09 January, 2019

Lessons Learned

We had our first guest!
This was very exciting. No one ever came to see us when we lived in Beijing, and if they did, they couldn't have stayed with us anyway. We had only been in Vietnam for six months before hosting our first guest.

We intentionally got a house with an extra room so that we could do this. The Central Coast of Vietnam is a much better vacation destination than Beijing, and we already know of at least three more trips to visit us that various friends and family are working on.
Part of the guest room

I'm so glad my eldest sister was our first guest. She was an easy guest, not too demanding, but she and I are close enough that I could ask her honestly for advice on improvements to the guest room. Also, she was very relaxed about scheduling things, so we didn't have to plan the heck out of her week.

I learned a few things that I will do differently regarding future visitors.

1. Weather. I am a bad judge of weather now. I can look at an app with the best of 'em, but now that the humidity doesn't bug me, I was advising my sister to pack capris with a few shorts. It was delightfully cool with all the rain that happened! She was melting in our upper 70s. The humidity is intense for a midwesterner! Huh. Guess that's why it takes three days for my clothes to dry if it's rainy.

2. Distances. I measure distance in time. "How far is Old Town?" "About a 25 minute walk." (It's about two and a half kilometers.) I have always loved walking. I don't notice distance because I'm looking around me enjoying the life I see. It was that way in the States, too. Moving to Asia, walking has become a necessity. I walk a lot. I walk fairly fast, usually. Not everyone does. My sister has an iffy knee, and moves more slowly than I do. (She would decide whether a walk sounded do-able, but based on my distance estimation.) I don't think she enjoyed the interesting things that we passed while walking. She was very intent on the motion itself, it seemed. Maybe I'm wrong.

3. Environment. I love where I live. I notice things like the variety of colors of the houses and their gates, the distinctive shrines that are everywhere, any new fruit I see on a street-side cart, the shape of the clouds or fog in the morning. I love the smells of incense and spices and exhaust that make up Asia. I breathe deep as we pass by the rice paddies or sit by the river. I am enchanted by our cultural differences. Not everyone notices these things, or indeed cares. I think, if a person doesn't find joy in detail, or mark the uniqueness of beauty, perhaps Vietnam is not a great place to visit.

I do believe that overall, we had a good time. We did some stuff, went some places, and also relaxed a good deal. I hope my sister enjoyed herself. I honestly don't know. She didn't love the things I love about this place, but maybe enjoyed enough in her own way. With my family, I may never get a straight answer.

8 comments:

  1. Red,

    Living in the southeast of the US, I know about humidity and once the temperatures begin to rise then the humidity is horrible. I like walking but not fast because of physical limitations at times - achy knee and back problems. It doesn't stop me frome enjoying my walks when I'm on them, I just have to be mindful. I often pay for it later if I push myself too hard. :) Your niche sounds intriguing but I fear the crowded streets as I imagine they are would bother someone such as myself who has personal space issues with strangers. We all are a bit escentric, aren't we? I'm sure the bottom line is your sister probably enjoyed spending time with you regardless of things being just as she would normally do. I'd rather share the company of those I love than to do a lot of things, especially if they are half way around the world. Have a blessed day & new year, my dear! ;)

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    1. Yeah. She was fine when she lived in Georgia. The walking part... we all over-estimated the health of her knee. And I do think she's the sort to suffer in silence rather than actually complain that we should stop. We're all so busy trying to please each other!

      Brett found that he had previously unknown personal space issues when we lived in Beijing. It's not nearly as bad here, but I do think that China was a good buffer for us. After China, Vietnam is easy-peazey, heaven-on-earth. It may not be that way for people coming from the States!

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  2. Now you know to warn future visitors that it's very humid and that you walk everywhere. Those are good things to know before they plan a trip.

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    1. I did tell her about the walking, but I trusted her estimation of how much walking she could tolerate. I'll be sure to give people my daily step count or something next time!

      ...and I knew it was humid in the summer, but I've just gotten used to it, so I don't feel it as much now. That's pretty cool, but yes, I definitely need to include that into estimations.

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  3. I wouldn't worry too much if your sister seemed a bit quiet in her reactions. Sometimes it just takes a while to file stuff that's outside our boxes - which Asia certainly is. I know I found it difficult to process right away. The heat, the smells, it's all so different that you can need time in repose to wrap your head around it all.
    Doesn't make any of it less amazing, tho'! :-)

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    1. We lived in South Asia when we were younger. And she assured me she'd be fine because she's an experienced international traveler, but it turns out her travels as an adult have mostly been to all-inclusive resorts. The traffic and daily life were about 30 years removed from her by now. Lesson learned!

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  4. Oh my lord, I had no idea you moved from Beijing! I am so out of touch with your blog! I'm glad you had family visit, and I'm glad that you take the time to enjoy the details in your environment. Too many people don't, or are too busy. But life is so short! Maybe your sister was a bit overwhelmed by the real life experience and not an all inclusive resort experience ;) No disrespect to those kinds of travelers, but it doesn't really seem like traveling by my definition. Although... I'm considering going on a cruise just because it seems like less work with my small children! lol So I guess I can't judge!

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    1. Traveling with small children definitely needs different considerations.
      It's also a shame that the nicest day for walking around our beautiful city was her first day in town, so jet lag probably played a part, too!

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