Goin’ Home

In less than a week, we’ll be heading back home.  Yes, home is Hué, Việt Nam.  It will be home until June, 2006.  I know our home here in America is where we have family and friends, but we also have friends in Việt Nam we are looking forward to seeing again.  Much has happened this summer that is positive and good – much awaits us in Việt Nam that is positive and good.

Some things were unexpected.  Our dance card stayed full all during the past two months as we were treated to dinner by many friends, and had many others over to our home.  We visited and chatted and worked.  We laughingly called the three weeks of driving and flying to visit family was “World Tour ‘05”.   I even got roped into doing Vacation Bible School – and loved it.

I look forward to going back on “Việt Nam Time.” No, I don’t mean the time zone per se.  I mean rather that the Vietnamese don’t put the emphasis on time we do in the West.  It didn’t take me long to get back in the American habit of looking at my watch constantly to be sure I was on schedule.  I like the Vietnamese way better.

As the expression goes, our life in Hué will be same-same, only different.  We’ll still be teaching at the same school, and we’ll be reunited with our teaching teammate, and we’ll be seeing our students, fellow teachers, and friends again.  But, we will not live in that tiny room again.  We’ll live in a hotel while we find a comfortable apartment or small house we can call home.  The Mystery Guest Blogger needs to nest, and we need some space to entertain guests and work with students.  Faculty members have no office space in Việt Nam, so any one-on-one work with students has to be done at home.

However, we will miss seeing some of our western friends as they will be going home themselves just as we return to Hué.  We’ll see them soon enough in the spring.  We also know that most likely, we will be the only Americans in Hué during the Christmas holidays.

Thanks to our families and friends for the love you showed us this summer.  Be sure to keep doing that – lift us up as often as you think of us.

Comments

[The Hoppy Mailman]

You got it, everyday.

[robert]

wish I was going.

[Lakshmi]

Doug and Cindy,
I am going to miss seeing you when I get back home. Yes, even for me home is now the USA. For how long, I do not know, but it is. My trip has about 10 days more and then it will be same same only different (I am going to school this time) :).

I think about you many times and I have kept in touch with your experiences this vacation. Hope to see you back soon.

Lakshmi