Christmas in March

Day two commuting to Danang provided a little challenge because the Motorbiking Gods wanted to make sure I didn't get too cocky (apparently I haven't been leaving enough Whoopie Pies at the altar).  They decided to bring on the wind and the rain to go with the dark for my return trip. Little did they know I had taken matters into my own hands earlier in the afternoon with the purchase of my very own motorcycle helmet (or the closest approximation you can get to one in Vietnam).  Yes, now I can cruise the beach highway looking remarkably like a giant blue Q-tip on my way to and from my English teaching job.  Accompanied by my
giant, blue rubber poncho, the fashion statement is quite astounding. 
If my rainy day biking fashion did not provide adequate opportunities for laughter, my teaching session certainly did.  I was not actually teaching, because it was a testing day.  My job was to interview each of the students to assess their oral proficiency in English.  There was a camera man on hand to record each of the students (in hopes that they can repeat this test in two years when they complete this program and show considerable progress in English).  I had a list of fifty questions, and my first student couldn't get past number two (What's your name?).

Many students flew through the first few questions only to get stumped by, "When is your birthday?"  I would try rephrasing in a variety of ways.  "When were you born?  What is the date of your birth?"  When all else failed, I tried singing a few bars of "Happy Birthday to You" in hopes that the tune would trigger a response. For many the light bulb came on, and they excitedly gave me their birthday in English.  However, one fellow had a different type of revelation.

He got the "Oh!  I get it!" look on his face, and I assumed the correct birthday response was on the way.    Nope.  He "got" something entirely different from my musical rendition of Happy Birthday.  So, just when I thought he was going to struggle through the day, the month and the year of his birth, he instead launched into song.  "We wish you a Merry Christmas!  We wish you a Merry Christmas!  We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"  I smiled - making a sincere effort not to roll on the floor laughing and, at the same time, feeling sorry for him - as he continued to sing the entire song for the camera with an adorable Vietnamese accent.  As I worked hard to suppress my amusement, I tried to imagine him in two years when he has an opportunity to view this video.  Here's hoping he cultivates a strong sense of humor in addition to some Cracker Jack English skills.