seeing green

While there was no parade, a number of people still took off of work or left early to start their liquid diets for St. Patty's. O'Brien's is one of the few Irish bars in Ho Chi Minh City. It is owned by a French Vietkieu and was packed with a lot of Westerners.

The owner had a lucky draw (i.e., raffle) with prizes donated by the local Friends of Ireland. Because it was so packed, and my friend knew the owner, we ended up sitting at his table. As people came in, he would try to stop them to give a raffle ticket. It turned out to be an interesting social experiment - many assumed he was a local trying to pawn/sell them something, some ignored him and kept walking, a good number couldn't believe that the tickets were free and took out their wallets, and one woman actually thought he was trying to give her his bill to pay.

Near the door, people would deposit their helmets on a table. Throughout the night, the table would go through periods of being emptied and replenished of helmets. As we were leaving around midnight, I noticed that they were thinning out. As if crossing a street wasn't a challenge already, it occurred to me that a drunk driver on a scooter somehow had to be more dangerous than one behind the wheel of a car. 

We did end up winning a fishing excursion in the Saigon River, which is the equivalent of fishing off of the Hudson River. It's a toss up as to whether you would catch polluted fish or a dead body. Guess that's the luck of the Irish, mate.

touchdown

I got to catch my last American football game, and what a game it was. There is something about the underdog, or in this case, the wildcard getting as far as the Super Bowl, but the Packers did not disappoint with the passion and teamwork that they put into the game. Win or lose, they should be very proud of their performance throughout the playoffs, especially in overcoming the stigma of a wildcard enough to confuse all the statisticians out there to get down to a mere 3 pt spread. As in life, people focus so much on those that are expected to have largesse performances that they are blindsided by the Jordy Nelson's of the world.  I, for one, fell victim to another's comment that Jordy is 'useless' and didn't play my gut - hence losing in the fantasy football playoff pool. [In full disclosure though, my 'gut' liked Jordy simply because his name was unique.]

Perhaps that's why being here is just as exciting - it's an opportunity to be part of the 'wildcard'. High risks equal high rewards, but many will be focusing on the BRIC countries. And while, the folks here may not be as organized, and have the processes and infrastructure in place as the American firm, they have the passion and camaraderie to make it a fun team to be part of - win or lose. In many cases, that lack of defined procedures and establishment breed innovation. While I was in flight, an announcement was sent out regarding my arrival. I received messages today from people ranging from 22 year-old administrative assistant who met me in passing during my look/see trip to random managers stopping by - each sharing genuine messages of welcome and wishes for great success, offering to take me around and inviting me to their home towns, which are hours away, to show me around the countryside. The welcome bouquet of flowers was a nice surprise.

That lack of structure seems to extend to the rest of the country as well. There is a saying about prior experiences preparing you for future life experiences, and I must say that living in NYC did prepare me for the taxi stand at the airport. Apparently, there is no such thing as a line. If there is an empty space on the curve of the sidewalk, squeeze in. When a taxi arrives, you have to be an assertive New Yorker and act like you own that cab (or smile pretty at the taxi attendant - either works and either are traits learned in NY). However, no matter how much I walked in New York, it sure did not prepare me for one aspect. Surprisingly, the many hours and sleepless nights breaking the joysticks of Atari and the simple game of Frogger are the only things that could give me insight on crossing the streets. While many fear crossing the streets of New York, at least the drivers generally respected the pedestrians (even though they may still try to give a good scare). Here...not so much. You just have to try your darnedest not to go kerSPLAT!

[go ~40 seconds into the video]