charvey in Vietnam

There will come soft rains...

Nam nay, mua mua den som.  Ok, I'm lazy and didn't use the special Vietnamese script software I've got on my computer.  But it reads "This year, rainy season comes early."

It's getting hotter and more humid.  Although it doesn't rain every day (yet), it has rained cats and dogs a couple times already.  Marking the passing seasons of rainy/hot, dry/cooler is not quite the same as the east coast USA rituals of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter but it'll do.  I do kinda miss springtime in the eastern USA though -- the smell of newness and fresh, wet earth, sound of birds singing, being able to go outside without a coat -- it's like being let out of prison.  There's no feeling like it.

Vầng Trăng Khóc (The Moon Cries)

The Vietnamese are a sentimental people.  This is especially apparent in popular music.  Romantic themes in music skew heavily to unrequited love, love lost, or two lovers separated by circumstances beyond their control. 

I learned several Frenchie songs in a college French class and I still remember them.  Music is a powerful way to learn.  "What a golden opportunity," I thought, "I'll learn some Vietnamese classics.  Not only will I learn some new words, but it'll come in handy during the obligatory karaoke sessions with the staff."

Choosing a song dripping with the "love lost" themes above was easy.  I just picked one at random.  It is "Vầng Trăng Khóc" (The Moon Cries).  I plugged the lyrics into an English/Vietnamese machine translator at vdict.com to get the general meaning of the song.  It's sung as a duet by two people who once were lovers.  For a reason I'm unable to determine (the song may not say) they are separated and their love has faded.  They sing achingly for the love they once shared and for what might have been.  Click to listen.

One line in the song I've seen elsewhere is "Em và anh mỗi người một nơi."  Translated literally, it is "Me and you, each person one place."  More figuratively, I translate it as "Everyone has their place, including us."  The idea is that time and circumstances have separated the lovers, but they must accept it because everyone has their own destiny.  It's kinda poetic.

The machine translation yielded some especially excellent lines.  One is "There Will by you love you forsooth giblets."  No idea about that one.  Two others are "Stoutly when new hornbeam retrevial," and "Because aching suffer prestissimo the two of us asteroid separates."  I am not making this up.

I'm listening to this song over and over while reading the lyrics so I can carry the tune and nail the pronunciation.  On Monday I'll review the lyrics with my Vietnamese teacher so I understand the meaning of each line.  Look for me on Vietnam Idol.

Special Feelings from a Man's Heart

Hello, My Public.  I know it's been a while since I rapped at ya, but the waters ain't exactly been calm on Lake Charvey.  Lol, actually things have been going great.  Saigon is more fun than a barrel of monkeys, and work is good.  It looks like VietnamWorks.com is about to cross the 3000 jobs threshold, a historic occasion.  Business is booming.

Vietnam is abuzz because tomorrow, March 8, is "International Women's Day," also known as IWD.  This is a global holiday.  Who knew?  I was intrigued so I Googled it and, lo and behold, found the internationalwomensday.com website.  It's been happening nearly 100 years, since 1910.

The Vietnamese take all their Women's Days very seriously.  So seriously, in fact, that there are two a year -- the IWD and an even more special Vietnam Women's Day.  Already a few women in the office have dropped not-so-subtle hints that they expect something special from the boss tomorrow.  I plan to oblige, and am having enough flowers delivered tomorrow morning so everyone gets one.  Our office is about 70% women, so paying homage is not only a nice thing to do but it's also an exercise in self preservation.

I even composed a special speech for our job seeker newsletter to mark the occasion.  In a burst of sentimentality, I titled it "Special Feelings from a Man's Heart."   

To wit, "On behalf of men, I would like to thank this special day of the year for its giving us the chance to express our deep gratitude, respect and admiration to half of our world - the gentle women who are so charming, confident and successful - with all words and actions that have been brought up and kept in our sincere hearts - the ones of the happy men!"

Happy International Women's Day!