Wayzata Students Bridging the Ocean

I interviewed a group of area high school students who are in the process of starting a nonprofit organization to collect money and build schools in Vietnam.

Most of the kids involved are high school juniors, and I was impressed with their vision and drive. They are calling their group Wayzata Students Bridging the Ocean.

As I was interviewing the group, one of students said something that really stood out for me. She said: "I've always been told that I can make a difference and finally I am."

Yes, I thought. When I was growing up, adults also said the same to me. Even now, as an adult, the message still circulates that each and every one of us can reach out and help others. We can all make a change, even if its small, in the way the world operates for another person.

But how often do we really seize this opportunity and actually do something about it?

After that interview was finished, what this one student said continued to linger in my mind. I am proud of these students for having carved out an opportunity for themselves in which they can feel they are making a difference.

It doesn't really matter if their organization turns out to be a smashing success that continues for years or a one-time mission trip. What matters, I think, is that these teens are empowered.

Having had this experience so early in their lives, who knows what else they'll be able to image for their futures, and for the futures of others.

If you'd like to read the article, here it is:

Wayzata Students Work to Build Schools in Vietnam

Photo (c) Mark Trockman.

Vikings and Tet -- A Strange Combo

What a strange weekend it was! First of all -- the Vikings. I actually watched the game. Out of one eye while reading a book, but still, it is an extremely rare occurrence for me to show any sort of an interest in football. Too bad they blew it. Hubby's moans of dismay were so loud that he scared the dogs off the couch!

But that was Sunday. On Saturday we were all wrapped up in a completely different sort of affair. We spent the day attending Tet celebrations. Tet is the Vietnamese version of Chinese New Year.

This year, Chinese New Year is on Feb 14. Why the Vietnamese Community of Minnesota decided to hold it's Tet festival three weeks early is a mystery to me.

Nonetheless, we ended up spending a good portion of our day attending the festivities. And why not? There were dancing dragons, singers, bubble tea and more! Even a beauty pageant!

Dragon House -- Americans in Vietnam

I go back and forth between whether I'm a fiction or a nonfiction reader. Currently, it seems, I'm all about the fiction. Maybe that's because it's summer and I'm looking to lose myself in a story.

This past month I read an advance copy of a book called Dragon House.

It's released this month (September) but I've had a copy for several weeks now. I got it from the author, John Shors, who I met via email back in June. I read another one of his novels, Beside a Burning Sea, which has a haiku-theme, and reviewed it for my haiku blog. Then I sent him an email requesting a haiku interview.

He agreed and you can read the result at Haiku By Two.

But the interviewed opened a line of communication and as it turns out, we're both travelers. He told me about his newest book, Dragon House, which is set in Vietnam, after finding out I had traveled there, too. Before you know it, he was sending me an advance copy.

I liked the book and was able to picture the Saigon setting so clearly. The basic plot is that two Americans go to Saigon to open a home for Vietnamese street children.

There are some twists, of course. What would a novel be without some complications along the way? And a love story, too, because everyone likes a little romance.

What I found most interesting about the book was the way in which the author was able to turn his travel experiences into a novel. At the end, in the acknowledgements, he talks about a street child he met on one of his travels who inspired one of the characters in the book.

I, too, have a pocket full of stories about street kids I've encountered in my global wanderings.

It all got me thinking about how writers mine their own experiences to craft other tales -- and about how I might do the same...

Safety Happiness Cloth Shop

So I've been doing some spring cleaning. This has entailed cleaning out the closet--mine and hubby's.

I ran across this suit coat bag from a tailor shop in Hoi An, Vietnam.

Funny. I don't ever remember paying any attention to the name of the shop. But how could I have missed this?