Monthly Archives: December 2015

In 1975, the Government gave land in the Cu Chi area to people who were living in Ho Chi Minh City who would be willing to move out there. it’s about 70 km. Vy’s grandmother took them up on this. She had eight children, of whom 7 lived. Now she lives with one of herContinue reading “Cu Chi Tunnels with Vy and An”

TDTU is kept shiny and new by an army of people who sweep and polish and repaint continuously, including these guys. From below, with the sun on their backs: What’s holding them up? Consider…how is the railing attached; what kinds of knots are those; what if the guy moves his foot? Actually, I think thatContinue reading “Feats of Maintenance”

The class in Bien Hoa in Dong Nai Province took place today. We were betting 50/50 whether this would ever happen. Our visit had been rescheduled, the amount of time we would have had been changed, all kinds of stuff. It’s a class actually sponsored by the Bien Hoa VGCL for their staff and activistsContinue reading “Bien Hoa Labor Ed”

TDTU has set itself a goal of offering a new curriculum, taught in English and emulating the top one hundred universities in the world. It will be an undergraduate degree. Students will come from all over Southeast Asia. It will use texts assigned in the Top 100 universities. This initiative comes from the President, Dr Le Vinh Danh, whoContinue reading “Top 100, Elite and Good”

Warning: This is a cold reading of the Labor Side Agreement by a US visitor. It is not a researched commentary that reflects the view of people in the know here in Vietnam. It is addressed to labor activists in the US. All the commentary coming from labor activists in the US, at least allContinue reading “Thoughts Upon Reading the TPP Labor Side Agreement”

The Concertmistress gives the A Honna Tetsuji is Music Director and Principal conductor of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra. He conducted a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth, complete with huge chorus, on Friday night Dec 18 at the Opera House. We went. It was great. This performance appeared to be sponsored by a Japanese company. OlderContinue reading “Hanoi (4) The Opera House”

Not a great picture of me, but Tuyen took it, Joe looks fine, I’m wearing the scarf that An gave me, and the building in the rear is the VGCL Nine days in Hanoi. Many conversations. Some connections made for us by Philip Hazelton from the ILO, whom we met at TDTU in September, andContinue reading “Hanoi Conversations”

A teacher is teaching a boy how to swim. The boy lies on the ground and the teacher moves the boy’s arms up and over, to show him how they should go. The teacher lifts the boy’s feet and moves them up and down to show him how to kick. Then the teacher lets theContinue reading “The Swimmer and the Sea”

The Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts had an exhibit called, at least in English, “Realism.” The wall poster at the entrance was not inspiring in its English translation. Reading it, my main reaction was that this was a pre-emptive effort to deflect possible criticism. It seemed to say that Realism (and it listed six or eightContinue reading “Hanoi (2) Realism”

  Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. Seven million people live there today. It feels like a combination of New York City and Paris. According to one guide book, space in the Old Quarter is the most costly per square meter in the world. Luckily, our room at the Charming Hotel II on Hang GaContinue reading “Hanoi (1)”