A few weeks ago, I posted a picture of a woman selling something on the street that I thought was bamboo. Thankfully a couple of friends reading the blog explained that it was, in fact, sugar cane, and that it was edible and good! So we bought some for the kids. Guess who liked it and who didn’t like it. Yes, even though incredibly sweet, Anna had nothing to do with the sugar cane as it was not on her pre-approved list of edible foods.
Matthew’s birthday isn’t until March 31st, but we held his birthday party at an indoor playground called Kinderpark. Three boys from his school came and the kids played until they were all as red as strawberries in the face. “Happy Birthday to You” was sung to Matthew in no less than five languages (English, Hebrew, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese).
A very clever birthday present made of Legos!
Here’s a short video of the birthday song:
Our first visitors came to Hanoi! Bee and David (Michael’s parents) are here for a week and then we are off on a trip with them for spring break. They brought a suitcase full of lots of things requested by us, including 36 Bruegger’s bagels, two boxes of matzoh and silly putty, amongst other things.
One of the first things we did was go to Michael’s school, National Economics University, and sit in on his class.
, Brenda, David and Michael walking into National Economics University, Hanoi.
It was a fun day to drop in as the students were presenting their business plans (in English, thankfully). We guests even got to ask a few questions at the end (but we were nice!).
Students presenting their business plan.
We also visited the kids’ school.
Brenda with Anna in 3rd grade at Concordia.
We took Brenda and David for a day visit to Duong Lam, a beautiful old village about an hour’s drive outside Hanoi. We all rode bycicles, but Brenda opted for the motorbike. I’ve always respected my mother in law, but this brings it to a new level.
Brenda Goldberg on a motorbike!
We saw some interesting temples, trees and people on our trip:
Rice fields
Statue in a pagoda
clevelandersinhanoi 
Love hearing about the Goldberg adventures. I always knew Bee was cool! Happy, happy B
irthday Matthew!
Can’t wait to show the class Matthew’s bday and Bee on a motor bike
Go Bee!! I would do it if I could drive it.
Bee-where are the high heels on the motorbike? Matt- Your party looked like so much fun. We wish we could have been there.
Michael, tell Bee we’re all going shopping for scooters when you get back to Cleveland. She can show us how it’s done.
What a fabulous time you all are having and how much fun it is for us to share your adventures.
Happy Birthday Matthew. I’m sure you’ll always remember this celebration.
Go Bee!