Ideas and renovation.

Moving to blogspot. With my changing format, I feel like changing servers is due. It’s been fun. I’m keeping the name.

I signed up for a bloglovin account, but I don’t know if I’ll use it regularly. I might use it for the “socializing” aspect, but google reader is easier for me for blog browsing.

Back and back.

I think it’s probably obvious I’m not the greatest blogger, however I am trying to up the ante from now on. I’ve also decided I’m not going to continue outfit posts.

I am back in the United States and very grateful. There are a few things I miss, of course, but there hasn’t been any trouble or culture shock coming home.  I did enjoy my first drive around town [lots of shopping involved, let me tell you].  Driving was completely normal to me, but I might have felt a little more exuberance and gratefulness to be able to just go somewhere without it being an event.

One thing I’m getting used to is how late the sun sets now!  In Vietnam, it would be completely dark by 6:30 every night, but here, now, it isn’t completely dark until 10:30 or so. Crazy! I keep thinking it’s a lot earlier than it actually is.  I leave you with a picture outside my window around 7:30 a couple nights ago.

PS: I’ve been using google reader for my blog readings, but I’ve been considering the switch to bloglovin. Any comments?

Southern Independence

Today (April 30th) was South Vietnam’s Independence Day, celebrated throughout the country and especially here. Music was blasting across the street the entire day and the road was blocked off for what I found out was a bike race of some type. It still doesn’t make a lot of sense and no one will explain it to me. But it’s also a three-day weekend and many of the people I know in Saigon left to travel.

As I was strolling around the park this morning, I did notice something about style, especially women’s style. Either they are extremely fashionable and I approve, or it’s incredibly ghastly I don’t know why they left the house. There are people who lie in-between, but less than in the states, at least where I’m from. There was one particular dress I loved that I caught on camera. I was too shy to go up and ask to take others’ photos, but I had a fun time people watching, trying to mental notes of trends I wanted to try later.

I was nothing to write home about. A red t-shirt, some blue Kensie shorts, and brown sandals.

The rest of my time in Saigon, there’s my research project to deal with, but I also want to take more pictures of the city that I’ve spent a good amount of time in, but haven’t documented much. I plan on spending some time outside my hotel room tomorrow (shock! – but being alone in the city is daunting!), and hopefully do more shopping this week because I have the bug and a long list to try to get through before going back to the states. Of course I am here another three months, but the program ends in less than a month and my internal clock is on that schedule.

Good Morning Vietnam!

Three months in and no update on my whereabouts! Whoops. Not even a link to my “study abroad blog“, which I haven’t updated much. The beginning portion of the program was jam-packed with classes and traveling, but now we’re into the research/field study part of the program. I spent my first week of it in Ha Noi for some research, but I just got back into Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon yesterday morning. My flight was at 8, which means I woke up at 5:30. I barely made it to the gate by boarding time, but I did make it with about ten minutes to spare.

Being in Vietnam has been a trip, especially as Vietnamese-American who can barely speak the language. I get a lot of different reactions; some have assumed it, some have been confused, many are disappointed in my lack-of language skills. I have met many students and some have given me the “but you look Asian!” after I say I’m American. There’s a lot to get used to here, not least the less than stellar wireless connections and partial filters (I can’t get to Facebook, although I think I can tweak the ISP to get to it, just haven’t tried, and proxies work). It’s also extremely rare (as in I haven’t encountered it yet) that I am not allergic to the air conditioning in this country, usually because they aren’t cleaned and house mildew and other not-great things. I try to keep it off when I can, but Vietnam is also a tropical country and its really warm, especially in the south where I’ve stayed most of the time (Central and North were more humid in my time here and felt worse than the relatively dry heat of Ho Chi Minh City).

I do wish I had bought more things and tried more places when I was in Ha Noi, but it’s a moot point now. Hopefully I will visit again soon, possibly when my family get here in June, or when my friend comes over in late May/June.

Right now the plan is to head to Cambodia at the end of May for a week with some girls on the program, and meeting up with my friend sometime, either in Ha Noi or Ho Chi Minh City (but we will spend June 4-8 in HCMC) before my family comes in June 13. I have family in the South and I’ll probably stay with them between my friend’s departure and my family’s arrival. {I just had to get that down somewhere.}

The fashion bug is hitting me more now that I have freetime. I finally got some time to look through my blogreader and just want to go shopping. It’s such a hassle in this country due to the bargaining nature of their markets and shops.

I miss [incomplete list]:
family and friends
fixed prices
pita chips and hummus
my own washing machine
clothes dryers (they are non-existent here – everything is hung and my clothes are stretching)
my own kitchen and eating at home
watching my shows on a regular schedule

Yesterday was spent on an airplane, watching movies in my room, buying some groceries/snacks, getting dinner with the lovely student coordinator, Phat, writing emails regarding my research, and reading. Wild! This weekend is a huge celebration of the South’s Independence, and I think I might be stuck in the guesthouse for the mornings for festivities. I’ll probably be asleep anyway, I hear they start at 6.

Flickr isn’t uploading, or else I’d post more pictures. Soon.

Re: Subject Line – Every time I pass a tourist wearing a t-shirt donning this phrase (usually American) I cringe.

SOTUS Report 3020; Acronyms Are the New Spell It Out.

• I love watching the crowd and people walking in. Supreme Court followed by great applause for our first lady. She is grand (and that purple is a great color). Then cabinet! (I wonder who’s staying back tonight.) Some of the most fun moments are recognizing faces and names. Yes, I am a nerd.
• President! APPLAUSE! And schmoozing. Our president is so ~cool. (And that cute little wave to Michelle? Those two.)
• I think I’m expecting high rhetoric with this opening. Probably a good choice, if he chooses it. I didn’t want to spoil myself so I didn’t read the excerpts.
• Starting very much like a campaign speech. Blaming Washington, uplifting, hopeful. Harder to swallow from the President instead of a candidate?
• Wallstreet is such an easy scapegoat. (Ohh, joke! “It was as popular as a root canal.”)
• Yes to the right vs. easy choice. Governing is full of difficult decisions, people! We have become too compliant to short-term fixes with long-tern consequences.
• TAX CUTS! Pandering is what I call it. Tax cuts don’t solve every problem, or even most. SIGH. We call for deficit reduction, but we are unwilling to PAY IT OFF? No wonder being a politician is a thankless job.
• Government guarenteeing jobs, isn’t this Socialism!? Not that I don’t agree, I just wonder about people’s thought processes when they criticize.
• The transcripting man does not look happy, but he has a snazzy yellow tie.
• “How long should we wait? Washington has told us to wait for decades.” Long term! Good talk, and people should recognize the difficulties in getting things done, especially when poll numbers go down when anyone tries anything ambitious. We should not be a society of stagnation.
• Nuclear? Off-shore drilling? Should that REALLY be a priority? Clean coal? Does that even exist? CLIMATE CHANGE BILL! Change I can believe in.
• Exports, huh? Doubling in five years? This doesn’t sound good for the already weak dollar. Also should be on the list: cutting down on the number of subsidies we give out to industries for a truly free trade.
• Education reform! Not a sexy media topic, but very important, and his administration has taken some good first steps in the first year.
• As a college student, I agree with this reform.
• Health insurance reform. Hm, tough tough. “I didn’t take on health insurance reform because it’s good politics.”
• “I want to acknowledge our First Lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make our kids healthier.I want to acknowledge our First Lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make our kids healthier. Thank you, honey.” It all starts at childhood. Also, they are adorable, it’s true. Maybe a little too much for some, but I love it.
• It should have been touted as a cost-saver much harder during the legislation process. We still have time? Probably starting over.
• Fighting for the voiceless.
• Dems have been asking for bi-partisanship, Republicans drag their feet and claim to be trying to help. FIGHT ON (for health care reform)!
• Deficit reduction. More complicated than it sounds. And using executive order. Big man on campus!
• ZING! Former administration, zing.
• Campaign fianace ruling in the Supreme Court. Awkward.
• Earmarks! The internet is the future, Congress.
• “None of these reforms will even happen if we don’t also reform how we work with one another.” Two way street.  “But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day.” The way congress works, so infuriating.
• “And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions.”
• Stand beside dignity and freedom, however we have no right to force our system on others. It comes in different shades sometimes. It’s a hard line to walk to not overstep our lines.
• Down with “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”! Equal Pay Law! What up, equality, it’s the United States!
• This spirit of change, it has touched me. He can’t do this alone, America. Let’s do this!
• “But remember this – I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I can do it alone. Democracy in a nation of three hundred million people can be noisy and messy and complicated. And when you try to do big things and make big changes, it stirs passions and controversy. That’s just how it is.Those of us in public office can respond to this reality by playing it safe and avoid telling hard truths. We can do what’s necessary to keep our poll numbers high, and get through the next election instead of doing what’s best for the next generation.”

Topics:

• Economy
• Financial reform
• Energy
• Education
• Health Insurance Reform
• Deficit
• Congressional obstructionism and partisanship
• Afghanistan
• Supporting military/veterans
• Disarmament
• Foreign aid / Human Rights / Haiti
• American ideals

Whole Transcript

PS: I’m pretty sure HuffPost wanted to kill people with their ridiculous SOTU drinking game.

Pretty touching speech, for me. Lots of Washington blaming. Very independent-minded. Still some high rhetoric. And now some Republican response from Gov. McDonnell from Virginia.

• What a ~diverse backdrop, Governor. And what a lovely building.
• Speaking after Obama must be a nerve-wrecking job. The presentation is important.
• “Doing too much” is just a euphemism of “we don’t want you to do that”.
• “Proper limited role of government at every level.” Depends on who you ask.
• “We want cooperation not partisanship.” You have a hard time of showing it.
• “Best health care system in the world.” Statistics (infant mortality, average lifespan, cost, etc) say otherwise, BY FAR.
• A website, twitter, and facebook, is that suppose to be impressive?
• So, are you pro-torture just because they’re ~not citizens? I’ve been watching too much Battlestar Galactica, but it’s too similar to the CYLONS AREN’T PEOPLE argument.
• Opening opportunity; does this mean Repubs are changing their platform? I thought they believe America is perfect and already gives same opportunity?
• Didn’t blow it like Jindal, still lacking some substance.

Well, that was fun.

To travels and trunks.

Henceforth our country is safe,
Our mountains and rivers begin life afresh.
Peace follows war as day follows night.
We have purged our shame for a thousand centuries,
We have regained our tranquility for ten
Thousand generations.

Nguyen Trai, fifteenth century Vietnamese poet

I’m starting to ready myself for studying in Vietnam. Reading the books, sent in my VISA application (however there was a mistake in the confirmation letter, so I hope it works!), and bracing myself for any sudden bumps along the way (I always forget something, and I feel like something is going to be overlooked and I won’t be able to go). I’m not sure if I’m going to use this blog, another one I have, or create another one. The only problem with creating another one is that’s just another I’m taking over.

Life’s full of nervous anticipation at the moment. Nerves, excitement, fear, all of it. I do need to work on my Vietnamese. It’s not very good, and it gets worse when I get nervous, which I will be when I get there.

Living life in the fast lane.

I was always bad at keeping up with blogging. My head is just all over the place and I can never figure out a template/theme that I wanted to keep. Plus I’ve been bouncing around the coast since the end/beginning of the year. Without that type of structure, things tend to go haywire. That and I will start plenty of posts without finishing them. Sometimes I won’t finish the text, I’ll start the post and then forget for what reason I’m writing about the topic. Sometimes I will want to have pretty graphics and never get around to making them.

It’s been a weekend full of silliness, Portland, and delightful, simple mainstream pop brought to you by YouTube.

My friend Abby this summer. She’s leaving for an Israel/France excursion in a few days for the semester. ♥

Also, you should be watching Chuck (Mondays on NBC) if you’re not. This week was the premiere of the third season.

Up next, in defense of some oft-hated blokes who happen to make music. Possibly.