Joanna was baptized on Sunday morning at Bien Hoa Church, which absolutely thrilled Phuong and her family. And my friend Joy was Joanna's godmother at the long service in the hot church. Joy and Joanna are quickly becoming fast friends, which I knew would happen. Joy's very personable and Joanna is the world's cutest and most likeable baby, in my very humble opinion. When the parents and babies were called to the front of the church for the baptism service, only women and babies went up. I was the only dad holding a baby. I felt good about that, until the heat got to me, and I waved Phuong to join me so she could hold Joanna and give me a break. We share everything. The priest was pleasant and Joanna never really cried during the service, although she complained a little because she's teething. Joanna has six teeth now -- four on top and two on bottom. Anyway, after the baptism our whole clan went to Lido for a wonderful breakfast/brunch of meat, soup, salad, ice cream, and coffee.
Joanna, being the baby that she is, smacked the keyboard on my new computer and Phuong had to work on it for a couple of hours to get it working again. Thank you, Phuong, who remains the most patient and understanding and beautiful woman in the world. And you can add persistent to her list of qualities. I needed three documents faxed to the United States, and Phuong used a second-hand fax machine over three days to get the documents to where I wanted in Cincinnati, Ohio. Those documents meant steady income for me, so they were extremely important. Phuong is so %$#@& wonderful, determined, and every other positive adjective you can think of. It's kind of funny, but I tried a few businesses and banks to see if they could fax the three pages for me. Of course, they couldn't. At one hotel, the girl was almost helpful but couldn't fax after 5 p.m., when I wanted to send the documents. A girl at one local business told me that faxing is relatively new in Vietnam, and her company didn't have it. (Not true, but who cares?) The fax was invented in 1843, and fax machines were everywhere by 1970. Some companies don't use fax machines and instead scan documents and then send them over the internet. Since my documents ultimately involve money and monthly income, this process is not acceptable. No worries. Phuong dealt with it.
Hard to believe, but I've adapted somewhat to the heat here. It's helped that the weather is ever so slightly cooler here this February and March, so I sweat less -- three quarts instead of a gallon each day -- and I'm less grumpy because of the heat.
I begged off a class here, which I rarely, rarely, almost never do. But these students took disrespect to a new level, coming into class 15 to 20 minutes late because they were sitting around drinking coffee and tea and speaking in Vietnamese at the school's little concession area downstairs. In other words, they're in the building, but they choose not to come to class for whatever reason, and when they finally show up, they enter the room talking loudly with their buddies while I try to teach. I guess I'm invisible. The only time they're quiet is when they're texting on their cell phones, which is about 75-80 percent of the time they're in class. What's funny is that I really like these guys because they can be fun and very intelligent, but learning English with Teacher John doesn't seem to be a priority when they come to school. These guys are 17 to 22 years old, so they'll probably be happier with a younger teacher who has a British accent. More games, teacher. Actually, I really like all my classes and students, and I'm coming out of my mini-teaching slump, which I seem to go through every four months or so. Having a new computer with my own cables and adapters (THANK YOU! Phuong) really helps. And I was fighting some bouts of dizziness for a week or so -- the result of my first big motorcycle accident here more than three years ago. But that's under control now and all is well, especially my fantastic kids and teen classes.
Finally, I want to pay homage, respect (credit to Masta Ace) to Vietnamese ants. Amazing creatures. Fast, light, nimble, ubiquitous. Now, other than canned goods and sealed jars, any food we buy goes in the fridge or freezer, including unopened boxes of cereal and cookies, jars of honey, bread and all fruit. Homage, respect..
And one more thing: I love you Phuong, Joanna and my four children in the U.S. so much. Thanks for everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment