2008 Blogs

Chúc Moùng Nám Moóc

01/26/2009

Happy New Year to you!  My day began this morning at 8:15 when the university faculty and staff (plus their children) assembled on campus for special greetings and a short speech from the rector.  On the way there I encountered another American, Michael, who is here from Alaska.  He is a veteran of what the Vietnamese call the American war, and has been coming to Vietnam every year for the past ten years.  In a surprising coincidence, I discovered that we both did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin.

After the rector's speech, he gave "lucky money" to each of us and we who are part of the English Department posed for this first picture.  Then faculty members returned to their departments to toast the new year and enjoy snacks.  Everyone was in good cheer, with lots of energy.  The rector also made the rounds of departments, stopping in to welcome Michael and me personally.

Next, I donned my helmet and rode a relatively short distance to the Department of Information Technology, where we sat around a table, once again toasted the New Year, and had candies and nuts.  Then we adjourned to the Foreign Languages Department to meet more people, have more snacks, and make more toasts.  I kept trying to imagine my colleagues at I.U. East spending New Year's Day like this. It certainly makes for a wonderful sense of collegiality!

From there we made a series of visits to four of the faculty member's homes.  What a special time!  In each we were greeted warmly and given something to drink plus traditional Vietnamese foods served mainly at Tet.  By noon we were at our second home, where the young faculty member graciously kept bringing out plates and plates of food.  Her father-in-law, a veteran from the war, greeted us warmly and insisted that we be given a very special kind of gingseng tea, which I found to be quite refreshing.  Each home was a little different, and located in a different part of the city.   I could not ask for a warmer reception to Vietnam and Nha Trang University.

At 3:30, I returned to my dorm with lucky money in hand, ready for a much-needed nap.  Here's wishing I could give all of you some lucky money, but this picture will have to do!