Stopping daycare; acupuncture helps; conversation class

Our daycare business will shut down on Oct.10,  a little more than eight months after Phuong began this project as a way to have Joanna interact more with other children.  Our daycare is being stopped for personal reasons that I won't get into here. Ostensibly, Phuong is tired and my back is a mess in the morning, which in my view is the most important time for kids and daycare. I leave the house from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. three times a week for acupuncture treatment, meaning Phuong is alone with the little angels. But we persevered and ultimately I found the time with kids very enjoyable. We were doing regular art and "academic" projects that focused on the alphabet and shapes; we made princess and Spiderman masks last week. Joanna's interaction with the kids was OK, but she speaks primarily English and the other kids in the group speak Vietnamese. Blame me for that. When the children took their nap after lunch, Joanna would come upstairs to play and read books with me. Really, the time she spent playing with the other kids was quite limited, although I noticed an increase lately ...  since we decided to shutter the business. It always seems to work that way, doesn't it? I won't miss the constant illnesses that came into the house and worked their way into my body, but I'll miss all of the kids. They were starting to get it: We share, we don't hit, and everyone gets along.

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I've had about seven acupuncture treatments so far for sciatica and they are clearly helping. My back and legs are still problematic for about an hour in the morning, probably because of our lousy bed that my wife loves, but the discomfort settles down and goes away for the rest of the day. Before acupuncture, the pain would persist and be quite uncomfortable at times. Now I can do tai chi at night with little or no pain. I'm a satisfied customer and I'll continue with the treatment indefinitely. I get the treatments at a lady's house and there are four or five other patients there as well. It's a little odd since everyone has their pants pulled halfway down their butts. No big deal, except in the case of my butt.  Just saying. There's no fan or air conditioning in the room, which is open to the street.  I'm guessing it's close to 90 degrees F in the room when I'm getting treated, so sweat pours off of me the entire time. The acupuncture lady seems shocked every time she sees me sweat, which is every time I go there. Anyway, a massage either follows or comes before the acupuncture, and it's very good -- firm, strong, but not painful. This lady and her acupuncture business including the massage guys get an enthusiastic thumbs-up (and butts-up) from the White Monkey.

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I'm guilty of generalizing about the motorbike riders and car drivers here. I've said they're all pretty much selfish, aggressive turds. Twice in the past week as I waited to cross the street, cars stopped and waved me across -- and they had the right of way. On one occasion, the motorbikes stopped as well to let me cross. On the other occasion, motorbikes raced around the car -- the stupid turds -- and nearly hit me as I crossed at the beckoning of the car's driver. I felt obliged. But I rarely walk in Bien Hoa unless I'm carrying my brother's walking stick. My brother didn't use it, fell in the bathroom and died a short while later. I bought it in Prince Edward Island and gave it to Charlie. Anyway, when bikes come ripping at me, which they're apt to do here, I'll hold up the stick in a defensive posture. They'll either slow down or give me a wide berth. Maybe Charlie is looking out for me as well.

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My English students want "conversation", so when I give them a topic or ask them questions, they go silent. It's been that way here for seven years, whether I'm in a language center or in my third-floor classroom at home. Conversation seems to happen best when it's natural and spontaneous, and not scheduled, requested or forced. So, I still teach from a book and have an agenda, but try to let the conversation develop naturally, regardless of the topic. If we get off course, so to speak, so be it.