New Years in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico is becoming a tradition for me as I find it truly magical. It reminds me of a simpler time when the world was safer and more innocent and not as fast paced. Hundreds congregate just before midnight, where there is music and dancing in the Jardin.

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One of my highlights of 2006 was the trip to the Mekong delta in Vietnam to see the preschool that I helped fund through Room to Read with a group of friends in Chicago. The two room school opened in February 2006 in Vinh Yen Hamlet, near Tra Vinh town which is surrounded by rice paddies and Kmer style Buddhist temples.

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In November 2006 I visited Hanoi and it bustling Old Quarter. The charm of this 600 year old artisan’s district are the narrow lanes, small vendors and intense motorbike and bicycle traffic. Each street has its own specialty. One specializes in beautiful Vietnamese silk, clothing and embroidered articles, others feature toys, stationery, flowers for funerals, decorations for weddings and even a street for colorful boxed gifts used for wedding engagement parties.

There are numerous shops selling Vietnamese laquerware and many art galleries found next to motorbike repair shops and small restaurants. You see many people sitting on small chairs drinking beer or eating squid and drinking rice wine, or eating pho or the traditional noodle soup from large bowls with chopsticks. One even sees baguettes being sold, a remnant of the French Colonial days. With 70% of the population under the age of 35, everyone is young it seems. The commercial frenzy has evolved from nothing, from the days when private trade was prohibited for more than 40 years. This is an experience in Asia that is not to be missed.