Huge in Asia

Last week, I met three guys from Berkely who are traveling throughout Asia, documenting their travels through random videos. They are quite funny. Check out their website: http://hugeinasia.com.

Should I Stay or Should I Go

I decided not to renew my contract with the UN school, as I feel it is time to move on. I have been enjoying my time here in Hanoi, especially in regards to pursuing my musical aspirations, but there is an overall sense that it is time to go. My band has been able to perform at various functions, I'll be recording some original songs with an incredible musician/songwriter that lives here in Hanoi, and I'll be doing some backup vocals for another band. However, I have felt a lack of purpose professionally and that I've "sold out" in regards to my reason for living overseas. I came to Vietnam with a passion to immerse myself into Vietnamese culture and give something back to people by educating their youth. Now, I teach at a school that is estranged to the Vietnamese community and engulfed in an international bubble.

So, I have two options: Begin a doctoral program at the University of Melbourne (which I deferred after being accepted last April) or teach at a women's college in the United Arab Emirates. With one I would have to take out student loans and the other I would make good money. There are many pros and cons to both, but I'm hoping for some clarity in the next few months.

Christmas in Thailand

While the rest of my family was stuck in the blizzard that hit Colorado over Christmas, my mom and I enjoyed the sun and warmth of Thailand. Our days were spent reading by the pool, making fun of all of the social awkward men who had come to Thailand in hopes that the Thai women might overlook that fact and merely want them for their money, and watching the city transform at nightfall.

Random Pictures

These pictures depict the life that I live in Vietnam. I'm not going to try to explain them, but just allow you to soak in and ponder the realities of my life.

Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors

This past weekend, we had four shows and they all seemed to go well. I had a lot of fun and was able to get to know a lot of different people.

Salsa Dancing in Hanoi

When a man is wearing a mesh shirt and tight pants, who wouldn't want to dance with him?

Lan Visits Me in Hanoi

My good friend, Lan, came to visit last weekend. It was so refreshing to have her here. I know without asking, the highlight of her trip was when I took her to a bar called 17 Saloon. The bar is decorated with a "Wild West" motif. The Vietnamese men wear chaps and cowboy hats...but they don't look like they would survive a rodeo. A Filipino band plays a random collection of music. The biggest crowd pleaser that night was Whitney Houston's, "I Will Always Love You." It was then followed up by a hard rock song. The two female vocalists even had a synchronized dance routine...I think I saw a bit of the electric slide. Can't you tell that we're having the time of our lives?

The Pics You've Been Waiting For....

Well, I guess I should keep my day job.

Myanmar (Burma)

A Mullet and a Fashion Magazine

I will admit that I’m always the first to make fun of a bad mullet hairstyle. It was almost like a game in Eastern Europe last summer as we tried to point out how many mullets we could find in a crowd. Well, a few weeks ago I went to a fashion show showcasing a Vietnamese hair “artist.” He was trained in London and his style is more cutting edge and funky. So, after the show, I was inspired and decided to get my hair cut.

Now, I have a spiky mullet do. Sometimes I feel that I need to break out into “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” as I look a bit like Pat Benetar. Though at first a bit strange to get used to, it is different and fun, and a good change for me.

In addition to the new haircut, I was asked to be a model for a fashion magazine attempting to sell their clothes to Eastern European countries (so I guess the mullet was fitting). It was budget photography and they traipsed me around different parts of Hanoi, while Vietnamese students gathered around to take their own pictures of the event and foreigners crowded around to see what was going on. I think they all just wanted to get a glimpse of the girl with the freakish makeup and poorly-made clothing. I tried on about 50 different outfits in three different venues and had to change my clothes in a sheet that was draping down from a triangle of three metal poles wired together. Clothes that didn’t fit me were just pinned with a clothes hanger in the back...classy. The photographer didn’t speak English, except for the occasional, “Look cold!” or “Sexy like Brittany Spears!”

Sorry to keep you in suspense…but the pictures will be posted later.

My Kids

Laos

Things have been crazy since I arrived in Hanoi a month ago but I was able to get away for a few days. My new job at UNIS has been great but very time consuming. A little weekend getaway was much needed!

David, a teacher from UNIS, provided us with live music at a bar in Vientiene. Several teachers from UNIS came to watch the performance.

Making silk textiles

Jose and I learn how to cook traditional Laotian food (fish laap, chicken curry, and papaya salad)

Some things never change

And I'm glad that my friendship with these three--Kathryn, Brooke, and Lan is something that never changes no matter how far or long I've been gone. These girls have known me since high school and college and we have been through a lot together (unemployment, culture re-entry, broken engagements and relationships, job dissatisfaction, death of loved ones, and the list goes on). I can always know that when I come home to Colorado, our evenings will be filled with dancing, eating, drinking, and deep conversations about what is really going on. Our circle of friendship is a safe haven and something that I miss when I'm gone. I'm blessed by these girls and their willingness to pour into our friendship even when I'm so far away.

Thank you girls for these past two weeks and for making my birthday so special!

A Birthday Hike

One of the first things that I wanted to do as a 27-year old was to go up a trailhead that overlooks the city of Boulder, one that I had climbed a great deal in both high school and college. I realized that I was no longer the Colorado girl that I used to be since I was the only one that didn't have my climbing equipment strapped onto my REI sport pack with my golden lab running ahead of me. It is good that I had enough sense not to completely let my time in Vietnam shape me and attempt to wear poorly-made plastic high heels up the mountain, as you would witness women doing in Vietnam.

Back when I was a Country Girl

My mom and I went to Sterling (Eastern Colorado—about 2 hours from Boulder County) to visit my Nana and Papa. My Nana and Papa are the parents of my mother’s ex-boyfriend. They had dated for years when I was a young girl and when the relationship ended, his parents still wanted us to be part of their family. So, my mother and I spent a lot of time on their farm when I was young and I have always known them as my Nana and Papa. I have a lot of great memories of the farm—a turkey poking me in the eye, running the John Deer tractor/mower into the metal shed (age 6?), jumping off the bird coop onto the trampoline, and being surrounded by lots of animals and hay. Nana would be cooking up meat patties from the cow that they had just sent to the butcher and kneading the dough for the cinnamon rolls and Papa would have just returned from working outside (since 4 am) and torturing me by pulling my toes until they popped.

I haven’t seen them since they came up for my high school graduation almost 10 years ago and so I knew that a visit was long overdue.

On the way back home, we saw this sign on a gas pump just outside of Sterling. I love to think of someone actually putting the nozzle back and counting to 20 slowly in their head. Notice also the picture of the police officer.

My brother is Amish!

My brother, Derek, with his almost fiancé Dani. I couldn’t help but make fun of his little beard that he has growing on his chin. Was it funny looking because it just is or because I live in a place where men can’t grow facial hair?

Monte playing basketball

Good Times With the Fam

My mother invited the family over for food and alcohol…otherwise, I don’t know if they would actually come. Every family event that is held in the summertime ends up in a water balloon fight, of which my mother buys in bulk every time we go to the store (As a note, EVERY family event, no matter the time of year, must include some kind of word game. You get my mother and my aunts with a scrabble game and it gets crazy.) As I was just about ready to head out to celebrate my birthday with some friends, my older cousin Shane decides to throw me over his shoulder only to position me in the middle of the lawn where all my little cousins can douse me with water. So loved. I changed quickly out of my wet clothes and didn’t notice until I was at my friend’s house that my bra which was still wet had made impressionable marks on the clothes that I was planning to wear out.

"We Didn't Inhale"

Smoking the Hookah pipe in Istanbul

A Peace Rally in Istanbul

The street leading up to Taksim Square is a modern street mall (similar to something like Pearl Street in Boulder) that has tons of shops and harbors all that is modern and "Western" in Istanbul. You'll even witness musical entertainers...some good and others whose alcoholic influences have convinced them that they can actually sing and play the guitar.

One evening, Lisa and I happened to be at Taksim Square when a peace rally was being held. We didn't know if we should be frightened to see several police squads with shields and guns to make sure that things didn't get out of hand. The group was rallying for "peace" but our Muslim friend, Mehtin, said that it was backed by a socialist party who does not have much pull with the people and uses "peace" as their way to lure people into their campaign.