Journey to Peace Village

2007 has certainly been a year of radical change in my life. I started the year in Milwaukee and ended it living in Ha Noi!

It's been a year of unprecedented challenges for me. Adjusting to life in a foreign land and trying to learn something about the customs and cultures whille trying to do somewhat of a midlife career change has made me reach down into the depths of my mind, body and soul. I've done things I never thought I could accomplish. And I don't mean the kind of things you might think. I'll give you an example:

New Year's Eve I received a bicycle from one of my fellow teachers, Sean. He's going back to New Orleans for a few months and didn't want the bike anymore. So I travelled "downtown" to his hotel to pick it up. It was too far to ride the bike, so I ended up having to take it by motorbike. I thought I was going to hire an extra motorbike and have them tie it on to it, but I ended up having to hold on to the bike! So here I am, holding on to a 40 pound bike sitting crossways on the seat, and clutching onto the drivers shirt and bike with one hand. I don't know how we did it, but we managed to drive the bike about three or four miles through the crowded Hanoi streets back to the apartment! This is just something I never imagined doing!

New Year's in Vietnam is celebrated differently. Some people exchange gifts, but it is just not a big deal. The big deal comes about a month from now during Tet. It is curious that the most popular New Year's song isn't "Auld Lang Syne," but "Happy New Year" by ABBA! In fact, I had to teach my students "Auld Lang Syne" (which I thought was important because it was written by Robert Burns. To jog your memories of this song here's the link to you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcLMH8pwusw
with a video of ABBA.

When I was a teenager, I thought ABBA was kind of a Swedish cornball band. But looking at the video I have a new appreciation for them--the sentiments of the song are quite sweet and needed in a war torn world.

The Lyrics:
No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
Its the end of the party
And the morning seems so grey
So unlike yesterday
Nows the time for us to say...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I
Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks he'll be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing he's astray
Keeps on going anyway...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

So I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and joyous 2008!

Labels: New Year's, Viet Nam and the West