Communal property

Today I went out for my third post-exam "party" with students. Maybe it's a tradition among Vietnamese students to take your teachers out for ice cream or drinks after the exam, and I just was unaware of it?

In any case, the party today was so sweet. My students presented me with a beautiful cake and a new blue nautical-themed dress (perfect to be paired with my new red-and-gold leather sandals for a rockin' Fourth of July outfit!).

Vietnamese cakes are definitely some of the most beautifully-decorated cakes I have ever seen, despite being somewhat strange in the decorating themes. Yes, those are two yellow pigs on top.

My dress is tucked away inside there! I was nervous when they gave it to me because most Vietnamese clothes do not fit me, and I didn't want to have an awkward situation of having to try it on in front of them and having it not fit. But have no fear, because they told me, "Don't worry! It will fit you because we used Linh as a model!" Linh is definitely one of my stockier students who has the closest body type to mine (and is still probably about 30 pounds smaller than me!). Glad Linh's heavyset frame could be put to good use!

When the cake showed up with no accompanying paper plates, I was mystified as to how we would all eat it. I should have known there was a very Vietnamese solution to this problem! Vietnamese people eat cake sandwiched between two thin wafer cookies which serve as an edible plate!

After my first slice, they made me eat a second, because it is "good luck to eat your name!"

In about 5 minutes, the entire cake was devoured.

Anh and Hien, two of my best students from the class.

 In addition to cake, presents, ice cream, and some drinks at this party, they also sang songs for me and went around the table, offering me best wishes. This is a very Vietnamese tradition, and I have gotten very used to hearing "Best wishes for your health and happiness and success in the future!" which is so incredibly genuine, despite its sounding cliche, that it makes me tear up almost every time!

This time, however, I received a new "best wish" that I haven't heard in a while. "We wish you will find a very handsome boyfriend and share him with us."

....

Wait, did I hear that correctly?

Of course what they really meant was that they hope that I will let them know when I find said boyfriend, and possibly share pictures and information with them. Of course, I teased them by pretending to be indignant that they dare suggest that I would share my boyfriend with anyone else. "I refuse to share! He's all mine!" I joked.

Luckily, it was one of my few jokes that was well-received (and not totally over everyone's head), so I felt pretty great about myself for that split second until I remembered that the whole point of the conversation was to remind me that I don't have a boyfriend. Oh well, at least I'll have an excited audience waiting to meet (and share) him once Mr. Right does come along!