We apologize! Truly negligent of our readers we have been. I hope you received our holiday card (copied below), and we look forward to catching up with you soon if we have not already. We hope you are sipping cider, avoiding the news, and reconnecting with family and friends.
Since our last post a new era has begun – we are back in Thailand after almost six years in Vietnam, only this time it’s a family tour with kids who are continually being mistaken for twins. Today we write from our temporary location very close to the Erawan Shrine (just down the block from where the violence involving the red shirts took place not too long ago. They are still rebuilding one big store on the corner that was burned in the last days). In a few weeks we will move to our long-term apartment, just next to Benjasiri Park and Phrom Pong skytrain station (unfortunately construction of a new building is starting about the same time right next door – noise pollution seems inescapable in this part of the world). If you don’t mind a little noise we will have a extra room for visitors. Nga has already found a very good Burmese nanny and this weekend we are enjoying fusions holidays at home with a miniature Christmas tree, sticky rice and grilled chicken, lighted palm trees, and mulled coconut juice (uh, not really).
We moved here very recently – Nga and the kids arrived on December 3rd, and I started working here on October 23rd (and commuting every other weekend back to Hanoi). Basically, we had been hoping to make Thailand our next posting for a while now, and started doing our best to find work here – especially since last winter when we were here for 10 weeks to have Sebastian. In keeping with our tradition of switching full-time breadwinner positions, I am now working the long hours and Nga is consulting and loving the flexi-life. I am communications manager on a new regional climate change mitigation program funded by USAID (website will be up soon if you want to know more). I feel very fortunate since I really wanted to focus on climate change and I enjoy regional work. So far it’s good though extremely busy starting up a very large, complex project with many partners and subcontractors and potentially activities involving 11 countries – from Nepal to Paula New Guinea.
Kids have handled the transition surprisingly well. Anise is still singing in Vietnamese, but quickly throwing in Thai words. She is mesmerized by the Thai woman dancers at the Erawan Shrine, and loves the Christmas displays nearby, including the giant tea cups you can climb up into. Last week she demanded to watch a woman put on her lipstick who was getting ready to stand cutely in a skimpy Santa outfit next to a pink VW bus selling ice cream and cotton candy. Since being traumatized by all the face paint at Halloween, she is surprised that it is still applied on many other days of the year. Sebastian is probably days from walking..stands up on his own and tries to take a step or two before retreating to the Asian squat position. He is starting to make sounds a bit like real words, and can eat like a pride of lions.
We are fortunate to have friends still here from our time in 2004-2005, and other friends who have moved here since. And we look forward to visitors. Markus and Hanh and Kien arrive this afternoon, and we hope you stop by soon too!
Pre-Christmas Fun
Some people on our flight thought it was a spa plane.
Departure from Hanoi: Kids with co Loc and chi Giang
We are thinking a visit during Golden Week in October. Holli and Shari were talking about maybe joining us.
Love that Anise sings in Vietnamese and that she calls strangers honey!! Hilarious! I want to meet that girl.