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I'm Back!
Well, the blog fell into a hole there for a while. No particular reason, I ended up with a few draft entries and just never seemed to get round to finishing them somehow. I almost let it drop but decided in the absence of paper diaries these days, I should carry on just so I had a complete record of our time here. (Perhaps the librarian syndrome again). Beats me how some people manage a blog with daily entries.
Vexed Visits.
We've been fortunate to have several visits from family and friends and they've been an exciting part of our time here. While living in Quang Ngai is a delightful and fascinating experience, the main downside is missing family and friends. An advantage of the current assignment is that it's proximity to home and accessibility enable visits more easily - compared to NW China at any rate. This means we can share the realities of life and show where we live and work. It's been great to have them visit, but said visits have indeed seemed vexed. If I were the superstitious type I would say perhaps we're jinxed.
Even the first delightful visit by family last year turned out to be during the hottest, most humid time of year. We did anticipate it to some extent and we did plan for it by including a boat trip on Halong Bay and a stay at a Hoi An beach resort, but it was worse than expected and was too hot to visit places round town like the square, markets, tiny ancient temple and floating restaurants.
The second visit was from friends from home who visited in October - two couples we've known since we all had daughters in primary school together. They eventually joined us in Hoi An 12 hours late, having already had their overnight cruise on Halong Bay cancelled because of Typhoon Haiyan which devastated the Phillipines, and after 29 hours on the frequently stalled train. Despite the weather still being a bit damp and the streets strewn with debris from the storm, we had a great weekend catching up and exploring the old town - the ancient houses open for viewing, some shopping, a market and food tasting walking tour.
Then we took them to stay at our place in Quang Ngai. We showed them the sights of the city (!) introduced them to friends and tempted them with the local food. After an unfortunate beginning the visit still turned out most enjoyable.
Some of the family returned in January, in fact our daughter and son came together with their respective offspring. Having to get back for the start of the Australian school term meant they missed Tet by a few days, which was frustrating but we decided we could live with this. They would at least see the preparations and the lead up to the festivities. However, an unseasonally wet January meant that after the first few days in HCMC much of the rest of the holiday was rained out. Two sets of grandchildren in tow meant a rather large and hectic touring group - however we could live with this. What we didn't anticipate (as well as the rain) was the string of misadventures. Along the way we experienced synchronized bedwetting one night; our flight from HCMC to Quang Ngai was diverted to Danang because of bad weather (after several increasingly disconcerting attempts to land) which then meant a 3 hour drive back to Quang Ngai; rain every evening here meant we still didn't get to show the grandchildren the carnival atmosphere of the square at night; cold, wet weather in Hoi An meant only one quick dip in the resort pool for the most determined; a stomach bug passing serially through the group meant at least one person incapacitated in each of Quang Ngai, Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi; lingering back injuries for two (one serious) made getting about a bit difficult; a debilitated Pop harbouring cracked ribs after a motorbike accident a few days before the gang arrived. (Best not to mention the hurking on the plane Hue to Hanoi).
A perhaps too fast-moving fortnight saw us take in HCMC, Quang Ngai, Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi. The grandchildren had a great time, bounced back from illness (as they do). The Perth-ites and Melbourne-ites were thrilled to catch up for a whole fortnight. Needless to say the adults were a bit whacked by the end of it.
All this left us a bit apprehensive about our next visitors - friends from London who we hadn't seen for about 8 years. We were really looking forward to catching up. They were doing a cycling tour then flying to join us in Quang Ngai for 6 days. Fingers crossed. We really thought we'd got our act together this time. Owen arranged all the necessary permissions for them to visit classes, we planned dinner parties with friends, visits to local sights, stocked the house ... then four days before they were due to arrive I had a minor health crisis and got medivac'd out (in a learjet air ambulance) - so they had to cancel their visit to Quang Ngai altogether!! We did manage to catch up in Hanoi for two days when we overlapped - on our way back in and their way back out. So at least we didn't miss them altogether and it was great to pick up where we left off years ago. And we were able to relieve them of the stash of decaf coffee and spices they'd been lugging all around Vietnam for us. We were sooo disappointed - as were the Quang Ngai locals who had been looking forward to their visit. We've now almost stopped saying "pity C and J didn't get to see/do/taste this" :(
There are no more scheduled visits before the end of our contract in July. Just as well? Any takers?
- comments
Zig After all this.......I'm glad you're coming home! We miss you.Take care.