I've just finished going through the last blogs for Spring. Following are some good entries:
Lighten up
Behind that smiley face
Spring '07 coming to an end
Last class of LLD 100WB
Global warming
Oil profits
Overall, I think the blogging experiment has been successful. The quality and effort have varied a lot, but I could see that some students did get into it. I got some feedback that some students didn't see the point, so it's my responsibility to make the point clear to them.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
universal library
Whenever I read Annalee Newitz's column, I usually come away annoyed at the self-satisfied tone, but her last column entitled "The Myth of the Universal Digital Library" was excellent. I was most appreciative of this statement:
This fact is somehow lost on most people, which is surprising since anyone with a computer knows the problems associated with data management, including data loss. I was instantly reminded of Being Digital, by MIT Media Lab director Nicholas Negroponte. I'm not going to link to it because I don't recommend reading it. His basic thesis is that in the Internet era (which had just begun at the time he wrote it), it is "bits not atoms" that are important--that is, information not matter. He probably had a nice staff of underpaid student sysadmins to keep all his lab's machines running, then when they became obsolete, shipped the atoms over to China where they were burned so that some could be reused, and others inhaled to cause cancer. So it's all well and good to say that the atoms don't matter when you have other people taking care of them. As Newitz rightly shows, digital archives are created and maintained by people, so they have all the problems and limitations that come from that.
[C]omputer networks...cost money and require massive amounts of power. They take up real-world space. And they break.
This fact is somehow lost on most people, which is surprising since anyone with a computer knows the problems associated with data management, including data loss. I was instantly reminded of Being Digital, by MIT Media Lab director Nicholas Negroponte. I'm not going to link to it because I don't recommend reading it. His basic thesis is that in the Internet era (which had just begun at the time he wrote it), it is "bits not atoms" that are important--that is, information not matter. He probably had a nice staff of underpaid student sysadmins to keep all his lab's machines running, then when they became obsolete, shipped the atoms over to China where they were burned so that some could be reused, and others inhaled to cause cancer. So it's all well and good to say that the atoms don't matter when you have other people taking care of them. As Newitz rightly shows, digital archives are created and maintained by people, so they have all the problems and limitations that come from that.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
improving presentations
I just came across this article, "5 Powerful Hacks to Immediately Improve Your Presentations." I would call them "tips"; "hacks" sounds like a desperate attempt to make them sound cooler and more technological than they actually are. But anyway, I think they are pretty sound tips. I especially like #4--don't apologize to soften criticism. Such apologies focus attention where it is most damaging. #5 is good too; though I'm not at all opposed to PowerPoint, it is often used terribly. (As grandpa used to say, "A fool with a tool is still a fool.")
But unfortunately the writer's credibility takes a dive in #2: "When you are nervous, everything get’s magnified." The common it's for its error is actually very understandable (since apostrophes are commonly used in possessives), but I can't understand why someone would use an apostrophe with a verb.
But unfortunately the writer's credibility takes a dive in #2: "When you are nervous, everything get’s magnified." The common it's for its error is actually very understandable (since apostrophes are commonly used in possessives), but I can't understand why someone would use an apostrophe with a verb.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
the purpose of a college degree
There is so much talk about the importance of a college education that it was interesting to see an article critical of college education, "Higher Education Conformity" by Barbara Ehrenreich. She uses as her starting point the case of Marilee Jones, who by all accounts was an outstanding administrator at MIT. But it came to light that she lied about holding three degrees, so MIT terminated her. Ehrenreich concludes that the real purpose of higher education is to teach conformity and saddle students with debt so they will be complacent workers.
I'm not really in agreement with Ehrenreich here, though she does bring up some good points. I did especially enjoy this statement: "Whatever else you learn in college, you learn to sit still for long periods while appearing to be awake. And whatever else you do in a white collar job, most of the time you'll be sitting and feigning attention."
There is, I believe, a fundamental contradiction at the heart of American higher education. One force is the dedication to education, which primarily means liberal education in the classical sense. That is, learning about the world in a way that is appropriate for free citizens, which in past eras was not the majority of the population. The other opposing force is training for technical and professional employment; these are more limited in their scope. Another way to look at the tension is between abstract and specific knowledge--liberal education is abstract, and professional education is specific.
In the US, we have basically one mechanism for delivering post-secondary education, and that is the 4-year college or university. (Community colleges are largely seen as a stepping-stone to a 4-year degree, not as an end in themselves.) The professional education is in greater demand, so it tends to swallow up the liberal education aspect. At the same time, professional students are forced to suffer through general (liberal) education classes.
This contradiction--or overloading of the university system--is, I believe, responsible for the related unsavory trends of managing universities like corporations and treating students as consumers. But back to Ehrenreich: when thinkers first began to suggest universal education, during the Industrial Revolution in Europe, the explicit goal was to prepare students to be cogs in a machine. This influence remains with us today and further complicates discussions of the purposes and problems of education.
Even so, I feel that making education available to everyone is the proper thing to do, but Ehrenreich is correct that not every job requires a 4-year degree.
I'm not really in agreement with Ehrenreich here, though she does bring up some good points. I did especially enjoy this statement: "Whatever else you learn in college, you learn to sit still for long periods while appearing to be awake. And whatever else you do in a white collar job, most of the time you'll be sitting and feigning attention."
There is, I believe, a fundamental contradiction at the heart of American higher education. One force is the dedication to education, which primarily means liberal education in the classical sense. That is, learning about the world in a way that is appropriate for free citizens, which in past eras was not the majority of the population. The other opposing force is training for technical and professional employment; these are more limited in their scope. Another way to look at the tension is between abstract and specific knowledge--liberal education is abstract, and professional education is specific.
In the US, we have basically one mechanism for delivering post-secondary education, and that is the 4-year college or university. (Community colleges are largely seen as a stepping-stone to a 4-year degree, not as an end in themselves.) The professional education is in greater demand, so it tends to swallow up the liberal education aspect. At the same time, professional students are forced to suffer through general (liberal) education classes.
This contradiction--or overloading of the university system--is, I believe, responsible for the related unsavory trends of managing universities like corporations and treating students as consumers. But back to Ehrenreich: when thinkers first began to suggest universal education, during the Industrial Revolution in Europe, the explicit goal was to prepare students to be cogs in a machine. This influence remains with us today and further complicates discussions of the purposes and problems of education.
Even so, I feel that making education available to everyone is the proper thing to do, but Ehrenreich is correct that not every job requires a 4-year degree.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
so it goes
The New York Times reports that novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., has died at age 84. It's sad to lose a cultural figure of such stature, a satirist of the same caliber as Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift. I don't know who could possibly fill his shoes, but as with the others the world may have to wait another hundred years for a writer with such a combination of intelligence, humor, wit, and humanity in the face of inhumanity. From a literary perspective, perhaps some criticism is warranted, but all of us (especially our leaders) would do well to consider what is likely to be his epitaph (from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater):
P.S. To any of my writing students who may have read the article, because Vonnegut played fast and loose with punctuation doesn't mean you have permission to.
“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”
P.S. To any of my writing students who may have read the article, because Vonnegut played fast and loose with punctuation doesn't mean you have permission to.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
March blogs
Some more good blog entries for March.
What rate are you paying?
Second Life
Test taking
FTA between the U.S. and South Korea
Taxes
In a lot of cases, I see the quality of the writing improving over time. I take that as a good indication that using blogs can help the students who take them seriously.
What rate are you paying?
Second Life
Test taking
FTA between the U.S. and South Korea
Taxes
In a lot of cases, I see the quality of the writing improving over time. I take that as a good indication that using blogs can help the students who take them seriously.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
rules...no, guidelines...for effective writing
A reposting of George Orwell's "6 Rules for Effective Writing" (though this writer seems to stop at the number of digits on one hand) has just surfaced. I'm going to commit high heresy here and say that they are not good rules. The content isn't the problem--it's their phrasing. All of them are phrased as absolutes. About the only absolute rule I could formulate is "Never use absolutes". I'll address each of the 5 rules.
"1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print." Actually, I can agree with this one. College students' writing tends to be laden with cliches, many of which are incorrectly deployed.
"2. Never use a long word where a short one will do" and "5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent." The problem with these two hinges on "will do" and "equivalent". Like Orwell, I prefer punchier, more direct Anglo-Saxon derived words. However, it is rare that the meanings of Anglo-Saxon, French, and Latin synonyms overlap exactly. They have slight variation in denotative and connotative meaning, and often great variation in register. If all that is taken into account, then I suppose I would agree with these items, but it also makes the choices far from clear.
"3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out." This is also generally good advice, but the meaning has to be maintained. Just today I administered an editing test, and students cut out modifiers and relative phrases all over the place. The remaining sentences were (usually) still grammatical, but they lost information.
"4. Never use the passive where you can use the active." Wrong! There are places where the passive is preferable to the active. The information structure of English prefers that old information precede new information in discourse. Since English also prefers active voice (about 75% of English sentences are in active voice), the agent is often old information (the topic) and therefore comes first. But sometimes the patient is the topic, and the agent is either new information or irrelevant. About 70% of passive sentences omit the agent, so forcing active voice can actually clutter up the writing with irrelevant information. Here's an example from today's San Jose Mercury News. First, the one with all passives transformed into active, then the original.
Passives transformed: Since October, shoppers at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market on South Bascom Avenue in Campbell have reported that somebody has stolen more than 20 purses and wallets, according to police. The thefts aren't happening on any consistent day of the week, but Saturday people reported that somebody stole five wallets, according to Adams. Police believe one or more suspects are responsible for a majority of the thefts. Adams said thieves are targeting purses and wallets that people leave unattended or out of view, including open purses that people hang over their shoulders. Campbell police ask victims of theft to report it to them.
Original (abridged): "Since October, more than 20 purses and wallets have been reported stolen by shoppers at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market on South Bascom Avenue in Campbell, according to police. The thefts aren't happening on any consistent day of the week, but Saturday five wallets were reported stolen, according to Adams. Police believe one or more suspects are responsible for a majority of the thefts. Adams said thieves are targeting purses and wallets that are left unattended or out of view, including open purses hung over a person's shoulder. Victims of theft are asked to report it to Campbell police."
Using the passive can result in more direct, information-rich sentences, especially in a case like the above where the agent (the thief or thieves) is unknown. I would say that writers shouldn't use the passive unless they have a good reason, but there are good reasons.
So I assume that Orwell was framing his advice in absolute terms as a polemic device. Still, while these are good guidelines that are generally applicable, they are certainly not hard and fast rules that lead automatically to good writing.
"1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print." Actually, I can agree with this one. College students' writing tends to be laden with cliches, many of which are incorrectly deployed.
"2. Never use a long word where a short one will do" and "5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent." The problem with these two hinges on "will do" and "equivalent". Like Orwell, I prefer punchier, more direct Anglo-Saxon derived words. However, it is rare that the meanings of Anglo-Saxon, French, and Latin synonyms overlap exactly. They have slight variation in denotative and connotative meaning, and often great variation in register. If all that is taken into account, then I suppose I would agree with these items, but it also makes the choices far from clear.
"3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out." This is also generally good advice, but the meaning has to be maintained. Just today I administered an editing test, and students cut out modifiers and relative phrases all over the place. The remaining sentences were (usually) still grammatical, but they lost information.
"4. Never use the passive where you can use the active." Wrong! There are places where the passive is preferable to the active. The information structure of English prefers that old information precede new information in discourse. Since English also prefers active voice (about 75% of English sentences are in active voice), the agent is often old information (the topic) and therefore comes first. But sometimes the patient is the topic, and the agent is either new information or irrelevant. About 70% of passive sentences omit the agent, so forcing active voice can actually clutter up the writing with irrelevant information. Here's an example from today's San Jose Mercury News. First, the one with all passives transformed into active, then the original.
Passives transformed: Since October, shoppers at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market on South Bascom Avenue in Campbell have reported that somebody has stolen more than 20 purses and wallets, according to police. The thefts aren't happening on any consistent day of the week, but Saturday people reported that somebody stole five wallets, according to Adams. Police believe one or more suspects are responsible for a majority of the thefts. Adams said thieves are targeting purses and wallets that people leave unattended or out of view, including open purses that people hang over their shoulders. Campbell police ask victims of theft to report it to them.
Original (abridged): "Since October, more than 20 purses and wallets have been reported stolen by shoppers at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market on South Bascom Avenue in Campbell, according to police. The thefts aren't happening on any consistent day of the week, but Saturday five wallets were reported stolen, according to Adams. Police believe one or more suspects are responsible for a majority of the thefts. Adams said thieves are targeting purses and wallets that are left unattended or out of view, including open purses hung over a person's shoulder. Victims of theft are asked to report it to Campbell police."
Using the passive can result in more direct, information-rich sentences, especially in a case like the above where the agent (the thief or thieves) is unknown. I would say that writers shouldn't use the passive unless they have a good reason, but there are good reasons.
So I assume that Orwell was framing his advice in absolute terms as a polemic device. Still, while these are good guidelines that are generally applicable, they are certainly not hard and fast rules that lead automatically to good writing.
Friday, March 16, 2007
privatization of higher ed
The California Faculty Association Winter 2006/07 magazine has a an article (p. 19) on the dangers of the privatization of higher education. The values of education (especially publicly-funded education) are not the values of the marketplace. In this view, the students are not first and foremost consumers, as in the corporate view. Some services--such as health care and education--are not best left to the marketplace.
When students are seen as consumers, then they are just full pockets waiting to be emptied. The New York Attorney General has launched an investigation into student loans and found that "educational" institutions are colluding with student loan companies to defraud (I don't think that's too harsh a word) the students. I'm certainly not anti-capitalism and I'm not even entirely opposed to certain business-like changes made in higher education (such as regular student feedback and improved student services), but its heart should be enabling intellectual development, not making money on the backs of those it is supposed to serve.
When students are seen as consumers, then they are just full pockets waiting to be emptied. The New York Attorney General has launched an investigation into student loans and found that "educational" institutions are colluding with student loan companies to defraud (I don't think that's too harsh a word) the students. I'm certainly not anti-capitalism and I'm not even entirely opposed to certain business-like changes made in higher education (such as regular student feedback and improved student services), but its heart should be enabling intellectual development, not making money on the backs of those it is supposed to serve.
Monday, March 12, 2007
applying for jobs
I am in the middle of reading my students' submissions for a resume/cover letter assignment. My expectation is for them to put the best face on whatever experience they have. Of course that relates to confidence, and sometimes their confidence is not enough to make a good case. As luck (or synchronicity) would have it, reddit today has a link to an outstanding example of doing the best with one's background: Former marijuana smuggler seeks legitimate employment. Now that's a great resume.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
I'm literally ecstatic
I am glad to see that someone else is getting tired of the misuse of literally. Sally Brownlow gives some examples of the misuse of literally to mean metaphorically (i.e., the word's complete opposite, trope-wise) in her column "It's hard to express irony with tongue literally in cheek". In Fall 2005, I mentioned this phenomenon in a journal entry for a class on teaching developmental reading and writing:
As someone with some background in linguistics, I know that words change their meaning over time, but I definitely agree with the Heckler that the meaning of literally is precious enough to deserve conservation.
[I]n Limerick's ad hominem attack against academic writing, she contributes to the ongoing abuse of literally: “This [going to graduate school] gives you, quite literally, your footing.” Well actually it gives you, quite metaphorically, your footing. I wonder if in 50 years literally will have taken on the meaning of metaphorically, since that is how it is constantly used.
As someone with some background in linguistics, I know that words change their meaning over time, but I definitely agree with the Heckler that the meaning of literally is precious enough to deserve conservation.
Friday, March 2, 2007
February blog check-in
My business writing students had to make three posts to their blog in February. I did some browsing during the month, but today I went through everyone's blogs to see if they did the assignments so I could enter their points into the gradebook. I didn't really know what to expect since this is the first time I have used blogs for a class.
What I found, I have to say, really thrilled me. Almost everyone did 3 posts, and almost all of them fulfilled the assignment (related to business or the writer's studies, long enough to be meaningful). The posts show a wide variety of topics and responses to issues, and in general they appear to have some real thought behind them. I couldn't have expected a better result.
Following are some notable posts I came across.
Ana R.
Chester C.
Clayton M.
Randy W.
Ronny L.
Sung C.L.
Varun C.
Yi J.
I'm looking forward to seeing what people come up with for March!
What I found, I have to say, really thrilled me. Almost everyone did 3 posts, and almost all of them fulfilled the assignment (related to business or the writer's studies, long enough to be meaningful). The posts show a wide variety of topics and responses to issues, and in general they appear to have some real thought behind them. I couldn't have expected a better result.
Following are some notable posts I came across.
Ana R.
Chester C.
Clayton M.
Randy W.
Ronny L.
Sung C.L.
Varun C.
Yi J.
I'm looking forward to seeing what people come up with for March!
Monday, February 26, 2007
resumes
The blog "Rands in Repose" had a really good post about what hiring managers look for when reading a resume. The upshot is that you have spent hours tinkering with your resume and have only 30 seconds to make a favorable impression--that is, an impression that will get you a phone screen. This particular person is in high-tech, but most of what he says applies across industries.
After describing his process of reading resumes, he gives some suggestions. Some interesting points he makes:
After describing his process of reading resumes, he gives some suggestions. Some interesting points he makes:
- He will look to see if you have a blog or other public web presence.
- When describing skills and experience, give meaningful and believable descriptions.
- It is a good idea to include seemingly irrelevant experience. If you don't have directly related experience, at least show that you have held jobs before. Seeing that someone worked through school makes a favorable impression.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
strike vote
The Mercury News today reports that the California Faculty Union has scheduled a strike vote for mid-March. I'm a little surprised they have already scheduled the vote since fact-finding is not yet finished. The article mentions that this could be an historic strike, the largest strike of educators in US history. If so, it's a part of history I am very sorry to be a part of.
I'm beginning to better understand the difference between the CFA's position and the administration's position. The administration is saying that it is offering a 24% pay raise, while the CFA says it is in reality only 14%. The administration's numbers include merit pay increases (which not everyone would receive), funding for raises that were promised but not given over the last 4 years, and imaginary money that the State is not giving. If it really were a 24% increase, the union and all faculty members would support accepting the contract.
I'm beginning to better understand the difference between the CFA's position and the administration's position. The administration is saying that it is offering a 24% pay raise, while the CFA says it is in reality only 14%. The administration's numbers include merit pay increases (which not everyone would receive), funding for raises that were promised but not given over the last 4 years, and imaginary money that the State is not giving. If it really were a 24% increase, the union and all faculty members would support accepting the contract.
Friday, February 16, 2007
CSU/Faculty bargaining
This morning, KQED broadcast a forum discussing the state of the CSU/faculty bargaining. [audio archive]
Monday, February 12, 2007
Business 100W
An article in the Spartan Daily today discusses the move of Business 100W out of the College of Business and into English, Communications, and Linguistics & Language Development (where I teach the new 100WB). Unfortunately there was no explanation of the situation, in fact little else besides the uninformed imaginings of business students. In "researching" the situation, it seems that the writer of the article spoke with just one person, the director of the business advising center, who could not explain what is going on. Finding out who could explain and then speaking with that person would have been a good next step.
But back to the uninformed imaginings, especially shocking was this concern from one student:
In fact Linguistics & Language Development is best-positioned to assist ESL students since it is one of the core missions of the department, and I am sure that the English department has a great deal of expertise as well.
There are definitely legitimate concerns about the move, and I would like to get the full story as well; but unfortunately the Spartan Daily article did not contribute anything meaningful to the discussion.
But back to the uninformed imaginings, especially shocking was this concern from one student:
"Some students might have trouble learning proper English skills if they're not familiar with the language and the class being outside of the department might not deal with that issue."
In fact Linguistics & Language Development is best-positioned to assist ESL students since it is one of the core missions of the department, and I am sure that the English department has a great deal of expertise as well.
There are definitely legitimate concerns about the move, and I would like to get the full story as well; but unfortunately the Spartan Daily article did not contribute anything meaningful to the discussion.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
student blogs
Some good posts are showing up in the LLD 100WB student blogs [Betina, Heather, Ronny]. Remember that there are some suggestions about subjects and types of blog entries in the WebCT assignment called "Blog revision 1."
One possible type of entry is to discuss a topic or event that you read about. If the source is available on-line, then include a link to it. For blogs hosted on blogger.com, just select a word in the text entry box, click the link button (it looks like a globe with a chain in front of it), then enter the URL in the box that pops up [blogger.com Help].
If it is an off-line source, then give enough information so that an interested reader could find it. For example, '"Rich Man, Poor Man" (The Economist, Jan. 20, 2007, pp. 15-16) notes that there is a growing backlash against globalization.' Later on you'll learn how to create citations that meet formal rules, but the essence is to enable your readers to find the source and verify what you write.
One possible type of entry is to discuss a topic or event that you read about. If the source is available on-line, then include a link to it. For blogs hosted on blogger.com, just select a word in the text entry box, click the link button (it looks like a globe with a chain in front of it), then enter the URL in the box that pops up [blogger.com Help].
If it is an off-line source, then give enough information so that an interested reader could find it. For example, '"Rich Man, Poor Man" (The Economist, Jan. 20, 2007, pp. 15-16) notes that there is a growing backlash against globalization.' Later on you'll learn how to create citations that meet formal rules, but the essence is to enable your readers to find the source and verify what you write.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
more on business blogging
Today's Mercury News includes an editorial about questions of journalistic ethics in blogging. Some influential bloggers are being courted by the companies they observe, sometimes receiving junkets and other free goodies for writing positive posts. The problem arises when these "gifts" are not disclosed to the readers.
Friday, February 2, 2007
blogging for class
My colleague Sue B. sent us LLD 100WB instructors an exemplary blog entry. For any of my students who wonder what a good blog entry looks like, it looks like that.
Ronny thinks that it's interesting having a blog for class, and I hope others of you do as well. But even if not, it's still required. Take a look at your classmates' blogs! And keep up with making entries too, so they have something to read.
Ronny thinks that it's interesting having a blog for class, and I hope others of you do as well. But even if not, it's still required. Take a look at your classmates' blogs! And keep up with making entries too, so they have something to read.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
blogging for business
Attn. business writing students: Here is a Business Week article that discusses the importance of blogs for businesses.
In regards to my previous post: so far one student has left a comment, which means that mostly likely more than one has seen the post. Since I have linked to the faculty union's take on the contract bargaining status, it's only fair to also link to the CSU administration's perspective.
In regards to my previous post: so far one student has left a comment, which means that mostly likely more than one has seen the post. Since I have linked to the faculty union's take on the contract bargaining status, it's only fair to also link to the CSU administration's perspective.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
bargaining
I am very distressed over the state of the bargaining between the California Faculty Association and the California State University system. After 20 months, there is no agreement over a new contract, and apparently neither side is expecting the next step to lead to an agreement. The union may call for "job action", including strikes (limited, at least initially). This is such a terrible prospect--no faculty member wants to deny instruction to students, but we also need a contract.
The CFA is fighting for faculty benefits and pay raises of course, but it is also fighting against fee hikes for students. The 2006-07 state budget is calling for CSU student fee increases of 10% and a 4% increase for high-level managers [NBC11.com]. I believe so strongly in public education and the civic and economic benefits it brings, that it really upsets me to see all these problems.
The CFA is fighting for faculty benefits and pay raises of course, but it is also fighting against fee hikes for students. The 2006-07 state budget is calling for CSU student fee increases of 10% and a 4% increase for high-level managers [NBC11.com]. I believe so strongly in public education and the civic and economic benefits it brings, that it really upsets me to see all these problems.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
back in the US
Phuong and I arrived back home earlier this afternoon. We are both tired and glad to be back; the trip was good but tough going. I'm happy to be back on American food. Our most exotic meal was in the jungle outside of Tri An. We ate wild boar, fox curry, snake salad, and snake porridge. They brought the snake out to show us before they killed it. The staff drained the blood from the snake and mixed it with rice wine for us to drink. Since I was I suppose the guest of honor, I was "privileged" to get the snake's spleen in a shot of rice wine. Apparently it was to make me feel great the next day, but I didn't. When we later visited Phuong's uncle and cousin in My Tho, we drank more rice wine that had had a poisonous snake soaked in it for about 5 years (Phuong's brother Hieu bought the snake when he last visited). It tasted pretty good, but also didn't sit well with me. I think my snake-consuming days are over.
Now I have to turn my attention to getting ready for classes to start.
Now I have to turn my attention to getting ready for classes to start.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
back in Saigon
A couple corrections from last post: 1. rau moung is a green vegetable; we were eating bun rieu. 2. Independence Hall is not the old US embassy; I don't know where I got that idea.
We are back from Hue. Hoi An and Hue were both great, though we had too little time. Our tour instead spent almost two days going to and from an enormous limestone cavern. It was huge, but not really better than caves I've seen in California and Arizona. It would have been very difficult getting around the sights in Hue without a tour though.
But I'm glad to be back on the street. We ate more snails, mussels, and shrimp (only recently seen swimming around in the front of the restaurant) last night, then we went to a huge outdoor night market. Phuong's friends picked us up on their scooters; I seriously thought I was going to die and I had to pry my hands off the seat grip when we arrived.
The weather in Saigon now is better than on our initial stop--it's still muggy but not as hot. Right now we just finished a feast at Chi Ha's parents' house, where I set a personal early point (11am) for drinking straight hard liquor, in this case grape-infused rice whiskey made by Ha's dad. It was quite tasty, with a flavor similar to cognac.
Today and tomorrow we are going to some points of historical interest. On Wednesday we are going to Vung Tau on the coast for a couple days. That's it for now, these Vietnamese key bindings are giving me a fit.
We are back from Hue. Hoi An and Hue were both great, though we had too little time. Our tour instead spent almost two days going to and from an enormous limestone cavern. It was huge, but not really better than caves I've seen in California and Arizona. It would have been very difficult getting around the sights in Hue without a tour though.
But I'm glad to be back on the street. We ate more snails, mussels, and shrimp (only recently seen swimming around in the front of the restaurant) last night, then we went to a huge outdoor night market. Phuong's friends picked us up on their scooters; I seriously thought I was going to die and I had to pry my hands off the seat grip when we arrived.
The weather in Saigon now is better than on our initial stop--it's still muggy but not as hot. Right now we just finished a feast at Chi Ha's parents' house, where I set a personal early point (11am) for drinking straight hard liquor, in this case grape-infused rice whiskey made by Ha's dad. It was quite tasty, with a flavor similar to cognac.
Today and tomorrow we are going to some points of historical interest. On Wednesday we are going to Vung Tau on the coast for a couple days. That's it for now, these Vietnamese key bindings are giving me a fit.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Happy New Year!
Phuong and I rang in the new year in the streets of Saigon. We went with her cousin Steve and his wife Jenny first to eat rao muong (one of the many varieties of noodle soup) at a sidewalk restaurant, then to a show with traditional and contemporary Vietnamese music. 2007 arrived while we were eating snails, drinking beer, and toasting Steve's birthday at another sidewalk restaurant.
It was interesting landing at Tan Son Nhat airport--I could easily imagine how it looked before 1975. There are still helicopter hangars from the war with American and Russian helicopters in them. The old American embassy is now called Independence Hall, and we plan to visit there later.
Thailand was nice, though being on a tour was a little mixed. Our group was very good--most people were travelling independently to Vietnam, Burma, or elsewhere in Thailand, and were just on tour (as we were) for a few days. Phuong of course quickly made friends with many people. It was nice travelling by air-conditioned bus, though I often felt like clawing my way out to eat on the street rather than in another mediocre hotel restaurant. Our best meal there was right at the beach of Ko Lon, in the bay off Pattaya. We had steamed crab, shrimp, and fish that had been alive 10 minutes before they landed on our table. We also saw a show with traditional Thai dancing and dancing elephants (really!), and had a wonderful 2-hour traditional Thai massage. The weather in Thailand was less hot and humid than in Vietnam. Overall though, we are not that anxious to visit Thailand again.
Today we are flying to Da Nang so we can visit Hue and Hoi An. We'll be back in Saigon in about 5 days. Later on we'll visit the beach at Vung Tau and Phuong's family's hometown of Bien Hoa.
We wish everyone a happy new year!
It was interesting landing at Tan Son Nhat airport--I could easily imagine how it looked before 1975. There are still helicopter hangars from the war with American and Russian helicopters in them. The old American embassy is now called Independence Hall, and we plan to visit there later.
Thailand was nice, though being on a tour was a little mixed. Our group was very good--most people were travelling independently to Vietnam, Burma, or elsewhere in Thailand, and were just on tour (as we were) for a few days. Phuong of course quickly made friends with many people. It was nice travelling by air-conditioned bus, though I often felt like clawing my way out to eat on the street rather than in another mediocre hotel restaurant. Our best meal there was right at the beach of Ko Lon, in the bay off Pattaya. We had steamed crab, shrimp, and fish that had been alive 10 minutes before they landed on our table. We also saw a show with traditional Thai dancing and dancing elephants (really!), and had a wonderful 2-hour traditional Thai massage. The weather in Thailand was less hot and humid than in Vietnam. Overall though, we are not that anxious to visit Thailand again.
Today we are flying to Da Nang so we can visit Hue and Hoi An. We'll be back in Saigon in about 5 days. Later on we'll visit the beach at Vung Tau and Phuong's family's hometown of Bien Hoa.
We wish everyone a happy new year!
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