Sunday has  come and gone and these lines will let you know what went on...

I went to bed very late; actually it was very early in the  morning after what I described in my last diary entry concerning the very special tour of my SWEET HOME here at the seminary. It took place in the darkness of the tropical night. The tour in which I was the tourist guide and the only one who registered for the tour. It began a few hours after a conversation we had during a late supper and ended before just before dawn. I woke up “very early in the morning of the same day” and realized that my eyes had been closed for only an hour and 23 minutes.

I heard that the temperature dropped to 27 degrees in New Hampshire on Thanksgiving Day. I guess that it wasn't much warmer on 'Black Friday' when some went shopping or continued to spend time with their loved ones. Even if it had been warmer, I wish we would have had that kind of "warm” here in Saigon. The rain early Thursday made the morning somewhat cooler. It was around 70 degrees in the morning, but it changed quickly and rose to 80 when the sun appeared  before anyone made it to their office at 7:30 AM.

I wanted to be with the community at the first moment of the day as they gather for mediation. Later, Dennis and I took a walk through the neighborhood. As we walked along the road, because Dennis could not hide who he is compared to me or other Vietnamese: short, slim, dark hair, etc., so people said hello to us when they saw us walking and we immediately became the topic for their conversation.

October marked the end of a yearlong, worldwide commemoration of the bicentennial of the birth of Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon, founder of the Augustinians of the Assumption. The College has joined the Assumptionists in celebrating this important anniversary in a variety of ways – liturgical celebrations, an academic conference, the publication of two volumes focusing on d’Alzon’s view of education and a pilgrimage, “In the Footsteps of Fr. d’Alzon,” to Paris, Nimes and Rome last May. Each of these events has given us an opportunity to come to a better appreciation of the man whose vision continues to inspire the mission of the College. The founding of Assumption College in 1904 realized Fr. d’Alzon’s dream of establishing a Catholic university that would be known for its excellence. For Fr. d’Alzon, education was a mission with one goal – to bring Christ into the lives and hearts of students, hence the motto of Assumption College, “…until Christ be formed in you.”

Here in Saigon the members of the scholastic community begin their day together in the chapel at 5:15 AM. That means that you have to take responsibility yourself to wake up. I told Dennis when we went to bed the first night here in Vietnam (VN) that he should not feel that he had to be there.

It was very hard to sleep the first night ---maybe because·I had been away for nine years and so much was going through my mind and heart. I went to bed around 3:30 AM hoping that I could sleep a little and I did. I woke up around 5. At that time,·one of the·priests, Fr. Peter Thang who·was going·out to celebrate Mass for another community, was very surprised when I greeted him in the morning. He kept say how sorry they were·for not picking us up at the airport.