03 July, 2018

Taking Stock: Vietnam, Month 1

I found this lovely little linkup over at Denyse Whelan's blog: here. (I slightly modified some of the prompts to suit me.) Since we moved from Beijing, China to Da Nang, Vietnam just over a month ago, I think this might be a good way to measure our acclimation/settling in status if I do this regularly.  We shall see. 
Thanks, Denyse! 

Cooking : Nothing. We have little room to cook anything real, so we keep snack foods, drinks, eggs, fruit in the house, but typically eat out very cheaply near home.

Drinking : Water. Lots and lots of water! We finally tried the local treat: sugar cane juice. I'm not a big fan. It tastes kind of like bamboo smells. Woody.


Reading: Slowly moving forward in Atlas Shrugged, and just started a re-read of The Tempest.


Wanting: To start looking for our "permanent" Da Nang home. We took a tiny apartment on a short-term lease until we figure out our income, and in what part of the city we prefer to live. We'll move again in August.


Looking: NOT looking yet for the new apartment, but that needs to start soon.


Playing: Have you found Wordscapes yet? I'm addicted. There are no "lives" to run out, so you can play as long as you want. I'm on level 1782. Since downloading it in February.


Enjoying: Walks on the beach most mornings.



Waiting: to buy housewares. We brought a few items - very few, but I'd like to have my own kitchen supplies. No point though until I have a kitchen to use them in.


Liking: The climate here more than I expected!


Wondering: What God has planned for me here.


Loving: The friendliness of everyone I see here.


Considering: Every careful step of starting a new business in a new country.


Buying: Very little. Pinching pennies until after we find our long-term place.
 

Watching: Very little. I was pretty hooked on binge-watching Cougar Town before the move, but now Brett teaches in the evening when I would ordinarily watch TV.

Hoping: That we'll be happy here for several years.


Smelling: I love the smell of Asia: incense and exhaust, sweat and the sea. It's not for everyone, but I'm at home.


Wearing: Shorts and skirts. More skirts than ever before in my life - they are best in this climate.


Following: More and more blogs all the time, ever since the AtoZ Challenge. Love you guys!

Noticing: The colors in Da Nang are so vibrant. The buildings, the ocean, the trees. It's like living in HD.

No filter.

Knowing: I'm in the honeymoon period after a big positive change.


Thinking: about studying my Mandarin. I'm still taking classes even though we moved.


Sorting: My pictures. I wish. They upload to the cloud automatically, and I really need to take time to sort them!


Getting: used to not working. I still have goals, and I don't like not bringing in any income, but it sure is easy!

Disliking: Social media trolls. Don't they have anything better to do?


Opening: Just the other day the suitcases we shipped from Beijing arrived. When we opened them, there was broken glass from a picture frame all over the inside of one suitcase. OOPS!


Giggling: At most things Brett puts on his social media. As usual.


Snacking: Potato chips, so help me. In Beijing, I got in the habit of eating nuts for a snack, but there were dedicated nut and seed shops all over the place. I was never a huge potato chip person, but have you tried these? (so many good flavors)


Hearing: Some movie from the other room, very light traffic outside (it's midday nap-time), and Melanie Martinez on iHeart radio.

14 comments:

  1. You have to move again!?! Eeek! Moving sucks. I hope this next one (to the more permanent home) goes smoothly.

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    1. Yeah. This apartment was only taken to give us a place to live. We knew it would be temporary.

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    2. We left packed (or, repacked) things we know we won't need during these three months. If we can get a short overlap on apartments, it will be good to give us a day to drop off, unpack, and bring an empty suitcase or two to this "old" apartment to refill it.

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  2. Oh my, I really enjoyed reading your list!!! Keep up the blogging, I enjoy reading it. Me, I'm still trying to keep up writing my/our blogs: our personal, hubby's garage build, author, my personal, Airstream dreams. Then there are the books to be written...LOL!

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    1. Okay, I stole it...and started a monthly check-in of my own. Hope you will join in the fun!

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    2. You know, I've only seen one of your blogs. I'll have to visit the others. btw, jealous of your hair. That's the cut I hope to get when I decide a haircut is no longer "a luxury"!

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    3. When we lived in Ecuador, I kept it short using a set of hair clippers I bought on Amazon and had a friend "mule" in to us. LOL! I tried several hair dressers but gave up and just did it myself. Once in a while I'd whoops but knew it'd grow back.

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    4. This set: https://amzn.to/2u5WQ2S Was so easy! I sold them there before we moved back. Thinking about getting them again!

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    5. I always worried that clippers would be too short, but it looks good! When my hair was curly I could trim it up myself - curls hide errors - but it started growing straight a few years ago.

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    6. Like you, my hair was much wavier most of my life and I did most of my own haircuts. I also cut my mother's hair for years until it went straight and I told her I couldn't hide my errors anymore.

      Now, as my hair has gone grey, it's gotten FINE and STRAIGHT. LOL! I scrunch it to get a little wave in. The clippers I had have different guards so you control the length. Makes it much easier.

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  3. I love taking stock posts - they give little behind the scenes glimpses into bloggers' lives. I'm so glad you discovered the joys of potato chips - I'm addicted and speaking of addictions, now I have to go and check out Wordscapes - it sounds interesting.

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    1. Now that I'm not working, I play TOO MANY games, tbh. But Wordscapes and my Sudoku are the only ones I can play indefinitely. Fortunately I'm also addicted to productivity, so I have a bit of control.

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  4. Your "smells of Asia" gave me a memory blast of stepping off the plane in Colombo... Completely unexpected, how different it was.
    Thank you for that! :-)

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    1. You've been to Sri Lanka, too? Someday I'll get back. I must introduce Brett to my old home.

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I enjoy a good debate. Feel free to shake things up. Tell me I'm wrong. Ask me why I have such a weird opinion. ...or, just laugh and tell how this relates to you and your life.