Death by dessert

Any time spent with Trang yields good blogging content. Today she told me that I look like Britney Spears. When I asked her to explain how (because I don't see it. Do you?) she said it was because we have similar face shapes and big brown eyes. Ok. She also said I am mạn mòi, which literally means salty but is a very high compliment and something that all women hope to be called. I couldn't quite figure out what it would be in English; the best I could come up with is striking. Trang explained it as having features that are beautiful but not in a forgettable way, but also that your beauty slowly reveals itself as someone continues to look at you. Whatever it is, exactly, I'll take the compliment.

There are only two weeks left of the FCE class. After the last class, the teachers will re-take the test. Let me remind you that all of them are in this class because they did not pass the first time around. (In fact, Trang's younger sister is the only teacher in the province who did pass the first time.) I am as curious and anxious as they are about the outcome of this next test. Sometimes I have high hopes for them, but other times I am worried. Today I taught them about Halloween, and I started by explaining its origins. Later, two students asked me to explain the history of Halloween at different points in the class.

As their teacher and a native speaker of English, they see me as someone with all the answers. During our coffee/tea/iced beverage break they aired all of their grievances about the test and asked me for advice. "Sometimes they want us to talk about pictures but I can't tell what is happening in the picture. What should I do?" "I have good grammar and good vocabulary, but I am not good at finding key ideas. What should I do?" "The examiner speaks very quickly and is hard to understand. What should I do?" But there isn't some easy fix I can offer for any of these problems.

There is a question I have gotten from many people here, and it has stumped me every time. "What is the most important festival in your country?" First of all, everyone refers to holidays as festivals, which I think is the first indicator of the disconnect in views from which the question itself stems. Holidays/festivals are seen as prolonged public cultural events, not just a big meal with family and traditions. Vietnamese new year is traditionally accompanied by two weeks off for preparation and celebration. So what is the most important American holiday? Christmas is probably the biggest commercially and has the longest period of preparation, but that doesn't mean it is the most important. Today I went with Thanksgiving, if only because it is one of the most widely celebrated and least commercialized. But what makes a holiday important? I'm still ruminating on this. Your thoughts are appreciated.

This evening Morena and I were invited out for chè by two teachers who are my students in the English club. Having recently discovered my favorite chè, I made sure to get the corn one. But then another one was ordered for us: chè mè đen, black sesame. It was edible, as all chè is, but not thrilling. Then it was proposed that we try every kind of chè. No! I tried to pass off my severe initial reaction. We can come again another time and try more.

Chè #1, meet chè #2

I thought we would only be eating chè, but after that we went for a jaunt along the riverbank, or we tried. First, we were lucky that I have a better sense of direction than the teacher whose motorbike I was on, and I kept us from going astray. However, the two teachers changed their minds about the river and we went up to the ever-popular rooftop café by the river. There we were to have mandarin oranges and rambutan, as well as the gelatin dessert that may or may not be complimentary but is served without request every time I go to that café. In addition, they ordered dừa dứa, translated as an aromatic coconut. I couldn't smell much in particular, but it was enormous. My motorcycle helmet would probably fit it better than it fits my head. Sweet after sweet after sweet. It was dinner by way of dessert.