Good Morning Vietnam!

Well, if you didn't already know, I'm now living/working in Vietnam. I've been here for about a month and have begun to settle in nicely. It was quite a change from Ohio to California for the last 8 years and now to Vietnam. Not sure how long the Good Lord will keep me in the Motherland but I'm sure to make the most of it.

I've decided to create an online blog so that my family and friends can keep in touch and stay informed of my status.....which is currently still single (fortunately or unfortunately) depending on who you ask. I'll do my best to update it w/ pictures and posts as often as possible. Please feel free to leave messages/comments if you wish. I probably won't be hitting the grammar or spell check too often so please disregard any of those errors!

It's ironic that almost 31 years ago my parents and family, along w/ hundreds of thousands of other South Vietnamese, made their escape to the US, and now after 3 decades, I'm finding myself living in the very place that my family couldn't. It's definitely a different place, time, and environment now than it was years ago. The economy is booming due to social, economic, and politcal changes and reforms. All of this is evidenced with Vietnam's recent accession into the WTO and w/ President Bush normalizing trade w/ Vietnam. Although the country is seeing excellent growth, foreign investment, and productivity, there is still a long road ahead in the areas of infrastructure, pollution, and further political and social changes.

What's interesting about living away from the States is that you have to really get your mind ready for the changes. For instance, how did I spend Thanksgiving Day last month?...at work. And how will I be spending Christmas Day?....you guessed it, at work! This is definitely not how I ever envisioned spending the Holidays. I guess I forgot that this nation (VN) is not "under God" and that there would be no reason for them to officially count it as a national holiday. There's about 6 million Christians in VN, w/ a population of 83 million (definitely means a limited number of prospects for me!). However, like it or not, just like in the States, the commercialization of Christmas is alive and well with busy shopping malls and expat-Santas riding around on motorbikes.

I can't post that many pictures on here, but you can view my photo album via my picasa account at http://picasaweb.google.com/dojerome. There you'll find various pics of me. I haven't uploaded any from Vietnam just yet, but I'll try to do that this week. I've got some pictures from my cousin's wedding and some from a bbq we had for the OSU/Mich. game in November.

I miss everyone back home and I occasionally miss some of the foods I can't get out here, like: holiday dinners, In-N-Out Burgers, Roscoe's Chicken-n-Waffles, stromboli, spaghetti, pizza, milkshakes, bannana nut bread, and healthy non-avian bird flu chickens!

Well, that's about all for today. I just wanted to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy, healthy, holy, and prosperous New Year!

Jerome
a.k.a -- VietBuckeye

Go Bucks!
Go Mount Union!
Go Cowboys!
Go Lakers!