Wine, salmon and song

Tonight was the wine tasting at the Sheraton with the Chilean Ambassador sponsored by local wine distributors to increase the popularity and sale of Chilean wines. Terry and Eileen's friends were all there so I saw some of the people I've been seeing all along. What a fun group of people! Everyone is from all over the world so it's an interesting mix. One of the men is a pilot for Vietnam Airlines, a few of the men are general directors of the big hotels (like the Sheraton, Hyatt, etc.), one is involved with insurance, one works as a general contractor for building design, one was originally here for an oil company but has switched to water abatement, etc. It was interesting to see the wide variety of occupations. In general, the women that I met didn't hold local occupations; they all belong to ILV (another acronym!) that means International Ladies in Vietnam. It's clear that this is an active group with Eileen at the helm. The husbands are along for the ride with this bunch with some of the guys meeting each other for the first time. I can imagine that's a good thing for these guys since they'll be happier if their wives are happy! "If mama's happy...", as is said. We drank wine and ate sashimi and sushi all night - - great fun and a lot of laughs! See the photos for a look at the whole lot of us. Afterward a group of us went to Acoustic to hear Jeram again. Tonight's performances proved even better than last night with the same lineup of singers singing longer sets. It was a great night! And it was really fun to speak fast English instead of the slower version I've been using here!