catching up

Been a while since the last post. I'll try to stop making a habit of it.

Last weekend was Avishai and Stop's wedding; unfortunately I was unable to attend the ceremony, so I cannot tell you what a Thai wedding is like. I can tell you what an Israeli/Thai party is like though-- lets just say that glasses were broken, and not just when stepped on by the groom.
The ASB Brass were here for the past week, and it was a good experience for me. I was included in almost all of the happenings, which (as corny and adolescent as it may sound), really made me feel included and valued; its hard to explain, in many ways the company is a big mispacha, and this week, I was invited to sit at the grown-ups table.

Otherwise the week went by fairly standard, with the benefit of being able to learn more about the history and future of the company, and to get to know my bosses better.

Saturday morning I left for a weekend in Saigon, Vietnam--30 days already. As a physical city, I liked Saigon better than Bangkok-- it was more accessible, I could cross the street with only a mild sense of imminent danger, I had sidewalks to walk along, parks to pass through. The people and culture, however, did not suit me. Perhaps it is just those who are in tourist industries, perhaps its a result of communism (mannerisms in former USSR countries are offputting to me, as well). In any event, the people I interacted with were very aggressive and pushy--my cyclo (rickshaw/bike) driver literally blocked my way from exiting the bench while convincing me to take a longer drive. In the market, if you walked away from something or a stall, the sales person would literally grab your hand, arm, whatever, and hold on, requiring some force, or force of bargaining, before you could get away.

Otherwise, I spent my time relaxing in my hotel room tub on a rainy night, eating pho (before a bug appeared on my chopstick), drinking jackfruit shakes, and visiting museums, namely the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, and the War Remnants Museum. The latter deserves its own discussion, coming up next.