In Vietnam it is not a tradition to have a party on your birthday, but when we found out that it was Thien's birthday and that he had never had a part but would love a party, the game was on. Right after lunch, Tan and I went to one of the few places that makes cakes. Here is a picture of the young couple that owns the bakery. They did an amazing job in just 1 1/2 hours. We also picked up drinks and some snacks that the guys like.
We started afternoon class in my room because I have the Internet. We watched two masses to compare them with Vietnamese masses, one from Africa and one from America. They learned a great deal about how universal the Catholic church is. Then I told everyone to go to the classroom. Tan and I had hidden the food there, and when Thien walked in he was totally surprised. His eyes welled up and he was close to tears. We all cheered for him. Check out the videos of us all singing Happy Birthday and Thien blowing out the candles at the end of this post.
So there is always a toast to the Birthday Boy, and here we are all being crazy. It's good to let off steam after a few weeks of study.
Here is the obligatory singing of stupid songs.
Most of us at the party with Thien next to me.
And Thien with no cake left.Here is Thien greeting his first birthday cake.
As we say in the improv business, "If you can't sing well, sing loud." And we sang loud. I wonder what Thien wished for.
