Well, I am presently in California. I'm cold!  I arrived here from the Philippines December 17, in time to spend the holidays with my mother and other family members. I only wish my wife could have come with me. She stayed at our house in the Philippines. Thank goodness for the internet. We talk via Skype every few days. I am planning to be back in the Philippines around the middle of February. 

I just returned from watching a neighborhood basketball game way out  here in the boondocks of the Philippines. Basketball, for some reason, has taken on an almost "national sport" status here. In every "barangay" (village) there is a public basketball court. This morning I heard a racket not too far from my back yard. It came from where I knew the heighborhood basket ball court was, and since this was Saturday, I figured it must be an offical game, as opposed to the normal scraps among the neighborhood boys during the weekdays. I grabbed a plastic chair, a bottle of water and trapsed through the banana trees to the court, and sure enough, a basketball game was in full progress. At one end of the court was a pair of loud speakers belting out, in the Cebuano language, a blow by blow commentary of the action. I was somewhat surprised when I first got there and sat my plastic chair on the sidelines that all the children moved out of my way, giving me a good view. I did recognise Aton (short for Jonathon)  and his brother John-John, who are the boys of our neighbor and who come over to my house for help with their homework and to watch a scary movie once in a while. I was amazed how the players could dribble that ball on the gravel surface. Twice, the game had to stop while a motor scooter and a car passed down the middle of the court/field on their way to their homes farther up the road. Everyone took the interruption in stride. I saw Athon and John-John smile when they saw me watching and cheering them on. After the game they both came up to me and said "Mano po" meaning they wanted to put the back of my hand to their forehead, a sign of respect to older people. Athough our team ,"The Po-o Lakers, lost by a few points, I consider all the players winners for being such good sports.

I was so surprised at all the positive comment I've received after posting a video on YouTube about my Vietnamese learning experience. If you haven't seen it, I'm embedding the video below. If you have a good story about how you learned a foreign language and you got an opportunity to use it. Please comment below the video. I'd love to hear your story.

Man, time is flying! I can't believe I've been back from the Philippines almost five months already. I miss travelling and wish I had the money to travel continually. I hope to have some money coming in from my other websites to give me a little extra money.