Different Cultural Experiences

Yesterday, Danny and Em invited me to the Chabad House to spend a part of Sukkot with them. Here I am in an Asian country learning about a Jewish holiday. They build a sukkah, which is a temporary tent-like structure that is supposed to made out of something that grew in the ground and was cut off. Then, they eat and pray under it to remember the time when the Israelites spent 40 years in the desert living in temporary dwellings. I always admire the detailed lengths that Jewish holidays go to preserve their history and remind their people of past and ever-present struggles.

It's rather interesting that while I'm Vietnam, I can also learn about other cultures, like the Jewish culture or the Australian and British languages. When I was interviewing with a British school, they kept talking about "revising" a lesson plan. I kept wondering why they would give me a planned-out lesson and ask me to change it until I found out that it meant "review." I also learned the word "lorry," which is an 18-wheeler, though it can also be used for regular trucks. So goes the communication experience.