An American Wedding in Vietnam

Just "mock" Married!

We did it!  Okay, not really; don't worry Mr. & Mrs. Lopez or my parents, we didn't really get married, but we did have a successful wedding ceremony and reception to give the students and teachers in Hue a feel for what an American wedding is like.  Everyone I've talked to since the event said they really enjoyed coming and saw how different Americans do weddings than Vietnamese do.  I'm posting pictures from our photo shoot at Tu Duc's tomb that the owner of the Mandarin Cafe and a friend of his shot for us.  Thank you Mr.Cu!  I'm also posting some of the pictures the mother-of-the-bride and the students shot during the day of the wedding!  Enjoy.  Jon and I certainly had fun and surprises as well (like having to blow out the unity candle before we lit it because it accidentally got lit by a bride's maid... and having a banner at the reception that read, "Eternal Love").

You did a great job students!  I hope you had fun and learned a lot in the process as well.  That's how learning should be!  Thanks for putting so much time and effort into everything you did to make all the events so successful.  See you in class!

Click on the wedding photo album to the right to see our wedding pictures.

How may I serve you?

The night before the day of the wedding, we kept with tradition and had a rehearsal followed by a formal dinner so everyone in the wedding would know their roles.  The students planned everything except for the rehearsal part- that was left up to the minister, the mother-of-the-bride, and an American friend visiting from her home in Hanoi.  Four of my male students came in ties  and learned how to be ushers, while 15 or so of my female students busied themselves in the kitchen to prepare the food:  watermelon smoothies, potato salad, chicken soup, and tapioca pudding for desert.  The cooks doubled as servers and came professionally dressed in matching outfits. 

Nice!

Nice!

Nice!

Nice!

Another group of students provided the entertainment and plan for the dinner part of the evening.  They projected a slideshow of pictures of Jon and I, announced when different dishes were served, asked questions about my relationship with Jon (and gave prizes to the winners), gave time for people to tell stories, and played name that tune. 

Everyone involved did a wonderful job- and to everyone's delight, Jon and I mangaged to squeeze in a slow dance together as well.

Thank you class A for hosting such a wonderful dinner party!

Even more American Culture!

Hey students of class K27B!

If you want to see pictures of your class playing BASEBALL, click on the link below!  I had fun teaching you to play; I hope you did too!

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lopezjonm/album?.dir=/3932&.src=ph&.tok=phYXauEBEeVnDJS3

An American Bachelor Party in Vietnam (Well, sort of...)

Okay, when anyone mentions the words "bachelor party" to an American, thoughts of a wild night of a debauchery with men engaging in heavy drinking and participating in activities that can be considered "unbecoming" of a civilized member of the male (or should I say human?) species, most likely creep into their head.  Enter the mock-American bachelor party, Vietnamese style. 

First difference, because of scheduling conflicts with a majority of the male students (who wants to give up a Friday night for a school-related activity, anyway?), the party was held in the morning. Second difference, mostly stemming from my adverse reaction to alcohol, the beverages of choice were of the non-alcoholic variety.  Lastly, the third yet strikingly significant difference, was that the activities that took place at this party were far removed from being described as debaucherous (let me just say that if krumpets had been served, we could have called it a mock-English tea party.) 

So probably by now you are scratching your head and wondering, "Well, Jon, did the students accomplish the goal of their assignment?"  To that question, I would have to answer with a resounding "Yes."  I believe that any celebration, regardless of the occasion, does not have to fit some prescribed mold. The "directions" for fun are universal in my book, which is to have a good time and to cultivate and to grow relationships.  This is something that the students seem to understand well and what I know I sometimes forget as an American overly obsessed with having things done "just right" and in a certain way.  Although I probably will not engage the members of my bachelor party in a rousing chorus of "If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands," I would not rule out singing at my bachelor party or doing anything that seemed non-traditional.

So you get a 10/10 from me, students of Miss Julie's American Culture class!  You can host my bachelor party any time!  Good job!  Thanks!

Wedding Announcement

JULIE AMANDA LOUIS and JONATHAN MICHAEL CORTEZ LOPEZ, both from America, will marry at 3:30 p.m. Sunday April 9, 2006 at the hall A1 of Hue College of Sciences, 77 Nguyen Hue St., Hue city, Viet Nam.

The bride is the 2nd youngest daughter of Karen Ann Louis and Dale Henry Louis of Boulder, Colorado.  The groom is the oldest son of Rosalinda Cortez Lopez and Miguel Gallardo Lopez of Dunkirk, Maryland.

The bride, a graduate of the University of Puget Sound, who is currently working on her Master's Degree in TESL at Azusa Pacific, works at Hue College of Foreign Languages, in Hue, Viet Nam. The groom graduated from the University of Maryland, earned his Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University, and is now a Supervisor at a DuPont Chemical Manufacturing Plant in West Virginia.

Sandra Harrison of Ha Noi will be the maid of honor and Le Bao Tuan of Hue will be the best man.

The reception will be immediately following the marriage.

The couple will honeymoon in Mui Ne, Viet Nam.

Make the bride sing and dance!

The final bridal shower I was given probably resembled an American party the most out of the three I was thrown.  The group in charge of games researched bridal games off the internet and we ended up seeing who could pop their 5 balloons the quickest by sitting on them, who could be the first to blow up the balloon so it burst, and who would end up with the gift being passed around the table when the music stopped (a version of hot potato). After the games, we were finally allowed to assemble the ingredients to the ham (or some kind of mystery meat) sandwiches laid out before us.  I thought they tasted great and even though they were definitely a new item to my students, they were hungry enough to make everything disappear.  Unfortunately no one got the chance to try the jello the students attempted because they didn't realize it making it in ice cube trays and then leaving it out for a long time before serving it will make it turn into a messy puddle.  Oh well; it's hard to blame them for not getting it right when they've never tried it or seen it made. 

Even though I was relieved to find this party more relaxing because everyone was allowed to stay seated, as with the other two bridal showers, there was a definite Vietnamese flair to this shower as well: forcing people to sing to the guest of honor around the dinner table.  Because my students were relentless with pressuring me to sing, I decided on a song I wrote for Jon this past fall. 

The student who hosted the party at her house fetched her guitar for me, but I was unable to tune it despite our great efforts to use a wrench to turn one of the pegs that had broken off.  So I dusted off my pants from the long unused guitar had collected and sang the song acapella.  With encouragement a few other students sang some love songs in English before the dishes and tables were swept away and the front porch of my students house became a dance floor lit by candle light.   Hopefully the quiet country neighbors surrounding my student's house didn't mind the loud American music pulsing out a heavy beat, but I'm guessing they might not have even turned their heads for more than a moment because Karaoke rooms rented out of people's homes produce just as much sound and for much later into the night.

When the dancing died down, everyone gathered to eagerly watch me open the gifts they had carefully wrapped (magazine cutouts of lingerie and household goods).  It was fun to hold up the clippings and get squeals.  No one gave me a car or motorbike from this class, but I do think I got a few diamond rings...

The evening was a great success and I went home feeling almost more energized than when I came.  Thanks for a beautiful and fun-filled party class B!

1, 2, 3 YO!

Bridal shower #2 proved to be just as high energy as the first one.  The students wanted to make sure everyone was active and involved, so there were many competitive games to keep people on their feet.  Some of the games included remembering what you saw on the tray (the items included things Jon had sent me in packages), what does Julie like about Jon bingo, and who can make the most beautiful bouquet from toilet paper and the wrapping paper from the gifts I opened. 

This party was held at the guesthouse where I live so I was happy I could just go upstairs and flop on my bed at the end of all the excitement.  This wedding stuff is exhausting! 

I think my favorite part of this shower was being surprised in the beginning by the two large red banners that were let down from the second  floor and read, "Household Bridal Shower" and "Happy Forever".  That was quite the dramatic opening to the party!  But I must say the fruit bouquets we ate were quite impressive as well. 

Way to go class C!  Thanks for a wonderful party with great memories and for the blank wedding album to fill with pictures from the mock wedding events.

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

Everyone at the first bridal shower this week certainly was happy and I knew it!  That was the opening song to the party.  Yes, the song is American, but I'm not sure that singing it at a bridal shower is... but isn't one of the goals of a bridal shower to make the bride and the guests happy?  Can't argue with that- and singing Eternal Flame while holding hands and swaying back and forth will certainly put a genuine smile on any bride's face!

The decorations were awesome.  The decoration group did a great job turning a classroom into a romantic atomosphere...with candles, flowers, and music.  And the group that came to bake a cake this morning did an excellent job as well making it from scratch.  Be thankful for your electric mixer; whipping egg whites into stiff peaks is tiring!

Besides singing and swaying, some of the fun games we played included saying "I love you" with emotion in different languages.  I was quite impressed at how many languages my students knew!  After that game everyone was divided up into 4 groups to create the most beautiful wedding dress out of toilet paper.  Which dress do you think won the prize?  Each bride was then paraded around the classroom while everyone hummed the wedding march song.  Before I opened the gifts they brought, the last activity was to guess the Vietnamese singer by asking the party host 20 questions.  My Tam was the answer (my first guess I might add...).

Before everyone collapsed from exhaustion laughing so hard, I opened about 17 gifts (2 students brought one wrapped present-- a magazine cut-out of something I can use for my new married life).  My students made Jon and I rich with the new bedroom set, 2 new cars, 2 new motorbikes, and baby accessories like a stroller.  I didn't know they had so much extra cash to spend!  Or maybe Jon and I mean so much to them that they went all out to give us their best...

It was a wonderful party indeed... the laughter and love we shared together can't be beat.  Thank you class K27A! 

Which dress shall it be?

This morning the wedding attire group came on three motorbikes to pick up the bride and the mother of the groom to whisk them off to find a bridal dress.  The group had done good research and we only ended up visiting one shop- "Ni Ni" next to the one and only supermarket in town. 

There were plenty of dresses to choose from but all had the same problem-- they have been adjusted for the skinny ribcages of petite Vietnamese women.  My American ribcage left more than an inch of missing material in the back... in other words, they didn't zip up.  But thanks to the ingenuity of the Vietnamese, that was no problem, they said they could let out the dress enough to make it fit me.  We'll see!

Here are some of the dresses I tried on...

which do you think I'll end up with?   Wait until the wedding to find out!

     

We've chosen the most beautiful dress and are headed home...

Calling for good recipes!

Our group has 5 members.  We are responsible for food at one of the bridal showers.  Perhaps it is quite difficult for us to prepare traditional food for this occasion.  Therefore, we really need some direction from you.  We have two questions about preparing bridal shower food.

1)  What is the most traditional kind of snack food at a bridal shower in America?

2)  Can you give us some advice on how to make a delicious cake (cookies, etc)?