A most heart- warming Thanksgiving with my family

Bruce checking out the bird .....

Sarah pitching in .... Rob is thrilled!

Mickey & Gordon meet me at Vancouver airport for a visit and breakfast before my flight to Ho Chi Minh .... Mickey is the only other

person I know, who scoops up a poached egg, lays it on toast and devours with relish! We are both such blatant peasants at heart .....

Maija surprised me with a visit for our Thanksgiving dinner, all planned, plotted, and cooked by Rob, Sarah & Marg ..... guess which duty each had??!!! It was just beyond heartwarming to have my whole family together around our table. Tim orchestrated fitting everyone around the tables .... it was just awesome!







The two "moms" enjoying a laugh,probably at our own expense!



My beautiful sisters ....






How blessed I am to have everyone here for this short visit in the middle of my nomadic year ..... I am soooo glad I came home ..... it was beyond wonderful to have everyone together... I love them all so much!












Tim enjoying a chuckle, Maija, holding it in, Rob, amused, Jenn, ready to break into out and out laughter!









Could not resist a picture with Dexter in it ..... Jenn, our family photographer, probably smiling, thinking I will have yet another picture out of focus ..... nope, I do not possess her camera skills!











Tim potato mashing up a storm ...

Our family matriarch and patriarch :)

Rob looks anxious to start carving the bird .... he was a whirling dervish all day, chopping, stirring, mashing, serving .....

Linda and her Mom Marion enjoying a mother/daughter moment :)

Home for Jenn & Gary's wedding

Lake Louise was just stunning .... the mountains were like towering miracles ..... I had missed them so!
Sarah (who was maid of honor) dancing up a storm at the wedding
Sharing a moment with Jenn who was just stunning in her beautiful gown

Brian and Tim looking pensive???
Al, the proud Dad enjoying his daughter's wedding as much as Jenn
Enjoying a quiet moment ...... note my ao dai, (traditional gown worn by Vietnamese ladies) which I had made in Hanoi, a day before leaving for home .... would have had no time to shop for a dress in Calgary and the Vietnamese are excellent tailors .... the silk feels heavenly against the skin !

Love the art behind the head table at Chateau Lake Louise
Family smiles :)
Jenn & Gary seemingly having second thoughts ??? Nah .... just goofing around!

Pretty maids all in a row ..... can there possibly be a better back drop for a photo??!!

Various Scenes from last days at NBK School including celebration preformance for 1,000 Birthday of Ha Noi

I will surely miss the view on "our" street every morning .... this young lady was there every morning, selling delicious papaya, melons, squash tc.

And, already I am missing these kids .... they were all just so unbelievably receptive to learning English and so kind to us as we struggled with Vietnamese ...


How can anyone not love these gentle sweeet people ....
Everyone wanted a picture with us in it :)

The boys woke up and were very lively ..... as we left, closing the door and turning lights off, all was again quiet .... they seem to be able to fall asleep on a dime :)
Goofing around with the kids as usual!
Believe it or not, we woke these kids up from their afternoon nap .... the whole school shuts down for a sleep shortly after lunch at 11:30 until 1:30 .... they had wanted to take pictures and give us a few gifts before our departure from the school. In every classroom, there are plywood boards that transform into beds for naptime. The children keep their pillows and blankets, and a woven mat at the school.
Alex, Ceil and I with Aunh ... we are all wearing the scarves the teachers gave us as going away gifts .... sweet :)
NBK Students preform a dance and song presentation on our last morning at the school ..... part of the 1,000 Ha Noi birthday party celebrations .... the various performances depicted Vietnam through history ..... it was lovely and the children are very talented!
Normal gridlock, as we make our way to NBK School in the mornings :) ... cars, motorbikes, buses, seemingly, coming from all directions ..... miraculously, the traffic unknots itself and flows again, mere minutes after a scene such as this one!
Last day at NBK! ..... Will miss the children and Vietnamese people ..... they are a kind, giving and happy people .... a total joy to be around. Will not however, miss the exhaust fumes from the millions of motorbikes :) Enjoy the pictorial ...... words fail me at the moment.

Tea at Mr & Mrs. Hoa's home before dinner out with teachers

Mr. Hoa pours a pre-dinner tea for us .... a fragrant lotus blossom tea. Alex looks on with approval! Mrs. Hoa was a few doors down, at a local restaurant organizing for our dinner. We were not sure, but think the restaurant may also be a part of his business ownership portfolio :) Are investments allowed in a communist society??? Not sure of the rules in this 'newish' socialist/nationalist country ..... The above are all various scenes at Mr. Hoa's home and at dinner with all the teachers. Mrs. Hoa (wearing a green shirt) is in the center in picture of teachers that joined us for dinner.

We have been treated rather royally during our tenure here in Ha Noi. ...... from the very first day, when we were greeted by Principal Nyguyen Van Hoa, Assistant Principal Le Thanh Quy, his team of teachers and office assistant, to enjoy an introduction ceremony in the staff room, complete with roses for all the ladies accompanied by a large bouquet of flowers, moon cake and the ubiquitous fragrant lotus blossom tea. Later in the week, we were again called upon to gather in a classroom for a special program and were entertained by the grade 11 students who had compiled a celebration video of Ha Noi's history throughout the 1,000 years to show us ..... they finished off the video presentation with a gift of special sticky green tea/rice cakes for everyone ..... delicious little treats!

A bon voyage tea and dinner was scheduled for the NBK volunteers towards the end of our second week ..... tea was served by Hoa and his son at his home to start off our evening .... by Vietnamese standards and really any standards, it was a large gracious home with a number of living areas, including a media room with all manner of stereos, TV's etc. that Mr. Hoa and his son were proud to show us! .... we did not explore the fourth floor, nor indeed were we invited to do so, as we presumed the sleeping quarters were located there. The kitchen, for such a sizable home was beyond tiny .... more a galley kitchen typical of a small apartment in our country ..... but perhaps this is standard in Vietnam ..... most eat out , more often than not, sitting down to a pho on the street stools with both family and friends. This form of dining could very well be unique to Vietnam .... I did see a bit of that in Thailand in Koh Lanta, but not to the degree "tiny stool street restaurants" dot the landscape in Vietnam. I sat down to one myself one afternoon and must say, the pho was quite yummy and I never did get the rumbly tummy the tourist books seem to suggest happens! It was a unique local dining experience I could not resist :)

The Hoa home was located down a narrow walkway, off a main street ..... not quite like our suburbs but a rumbling kind of charming :) We trekked en masse to dinner a few buildings down, where the teacher team & Mrs. Hoa who had been overseeing the dinner prep, were waiting for us .... a few speeches followed, thanking us, complete with a gift of special tea for all the volunteers. We dug into a most delicious feast with gusto . Conversation was pleasant and I learned a little bit more about the teachers .... I spoke at great length with Mrs. Dieu Thuy as she shared her stories of meeting, dating and marrying her husband. I in turn shared the history of the same events in my own life .... as I have mentioned many times, the Vietnamese are a friendly and kind people ..... they share willingly ..... Mrs. Dieu Thuy gave me a most heartfelt hug when we parted. Sharing stories and histories opens those doors of social intimacy, allowing us to get to know each other on more than just that superficial level ...... I yearn to find out "what lies beneath" ... to reach beyond the facade. Cannot help but cringe inwardly, when I think of the Vietnam/American war, fought here so few years ago ..... bombing these gentle kind people ..... I wonder if they understood anymore than we do, what the heck was going on?! Yes, the "red scare" was very real in the sixties, enough so to prompt President Kennedy to declare war .... but as hindsight is always the wise old teacher, it made no sense at all ..... pretty much as the current Iraq war makes no sense nor Afghanistan for that matter. Will leave the political musings for another day :)

October 1st .... The celebrating begins ...

Francoise and I with our Grade Six classroom




Miss Mai Huong and I with her grade six class






Tran Quoc Pagoda on the banks of West Lake

View from my room at Hoa Binh Palace Hotel on the 6th Floor

Lunch time at NBK School! Ceil, Dan, Alex & Mary

Anne Marie and I (An ex-Swede/Estonian or some such background) and an
ex-Finn!) and one of my favourite people out of our group :) .... she has a wicked, irreverant sense of humor! Can't you just tell from that grin??

The student in the yellow t-shirt is a mover and a shaker .... the future of Vietnam will be in the hands of very bright children like this fellow. He is going on a student exchange program to Finland next year, so we had a good chat about the country and I gave him a few Finnish words to start him along.

Upstairs in our dining/meeting area at Hoa Binh Palace .... minus Anne Marie who was having a rest from the group activities that evening!

A typical street scene at dinner, lunch, breakfast or really anytime in Vietnam ..... families gather around to share a "pho" :)

Typical family mode of transportation!

Gathered around the Opera House of Hanoi with our students ... what a fun evening with this jovial group! "Hanoi Hilton" is beside the Opera House but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it .... another day perhaps :)

Meeting up at our hotel prior to our walk-about around Hoan Kiem Lake with NBK students for opening ceremonies for the 1,000 birthday of Hanoi.

Dinner put on for us by hotel management in Chica Restaurant

Cool picture .... Vietnam on a globe with motor cyclist going by, just as I snapped the picture

Various scenes from our "walk about" on October 1st with a handful of students from NBK School along with one of the teachers. What a fun evening it was!!!

The students arrived shortly after we had finished our delicious dinner, put on for us by the Hoa Binh Palace staff . Tummies full, spirits ignited, we set off to mingle with the crowds for day one of the 1,000th birthday celebration. It is quite extraordinary to be here in Hanoi at this time!!! The streets were overflowing in a veritable sea of people, motorcyles, cyclos, taxis ....... oh yes, just the usual street scene in Vietnam, multiplied many times over, for the celebrations :) ..... we walked or rather, shuffled and moved as best we could , jammed elbow to elbow around Hoan Kiem Lake, stopping at an ice cream stand ....... given the lineups, it was a miracle we managed to purchase anything but purchase we did, treating the kids to various treats ...... it was just simply mind "bogglingly" crowded ..... (I add to Webster's when words fail me :) ....... Note the picture of a whole family on a motor bike ...... this is generally a very common sight in Vietnam, never mind now, with Vietnamese families pouring into Hanoi by the thousands from all over the country ..... The parents wear the helmets, the children not!! We have been told that children of a certain age are not required to wear a helmet???!! I have seen toddlers no older than two, holding on to a mother's waist on the back of a motor bike ..... Somehow it all works and accidents are infrequent. Did I mention the thrill of crossing a road??? There are few if any traffic lights to control crossings ...... the only way to get across is to just bravely go for it!!! Never stop walking under any circumstance once you are on the move ....... one quickly learns to weave gracefully :) through the maze. The drivers have things timed "precision perfect" and drive around you, adjusting to your walking pace. It is only in the stopping that things can go awry ...... just another amazing fact about the road life in Vietnam!! ...... Thankfully Mongolia provided great practice :)

I am improving daily on the teaching front, although must say, I prefer working with small groups as I did in Rarotonga ....... still not that comfortable with teaching in front of a large classroom ..... good to have a mix I guess and keep me on my toes ........ the kids are receptive, and seem to enjoy whatever stories we share, all while attempting to engage them in conversation .... a mutual objective! The students' natural shyness improves at a snail's pace. Learned we have a beauty queen to add to our eclectic Global Volunteer group!! .... Alex, who used to live in Washington DC in the 60's was crowned Cherry Blossom Princess in 1964 ..... I team-taught with Alex yesterday .... she is beyond funny and a total joy to be around! Her enthusiasm is contagious :) Reminded me totally of my best bud Mickey Gibson!!