Some highlights from August 2014, as follows:

Canada Dai Trinh

2014-08-01 - Friday - 04:11 AM PST - Email - Dai Trinh wrote to me: "I'm flying to Canada next week." Around that time, Therock Nguyen emailed me asking questions about making visas. Therock has been my student since I met him at the Leaf Pagoda in 2013. Also, some former students (Loc Vu Hoang) emailed me again. Dai Trinh found me these students. I taught them for weeks until like June 2014. They had a break for a month. After that, they wanted me to come back to their house to teach more. I asked if they could come to Mr. Ribs, the cafe where I was teaching at. They then said they would get back to me on that. I'm not sure if I ever saw them again after that or not.

Friday Night Class

2014-08-01 - Friday - 08:00 AM - I emailed myself what we covered during our two hour class or maybe only 90 minutes: "2014-08-01 Friday Night Class Log: 8 - 10 PM: Mr.Ribs: 7 adult students: Hai, 45, security officer. Cuong, 31, medical. Susan, 36, airlines saleswoman. Juli Beans, 26, accountant. Thao, 24, primary school teacher. Ly, 24, primary school teacher. Russia, 36, accountant. Ticketers sells tickets. Colleague: co-worker. University: kind of college. College: kind of school. 1. Colleague. 2. College. AA Associate of Arts: 2 years. AA American Airlines. AS Associate of Science: 2 years. BA Bachelor of Arts: 4 years. BS Bachelor of Science: 4 years. MA Masters of Arts or Administration: 6 years. MA Masters of Science: 6 years. PhD: Philosophy Doctorate degree: 8 years. MBA Masters of Business Administration: 6 years. Do you want to talk more about this? Break the news. She didn’t break the news to her parents that she didn’t pass the final test. Why didn’t you break the news that you were going out? I didn’t break the news to my wife that I was going out. I didn’t break the news to my wife about my new job. I didn’t break the news to my mother that my cat died since my mother loved her so much. Last month my wallet was stolen but I didn’t break the news about it yet to my relatives (I didn’t tell my relatives about it). I haven’t broken the news yet to my relatives that my wallet was stolen last month. Are you ready to move on? Yes. 2. Cost an arm and a leg: Very expensive. A luxury car in Vietnam costs an arm and a leg. Food in five-star hotels (like the New World Hotel for example) costs an arm and a leg. When I went shopping in America, I saw many things that cost an arm and a leg. My girl friend bought a diamond ring that cost an arm and a leg. Studying in the U.S. costs an arm and a leg. This dress costs an arm and a leg. I wish I own a diamond that costs an arm and a leg. 3. Dead End Job. A dead end job is a boring job that you do not like and that is not interesting. I realized that my job was a dead end job. I think that my job is a dead end job. I hate these dead end shoes. I think work that involves sitting in the same place for a long time is a dead end job. She will quit her present/current job because it is a dead end job. I think that working in the office is a dead end job. I don’t like to be a cashier because it is a dead-end job. Let’s face it: confront. Accept difficult realities. Let’s face it someday if I become jobless. Let’s deal with situation someday (later) if I do become unemployed. Let’s face it, we became a flop. We can’t go back to the drawing board. Joey, let’s face it: you are no longer handsome or beautiful. You’re not handsome at all. Let’s face it when bad things happen to you. Let’s face it, you sing badly and you cannot win Vietnam Idol. Let’s face it, when you are rich many beautiful girls will follow you. Creepy: creep: scary: spooky: frightening: fear: horrific things from horror films. When one wears a mask, he gives kids the creeps. When I am watching horror movies, it gives me the creeps. One day I walked into that house and I saw a shape/shadow that gave me the creeps because it was so disgusting. When I came into my home/house, my little sister, who was hiding behind the door, jumped in front of me and gave me the creeps. I watched a video clip about a person who was auditioning (trying out) to become a zombie which gave me the creeps. Audition: try-out; interview. When I saw a vampire (like Dracula) on TV bite victim, it gave me the creeps. My hobby is telling ghost stories in order to give people the creeps. To go back to the drawing boards: Restart: to start a task over again. My friend lost his job. So, he has to go back to the drawing board. My friend has to go back to the drawing boards since he lost his job. When life is difficult, you should stop everything you’re doing, take some time to think and go back to the drawing board. I invest many times in order to sell cars, but I flopped. I went belly-up, but I won’t give up my dreams. I have to go back to the drawing board. Although I’m trying to find a path to solve the mathematic problems, I can’t seem to do it. I have to go back to the drawing board again. She failed at a racing competition this year, so she has to go back to the drawing board in order to win the prize next year. Although I’m faced with many trials in my life, I have to continue to go back to the drawing board again and again and never give up. My close friend has just lost a 12 years long love and now he is going back to the drawing board in order to find a new girl."

Mr. Ribs BBQ Grand Opening

2014-08-02 - Saturday - 11:46 AM - Facebook Post - I wrote: "Grand opening of Mr.Ribs BBQ: come see me here."

Leaf Pagoda Photos

2014-08-03 - Sunday - 09:06 AM - Facebook Photo Album - 240 Photos - Parallel Collision - I wrote: "Two people per photo. Me & others. I teach American English Speaking Classes in a classroom on the first floor at the Mr.Ribs BBQ Restaurant." - 65 Likes - 2 Comments.

Katie

2014-08-04 - Monday - 03:54 PM - Photo of Katie

DVDS

2014-08-05 - Tuesday - 03:30 AM - Scott Sidartha Schwartz messaged me on Facebook: "I'm in Saigon ast Back[ackers- same same... packers= I have dvds for u..." Two hours later: "Yyou still alive man?" Eventually, I made it over and he gave me DVDs of like movies, I think, unless if I already got DVDs from him back in 2013 and maybe not this time. But then again, it was probably just this time. I may have got DVDs from him at an earlier date, at this date, or possibly both.

Do you want to see me?

2014-08-06 - Wednesday - 12:04 AM - Facebook Post - 33 Likes - 18 Comments.

Can I teach you English at Mr.Ribs?

2014-08-07 - Thursday - 07:12 PM - Facebook Photo - I wrote: "My name is Joey Arnold. You can call me the Original Oatmeal. I was born on the 11th of February 1985 in Forest Grove, Oregon, USA. After homeschool & high school, I attended Word of Life Bible Institute in New York, Appalachian Bible College in West Virginia, Portland Community College, and Mount Hood Community College. I was involved with churches, clubs, the Children Ministry Team, Salvation Army, and I play basketball. I attended Revolution Hawaii 2007 - 2008. I worked landscaping with my father. I was a camp counselor for 5 years at different camps. I was a manager for a basketball team. I started making videos, writing, acting, and directing when I was ten years old in 1995 in Oregon. I started editing videos around 1999. I have worked as a waitress, dishwasher, cook assistant, janitor, housekeeper, maintenance man, and as an after-school assistant. I was an American English Teacher at New Star in Bac Ninh, Vietnam in 2012. In 2013, I was an English Teacher for Tan Van Foreign Language School, the Leaf Pagoda in Go Vap, New Star in Tan Phu, the Nguyen Thien Hien High School in Tan Binh, and for the Fellowship Youth Group (FYG) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where I am still teaching currently in 2014. I like to write, sing, dance, draw, talk, teach, laugh, joke, make people laugh, make videos, create, design, play, love, travel, invent, think, debate, piano, guitar, basketball, volleyball, Nintendo, Mario, Sonic, fighting, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Christ, Lord of the Rings, and oatmeal."

Can I teach you English at Mr.Ribs?

2014-08-08 - Friday - 09:26 AM - Facebook Group Post

Still Coming

2014-08-09 - Saturday - 07:24 AM - I was in an email conversation with Therock Nguyen. We were going back and forth on things. I eventually wrote: "You need to learn how to read my emails. Did you read my last email? You missed the point. You missed something that I wrote at the end of my last email." He replied: "" I plan to still come Monday morning."><"We have already talked about this before:" it is contradict, ok, we will continue class on Monday morning, right? and your friends Hai Dang and some one seem vague, i send massage for them as what you said but they don't reply me." 11:44 AM - I replied: "Your English is so bad. I did not say that my class was canceled. If I say that I do not want to come, that does not mean that I will not come. Learn English. Remember that the word "WANT" DOES NOT MEAN "WILL." WANT DOES NOT MEAN WILL. I CAN SAY THAT I DO NOT WANT TO COME. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I WILL NOT COME. I am not contradicting myself. You need to learn more English. You are always misunderstanding my words." He replied: "What will i print or you do it by yourself?" That was the end of that email chain. I don't remember if we met for class on Monday, the 11th of August, 2014, or not. Stay tuned to find out.

Master English

2014-08-10 - Sunday - 05:18 AM - Facebook Comment - Trinh Nguyễn - I wrote to her: "Do you want to master English with an American? Come to my classroom at Mr.Ribs BBQ."

Ribs English - Monday Night

2014-08-11 - Monday - 08:16 AM - I emailed myself the class notes: "2014-08-11 Class Log: Monday 8 – 10 PM: Teacher Joey Arnold: Mr.Ribs BBQ: Fellowship Youth Group: Q.4, TP.HCM, Vietnam. 5 adult students....."

Do you want to come to my restaurant?

2014-08-12 - Tuesday - 12:49 AM - Facebook Group Post - 7 Likes - 51 Comments. I emailed Joyce at 04:01 PM saying I would be at their house at around 11 AM ICT. I probably did just that. I would teach there in the evening on some days for a few months around that time. I also emailed FYG at 04:05 PM: "I am going to leave at 7 AM today. The door of Mr.Ribs BBQ is locked with the green chain-lock. The door itself is not locking. The gray padlock is being used to lock up the sign and other things outside."

English Survey

2014-08-13 - Wednesday - 10:15 PM - Wednesday - Facebook Group Post - I wrote: "How are you? If you want to practice English with an American (me) in TP.HCM, Vietnam, please email me answers to the following questions to my email address: [email protected]: 1. where do you live? Where do you study, work, or what do you do? 2. where do you want to study? Can you come to District 4 and join a class of mine? 3. when do you want to study? Do you want to study in the mornings in Q.4? How many other students do you want to study with? Do you want to study alone or with others? 5. what do you want to study? How much English do you know? why do you want to study and practice more English? For more information, please come to my cafe restaurant at 156b Vinh Khanh P8 Q4 TP.HCM: Mr.Ribs BBQ." Earlier at 07:18 AM, I emailed Hoang Loc Vu 96 of Tan Binh: " Wait. Never mind. See you at 9 AM. I am now free at 9 AM." Before that at 03:12 AM, I emailed her: "Can we meet at 11 AM Thursday? I am busy before that." Somebody emailed me asking me to make a special photo album thing with captions for a new Vietnamese couple that were getting married or recently got married. I asked some questions in a reply to the email and I think they never responded back to me. I could have made something quickly and send it back maybe.

What is your email address?

2014-08-14 - Thursday - 12:13 AM - Facebook Post - 19 Likes - 21 Comments.

What is your email?

2014-08-15 - Friday - 03:14 AM - Facebook Group Post - 7 Likes - 12 Comments.

The early bird gets the worm.

2014-08-18 - Monday - 01:45 AM - Monday - Facebook Post - 22 Likes - 6 Comments.

Crocodiles vs Aligators

2014-08-22 - Friday - 09:03 AM - Friday - Facebook Video - 05:53 minutes - Students asked. Wiki How had the answer. Crocodiles are bigger.

Words with the letter E

2014-08-26 - Tuesday - 08:59 AM - Facebook Post - 29 Likes - 65 Comments - Videos.

Teacher

2014-08-27 - Wednesday - 11:27 PM - Blogspot - I wrote: "Register for classes at Mr.Ribs BBQ Restaurant: Address: 1656b đường Vĩnh Khánh, Phường 8, Quận 4, HCM, VN."

Avatar

2014-08-28 - Thursday - 03:30 AM - Facebook Group Photo - Tie - Mr. Ribs BBQ JA - Cell: 01633-642-066.

Words with the letter H

2014-08-28 - Thursday - 11:04 AM - Facebook Post - 21 Likes - 30 Comments.

words with the letter i

2014-08-29 - Friday - 08:22 PM - Facebook Post - 13 Likes - 29 Comments.

Words with the letter J

2014-08-30 - Saturday - 02:51 AM - Facebook Post - 20 Likes - 46 Comments.