Since 1998 I haven't lived in one address for more than 2 years. Mostly, not even in the same country. Since Fall 2005 I have been changing my home country almost every year, sometimes returning to old home countries, sometimes looking for new ones.
To Asia I moved in March 2010. This summer of 2013, after having divided the past 3 years and some odd months living in Thailand and in the Philippines, to no surprise it was time again to find a new home in a new country. For a month and a half I have now been having my address in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Vietnam is the 6th country I'm living in but interestingly enough, the first foreign country I have actually visited before moving there. United States, Germany, Thailand and the Philippines I had my first encounter with the day I landed there with my bags, ready to start life anew once again.
Although I had visited Vietnam twice before, even my current home city Ho Chi Minh, I wouldn't call it a familiar place. Vietnam is...interesting. Coffee and food are just as amazing as I remembered, the traffic with the countless mopeds painfully chaotic. For everything else, I find i had no clue.
The most interesting bit about my life in HCMC and the same time offering a great challenge and change to previous lifestyles, is that my home is far away from any areas which are popular among other expats. Meaning, that I live deep within 100% local neighborhoods, far away from other foreigners, and therefore far away from people who speak English. Or any other language that I'm familiar with. Never have I ever spotted another westerner anywhere near the office or my home. And since I'm tall and have short blond hair, I kinda stand out.
Fortunately I have a fantastic home and helpful colleagues at work to help me out with the practicalities. Like translating the daily notices and bills that are delivered under my front door. Needless to say, being the only non-Vietnamese speaker in the building (likely in the area), absolutely all communication is in Vietnamese only. So far I've learned "thank you, go straight and turn right" (I always forget what's turn left..) so I'm pretty useless with the locals who generally know even less than that in English. Fortunately, this should give me an opportunity to truly improve my Vietnamese skills - taken that I'll find time to start learning it at some point.
This is quite likely the biggest change so far in my life and the biggest challenge at that too. Additionally to the everyday practical life challenges, like communicating my home address to a taxi driver or trying to figure out where to pay a bill and what it's for, my job offers the greatest challenges of all. It's demanding, challenging, time consuming, stressful. Almost everything is new, deadlines tight and expectations sky high. Upon accepting the job offer, I also made the biggest promise and commitment ever. I promised to stay for several years. Knowing my tendency to get restless after approximate a year and a half, roughly the end of the 2014 shall be a turning point in my life. Around that time for the first time in my adult life, I am supposed to choose staying instead of leaving. Challenge accepted!
If I had ever wanted to have an easy life, I would have made different choices. Luckily I couldn't care less about having an easy life. My everyday life is filled with stressful situations, awkward moments, frustrations and obstacles. Challenges. Every day I get to challenge myself, learn, experience and sense and taste many new things. Every day is filled with unexpected events, twists and turns. Most of the time, I don't know what I'm eating and drinking, I have no clue what people are saying to me, I have no idea where I'm going nor if the taxi driver knows any better than me.
To sum it up, I'm having the time of my life! I work for a great organization, get to participate in many interesting developmental projects, travel to fascinating countries - doing my dream job. All that in a country which offers limitless challenges and adventures. What more could one ask for?
To Asia I moved in March 2010. This summer of 2013, after having divided the past 3 years and some odd months living in Thailand and in the Philippines, to no surprise it was time again to find a new home in a new country. For a month and a half I have now been having my address in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Vietnam is the 6th country I'm living in but interestingly enough, the first foreign country I have actually visited before moving there. United States, Germany, Thailand and the Philippines I had my first encounter with the day I landed there with my bags, ready to start life anew once again.
Although I had visited Vietnam twice before, even my current home city Ho Chi Minh, I wouldn't call it a familiar place. Vietnam is...interesting. Coffee and food are just as amazing as I remembered, the traffic with the countless mopeds painfully chaotic. For everything else, I find i had no clue.
The most interesting bit about my life in HCMC and the same time offering a great challenge and change to previous lifestyles, is that my home is far away from any areas which are popular among other expats. Meaning, that I live deep within 100% local neighborhoods, far away from other foreigners, and therefore far away from people who speak English. Or any other language that I'm familiar with. Never have I ever spotted another westerner anywhere near the office or my home. And since I'm tall and have short blond hair, I kinda stand out.
Fortunately I have a fantastic home and helpful colleagues at work to help me out with the practicalities. Like translating the daily notices and bills that are delivered under my front door. Needless to say, being the only non-Vietnamese speaker in the building (likely in the area), absolutely all communication is in Vietnamese only. So far I've learned "thank you, go straight and turn right" (I always forget what's turn left..) so I'm pretty useless with the locals who generally know even less than that in English. Fortunately, this should give me an opportunity to truly improve my Vietnamese skills - taken that I'll find time to start learning it at some point.
This is quite likely the biggest change so far in my life and the biggest challenge at that too. Additionally to the everyday practical life challenges, like communicating my home address to a taxi driver or trying to figure out where to pay a bill and what it's for, my job offers the greatest challenges of all. It's demanding, challenging, time consuming, stressful. Almost everything is new, deadlines tight and expectations sky high. Upon accepting the job offer, I also made the biggest promise and commitment ever. I promised to stay for several years. Knowing my tendency to get restless after approximate a year and a half, roughly the end of the 2014 shall be a turning point in my life. Around that time for the first time in my adult life, I am supposed to choose staying instead of leaving. Challenge accepted!
If I had ever wanted to have an easy life, I would have made different choices. Luckily I couldn't care less about having an easy life. My everyday life is filled with stressful situations, awkward moments, frustrations and obstacles. Challenges. Every day I get to challenge myself, learn, experience and sense and taste many new things. Every day is filled with unexpected events, twists and turns. Most of the time, I don't know what I'm eating and drinking, I have no clue what people are saying to me, I have no idea where I'm going nor if the taxi driver knows any better than me.
To sum it up, I'm having the time of my life! I work for a great organization, get to participate in many interesting developmental projects, travel to fascinating countries - doing my dream job. All that in a country which offers limitless challenges and adventures. What more could one ask for?
