Moving On

As with every expat, the time to move on has arrived. It may not be forever, but from June 30th TFW will be on holiday. To return, I am sure. When, I am not so sure.

What with all this baby stuff (by stuff I mean having one), it seems a good a time as any to head home, spend time with family and finally get certified as a teacher. I will start a PGCE in IT at Southampton University in September, and Chi and I will leave Vietnam for Paris on June 30th.

"What about her family?!" I hear you cry -- well, Chi's situation is rather unique, and her story I am planning to write as one of my final posts.

Connections will still be going strong though, no worries there!

I'll also be starting my own blog based on integrating back into the UK after so long away, address to be announced soon.

The trees!

Alas the trees. The only nice thing about the canal, that dirty, odious monstrosity that creeps around my apartment block, was the green grassy area shaded by trees adjacent to it. It was an oasis in the city, although barely three feet wide. I come home from work and they have been cut down in the prime of their oxygen giving life. Why I ask, why? No one seems to know why!

The xe om drivers made me laugh, they hadn't moved their bikes an inch the whole day, the lazy sods.

Why why why!

On a separate note, Phil, congrats to you too. Drop me an email pls so we can get in touch...

Bike Fashion

Very interesting story today on Thanh Nien News today. This crazy ass kitschy fashion invading Hanoi, youths decorating their bikes :

Teens have beautified small two-wheelers with glitter and plastic flowers, giant silk butterflies and teddy bears, Christmas tinsel and paper parasols and, yes, feather boas, in an anything-goes creative arms race.

Youngsters have rigged blinking lights, MP3 players and batteries to the frames to blast techno and hip-hop down previously tranquil tree-lined streets, earning them both amused smiles and reproachful looks from their elders.

Source: Thanh Nien

See the story here.

Anyone up in Hanoi witnessed any of this?! Love to see some more pictures. I'll have my eyes peeled for the first fashion victim down here in HCM!

Big News

When informed that he had gotten a girlfriend pregnant, George pondered for a minute, looking shocked, and then screamed 'I did it! My boys can swim!' as he ran down the hall in celebration.

Whilst not quite my reaction, Chi is pregnant (3 months) and before Christmas (last week of November) we'll have a baby added to the family. As the weeks go by, my anticipation builds. Brief flashes of what awaits come vividly on occasion, leaving a feeling of disbelief mixed with pure adrenalin. What an adventure this will be...