(by Patrick)
Working in Hu?, Vi?t Nam is a lesson in mindfulness. Working and living outside your regular patterns and habits leads you to pay attention and assess everything; your diet, your exercise, your perceptions and expectations, your profession and goals in particular. The discipline of librarianship. At home we are questioning the very foundations of what a library is and what library services are. The same is true here in Vi?t Nam. It has been an exciting summer of challenging ideas, as this country strives to prepare for the Information Age and the place of academia and libraries. My days have been spent in teaching and explaining, leading discussions and directing thinking. And, in turn my thinking and awareness have changed.
On the first weekend, Terry and I rented some bikes and rode off to explore Hu?. Terry has written about Thien Mu. At the entrance to Thien Mu is an enormous bell. When it is sounded, it can be heard up and down the Perfume River.