Superhero

Sometimes I think I might be a superhero.


For starters, I just ate an obscene amount of delicious fancy Vietnamese food, washed it down with some mojitos and polished it off with mango sticky rice. This meal was at the tail end of a day that started waking up at 6:00 am with about 3.5 hours of sleep. I worked with a group of 25 educators to help them join into teams and ideate a project that they hope to pitch tomorrow to the larger conference. We shared, discussed, gave feedback, conferred. I gave good suggestions and bad suggestions. I listened and said, “I have no idea, but good luck.”


The session felt like my classroom. The learners were doing their thing and I did my best to navigate between getting in their way and leaving them stranded. There are some pretty great ideas and like a proud teacher, I can’t wait to see them come to fruition in coherent pitches tomorrow.


After the conference we headed back to District One, sitting in an hour long traffic jam in the rain and HCMC madness. It is now 9:35- teeth brushed, this post written, an episode of Full Frontal, the satisfaction that I still got it, and a long sleep into the darkness.


I can hear the cars honking outside my window and can imagine the chaos, and some sick part of my brain is saying, “get your closes on and go see what might be up,” but at least I am smart enough tonight to ignore that voice.

You Love To Do What You Love

It’s late. Really late and Mads, my conference mom would not approve, but we had a great time. It’s nights like this that make a conference. We started in the hotel bar and then went for just one drink. At one point, I might have, after singing Adele and Hallelujah said out loud- “Heaven might be a lot like a gay bar in Saigon.” I met a few new tribe members and we sang and danced and talked school and education and tech and TV shows. This is how people bond and connect and go beyond the Twitter avatars.


My talk was okay. I am not happy with it. Because my flaming boat animation got screwed up. (Note to self- this is why you avoid animations. Don’t get stupid) But people seemed to get the metaphor. And they gave me kudos and compliments. It feels good when people understand your ideas. Not an ego thing, but the praise does feel good right? It has to.


My session tonight was good, and I am looking forward to seeing what the participants come up with in the next few days. It is way past my bed time and it is an early morning tomorrow, but it is nights like this that make the connections that much stronger I met a few great new people tonight and who knows what tomorrow will bring.


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Kaia came home from Malaysia tonight. Tomorrow is Skyelar’s birthday and I miss my students turning in their stories. It is hard to leave what you love to do what you love, but hey we say yes and no to what people ask of us and we give and take what we need.

The Big Show

I had to switch head spaces today. I had to leave my work and concerns about school back in Singapore and start to really nail down this talk I am giving in front of 350 people tomorrow night, and finalize the session I am running for 6+ hours.

I had lots of time and people to bounce ideas off of today to get a good start. I could do both right now if i had to and they would be fine, but I have a few more hours tomorrow to really fine tune things. I ran my talk past Kim and Brandon and got a nice warm response. They loved the idea, and although it was a bit choppy, I hope to iron out the kinks tomorrow before I deliver it. I am going on the first night as the last talk at the opening session.

Lot’s of great people here for sure. Missing Rebekah, Clint and Jeff U, and lots of other people for sure, but every year there is a new tribe and that is part pf the process. Looking forward to jumping right in and meeting all the participants.

Nice dinner tonight with old and new friends and now time to crash. Tomorrow is a big day. 

Travel Day

Big day. Lots of prep work before I left for Vietnam. Lots of emails. Conversations. Printing passes and vouchers. Had to close one head space to open another. A few lingering issues that need attention tomorrow, but that seems to be the nature of the game. 

Uneventful, short, easy flight. A bit of a walk about. There is not a McDonalds and Starbucks in Ho Chi Minh City, which is crazy. Things feel more controlled and clean here. I love this city, looking forward to really exploring in the coming days. 

Came home for some room service fries and an early 5:45 am wake up call for a 6:30 start. It’s go time. Now for some sleep in this gigantic bed. 

Uneventful Days

I was not a very nice person today. I was snappy with my own kids and my students; I avoided people as best I could. I had a teacher meeting, a parent meeting, a social lunch and I taught two classes, but other than that I hunkered down and got work done, quietly and alone. My teeth were killing me and I am pretty sure I have some kind of nasal infection. I’m not feverish or sick in the normal sense, but my skull ached all day and caused me to be a bit cranky.


I got a lot of work done on my Learning 2.0 talk after school and when I got home tonight. I feel much better about that. Now to plan out the workshops and be ready to roll next week. I am pretty excited to be back in Ho Chi Minh City, to see old friends, connect with new teachers and enjoy one of my favorite cities. Although it looks like there is some flooding happening at the moment.


I was supposed to run today, but I took a much needed 30 min nap before I made the girls dinner.


Days like you make you appreciate the normal healthy days. So if you are not in any kind of physical pain, and you are not sick in anyway and feeling pretty healthy, take a moment to look away from your phone, or close your laptop, take a deep breath and enjoy this moment of good health. I am looking forward to joining you soon.


In other news, I can’t even imagine what the headlines will say about the debate tonight. Part of me is glad to be sleeping through it, although I will most likely watch the whole thing on Youtube tomorrow.


Every week, I look forward to the latest Atlanta episode. It is my favorite thing on TV these days.


I am stuck in a mediocre YA book and I am looking forward to powering through it this week, so I can get the latest Jonathan Saffron Foer book before my trip.


The Raiders win again and are 2-1. Big game in Baltimore next week, but like an idiot I have faith. The Niners are beyond bad and life is good.


This is my life these days. Even traveling to Vietnam has become routine. We have a two-week October break coming up and t will be nice time to relax and catch up with the kids. Not going anywhere, but looking forward to some long uneventful days.