I don't even know where to begin. My beloved husband made me sit on this move for about 3 months, so there is A LOT that has been heretofore unsaid, which is just BURSTING to get out of my brain!
So the BIG REVEAL: We are moving to Vietnam!
Da Nang, specifically. We just returned to Beijing from 4 days there, finding an apartment, moving in whatever we could take with us, and getting a little acclimated. I'm in love. It smells like home. I am amazed to find that I don't mind the tropical heat. As long as you don't make me dress a certain way, I can make the heat and humidity work. (My hair is actually better there.)
We didn't even want to come back to Beijing this time. Why did we? We had planned two trips so we could establish an address the first time and maybe ship things the second time. Although we got rid of a lot of things before moving to Beijing and we're not big spenders, we have a few extra mementos to keep, and I'd like to bring certain housewares. They are things that might be bought anywhere, but it's so difficult to RE-start 100% from scratch with every move. (Especially when moving means a new country and having to actually FIND all the places to buy the housewares you like.) Plus tickets were cheap, so it seemed reasonable.
I know this is short, but I've been so busy packing all day, I can't sift through my pictures. Writing this post is such a relief to me, you have no idea. I'll post pictures tomorrow or as soon as I can. Ask any questions you want. I'll be fleshing things out in the next few weeks.
I had been wondering where you were moving to. Is there are reason to move there? Or do you just get itchy feet and need to find a new country? (I have an aunt who had to move periodially due to itchy feet, but never out of the country.)
ReplyDeleteSo many reasons. I'll do a blog post about it, probably after we're officially gone. Two quick points - the pollution in Beijing has given both of us smokers' coughs and weak lungs, and overall compromised health. So when we started looking outside of Beijing, Brett opted for a climate he prefers and found that Vietnam is ranked very highly for English teachers.
DeleteI don't think I have itchy feet, although this is our second major move in 4 years of marriage. The longest I lived in one place is 12 years. Is that itchy feet?
My husband is riding in the "Run for the Wall" and needless to say, Vietnam is a hot topic on the trip. We also had a good friend who now tries to spend 6 months of the year in Vietnam - he loves it. I look forward to your future blogs!
ReplyDeleteI had to look up Run For The Wall, and I'm in tears. I come from a very military family. My father was out before I was born, so I didn't think of our family as military, but one weekend in DC (4th? Memorial Day?), the Marine Band was playing on the Mall, and asked audience members to stand for the anthem of any military branch they had family in, and I was standing the whole time. It changed my perspective.
DeleteMy two brothers have both served in the middle east, in different engagements. Both are back, but we didn't hear from my younger brother for about 8 years, so there was a lot of wondering. Hug your husband for what he's doing!
How exciting! We visited Viet Nam in 2000 and was surprised by how beautiful it was.Looking forward to hearing more
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