To the new people in my (our) life...

We landed in Vietnam over 10 months ago not knowing a single soul here.

That can be pretty scary and lonely but lucky for us, we quickly met many incredible people!  Throughout the year we have built numerous relationships and we are so grateful for every single one of them.  Even though at times it can be a little tricky to be neighbours with your colleagues, and travel companions with your neighbours, I can't believe how lucky we have been joining this crazy community of people.

My bday dinner

I want to thank everybody that I have met in the past 10 months.  Without you, this adventure would not have been the same.

Now the school year is coming to an end and I am sad to think that I will probably never see the majority of you again.  Perhaps we will have run-ins with some of you. Hopefully, we will be able to coordinate to meet with others, and who knows... maybe we will find ourselves teaching together at another international school in the future. Or opening our own school in the Philippines, right?

Until then though, a big thank you to the people who:

• Always had a warm greeting and smile for us in the elevator
• Treated our kids like their own
• Took our kids places, cooked with them, danced with them, etc.
• Gave us travel, restaurant and/or shopping advice
• Brought me flowers
• Joined me on crazy market adventures
• Were always up for a chat by The Sunflower or the pool
• Helped me with my Vietnamese
• Shared sound professional advice and resources
• Helped me better understand my students and the culture in general
• Encouraged me to exercice in this intense heat
• Collaborated with me on class projects
• Offered to help in various ways and on various occasions
• Gave warm hugs
• Cooked for us
• Shared their watermelon with us
• Made my kids feel better when they weren't feeling well
• Always had a compliment to give
• Invited us into their homes
• Had so many interesting stories and experiences to share
• and more...

Also, it's actually quite impressive how you can develop a relationship with somebody with whom you can barely communicate.  I feel as though I have many relationships here where 90% of the time we do not understand each other. Sometimes we try a lot (like with this older lady in the building) and at times we simply settle for a smile and a Xin Chao (like with certain of my Vietnamese colleagues).  There is even one of the security guards at school to whom I always say the same thing (in Viet.) as I cross the street to go eat lunch (I go eat lunch) but who actually understands me (except when I try to add new words in there).

Even though those people are not reading this post, I will not forget them either.

So to everybody, whether you have become a close friend or just an acquaintance, whether we have had 100 good conversations or just 1, thank you for being there.