Obama Tuesday Morning

We listened to Obama on the BBC this morning - CNN is not reliable here and usually comes through in digital fragments. So refreshing to hear America's problems enunciated in plain English and not disguised as poli-speak. He speaks of "crisis turning into catastrophe" but I wonder if the folks in the Midwest would agree - they may feel they are already in catastrophe. Also good to hear him speak of repairing infrastructure and healthcare. Of course, the money has to come from someplace but I have always said that I would be willing to pay more for healthcare if I thought someone was getting a benefit from it! And the ancient school he spoke of down south is just one example of how we are failing our future. We don't pay too much more per student for the school over here than what the taxpayers spend per student in Maine, yet the school day here is longer and the math curriculum more rigorous. And all the kids speak two or three languages. There has to be a way to transfer the quality of this experience to public education if we want our kids to succeed in the global marketplace. Let me know when you figure it out!

We have a great group of residents in our building. On Sunday there was an Argentinian bar-b-que (or should I say meatfest?) in the common area. Most of the families here work in shipping or the oil and gas industry. The host of the bar-b-que hails from Colombia, then lived in Mexico for 6 years (three different cities) and now is here. Another neighbor began in Aberdeen, moved to Houston, and are now here. The shipping couple started in Denmark, did 6 years in Namibia before coming to Vietnam. It is a whole corporate lifestyle that you choose - apparently you fill out a personal profile which helps the company decide where they are going to put you so there is some choice involved. There are also different pay scales and benefits packages depending on where you are posted. For example, if you are motivated by money you can make a ton of it if you choose Angola! None of the wives would do that - when you go there you live in a military compound and can never go anywhere. If your husband has to go out he is escorted by the army. The family who came here from Mexico said things were getting pretty bad there too - a lot of kidnappings and a lot of increased armed security anytime they wanted to leave the compound. A British/Vietnamese family is here while they apply for dual citizenship in Vancouver - apparently the economy is pretty bad in England too though the BBC doesn't speak of it like they do the economy in America. They applied in the US but the legal process was too daunting.

More later. We're off to Phuket and Bangkok on Thursday.