Heartfelt Mush

There's nothing like standing and trying to bop around to Vietnamese pop with a little child sitting on your shoe and hugging his entire body around your leg like there's no tomorrow. Almost everyday I visit the kids at a safety house for street children, not just because it's part of my research, but because the sense of warmth and energy from the kids is almost addictive, and because I love their company as much as they seem to love mine. It's interesting how the will to do good to others regenerates itself upon execution, in both the giver and the receiver.

So I plan to start collecting data for my fulbright work in another week, as I am carefully planning out the curriculum and activities list at the moment. If you missed my earlier briefings through email, under the wing of the Department of Sociology at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, I am studying the pyschology and mental hygiene of former street children through their use of art and story-telling. I will be opening a regular class at the saftey house with creative expression as the main goal, each week having a general theme such as family, nature, dreams, foreigners, etc. At the end of each week, I will ask for submissions of the artwork that they think most represents their own sentiments of the greater theme. It'll be really exciting, because we will be testing out all types of artistic media, from normal crayons and paints to photography and cartooning. Hopefully, friends of friends will help me invite well-known Vietnamese artists to come teach the kids a thing or two about their individual styles. In addition, I hope to create postcards or calendars out of the children's artwork in order to do some fundraising for the kids back in the States.

Anyway, when it comes to children, there's something special in physical proximity and body language. I remember when I was little and able to grapple my entire body around my mom or dad as they carried me in their arms. I could rest my head in the crook of their necks and just close my eyes. I always refer to my own childhood in terms of the way I like to treat kids, so that I can think like them and fulfill their needs in the most constructive way. Not meaning to be overly sentimental or anything, I leave you with a vision of a simple friday night hanging out at the safety house - me sitting on the tile floor with about 10 kids, ages 6 to 16, watching Vietnamese karaoke on the small tv, my outstretched legs serving as a pillow for the two youngest ones whose eyes are slowly fluttering to sleep...

My New Bike

Contrary to even my own expectations, rather than buying a motorbike, I've settled on buying a brand new mountain bike (xe dap nui). Mind you, it's a pretty cool bike. As I was riding out to visit by boys at the safety house, deftly weaving through the slow traffic of cyclo drivers and fruit on wheels, and trying not to get run over by the swarm of motorbikes, oddly placed Land Rovers, Mercedes Benzes, and gigantic tour buses, some guy driving next to me nodded his head in approval and asked me how much I paid for it. I really wanted to ask him for some grey poupon. But anyway, I forgot to mention that I happen to be a millionaire here. The bike cost me 1,245,000 VND (Vietnamese dong), which corresponds to about $85. Pretty cheap for a quality bike like this one. Of course, bicycles aren't the rage around here. They're old school. Everyone wants a motorbike, which symbolizes modernization and greater wealth. But whatevs, cuz my bike is pretty damn cool. I seriously have a blast riding through the streets, well, minus the soreness of my tush. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple close calls. Actually, some guy friggin bumped me with his motobike from behind. Boy was I pissed. Who knew you could get road rage on a bike? But really, there are only two rules you need to follow on the road. One, let the bigger vehicles have their way (I wouldn't recommend going head to head with a bus on a wimpy bike). And two, always yield to the people in front of you. That's why Vietnamese traffic flows like water rather than the jerky stop-n-go of industrialized cities. What this means is that all you really need to pay attention to is the traffic ahead, never behind. It's kinda like snowboarding but not. Anyway, so that guy who bumped me violated rule number two, and for that, I gasped in horror and disgust and shook my head with major disapproval. Yeah, I was not a happy camper... for a good 15 seconds! What can I say, I'm not one to hold grudges around here. Life is way too short. -sw

Unleashing the Swoosh

What eeeez iiit???? (check out the so-called Oakland lingo, yet to be perfected of course).

Hellz yeah!! Swoosh (a.k.a Shoshana, Shosh, Sho, Shana, Shanie, Shawn) is BACK in Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM. But I go by "Diem Hoang" here, where the "D" is pronounced like a "Z" or a "Y," depending on the accent. Yeah, the Vietnamese are crazy peeps, but I love them!

Anyhoo, first comes first. Here's my updated contact info, good till July 2005:

Shoshana Woo
5C3 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street
District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
VIETNAM

email: shoshana_woo@yahoo.com or shoshana.woo@aya.yale.edu
Yahoo IM: shoshana_woo
AOL sn: shoshanawoo

mobile: +84 (9) 930-0033
house: +84 (8) 910-4119
d.o.b: 08 November 1982 (hint hint... package take about 1-2 weeks from US to VN)

current time difference: east coast (USA) is 11 hours behind Vietnam. this means that Tuesday 8am in Vietnam is Monday 9pm on the east coast... getit?gotit.goooood.

Aight, enough for now. Hugs and kisses to all. -sw