Oddly, the highpoint of this visit was not the heady craziness of the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, the restaurants and the museums, but the TET cultural exchange that I performed at one of the private schools in the city (here, on the Vinhomes estate). It was set up as an exchange between Vietnam and Switzerland and my presentation concerned the celebration of New Year in several European countries along with Switzerland. Actually, it all went horribly wrong and my slides (transferred to the teacher's laptop) got totally jumbled up and we ended up pouring over the laptop and slide projector while the kids were almost dancing around us. In fact, they simply loved it because I was so different and I had dressed up in traditional Vietnamese costume.

At the end I was mobbed by kids begging for my signature (they were aged from 8 to 12) and it took quite a while to sign for everyone. As a musician I have never given so many autographs, so clearly I should change profession! Many parents and other teachers were present, and there were plenty of Vietnamese snacks. I believe that these exchanges can provide very positive environments for these children.



One of the slides I used for my talk about New Year celebrations in the UK


My slide about the Up Helly Aa festival in Shetland was greeted with laughter and incomprehension


Here, the children entertained me with a Vietnamese dance


The class of children I worked with look very orderly here!


A selfie with some of the kids in the class


Another view of the class with me right at the back... this was a real event for everybody, including me!


Here, I am getting carried away and practicing how to fly in front of the class, to the consternation of the teachers