. They ate the whole piece, which I coated with peanut butter, and said it was very good. No one else budged. They refused to even have a taste. That's not how I live my life, but what the hell do I know.
I walked into a new store coming home from my daily walk. It was a crepes store, and they sell specialty drinks along with ice cream and fruit wrapped in crepes. I asked to see a menu and was instantly surrounded by three staffers. Bad sign.  The girl who opened the menu motioned for me to order one of the drinks on the right-hand side of the menu. But I wanted crepes with strawberries and ice cream, so I pointed to where this item was listed on the menu. That set off a barrage of questions and Vietnamese-speak, none of which I truly understood. Again, I pointed to the item I wanted -- and asked for two of them so Phuong could have one -- but things got more complicated. I asked for the items "to go" and the staffers looked at me in horror, like I asked them to lick the top and bottom of my shoes. One guy said in tepid English that the ice cream would melt and they wouldn't give me the items "to go."  I tried to explain to the English speaker that I lived two minutes away so it was no problem. But in unison the staff shook their heads and hands and wouldn't make the crepes "to go" for me. I'll never go in that shop again, but those losers don't care. They know what's best for the White Monkey because the White Monkey is a flaming idiot who doesn't know what's good for him. But that's how people do business here. Screw the customer. The customer is wrong and they're always right and you can take it or leave it. So ... I'll leave it. Good-bye. It reminds me of some computer stores in the United States where a snarky teen refuses to wait on you until he or she is damn well ready.
Another mystery on the walk: One of the Hu tieu girls decided the White Monkey is not welcome to share food with the girls. Three of the girls seem OK when I drop off some food, but one of the girls (really, a 38-year-old woman) runs up to me and shoos me away when I approach with a treat. Really. No big deal for me, so the treat exchange is over and I buy my Hu tieu elsewhere. Weird.
Joanna is going to be a United States citizen. We spent all afternoon at the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday, and the applications were accepted and stamped and pre-approved and post-approved. Now we're trying to get Phuong a visa for our trip to the U.S. If Phuong is rejected again and keeps getting rejected -- even though we're married with a child -- we'll look into moving to Canada when I retire. Prince Edward Island is one of the nicest places I've ever been to, but winter could be too much for my wife. We'll see what happens. I really like Yellow Springs, Ohio, so I hope my government realizes Phuong is so cool, so nice, and an asset wherever she goes.