Turning Japanese

(or is that Thai?)

Sarawat's Social Life

In her first few weeks with us, Sarawat has become the most popular member of the Wilson household. The guards in our building all know her name and say hi to her as she walks by, and the motorcycle taxi guys are always happy to give her a pat on the head when we wander past their stand. It's not unusual for us to be walking her down the street and hear the Doppler effect of "Sarawaaaaat!" being yelled from a passing motorcycle.


We had Patrick's colleagues over for dinner a couple of weeks ago, and as you can see, she was the life of the party:




OK, so she wasn't dancing on the table. She was very happy to hang out and be fawned over!

She's also gained a fan club down at the local pool hall. Our neighborhood features many, er, entertainment options, including places to shoot pool with lovely Thai ladies. One of the joints could easily become one of Sarawat's afternoon hangouts. Jennifer happened to walk by one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, and all of the bar girls came flitting out to meet Sarawat. Before Jennifer knew it, they were taking pictures of the dog with their camera phones, styling her hair, and generally making her one of the girls. We've gone back a couple of times since to shoot pool and chat with the manager. Everyone who works there is very nice, so we'd like to be occasional customers ... but we don't know what else goes on there, if you know what we mean.



Life isn't all parties and pool, though. Sometimes you just want to hang out at home and chew on something. Fortunately, Helen knows what that's all about and sent Sarawat a care package. It went over very well.

Go for Past, or Live in Future?

Recently Patrick travelled to Hanoi for work. Jennifer had been to Vietnam before, but this was Patrick's first trip. We both really like Hanoi! It reminds us a bit of Berlin in the late 1990s: funky, a bit rough around the edges, and probably growing a little too quickly for its own good. The north Vietnamese (who are apparently quite different from the southerners) are sassy and fun -- and they're loving the freedom to run their own businesses. This was the first of what should be many trips -- we're excited to go back!

The streets of Hanoi feature a strange mixture of French colonial style, communist insignia, and rampant capitalism. Many of the big French colonial buildings are now Vietnamese government buildings. Scooters and motorcycles rule the roads, and cafes and restaurants fill the sidewalks. There's hustle and bustle everywhere, but somehow it's not overwhelming, the way it can be in Bangkok.










Yes, the Vietnam War (or, as they call it, "the American War") does pop up occasionally, but it's no obstacle to good relations between Americans and Vietnamese today. Most Vietnamese seem to have the attitude of, "Yeah, you invaded, we won. End of story. Now what can I sell you?" This poster, on one of the main promenades in the center of old Hanoi, is based on a famous New York Times photograph of a North Vietnamese tank breaking through the gates of the Presidential Palace during the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.

Maybe the driver who took Patrick back to the airport summed it up best: "Vietnamese don't want to go for past; they want to live in future."