It's hard to believe that today is Thanksgiving. I'm used to celebrating this holiday when it is cold and there is sometimes snow on the ground, not when it is 90 degrees!
This morning Cate and I got breakfast before heading to class, me now basically becoming a regular at the banh mi place across the street. We headed to Vietnamese class only to find out that we have a final test on Monday. Uh.. thanks for telling us! After class, Alex, Tori, Summer, and I bought some Open University clothing. I got a zip-up jacket that has the name of the university on it for 245,000d (or a little more than $12). We got on the bus to come back to the dormitory and I spent some time doing homework. The good news is that I finished my theology paper! One down, a few more to go. Cate and I got bot chien for lunch because we both needed a study break, and then it was back to the grind of paper writing. Actually, more like the grind of not writing papers since I am really good at writing a few pages and deciding that that is enough work for the day.
We had a big Thanksgiving dinner tonight at a restaurant called Black Cat, provided for Loyola. Our OU partners got to come with us, and it was great to introduce them to an American tradition. It was also really great to see Thao again--first time since before I left for the trip to northern and central Vietnam! As the food came past us, I made sure she tried EVERYTHING. Turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted pumpkin, stuffing, orzo, green beans, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, sausage, bread, pie. It was like a traditional Thanksgiving, only celebrated in Vietnam. She quickly became full, but I told her that she had to eat more. That's what you do on Thanksgiving after all!
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| Celebrating Thanksgiving with some of our Vietnamese friends. |
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| Never have I taken so many selfies before coming to this country! |
When our meal was over, Thao, Poem, and I hopped on some motorbikes and drove to the nearby park. We walked around the city for a little bit, stopped to take some pictures in front of Christmas decorations, and walked around some more. It seriously felt like I could have been in Chicago, except that it was decorated for Christmas in summer heat. It just seems so strange to me that District 10 and District 1 can have such distinct feels. I live in the part of the city that I would consider "more" Vietnamese while District 1 is catered to the tourists.
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| It's Christmastime in the city.. with weather that reminds me of summer. |
I got back to the dormitory around 10:30, and I hopped in on the remaining part of English club. They celebrated November birthdays, so we all had some cake. I also got to share information on Thanksgiving with them, which was actually pretty great. When the guards told us we had to go, a group of us went to the canteen and talked for awhile before heading back to our rooms.
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