A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
I had dinner Friday with the relentless crusader for English education, Mr. Lanh. Mr. Lanh is a very nice official from the Department of Education for HCM City, and has a way of getting you to do things you never expected (case in point -- yesterday, though I was under the impression that I was just going to observe, I ended up sitting at the head table, followed by handing out certificates of achievement to excellent students at a huge ceremony, followed by photos with each, followed by my teaching a class). But I digress, as usual.

The Friday dinner was at Mr. Lanh's house with his wife (very sweet -- looks kind of like my mother if my mother were Vietnamese) and Mr. Tien, Mr. Lanh's assistant who have already met on several occasions, since he is generally tasked with taxiing me around by motorbike when I see Mr. Lanh.

During dinner we waged a silent battle of Politeness (them) vs. Extreme Ignorance (me). As each dish was served, Mr. Lanh and Mr. Tien would look at me expectantly as if waiting for me to try it first, while I was fully committed to waiting to see how the hell these mysterious things were supposed to be eaten. After the 3rd dish, I broke, and told the two of them that I wasn't eating one more bite until I saw how it was done correctly. Naturally, they both found this hilarious, though based on his perpetual grin in my presence, I think Mr. Tien finds everything about me hilarious. Each dish thereafter was prefaced by an elaborate demonstration and a laughing "Now you copy!"

Mrs. Lanh was a bit more sympathetic, actually dredging up a plastic fork at one point. A sorry commentary on my chopsticks skills!

© 2002 Katy Warren

posted by Katy at 7:19 PM