avg_rating: 3.65
name: Joe Ruelle
about: Joe's upbringing in British Columbia, Canada, offered little exposure to Vietnam, a country he assumed well into high school was a tropical island. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Acadia University in 2002, Joe left for Asia with, as per the requirements of his degree, no long-term plan. A rough summer in South Korea ended with a smooth flight to Hanoi, and soon after a full-time research position with Unicef Vietnam. During his three years with Unicef, Joe studied Vietnamese at Hanoi's respected University of Social Sciences and Humanities. In 2006, a friend encouraged him to start a blog in Vietnamese. This he tried, posting what he thought were humorous observations and cheeky anecdotes on ‘immigrant’ life in Vietnam. Later tha Joe's upbringing in British Columbia, Canada, offered little exposure to Vietnam, a country he assumed well into high school was a tropical island. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Acadia University in 2002, Joe left for Asia with, as per the requirements of his degree, no long-term plan. A rough summer in South Korea ended with a smooth flight to Hanoi, and soon after a full-time research position with Unicef Vietnam. During his three years with Unicef, Joe studied Vietnamese at Hanoi's respected University of Social Sciences and Humanities. In 2006, a friend encouraged him to start a blog in Vietnamese. This he tried, posting what he thought were humorous observations and cheeky anecdotes on ‘immigrant’ life in Vietnam. Later that year the Vietnamese blogosphere ballooned – for lack of a more restrained metaphor, blogs popped the buttons off prevailing media stuffiness – and Joe's stretched with it, attracting close to 10 million hits in less than two years. The blog became a syndicated column and then a best-selling paperback, the resulting attention drawing ill-judged film and television invites; Joe appeared in dramas, sitcoms, and gameshows, eventually co-hosting a nationally-broadcast teen-debate show for two years. While leaving the entertainment world behind, he is still recognised many places he goes (with glee or wild anger), often as Dâu, a Vietnamese play on his English name pronounced "zo" and meaning “Strawberry”.Joe is unmarried and divides his search between Hanoi and Saigon. Some bits and pieces in English: Joe's one attempt at stand-up comedy Joe's cheesy pop song for the 1000 year anniversary Globe &amp; Mail Article (Canada) ...more