JarJar Nixon's Blues Kitchen

DSC_5002.JPG, originally uploaded by T4Thu.

The Natl Press Club's Friday night taco bar happy hour was spiced up in December with live music

February 9, 2008 Saturday

DATELINE: Ha Noi February 9

Do Thanh Kim, 68 years old, a resident in Ho Chi Minh City, is the owner
of some unique stamp collections, which he had collected for nearly 50
years.

"Kim's collections have been considered as the largest in Viet Nam ,"
said Phung Thang Binh, Deputy President of the Ho Chi Minh City
Philately Association.

His collections includes one named "Year's Eve" as the stamps were
issued on the thresholds of the Lunar New Years of all 12 animals
representing each year like Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake,
Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

Kim's latest collection was "Rats welcome Mau Ty Tet", issued by Japan
with rats wearing various lovely costumes.

Besides, he also owns collections of stamps issued for a year of the
Snake by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , a year of the
Monkey by the Philippines , a year of Dog by Ireland and a year of the
Rooster by New Zealand .

Kim said that stamps of 12 animals that represent lunar years were first
issued by Japan , then China , the Republic of Korea , Thailand , Laos
and Cambodia . Later, some Islamic countries like Indonesia , Malaysia ,
and Afghanistan followed suit.

In Viet Nam , this kind of stamps was issued for the first time in Ha
Noi in 1966 or the Year of the Horse, but it was not until 1993 that the
issuance of these stamps was made continually.

The world now has over 1,000 samples of 12 animal designations. Not only
philatelists, but also people living far from home love to buy stamps of
these animals as a gesture of nostalgia, to pray for luck and to tell
their off springs about their cultural idealities.

Kim said these stamps helped him better understand famous people of all
fields and festivals in the world.

Kim also owns collections of stamps of icebergs, volcano, wild animals
and history of railways. He owned a collection of stamps of the Chinese
Qin Dynasty age, the 1954-74 Sai Gon Regime. His collection of stamps of
trains was considered as the largest collection on the theme in Viet Nam
.

"I was very interested in collecting stamps when I was a pupil. When I
was able to earn money, I bought stamps and I have been collecting
stamps everyday," Kim said.

Established I December 1960, the Viet Nam Philately Association now has
32 chapters with 10,000 members and 200 Philately Clubs. Kim is an
advisor of the VietStamp Club and member of the Executive Committee of
the Ho Chi Minh City Philately Association.

DSC_5634.JPG, originally uploaded by T4Thu.

He once tried to pry open the top window of the Washington Monument...

DSC_5219.JPG, originally uploaded by T4Thu.

Spending the Year of the Rat quietly here in Seoul. This pic is from 12/31 in Falls Church VA...

___________________________________________________________

International Call for Papers :

TEACHING VIETNAMESE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL MATTERS

Faculty of Vietnamese Studies

University of Social Sciences and Humanities – Vietnam National University – HCM City, VIETNAM

Phan Rang, Ninh Thuan (Vietnam), August 5 and 6, 2008

Call for Papers deadline: June 30th, 2008

In recent years, the full integration of Vietnam into the region and into the world has made Vietnam and the Vietnamese language prestigious subjects of study which have received great interest from around world.  Vietnamese as a foreign language has been taught in Vietnam and all over the world by many universities, language centers, and has been studied by an increasing number of university students and learners.

For the above mentioned purposes, the international conference "Vietnamese as a foreign language: theoretical and practical matters" will hosted by the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies, the biggest center of Vietnamese language teaching, at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities at VNU HCMC.

The Conference aims at summarizing Vietnamese language teaching experiences from experts, teachers, professors, and researchers in the field, and at determining the directions for future research, and teaching activities for teaching Vietnamese as a foreign language. Furthermore, with the conference, we seek sharinges, discussions, and exchanges among Vietnamese language teachers and researchers, for the purpose of founding an international association of VSL teachers. We invite papers focusing on:

1.            Theoretical approaches : Comparative research about characteristics of the Vietnamese language as a foreign language ( focusing on phonetic, lexical and grammatical domains).

2.            Practical approaches : methodology; experiences in teaching language skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing) for non-Vietnamese learners and for Overseas Vietnamese people; textbook compiling; level test and evaluation.

In addition, we also welcome papers focusing on:

·         Vietnamese language teaching and Vietnamese Studies in Vietnam and in the world.

·         Possibilities of cooperation and exchanges in developing Vietnamese language teaching and Vietnamese studies between centers and universities

Interested participants should submit a paper title, abstract (250 words maximum) and brief biographical information by April 30th, 2008 . Selected participants must submit completed papers by June 30th, 2008. Inquiries and email submissions can be sent to the conference organizers via Mr. Dinh Lu Giang, M.A at vnsconference@vns.edu.vn. Further information about the conference can be found on the conference website:  http://vns.edu.vn/vnsc1