Northern Winds

I am surrounded by white people and it's freaking me out a bit.

I have left life as I know it.
My kids have new teachers.
My lovely apartment is empty.
My vegetable lady is wondering where the hell I am.

All I can say is that recently a strong wind has been blowing from the north, and I now find myself in Hoi An, a town quite a ways south of Hanoi. Back in the traveling circuit I am no longer the solo foreigner on the road and I am having trouble adjusting.

I miss Hanoi and my way of life for the last four and a half months. It's the longest I've stayed in one place in almost two years. I miss that it's close to impossible to get a decent cold shower because it's so hot outside that it heats up all the pipes. I miss the decrepit old lady who lives in our alley who always pinches my cheek and speaks to me in rapid Vietnamese when she knows she has to speak slowly for me to understand. I miss my tofu lady I see twice a week. I miss that our alley is not just an alley but a community. Viet Nam is a community. Viet Nam is a family.

What is really getting to me is how much I miss my kids. Those little bastards have sure learned how to tug on my heartstrings, which I wasn't aware I even had. I miss how they run screaming at my knee caps when I walk through the door in the mornings, how they hug me and show me toys they have brought from home, mostly of the McDonald's quality. I love watching them progress, the proud look of accomplishment on a four year old when he can count to ten and the mischievous grin of a six year of when she can make a joke with me that we both understand. I imagine that my kids will grow and continue to learn English, become educated young adults and lead Viet Nam into its already developing future. I feel blessed to be able to take part in that process, in a special part of their lives, which I will always remember. I hope they will remember me too.

To the teachers, students, families and friends who made my life so much easier in such a challenging country, I smile from my heart and say Thank You. I will continue heading south to Saigon, aka Ho Chi Minh City, and then into Cambodia for two weeks to conclude a nine month stint in South East Asia. As I said before, the northern winds have been very strong and are taking me from Bangkok to New Zealand on August 9th so that I will arrive in Christchurch on my 24th birthday, starting a new chapter in this crazy life of mine.

May the winds blow you along your paths as well.