Luke and Birdy Talk About Regrets

Birdy And Thuy

Luke Stays Engaged At The Grand Opening

     I know we make it sound easy, but living in Vietnam is actually difficult. There are endless things that crawl under your skin and irritate you until you feel like you're done for. Not bugs- emotions. Though there are plenty of creative insects as well. Birdy-in-the-mine lets you know something's bothering her fairly quickly. I found that the things that trouble me didn't pop up until they were good and ready. I was good and ready to leave at that point.

     As much as we would like to be out and about getting to know our new country, we're limited. We live in a rather isolated province with very little cultural or preserved historic sites. We go everywhere by motorbike, so we have to stay fairly close to home. Our little bike is not the road-trip worthy hogs of the wild west. It certainly wouldn't protect us from the free-for-all on Vietnam's main highways.

School Chairman Speaking
At The Grand Opening

     The language barrier continues to be one of the largest opponents to our freedom. People here to have some English, but it's extremely basic and dwindles exponentially the further you get from town. Vietnam is a very safe country (with the exception of theft), but I feel inadequate when I try to order food or ask for directions or say hello. The complex social age and gender hierarchy doesn't make it any easier.

Our Pretty Birds- Slaty Headed Parrots
(they bring some life into our house)

     What this means is that we spend most of our time at home or at work. Our social life revolves around work, and work is stressful and confusing on the best of days, overwhelming and ridiculous the rest of the time. There doesn't seem to be any discernible reason for why things are done a specific way. Why are things never done on time? Why don't teachers apply the new methodologies they've been told to? Why does someone keep taking things from my room and moving stuff around?!?!

All Dressed Up For Work

     Of course, things here are done very purposefully. The problem is that their methods and approaches are so different from everything we're used to, it seems as if nothing is happening half of the time. It's been a month since school started and we still don't have a clear definition of who is in charge of the school. Is it the principal? Is it the board? Is it the chairman? Is it my mom? And when will we have a behavior plan set up so we can deal with kids spitting in other students faces and throwing cushions out the windows?

     So, yea, I had a manly sort of breakdown. I took on an impossible task and realized it was actually impossible and I should be somewhere making money and eating tacos. (They don't have tacos in Vietnam. Fancy that.) Yet, the truth is that this project is not impossible. It's just way more challenging than anything I've been faced with before, and that's good for me. I need to be challenged, to face the unknown, to try to navigate my way through unfamiliar ground.

     Birdy misses burgers and her family. I miss sushi and libraries. We're both struggling to see this place as home, temporary though it may be. We're learning a lot about ourselves (especially how much of a control-freak Birdy secretly is), and I think it's making us stronger. You know what they say: "What doesn't cause you to kill your spouse, isn't that big of a deal." Seeing as we're both still here, I think we're going to be just fine.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
(the ribbon was absurdly long and was cut by six men
and my mother... she was thrilled)

I just wish people would leave my classroom alone!

The Aviary
(built by me and Armando)