will he ever stop writing?
More chit chat???
5/17/2019
Today's Topic: "Oh nooooo Mr. Bill...." (say it with your best falsetto and insert homage to SNL circa 1976 about here) Well, buckaroos...today I booked my flight to the states. Whah... According to my flight app I have 63 days and change until I "check in". Looks like it's time to start maximizing the days I have left here in Việt Nam! I'll start by traveling to a village about one hour south of Hà Nội to check out some prices on abalone and mother of pearl shell. I'm sure I will end up buying some. For those of you who don't know, I inlay abalone and mother of pearl shell in the fingerboards of the guitars I build for a hobby. Anyway, the day will begin around 07:00 a.m. at a street restaurant that has really great gà phở (chicken noodle dish) and end around supper time in a restaurant TBD. Of course my guide for the day will be my right hand man "Mr. Huy". I'd be lost without Huy. He speaks English very well and he has a good head on his shoulders. Good man, Mr. Huy.
Accents: I had an interesting experience last week when giving a couple of lectures at my host university. Up until last week, every người Việt (Vietnamese) I have met, who speaks English, speaks English with a "Vietnamese accent". Last week, however, my interpreter spoke English with a very thick Australian accent!! Completely unexpected! In retelling the story to a Canadian friend who teaches English in local elementary schools around Hà Nội, it seems that it is not uncommon. Nor is it uncommon to hear a người Việt speak English with a British accent or a French accent. Who'd have thunk? It all depends on who you learn from, I suppose. Makes me wonder what "accent" I slap on top of my tiếng Việt? I know that I have a "northern" accent because my language teacher is from the north of Việt Nam, and I know I don't have a Texas accent (thankfully), so I suppose I must be putting a "Wyoming high plains slang" accent onto my tiếng Việt, which might explain why I'm not always understood when I speak tiếng Việt? naw....it's probably just my butchering of the 6 tiếng Việt tones.
Polka dots: so here is what Dragon Fruit looks like if you never seen it. Oh, and it doesn't taste like chicken...it's sweet and sort of fresh tasting!
Wowser: It was a bit crisp here today. 37 C = 98.6 F degrees but the humidity made it feel like 49 C, which equals 120.2 F. And we're just getting started. Suppose to hit 38 C tomorrow.
