Lía on her math test...

Q: The mini market sells soap in small packets.

a)15 for 5,600vnd

b)24 for 8,600vnd

c)36 for 13,200vnd.

Which packet is the best value for money?

A: I think all are really good because 13,000 for 36 soaps is really cheap followed by the others. But if I had to buy, I would buy fifteen soaps because first, it's cheap. And second, who would keep 36 soaps in their house?

There was an X in the middle of her answer and the correct one next to it written by the unjust teacher. Btw, she got a 7 out of 8 on the whole test. And she has a very proud dad!

Some Facebook comments:

Ineke Hodder

I would have thought she would have put à plug into the answer for Unilever soaps...

Yesterday at 5:51pm · Delete

Allyson Keane

Can't fault the logic on the 'wrong' answer though!

Yesterday at 6:05pm · Delete

Ro Verdeja

Sure! Totally agree.

Yesterday at 6:36pm · Delete

Bunthida Saeui

smart girl!!

Yesterday at 9:07pm · Delete

Ianko Selig

preciosaaaa asi mismo la logica verdadera antes que la matematicaaaaa

Yesterday at 10:07pm · Delete

Deb Ross

I love it!!! Can't argue with kid logic!!! :)

12 hours ago · Delete

Christina Creighton

She will succeed in life!!!

8 hours ago · Delete

Frinnette Bodden

Rodolfo!!!...y tu te quejas de esa respuesta!!!!.....es igualita a ti!!!!!!!!!...jajajajajajaja

8 hours ago · Delete

Ro Verdeja

La verdad que no me quejo, me encantó!

55 minutes ago · Delete

About love...

Looking into my pending mails I found this follow up from Jullie, the therapist who conducted the weekend workshop "getting the love you want" in which An and I participated last February in Hong Kong. It was great to go over it and just wanted to share with you all. I love the phrase "what you focus on grows".

She said:

How can you continue to grow in connection? Do what you did this weekend! Continue to:

• see your partner in a positive light; what you focus on grows!
• dialogue about how you see them positively ...
• share appreciations of your partner; what you focus on grows!
• dialogue about what you appreciate about them ...
• focus on what YOU do to contribute to the safety in your relationship; what you focus on grows!
• dialogue about what you and your partner need for greater safety between you ...
• develop compassion for yourself and your partner; what you focus on grows!
• dialogue about the thoughts, feelings, fears, and childhood experiences that lie beneath the surface on nearly every frustration ...
• have fun; what you focus on grows!
• dialogue about your own reactivity; take ownership ... get curious about the wound of yours that has been triggered and give voice to the 90% that is old stuff ...
• share your frustrations in the form of a compassionate, Intentional Dialogue
• be curious !!!

Then she added the note from the creators of the Imago theory.

Love, in Imago, is a verb, not a noun.
It is created or destroyed minute by minute by our actions.
Love is an act that is accompanied by a feeling, but it is not a feeling itself.
Love is the behavioral commitment to another's physical, emotional, mental and spiritual potential and welfare
that is equal to if not greater than the same commitment to oneself.
Love is free from negative judgement; it is the full acceptance of another as they are, not as one wishes them to be.
Love accepts and honors difference. It is the hyphen between the I and the Thou.
-Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. & Helen LaKelly Hunt, Ph.D.

Attached is the picture of the group who did together the workshop.

Yil & Lía's trip to Hanoi

"When was the last time you did something for the first time?"

That's what I told Yil and Lía when they left today for their first trip in a plane on their own without mom and dad. They left to Hanoi for a Swim meet with the school and will be hosted by the swimmers there. A lot of first-times for them. I asked them to count how many first-time things happen during the weekend.

I'll be an artist like my mom

If you like painting, what best than having an artist mom. I can't say that about dad. He plays golf, though, and even coaches volleyball, but don't try handing him a brush. That will guarantee you only a wasted canvas and paint.

But my mom... oh my mom! When she sits there it's lovely to be near and feel her vibes with every stroke. I feel I become a better artist myself only by being there witnessing her magic.

And I don't know how, 'cause she's new in the business, but she does it as if she has painted her whole life. I guess that's what they call a "present" (or is it a "gift"?). Well, you know what I mean.

Yil says she can sell her paintings for a thousand USD each. Can you imagine? Even if she doesn't sell them, she's my favorite artist. And she's my mom. Isn't that exciting?

Points of view...

Yesterday was Student Led Conference day at school. I proudly went to Lía's classroom to meet her and to be her audience for 45 min. It was a beautiful display of knowledge and understanding of what's going on in their 5th grade world. Not only was I proud of her, I experimented that feeling that we parents lack during our parenthood (and should have more to overcome the opposite one): I was proud of myself as a father, and proud of An as a mother. Proud of us as a team. Proud of my parents because they raised us as we are now. And proud of... and proud of... and also of...

With all that in mind I was asked at the end of the conference to fill up a form to give my feedback through two uncomplete sentences that I had to fill with my own thoughts. They called it "Parent Reflection"

• I REALLY ENJOYED LEARNING ABOUT how to structure a creative writing

• I WAS PLEASED TO SEE THAT MY CHILD COULD measure with different kind of units knowing which one to use in each case.

And it was signed by me.

You can relate to that pride feeling I was talking about, can't you? Well, there was another section on the form reserved for the child in question. Also with two uncompleted sentences that they chose to name "Student Reflection". They were:

• THE THING I WANTED MOM AND DAD TO UNDERSTAND THE MOST WAS everything in my porfolio! (yes, there is an exclamation point at the end)
  
  
• THE MOST EXCITING PART OF THE CONFERENCE WAS telling our parents to turn their cell phones off. I also liked showing my Hoi An highlights. (Now I remember her satisfaction face when she asked me, and how she and her accomplice Gaby made that YESS!!! gesture in unison as if it was rehearsed)
  

And, of course, it was signed by Lía.

Del departamento de sorpresas sencillas

An me pidió ayer que le mandara una foto para poner en su Bio en una página y me mandó la de su jefe como referencia con la siguiente nota: "Can you help me with a picture that is as nice as the one of Marijn?".

Pensé simplemente buscar entre las fotos una bonita de ella y mandársela y luego vi que era una excelente oportunidad para hacerla reír (tarea que me propongo diariamente... siempre que puedo).

Le mandé pues la foto y le escribí lo que creía que sería sus datos biográficos.

La respuesta no se hizo esperar. "Querido Ro... Me salieron las lagrimas. Que chulo es (el contenido). Sugiero que lo pongas en el blogg o algo asi... Te quiero - An".

Y eso es lo que estoy haciendo ahora. Disfruten.

Yil's First Job!!

Yes, you read it right. Yil has been selected to record voice overs for a Vietnamese company called EZ Talk that teaches English to vietnamese students through a laptop-like machine.

So, they call him. He records some lines of the story-tell section they have and at the end of the month they pay him the amount of hours they used his services.

There he is inside of the studio cabin with his headset on. Cool, uh?

They also used him as a model for the pictures for fliers and other online and printed material.

What we all were waiting for. AN ON STAGE!!!

Ok, ok. This has taken months and months of preparation and rehearsals. This is worth the wait. You won't regret waiting for so long. Just click the video below and enjoy the ride.

Note: The video is in a very low quality because its original size was over 200Mb and my great internet connection here in Vietnam was crying when I tried to upload it so I had to downgrade the quality of the video. If you want the full version.... you'll have to wait.

Enjoy!!

Christmas in Belgium

It was due. Too many years without us coming to visit our belgian family. Either they came to us or we went twice in a row to Santo Domingo (for Abuela Ena's big birthday... so there was a good excuse).

Anyway, here we are. Almost finding a white christmas. But found instead a very cozy one full of all the family around.

We went to Les Ardennes and had a great time trecking in the middle of the forest and woods. The first day we all went for a 10km walk!!! The second day we let the kids go on their own into a 2.5km one. The rule was that we would follow them after 5min, they should hide somewhere in the middle and let us pass and not arrive more than 5 min later than us. At the end we decided to hide too and catched them from behind!! We were called cheaters but it all went well at the end when made a fire and ate marshmellows.

We also went skating and to the Grand Place in Brussels.

The rest of the pics are in facebook

Dep Fashion

"Dep" significa Bonito, Bello, Belleza, Beautiful y es el nombre de la revista más conocida en Vietnam sobre moda.

Pues ahí salimos... je je je. Qué va. Es un truco.

Pero lo que sí no es un truco es el glamour de la doña, que lució un vestido hecho para la ocasión: El lanzamiento de una nueva línea de Ponds de Unilever. An se confundía con las modelos que desfilaron ese día en el evento.



Esta otra es con el vestido de "backup", en caso de que no apareciera el otro a tiempo. Modelo al fin, no importa cuál se pusiera, quedó bellísima!!!

Los Vietnamitas y la gasolina

El otro día fui a echarle gasolina a la moto y se rebosó el tanque. Le dije que le echaran los mismos VND40,000 que le echo cada vez que la agujita está en rojo, y a los 25mil el tipo tuvo que parar porque se rebosaba. Todavía no entendía por qué hasta que vi que el precio había cambiado increíblemente con respecto a la semana anterior.

El litro de gasolina bajó de 19,000 dongs a 11,000. Está claro que no importa cúanto vale el dong respecto al dólar o cualquier otra moneda (para los que no se pueden aguantar USD1=VND17,000 -más o menos), el tema es que bajó más de un 40%.

Me pregunto si en RD pasó lo mismo desde que el barril de gasolina bajó de más de $100 a menos de $50... Just a thought.

Light and shades

En la clase de arte, a Lía le enseñaron a trabajar con las sobras y luces de los objetos.

Ella llegó a casa emocionada diciendo lo que hizo en clase junto a su amiguita Gaby y de una vez tomó un papel, el recipiente de los dulces y se puso a practicar lo aprendido.

Y ahí está la artista trabajando con sus objetos en tres dimensiones dándole luz, sobras y profundidad. Está contentísima (yo también).

Track & Field Yil, MS and HS

Today, Cobras, Buffaloes, Tigers and Dragons met at the Sports University of Vietnam to decide once and for all who is the most powerful "house" of the International School HCMC... of course Cobras won... AGAIN!!!

Well done, Cobras!!!


Yil got 1st place throwing the disc and 2nd place in 200M running.

Still, it wouldn't be fun without the friends, no matter which House they belong to.

That's good friend Michael and Yil after the race.
More pictures in Facebook.

Yil is 12!!!

This is the way Birthday Parties should be celebrated!!

Yil went with his friends to play video games, have lunch at KFC and then watch a movie.

Lía came too, of course. How can she miss his brother's party? And she enjoyed everything the most.

Check the video below with some of the great moments during the party. More pics in Facebook.

Games Day at International School HCMC

El grupo de Lía (Cobras) ganó el día de juegos de primaria el pasado viernes 28/Nov. El ambiente fue buenísimo y era lindo ver cómo los amigos se animaban unos a otros cuando les tocaba su turno, sin importarles a qué grupo pertenecieran.

Aquí una pequeña muestra de lo que fue ese día.
Disfruten.-

Golf joke of the day

Bill got a call from the coroner, who wants to talk about his wife's recent death. Bill told him the whole sad story. "We were on the third hole. Sally, my wife, was standing on the ladies tee about 30 yards ahead of the men's box when I hit my drive. From the sound when the ball hit her head and the way she dropped like a rock, I knew immediately that she was dead. God only knows where the ball wound up."

The coroner replied "That explains the injury to her head, but what about the Maxfli embedded in her rectum?"

"Oh," said Bill. "That was my provisional."

Celebration of Cultures

At the international School there is the "Celebration of Cultures" every year. Many of the countries perform something special from their land. Lía participated in dance performed by the Latin community. They danced a reguetón and it was a huge sensation!

Yil went to school dressed up as a true dominican campesino and was watching proudly his sister.

Vietnam’s rules of traffic and transportation

Hi family, I got this e-mail with a very real information about the traffic in our host country, Vietnam. It might seem hilarious and funny (and actually it is) but funniest part is that it IS true! Enjoy and come visit us anytime you want to double check it.

1. While crossing the street, you must walk in a slow constant pace. Motorbikes will pass you around… Be careful though… Cars, trucks and buses might use you as a “slowdown bump” (see also rule #10)
2. Giving way is in direct relation with the size of the vehicle. The bigger the vehicle the more “right of way” it has.
3. Red light in Vietnam is actually a special “shade of green”. It is known as “Tardive green” or “late green”. It means you can still keep on driving unless you hit something… or something hits you…
4. When you turn right you should never look left.
5. If you don’t see it – it doesn’t exist. Hence, if you don’t see it you always have the “right of way”.
6. If you cross the road in a red light - that’s ok (see rule #3). But if you decide to stop and you stand 10cm after the stop line – you will be fined!
7. Trucks and buses should always turn right from the most left lane. Motorbikes and bicycles should always turn left from the most right lane.
8. Driving against traffic is always acceptable and sometimes even preferred.
9. In a dark rainy night you should always cover your motorbike headlights with your raincoat.
10. Crosswalk (“Zebra cross”) are not meant for crossing. They actually mark a high danger zone. It’s called “The pedestrian slowdown bump” zone.
11. When you make a turn you should signal after turning.
12. In a jammed crossroad, you should keep on going forward until you make sure no one else can pass.
13. Helmets are fashion accessories. You should protect your helmet from scratches, bad weather, dust and rain.
14. Traffic police officers job is not to control traffic. It’s to collect donations.
15. Limitation of number of passengers in a vehicle is as follows::

Motorbike – up to 6 people, 8 pigs, 2 cows or 20 chickens.
Car – up to 20 people, 16 pigs, 3 cows or 50 chickens.
Bus – Depend on how strong are the doors… and the roof…

16. And for the most important one: If your chest is smaller than 72cm – you are not fit to drive a motorbike! So ladies, be prepared for a Bra inspection! (and that’s no joke!)

I guess that means that if you are a “double D” size – you can drive a full trailer truck…

For more details: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081030/tap-as-vietnam-road-rules-9a7ed42.html

Comiendo Pho' Bò

El que venga a Vietnam, que sepa que va a comer Pho' Bò todos los días. Eso sí, es la mejor sopa de fideos con carne y un viaje de vegetales y yerbas muy rica.

Se come de desayuno, de almuerzo, de merienda y de cena. Aparece en cualquier esquina y mientras más sucio el lugar, más ricos son. A mamá le encantó cuando estuvo aquí.

MMMMM.....!!!!! Yummy!!!

La Fiesta en Cage

Long time don't write here. Ok, ok. But you know. How to start again...? When I saw this picture in Lisa's Facebook I said that was it.

Here are Lisa and An at the party at Cage, one disco in which Claudio and his band had a concert and I sang a couple of songs of the old Los Tres Amigos band.

(That was a good beginning, wasn't it?)