Hi Everyone,

I'm back in Can Tho after having spent a couple of weeks traveling around. My dad didn't have to work because it was a big holiday time in Vietnam, getting ready for the Chinese New Year, which they call Tet here. Here's how you say "Happy New Year" in Vietnamese: "Chuc Mung Nam Moi." You can see it written on big signs all over the place.

One of the ways that they get ready for Tet is by making big dragons out of all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Here's a picture of one at the zoo in Saigon:


I'm really learning a lot about Vietnamese culture. One day that we were in Saigon we went to a Buddhist Temple, where they burn incense. Here's what it looked like inside (you can see Lily in the corner of the picture):


On another day we toured through a factory where they make fish sauce, which is used like ketchup here. The barrels have piles of fish and salt in them, and after a year they are ready to get the liquid out from the bottom of the barrels. It's pretty stinky, but my mom and dad like to put it on their food.


Guess what? I'm going to start going to school here! I'm pretty nervous about it, but I miss being with other kids, and my mom and dad found a school called the "Vietnam American Primary School" where the teachers all speak English, and the kids can learn it. Lily and I will be in the same room. I hope it works out for us!

That's all for now. I hope you all are having fun. I miss you.

Love, your friend,

Hudson

Hi Everyone. I am getting used to my life in Vietnam now. I have a new friend, Linh, who I play with every night after dinner. We ride bike, play badminton, and have a lot of fun. Last night my mom and dad took me and Lily out for ice cream and we invited Linh, which was fun.

I'm excited for our beach vacation we're going on tomorrow. We will have a bungalow right on the beach and I hope to swim a lot. There is also a swimming pool there.

I really miss everyone and it makes me so happy when you post to my blog.

I'm still learning to read. My mom made me a reading worksheet full of popcorn words and I buttered almost the whole page!

Today my mom and dad are taking me to a school they heard about which is sort of like kindergarten but has some English teachers. It might be okay, but we will see.

Special love to Maeve, Savoy, Bridget, Ethan, Elsa, Izzy, Pablo and all my friends and to my teachers, Mrs. Ewanow and Mrs. Hoyt.

love,

Hudson