First off, let's just go ahead with the requisite apology for being a deadbeat blogger the past few months. There's been a lot going on. If we crossed paths in August or September, let me say I was very happy to have seen you. If we didn't, I'm very sorry indeed that we missed each other.
The long and short of it is that I've returned to Ho Chi Minh City for the foreseeable future, until I can decide what the next step is. Since my return two months ago, I've been hectically trying to re-assume the lifestyle here, while also starting a job with a new company whose presence in Saigon is much, much bigger than that of my last school. The sheer scope of this school's ambition was made well-evident by their Teacher's Day banquet. In some places, things like Teacher's Day would be an excuse to sell more Hallmark Cards, but in Vietnam it's an actual holiday. Though, when you work for The Man, it's not guaranteed you'll have the day off.
And VUS Teacher's Day is a big deal indeed. People wear evening gowns to this type of thing. In typical form, I showed up in the same foxes-in-a-wood patterned dress I had been wearing all day. With my hair all disheveled and tangly, smelling like crayons, coffee, and hand sanitizer.
The first thing that had to go was my hideously unpainted face. Weeks before, I got Shanghai'd into participating in my branch's contribution to the entertainment portion of the evening--"Shanghai'd" meaning that I was approached without having fully processed my morning coffee, which we all know makes me powerless to decline any and all requests. Like a Godfather on his daughter's wedding day.
Anyways, this meant I had to get all done-up, squeeze into various items of "traditional" clothing, dance around in them, and then (presumably) drink ALL the wine. Lucky for me, they were smart enough not to leave me to my own devices in the makeup department. Unlucky for me, this meant I had to go with whatever look they decided on, and this particular one meant fake eyelashes. One of my foreign-teacher-dancer cohorts was barely suppressing giggles as these eyelashes were being applied and finally asked me what they felt like (she was next, and had as much experience as me in advanced cosmetics). I replied that it felt like having an arm that was six inches longer than normal--awkward, and heavy.
But it was all great fun. There were awards I did not win and levels of distinction I did not rise to, but at least I got to prance around in ballet slippers that covered one-half the length of my feet in front of several dozens of colleagues who probably didn't even notice that my lashes were silken and voluptuous or that I teetered every so often when my skirt got stuck in between my foot and the flap of my unfastened slipper. So, all things considered, success!
Aaaaand, there's video! Thanks to my good buddy Steven Happel for capturing these magic moments.
