A Night Ride with Mr. Monk

Here goes my first blog post from Vietnam; turns out it doesn’t take much craftiness to evade the thought police and access blocked sites such as this blog and Facebook.  Secrets, my friends, secrets....  

For those who aren’t aware of why I’m currently in Vietnam, let me quickly share.  Basically, my friend Kat and I have been hired through an educational consulting company out of Southern California to do some teaching/ELL support/review of curricula/marketing research at a few universities and high schools throughout Vietnam and China that are interested in establishing international programs with some U.S. universities.  We have already finished our time at Thai Ngyuen University (north of Hanoi) and now have a few days of travel time before our next flight into Guangzhou, China.  

With just a few days to tour Vietnam free from work obligations, we decided to hit only a few hot spots: Ha Long Bay and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).  Ha Long Bay was simply breathtaking as you can see in the pictures below.  I could re-tell a multitude of amusing stories already, but unfortunately I don’t have gumption to type them all up.  

So, with that said, I guess I’ll just jump right in with the latest amusing story.  I’m going to entitle this  A Night Ride with Mr. Monk.

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Kat and I board our train at around 11 p.m. and settle in our four person sleeper cabin for our 30+ hour ride to Ho Chi Minh City.  Sleeping above Kat is a nice Vietnamese man and at the last minute the spot above me is filled by a young-looking, friendly monk.  He greets both of us kindly and quickly settles into his bunk as we shut off the lights for sleep pretty much right away.  

Quietly lying in my bed, I can’t fall asleep immediately so I turn on my Ipod to listen to music.  About an hour into our ride, still not asleep, a few big bumps knock my jar of peanut butter off the small table with a semi-loud “Boom!” to the floor.  The monk peers over this bunk probably to check the cause of the noise, and I quietly (to respect Kat and the other man sleeping) try to communicate to him that things were ok, the peanut butter was the root of the noise.  Sure that he did not entirely understand me, I just roll over and try to sleep once more.  

But it’s not long before I feel a light tap on my leg.  I open my eyes and am shocked to see the monk sitting at my feet looking at me and holding his phone (are monks supposed to have phones?).  Not able to fall asleep with a monk sitting at my feet, I sit up and run through the basic introductory questions (What’s your name? Where are you from? How old are you? etc) with fairly successful communication despite his limited English skills.  He shows me the pictures on his phone, and I, in return, let him sample the music from my Ipod and even play a round of Sudoku with him before I signal that I am tired and ready to sleep.  He smiles, nods, and climbs back into his bunk above me with a “Goodnight.”  

I’m just starting to drift off to sleep when again I feel a light tap on my leg. I pop open my eyes to see the monk sitting at my feet once again.  A bit groggy, I don’t even sit up this time.  Sensing that he wants to say something, I wait as he forms his thoughts.  “Tired?” he asks.  “Yes, I’m tired,” I respond.  He motions sleeping with his hands and points at my bed.  “Yes, I’m sleeping,” I add, a little irritated.  He motions again and again I respond the same way.  But this time he says, “OK?” and starts to lay down next time me.  Confused, I suddenly realized what he was trying to ask.  Oooooh hell no!  What’s happening right now?!  Are you crazy?!  I sit up quickly, saying “No, no, no...this is my bed,” as I motion him away.  He seems embarrassed, grabs his phone and leaves the cabin for a bit before climbing back up into his bunk.  

I can’t sleep worth a darn as my body has now become hyperaware of all movement from Mr. Monk.  As I lay awake, I replay over and over our previous interaction in my head.  Where was the miscommunication? Was I sending subtle please-get-into-bed-with-me signals?  Was he just crazy lonely or just plain crazy?  Yep, I decided so.  Shame on you Mr. Monk, shame on you.  I’m filing a report directly with Buddha...that’ll teach him...  

Finally, at around 5 a.m., the train stops and I feel a final, light tap. This time Mr. Monk has all his belongings and has his monk attire back on.  He waves and whispers “Goodnight, nice to meet you,”  as he slips out of the cabin and into the early morning.  

With creepy monk gone, I am finally able to relax and fall asleep.   

The End.

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Mother, I know you probably don’t find this the least bit amusing but please don’t panic; I feel very safe here.  I'm just going to chalk this all up as another new experience to add to the books.  How many people out there can say they’ve had a monk try to sleep with them?  Hahaha....

I’ll post again when I have another fresh random or amusing story to share.  Cheers!

Thanksgiving 2011

This year, inspired by Jimmy Fallon's "Thank You Note" segment, I will write my 2011 Thanksgiving list in Thank You note form.

~Thank you, God, for creating and providing all of the following.

~Thank you, family, for welcoming me home, housing me during my unemployment, and spending a whole year's worth of holidays together. Are you sick of me yet?

~Thank you, friends, old and new friends, at home and afar. I'm a better person for knowing you all and darn lucky.

~Thank you, world, for being so lovely, beautiful, and interesting. 2011 shout outs: South Korea, China, Mongolia, Siberia, and Russia.

related...

~Thank you, Couchsurfing, for being the greatest idea of all time, for all the wonderful, gracious hosts I've had and for several delightful hosting experiences since I've been back in Iowa.

~Thank you, CIEP job, for supplying me with sufficient funds, friendly co-workers, funny students, joyous moments and moments to vent about.

~Thank you Egypt, Tunisia, etc. for inspiring change around the world and in the U.S.

~Thank you, private hospital assistance program for the uninsured, for saving me a second trip to the hospital from relieving the stress of a $15,000 bill.

which leads to...

~Thank you, Obama care, for allowing me to go back on my parent's insurance for the next 6 months, even if it was one month after my surprise hospital visit.

~Thank you, Cedar Falls family (Prat, Kat, Kayla), for being awesome and fun and good cooks.

~Thank you, professors (and teachers everywhere), for inspiring and challenging students everywhere despite the lack of respect and money you receive in return. And a HUGE thanks to my UNI profs for the scholarship next semester.

~Thank you anyone who has given me a ride this last year: for graciously sharing your gas and time. I will re-pay you with all the rides you want in my new car (starting tomorrow).

~Thank you Conan O'Brien: for still being funny.