Thursday, August 2, 2007

Fond Farewell

What goes up must come down, and all good things eventually come to an end. As we approached another full moon (ngày rằm), the UCR Summer Session Program came to a close with a final, uproarious outdoor party on a hot summer's night in Hue with live dj'ed music, first techno, then Cá Huế, then a little dance music to get people jumping. I hope that some of the students will continue to post their pics here when they get back, but for me, el profesor, I am signing out after the next post until next year... Before I do, I owe many people my sincere thanks for a great program this summer. In no specific order...



Thanks Cậu Chưởng (Mẹ Nguyện's cousin) for a great tour of the Palace and for a great meal prepared by Mợ Hoa at your place.













Thanks Bradley, Huy, Lộc and Thái for good times, especially some smoky afternoons with Craven A and cà phê sửa đá off Hùng Vương. Special thanks to Huy in particular who single-handedly did much of the work with contracts, tours, personnel at Hue University and infecting almost every event with his optimism, humor and enthusiasm.








Pictured here are Ms. Kim Dung (lower right) and Anh Hồng and Chị Thủ (lower center) sitting next to Tony and Châu. Thanks, Dung, for all of your help with visas, foreign affairs, and the paperwork involved with university and city authorities with our group's visit. Missing from our outing today was Rector Phước who had to be at a public ceremony in the mountains. Thanks Dr. Phước in absentia. No stay at the Thanh Noi would be complete without the wonderful care of the housekeeping and restaurant staff. Mr. Hồng and Ms. Thủy supervise the housekeeping and personally handled care for our group's rooms this summer.






Thanks aunties, cousins and uncle! Thanks Chị Mỹ! Dr. Mỹ is not only the Head of the Vietnamese Studies Section at HUCFL that sponsors our program in Huế but as of last summer we found out she is a cousin-in-law, a niece of O Sương and Chú Huyên. She is an important behind-the-scenes player in the program, and we thank you profusely. Pictured in the center in the green áo dài is the rock upon which our family's stay in Huế is based, the veritable Thím Lạc. Every day we ate lunch at her home, wonderful home-cooked feasts prepared fresh each morning. In the blue áo dài next to Thím is O Hồng who lent us her bicycle and since 1997 has been another generous auntie to Hồng Anh.


Especially, thanks to the students for this year - Tony, Lidia, Chau (back row), Vicky, Jonathan, Tri, and Albert (lower right) - for being great students. Your diligence, always getting up and going out there - to class, to the internships - and especially your flexibility and tolerance made this an especially enjoyable course to teach. Also pictured here are some of the other staff (housekeeping, restaurant, reception) who again made our stay at Thanh Noi a flawless one.






Not pictured here are Anh Hùng and Anh Quan - restaurant managers - who set up our farewell party in the courtyard with fresh potted flowers and custom-printed menus. This party was by far our best success for welcome and farewell gatherings, and we've decided to hold all future gatherings in the same space.














Besides the UCR students, this program couldn't have been nearly as much fun this year without the participation of nine student volunteers from Hue University who partnered with the UCR students on their internships. A very sincere THANK YOU to you all for riding the American students around Hue, for interpretation, and for your fun attitude. It was great getting to know you and I am sure to make participation from local students a bigger fixture in next year's program.





This picture I think captures the general mood.














Thanks Quyen and Duc. They are stunned by how funny the jumping shots look.













On Scuppy duty, Chú Nghiên (Ba Tô's cousin) is the other half of the rock upon which my family's stay depends. He's endlessly funny and a wonderful master of ceremonies. Thanks, Chú Nghiên, for your humor and for your incredible contacts throughout the arts scene in Hue.









Finally, thanks to Chị Hương along with Chị Mỹ for your assistance with the language class, for your wonderful staff, and for some good meals in the evenings. We look forward to seeing you again soon in Huế or elsewhere in the future.



1 comment:

Peter & Dung said...

Hey guys! We followed your whole trip up North. Hopefully we'll be back in Vietnam one of these years that you're heading up country....