progress with the lingo...

My Vietnamese is steadily improving. At least I feel like it is.

I do, however, have some concerns about my pronunciation and spelling. In this central region there's a very strong, drawling, farmer's accent, and my most dedicated and enthusiatic teachers are a young lady with a harelip, a girl who is deaf, and a man with dyslexia.

I guess this might equate to someone learning English by living and working in a special school in deepest darkest Somerset for a year...

X-rated chair

In retrospect, indiscriminately tearing up a friend's copy of Vanity Fair to cover a young child's seat was not a very good idea. It's now displaying some very tawdry and lurid details about Tiger Woods' shenanigans. OK so no-one can understand, but I still feel it's a bit  inappropriate...