met qua

today was suppose to be a day of rest. i found my way to the bao san hotel to meet with fellow believers. my mind drifted. i thought about my parents...philadelphia...family ...teaching...teisha...maps... as you can see, i had some difficulty focusing. around 1:30 pm i met up with some good friends of mine. as we made our way around hanoi (via motorbikes) i tried to create mental maps...just in case. by the time i was dropped off i reeked of motor exhaust. as i walked up to my room i was greeted by chien with my toefl book. i could now begin working on my lesson plans. however, by this time i was thoroughly exhausted. my eyes kept closing as i tried to sift through the pages. there was only one solution that i could think of. MATE PLEASE! the night ended with one of my past students stopping by with 2 of his friends. we talked for about two hours! and now i am beyond exhausted and desperately need some sleep. i start teaching tomorrow. i am slightly nervous. wish me luck!

mo hoi (sweat)

oh boy. what an interesting 2 days this has been. and to think that this is only the beginning. it seems like every couple of hours or so i am caught off guard with surprise reunions. the most recent being thanh. he lived under our stairs last summer. he forgot most of his english so we conversed with the help of a dictionary. i thoroughly enjoyed it. i was forced to speak vietnamese...or at least try. i've found that i give up easily if i know the other person can speak english. i hope to break this habit immediately.

tonight it is raining and i feel great.

tomorrow i hope to purchase some food. it seems that i am too shy to eat alone. i'm afraid people won't understand or that they will just stare and talk about me as i eat. i am feeling slightly insecure. oh geez. i hope that i will someday look back on this and laugh.

my life is so weird. i will attempt to capture it on my camera and post pictures!

back in time

wassssup! i made it. i am back in hanoi at dai hoc su pham. these past 3 days have been a blur. i haven't slept much but that's the sacrifice i'm willing to make...for now. this summer is going to be VERY different from last summer. i was nervous at first but now i'm beyond excited. i'll update more tomorrow or maybe this weekend. i need some sleep. MET QUA!

tam biệt!

here is my address is vietnam. please use it often

c/o Kristen Ailing
International Relations Office
Hanoi National University of Education
136 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam
Phone (84 4) 7547101

my monday motivational memo?

...i hope.

i still get overwhelmed by the internet from time to time. there are so many things that i wish to share with my (two) friends (who actually read this). figuring out a way to express them has become quite difficult.

yesterday i had an interesting conversation with a friend. he informed me that i was crazy and that i couldn't fool anyone. at first i thought he was joking but as i stared him in the eyes i realized that he was not. he sincerely believes that i am crazy. i asked him how he knew. his response went something alone the lines of this...

"we are all one, whether you realize it or not. you can't say to the judge 'your honor, it was my left hand that committed the crime. it's my left hand that is crazy...not me.' you just can't. we are all one.

i thought about this and the body of Christ. do i take better care of one part of my body over another? not unless it's sick and/or needs extra attention. i'm pretty sure that i don't play favorites when it comes to my elbows vs my knees. are we really Christ's body here on earth? and if so, why do i show partiality towards certain parts of Christ's body. why are those parts usually the healthy, vibrant ones? and why do i ignore/avoid the sick ones...? maybe i don't really believe that we are all one. maybe that's where i need to start.

clarifying cumbersome characteristics

kromber: feeling deeply dissatisfied coupled with an intense desire to stop time. symptoms include lack of focus, loneliness, daydreaming, constant brainstorming, and a feeling of suffocation and/or entrapment.

the kromber girl found herself on the interweb purchasing a one-way ticket to iceland while contemplating ways to live voluntarily as a mute.

formulating fictional facts

oh dear...it's wednesday. that means that tomorrow is thursday.

i've been avoiding the interweb, or shall i say "google machine", for awhile now. it kind of scares/overwhelms me. i sat down yesterday and attempted to perform some research. i didn't get far. everything in me ached for the uncommunicative atmosphere of the public library. i miss sifting through encyclopedia after encyclopedia in search of vital information. i remember taking a class in elementary school called "library." i learned all about the dewey decimal system and how it could help me successfully navigate my way through the massive amounts of books/information. AND IT DID! maybe it's the intangible aspect of the interweb that ultimately bums me out. with that said (or written), i'm contemplating chastity and possibly giving up on this here google machine.

* the word "chastity" was added for (personal) humor.
** no offense to those seriously contemplating chastity or celibacy.
*** cheers!