Today's theme is "from My Quang to pizza". We began by joining Tuyet and Tien for a My Quang brunch. My Quang is a local specialty: noodles with peanuts, spices served with various meats. We had river fish. My students asked me last week if I'd had it. Now I can say yes and that it is very good.
After brunch we bought a replacement camera and shopped for a thank you silk scarf for the friend who drove us to the airport to begin this trip. At that point we were "adopted" by a young man named Anh who guided us to a nearby optical shop where Maggie ordered a new pair of glasses for $25. We had to wait an hour for the glasses so we went with Anh to a restaurant for a soda.
Along the way he told us his story. He speaks English well because he learned from his parents--that was his only education he received because his father worked for the Americans during the what the Vietnamese call the American War. As the child of a collaborator, he has no education or opportunity. He makes his living selling postcards to American tourists. For all that, he called himself lucky. No American would ever think those circumstances were lucky.
Maggie and I each did one class this evening. I worked with Ms. Hanh's class for the third time. I talked about Washington State, and what people do in Olympia on weekends. Then Ms. Hanh divided the class into groups and asked each to tell me about the relative importance of time. They expressed themselves well and displayed a very thoughtful appreciation for the value of time over money.
After class we came back to the neighborhood around our hotel for pizza at the French restaurant Nha Leo. It's run by a French expatriate married to a Vietnamese. The pizza was excellent--thin crust topped with a zesty sauce and vegetables. Dessert was a freshly baked chocolat foundant a la mode, still warm from the oven.
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