Whose funny little legs?

SATURDAY 23rd April

I was just thinking I didn't have much new to blog, when I got an emai from my friend Jean who is enjoying enlarging the photos on my blog. I just tried enlarging a couple of the photos myself, and had to laugh at the one of the strange shellfish... I commented to see if you could see their funny little legs, then when I enlarged it i could see the reflection of my own feet!... needless to say, they are not the funny little legs I was referring to!  I have found out from my students that they are called sam and are both delicious and expensive. I will have to budget for that next time... a once in a lifetime treat?

I had to resort to going to the chemist for codein and cough medicine last night, because I have a persistent cough that's just getting worse, and I was ridiculously tired from lack of oxygen, since I was only using the top half of my lungs to avoid coughing. All the muscles around my diaphragm scream each time I cough. Anyway, it seems to be working, for it has eased a little this morning. I have a day off, so I will sit tight and just watch movies, and doze today so I can get enough rest to get well. It will be nice to teach again with a full voice... and I haven't been able to sing for several weeks - blow that for a joke!

Life has been the usual since getting back from Cat Ba... doesn't seem that anything has happened that is exciting enough to blog. Ann told me the VIP class like me. Bless her... I think she is in awe of them. That has got to be one of the biggest advantages of being this old... you realise that regardless of status, education, wealth etc, we're all just people, worthy of the same measure of respect... equals.  Still it's nice to hear that she's happy she gave me the class.

 Oh yes, speaking of stories, last night with my VIP class we were dealing with feelings/emotions and time frames. So I got them to tell me a story beginning with Once upon a time...  or  Long, long ago...  To give them an example, I told the Story of King Solomon and the two women fighting over the baby.  I omitted all references to the source of the story, and avoided using names coz it could cost me my job if i was accused of proseletising.  As I read the story, dramatising it, I felt quite emotional acting the part of the desperate mother wanting to protect the life of her child. So it turned out to be easier than expected to get the students to elicit opinions on the feelings experienced by the characters in the story. Then their task was to relate a story back to me. This class really enjoys teaching me about Vietnamese culture, so it was interesting to hear their legends. Celine took great pains to remind me that the stories were fantasy, they didn't really happen. I'm not sure whether she was concerned that I might think they were true, or that I might think that they believed they were true!...... ?

SUNDAY, 24th April

It's Easter Sunday here. I'm so glad that the revelation of the reality of the Resurrection gives us an awareness of space and time beyond the temporal. Even though I am on my own here, I can still celebrate. I just enjoyed a time of communion with a glass of grape juice and a chunk of bread and the sweet presence of my Saviour. So very much to be thankful for...