It’s been awhile. For a variety of reasons (though mostly because I was bored with blogging and busy at the same time), I have found myself debating whether or not to continue with the blog. I’m still not sure whether or not I will keep this going over the long haul, but I figured I’d provide an update.

In a nutshell, I’ve been packing on the pounds.

Vegas was fun, though not as fun as it can be. I spent most of the time there with my parents, who are getting up there in age and therefore are not into the things that make Vegas fun. We did visit a lot of restaurants and I played a fair amount of poker. My mom, being a mom, cooked all my favorite dishes. That was great. What was not great was her propensity to buy dozens of bags of chips and other varieties of junk food. A common conversation back home:

Mom: I’m going to the store. Is there anything you’d like?
Me: No, I’m good, thank you.
Mom: Are you sure? Don’t you want some Cheez-Its or Cheetoes?
Me: No, thanks.
Mom: Ice cream?
Me: No. I’m good.

Two hours later the house was filled with Cheez-Its, Cheetoes, ice cream, chocolate cakes, potato chips, chip dip, and…you get the picture.

On top of that, the chicken fried steak at the Fiesta Casino in Henderson is nothing to sneeze at.

So, four weeks later I brought about six kilograms extra back to Korea.

Three weeks after that I was off to Vietnam.

I went to Vietnam for a “sister school exchange” with students and teachers from the school where I work. We visited Hanoi-Amsterdam High School, one of the top (if not the top) schools in Vietnam. We had a great time there. The Vietnamese are charming people. And gracious hosts. The teachers, parents, and students of Hanoi-Amsterdam took us to a water puppet show, an orphanage in the countryside, Halong Bay, a ceramics factory, a bamboo and rataan furniture factory, and a wicker store owned by the mother of one of the students. She was great. She told each of us that we could choose any one item to take with us…free of charge. Unreal.

Oh yeah. I should also mention that they took us to a wide variety of restaurants. I should also mention that Vietnamese food is fantastic. And I should also mention that our hosts never hestitated to keep our plates full. The result? I brought a couple more kilograms back to Korea with me. Time to hit the treadmill.

Seriously, though, the trip was quite special. I put together a video of the trip, which unfortunately I had to separate into five parts to upload to YouTube. I think it turned out quite well. Have a look.

I’ll be back later to upload some photos of the food I ate. Good stuff.