your hotel Ken,
You beat me. That is the cheapest, nicest hotel I have seen in Hanoi. You have done well my friend.
Did you meet up with Elliott Moore yet?
I had lunch with Gerry Cullen yesterday and he told me Dick was just arriving hanoi and you were picking them up.
Give them all my best and i will talk to you soon.
On my way to Orlando for the Road to recovery event for 150 wounded families.
Take care and be safe!
Mike
Great Information Thanks for all the pictures and information about general "life" in Vietnam. Very interesting. Hopefully Tom and Anita made it there okay - am looking forward to seeing them in some of those pictures!
religion Hi Kent, Interesting to see the large European style churches due to the French influence. My 12 college friends from Thailand went to 12 years of R. Catholic schools, but have remained Buddhists. Carole
`Trang Hi Kent, Missed you at Thanksgiving. Ask Trang if she remembers being at our family Thanksgiving along with her BCCC friends from Japan and Switzerland. Did she take the Indian corn I gave her back to VietNam and plant it? Cousin Carole
KU Jayhawks Kent,
It is 4:15 pm on Sayurday the 24th. The big game starts at 7:00pm in a few hours. There will be 80,000 plus at the game and they are calling it Border Armegedon.
We are ready for the good fight and at this time KU is ranked #2 but @1 LSU lost last night to double overtime with Arkansas.
So we really are #1 going into this game.
Keep your fingers crossed and i will keep you updated.
I loved the lake blog, makes me homesick.
Be safe from all of that intoxicating coffee!
Mike
Very Interesting Kent: Nice to hear from you. I'm setting at my son's computer in south central Colorado enjoying my grandkids. I find it amazing that the hotel is only 10' wide! I will enjoy EVERY ONE of your blogs. Keep up the good Rotary work and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Your church visit Kent,
Just to let you know that our first Ambassador to Viet Nam Pete Peterson was married to his Viet Kue wife from Austrailia at the church during his term in Hanoi.
Also KU won 44-7 against Iowa State. Nextr sat they play in KC at Arrowhead against Missouri. KU is now #2 in the BCS polls and mizzou is #3, Oklahoma lost yesterday to Texas Tech 49 to 32, OU's quarterback was injured in first series of plays to a concussion.
Talk to you soon!
Mikke Meyer
leader of othe pack (again) I had trouble sending the other message...will try again. Tom and I will see you in a little over a week. We are eager to meet your friends and enjoy their wonderful culture. Your pictures are wonderful. Congratulations on your safe arrival.
Our best,
Anita
Grandma's library Kent: I enjoyed your visit to Grandma's village. Especially the pictures. They were very clear and interesting. I have used some of the first ones in my club bulletin. Thanks for keeping us posted on your activities.
Ray
Vietnam here I come. Another nice blog. The picture of Trang and the meal looked nice. Even the picture of the old goat and trang in the cyclo looked good. Will Trang be traveling with us on part of our journy? Ask Trang if she will talk the pilot into letting me drive the plane around the block.
Polio
Interesting to read your article about Rotary helping with polio vaccines. Having grown up in the polio scare times, and knowing people who had the disease, it upsets me a lot when the young mothers come in to register their kids for school and tell me that they don't believe in immunizations. Of course, they are counting on the fact that almost everyone else will be vaccinated, so their kid will not be exposed. I worked in the Central Registry office of the school district thirteen years and still go back as a senior volunteer at busy times of the year (like now for fall registration and then kindergarten registration in the spring).
It's hard to believe that summer is almost over - it went too fast! Camilla
Thank you!! Dear Kent D. Converse,
You have been sent a message from Ray Taylor
==============
As the founder of PSA and current Secretary I want to thank you for the excellent piece you have published. Our Chair, Ann Lee Hussey attended the opening ceremony on the 11th and I hope you met her...our Rotary Action Group was the early advocate to preserve the Smithsonian Exhibit in its current for, and we continue to advocate for establishing a permanent, working relationship with Warm Springs to assure the history of polio is preserved and that the heritage of action by Rotary is told by the Rotarians who participated...obviously, we have made a start...our quest is to find the way to work with Rotarians in 6900 and all over the world to see that this history and heritage is preserved and publicized...thank you for your efforts and congratulations on a job well done...
wobblies Kent,
if i remember, we called our new pilots wobblies from the WO1 designation.
Since you were a Captain you did not have that distinction, just railroad tracks!
Great film!
Brings back memories.
Hope you are feeling better.
Loved the show!
Thanks,
Mike
I've never done it before I've never seen wheat before, let alone driving a combine and harvesting wheat!!!!!!!!!!
Kent Converse gave me an oppotunity to see the US from another angle. I felt so familiar with the smell of straw and grain and soil ... the smell that reminded me of Vietnam. Was it strange that a Vietnamese "country pumpkin" experienced harvesting wheat in Kansas state?
Mr Song and the Harvest I can't believe our friend got to harvest wheat and i grew up in Kansas without ever driving a combine. I've scooped wheat , beans and corn but never harvested.
Kent, you have a heart of gold. Hope you are feeling better.
Rotary awarded me the Silent Rotarian Award 2 weeks ago. I was shocked to receive it, just doing the right thing like all of us.
Lucky Mr. Song, we live in a Greaaaaatttttt! Country!!!!!!!
Mike Meyer
Mr. Le Sallie Well, I agree he goes overboard on the Queen. He is a roylist for sure. However, I stayed for the whole "show" and found he really knowledgeable and actually facinating. He has some books to sell, some written by him that are really interesting of the area. I had a hard time listening and understanding him at times. I pushed myself to stay with it and I am glad I did. My wife was totally bored with the whole thing. The whole area is worth exploring in my opinion.
Springfield Planatation Guide my wife and I along with another couples planned a trip to Springfield.We arrived on a beautiful 2002 day.We were very excited..We wanted to view this masion,hear about this mansion and see the room that Andrew and Rachel were married in.We were met at the door by Mr La Salle.He accepted our fee and started talking about England her Queen..He talked for thirty minutes about nothing except England her Queen...We left..We were nice but we did not drive 9 hours to hear about England her Queen..Oh,a few words would be welcomed BUT all Mr Le Salle wanted to show us and speak of was Enlgand and her Queen...Mr Le Sallle thru his actions,ran us off..He fussed at us as we left..We wish to return but NOT while he is there.
Visited in 2002.
Writing this in 2007.
wow these pix' s are reat and amaxing i'm doing a project on him for school and wat an amazing success he was to our country>>>>>>>>>>brit<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Family Christmas Dear Kent: Isn't it great to have family together at Christmas time. Your Christmas is much like mine, except that son and daughter-in-law Rick and Susan have ir at their place in Wichita. Enjoyed your Christmas.
Ray
This is my 12 visit to Vietnam
My current mission in Vietnam is going to the home villages of all my neices and nephews that have helped me in Vietnam
In 2005 I biked from Hanoi to Saigon. Probably the greatest trip I ever experienced.
I look forward to returning to Vietnam and enjoying the people and land of Vietnam.
I will be staying with my former Rotary Exchange Student Trang and her husband Huan and daughter Sarah.
I keep a bike at Trang's house and will be biking around Saigon on short trips.
The cover photo is me biking the Red River Islands near Hanoi.... full info
mike meyer
non-member comment
your hotel
Ken, You beat me. That is the cheapest, nicest hotel I have seen in Hanoi. You have done well my friend. Did you meet up with Elliott Moore yet? I had lunch with Gerry Cullen yesterday and he told me Dick was just arriving hanoi and you were picking them up. Give them all my best and i will talk to you soon. On my way to Orlando for the Road to recovery event for 150 wounded families. Take care and be safe! Mike