Back at the controls

Ok here we go. It's been quite a while since I've put fingers to keys for the purpose of purveying my recent experiences here in the land of 'Nam. So what's new, you may wonder. Well quite a bit I'd say. Like Brandon mentioned in his last post, we attended another wedding. And yes it was a rather enjoyable affair. There seems to be a logic lurking in the shadows of the thoughts of people who've been here for a while that weddings are a waste of time. To me this logic is nonsense. I've been to two weddings in the last month and both were raucous jovial events with plenty of fare, fluids and cheer. Perhaps the aforementioned logic sets in with time, or perhaps it is an affliction of the ill-fated veteran teacher which may someday infest my brain. But for now it is the furthest thing from reason when I receive a wedding invitation. Imagine this: A co-worker invites you to their wedding. This does not require an appearance at the ceremony, which no matter the culture, are for the most part notoriously boring. This simply means that you are invited to dine like royalty and drink your fill, while being waited on hand and foot by pleasant staff in one of the finer hospitality establishments in town. All of this comes at the "price" of about 100,000 dong, which is dispensed by you in the form of a wedding gift, to be neatly tucked into your invitation and placed in a basket shortly before you sign the guest book. By the way, 100,000 dong is equivalent to 6 dollars and widely considered to be a substanial offering to the happy couple. Oh and one other thing, you are invited to enjoy all of this in the company of your friends and other co-workers as well as a few hundred boisterous vietnamese folk and one beaming newlywed couple and their families. A rather easy invitation to accept if you ask me. But, to each their own decisions and more often than not, westerners seem to choose to decline the invite.

In other news, and Mom I'm sorry you're finding out about this on here again but it just happened. We had another fella in our hacienda looking to take us for all we're worth. This time however we are happy to report that we were the victims of an attempted robbery and not a robbery. The story is incredibly complicated and will be difficult to relate clearly on here, but nonetheless, I'll do my best. The other night we were invited to a birthday party by a Vung Tau girl who we've been friends with for a few weeks now. She had rented the patio at a local hotel and also arranged for them to serve us an elaborate dinner and all the beer we could handle. A very nice gesture considering it's usually the birthday girl who has things bought for her, at least in Canada anyway. Here however, she took care of everything and it was a good time. Myself, Brandon and two other teachers took part in the dinner. The birthday girl lived up to the onus associated with birthdays and drank her limit by 12 o'clock, at which point we decided to move on. The wind blew myself, and the two other teachers, John and Dave to another bar or two while Brandon took the Femme Fatale as she would turn out to be, back to our place for a lay down. In an hour or so they made another appearance, catching up with us at one of this town's many watering holes. After some games of pool and a few more beverages we called it a night. I arrived home slightly behind Brandon and the birthday girl and found her snoozing on our couch and Dyk listening to some tunes. We had a night cap and shut it down around 4 am. (Now, the rest of this story takes place in Brandon's world and was related to me the following morning, around 10 am.) Dyk was not yet asleep at 4:30 am when he heard the sound of the door leading to the balcony from our prayer room being opened. This prayer room is off of his bedroom on the second floor of our house and is rarely used. The door leading outside from the prayer room is never used and stays secured under a padlock and latch. On this night however, the padlock had been deftly removed and the latch opened, leaving entrance to the house a task that even the simplest of children could accomplish. So, seconds after the opening of the door, a dark figure emerges from the prayer room into Dyk's room and pauses at the foot of his bed. Remember, Brandon is wide awake. At this point he reaches for the knife which he had hidden under the corner of his mattress for cases such as this. But alas, the knife is gone. It had been there that afternoon when he changed the sheets on his bed, but now, when he needed it most, it was gone. So, weaponless, he yells at the figure, spewing expletives and leaping from the bed. The figure vanishes from where he appeared, scampers over the railing and makes his descent of our front wall before running down the street. At this point the birthday girl, who had been sleeping in Dyk's bed, arises from slumber acting bleary and confused. Dyk explains the situation and quickly puts the puzzle pieces together in his head. She was there when he changed his sheets that afternoon, most likely noticing how he had tucked the corner of the bed where the knife was carefully, and although not seeing the actual blade, was aware of the existence of some object. She was the only other person in our house that day and night, and he knew that neither he or I removed that padlock and undid that latch, leaving one remaing suspect. Was the entire night of celebration an elaborately crafted ruse? Did she in fact perform the greatest feat of acting any of us had ever seen? Had she been setting us up for the last three weeks or more? Was she involved in the first, more successful break in? None of these questions have been answered yet. And the police are now involved, which means they may never be. All Dyk new at the time was the aforementioned facts. She was the only other person who could have removed the knife, lock and latch. So, he quickly decided to take her home.

Now, shift your focus to the first floor of the house. It's 4:40 am. I wake up to the noise of our gate opening. Half asleep I peer past my curtains to see Brandon escorting the girl out on the back of his bike. I think nothing of it and go back to sleep. Six hours later I am bombarded with information as I awake again to Brandon and our Neighbour, Huong, discussing the events of the past several hours. Soon the Police arrived and an "investigation" commenced. A simple solution would be to fingerprint the lock and see if the girl's are present. Who knows if that is actually possible. Time will tell the results of this one. For now we lay in waiting. And don't worry, we'll make sure to keep you posted.

Other than that I can't think of anything that's overly newsworthy. Oh, on sunday the 5th we're hosting a large gathering in honour of our fellow Canuck, John who is moving on to new pursuits in life. If you leave now from Canada you should make it in time :) It would be worth it, haha.

Ok, my wrists are burning and people need me, so I must depart, but don't worry about us, we've thwarted the enemy, and if our hunches are proven correct then our little burgalury problem should be exterminated. Have a happy Friday and enjoy the snow, those of you in northerm climes. For the rest of you, in the tropics and elsewhere, a new mother nature's taken over, and ain't it a ball!

Best of the best,

Adam