On the Way Again

So here I am with Danny at SFO  after he had driven me up 280 to the airport. It was a warm and dry day in California, the kind that we all enjoy. The check in was a surprise, because I asked for an aisle seat, and after a while the man did something great. I'll share it with you in a moment. Thanks again for the ride, Danny. See you soon.

This is the waiting area for my plane. I boarded China Airlines flight 003 from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan. The line ended up being very long (it was a 747), but it did not take long for all of us to get aboard.

When I got to my seat and sat down, this is what I saw. Yes, you can see that I had the best seat in the plane. It is the emergency row, right next to the big emergency door. So, really, I had almost 15 feet of legroom. I would say that's enough even for my long legs. (And it was next to the food so I got served first!)

This is what it looks like to the left of my seat. Lots of room, and there were no stowage compartments above me, so I could stand up right from my seat. I felt pampered.

After sleeping, eating two meals, changing planes in Taipei (sorry, I was too sleepy to take pics there), getting onboard Vietnam Airlines flight 579 and eating another meal, I arrived at No Bai International Airport in Ha Noi. Our plane didn't have a skyway, so we took a bus from the plane to the terminal. Here is a picture of another Vietnam Airlines plane that looked just like the one I took.

When I got to Ha Noi, I was greeted by five good friends: Linh, Huynh, Vinh, Binh, and Nam Vu. This is Vinh. He is an artist who is quite talented. This is a vase he made for my birthday last October. I had only seen a picture of it, and now that I see it in person, I can see how beautiful it is. Thank you so much, Vinh. I will treasure it.

And here we all are, having coffee and juice at the airport. From the left: Nam Vu, Vinh, Linh, Huynh, and Binh. Thank you all for welcoming me back for my eighth summer in Vietnam. I am happy to be here again.

The Blessing of the New Construction

Fr. Khue, who heads the minor seminary for the Diocese of Phat Diem, is constructing a new building that will be three stories high and have sixty rooms. The entire third floor will be for retreatants. It will be quite the edifice.

 Fr. An running up the stairs to prepare for the procession.

 Three of the best seminarians lead the procession.

As always, the sisters preparing only the food I like...which is most everything.

We all gather on the foundation of the new building.

The bishop blesses the foundation with holy water and we all sing. There were many of the church elders present, both men and women.

This is a just completed arch. I always wondered how they did this, then I looked at the other side of the building.

I get it now.

Mass was held in the upper chapel. The music was wonderful. I am always impressed by the  beautiful woodwork in Vietnam. All of the doors and windows are constructed by hand and lacquered to harden them against the moisture.

Just the view from the second story. Not a bad thing to look at any time of the day.

Of course, being Catholic, it's all about praying and eating, and here we are eating after the mass. Thanks again to the wonderful sisters for the food, the seminarians for serving, and the priests for the great table conversation. Now it's back to shower and then leave for Hanoi. Thanks to everyone. I leave you until next year.

The Last Dinner for 2013

It's Tuesday evening and time for the last dinner. It's nothing big, but it is very special because so many good friends came.

 Yes, the sisters made me spaghetti. How much better does it get?

A bird's-eye view of the sisters eating dinner. Thank you all for the great food and great laughs.

Oh, and here is the dog that Thanh gave me. I put it by the little pond, next to the beautiful flowers. He will wait patiently for me to return next summer.

The High School English Class

Three times a week I got to visit the high school English class. We learned how to play Hangman, Scrabble, and Whoosh-Bong (my favorite improv game). They were lots of fun and worked extremely hard. I with them all the best in the future.

You wouldn't believe the difficult words the students thought up for Hangman. After me showing them once, they got the game and stumped me a number of times, and I've been playing since I was seven.

A formal picture of all of us in the classroom. Their teacher is Joseph Thien, and he is doing an excellent job with them.

Fr. Ludovic Gault from France

At lunch, we had our first meal with a new visitor, Fr. Ludovic Gault from France. Fr. Ludovic is Vicar General from a diocese just south of Paris. He will be visiting Phat Diem for two weeks with his friend, Fr. Huy. I have to say that Fr. Ludovic speaks darn good Vietnamese.

At left are Fr. John, Fr. Ludovic, Bishop Joseph, and Fr. Huy. Lunch was fun because we were all making jokes in three languages.

The Grotto at Night

Last night, the seminarians lit up the grotto that is next to dining hall and behind the bishop's house. They had worked on weeding it and fixing it up, but I had only seen it during the day.

 Everyone had left the dining hall and I cleaned up the cups from the last serving of tea. I walked out side and wasn't expecting this.

With the lights, it took on an ethereal feel and we stood transfixed just looking at it.

Our Last English Mass of the Summer

Today, Fr. Vong presided at our last mass in English. He said some wonderful words of thanks and I got to express my gratitude to all of my students. This is truly a grace-filled place.