3 Years in 3 Minutes

Three and a half years is a long time where a lot can happen. During that time I made good friends, saw amazing places, ate weird food, and tested the limits of irresponsibility. This post is dedicated to remembering all the important people I had in Vietnam since I arrived in 2013. 

Bao
If I hadn't been born in the US, I'm pretty sure Bao and I would be blood relatives.

Since that fateful day, we've laughed together, we've fought with each other, we've gotten lost in multiple countries, we somehow found our way again. We played board games, ate a $#!%-ton of chicken, burned so much gasoline "seeing how beautiful" Saigon was, seen the top of mountains, suffered terrible running weather, and collected way more free drinks from Bobapop than we should've. And thank God for your family. Their patience and kindness helped make Vietnam my home.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Vietnam would not have been the same if we hadn't been friends.

3 Gao Rangers + not so relevant Pro WrestlerGroup

How could I not include our whole little group? So much of how I've come to value friendships has come from the 3 years I spent with all three of these guys.

I'll definitely look back fondly on our board game nights (even if I was bitter about losing a lot), and the way we always joked about one another. I also can't believe we all made it to Da Nang together for one last hurrah. It really did feel like we were our own little family at times. 

Head Office
Although I wasn't as close to each individual as I should've been, I still believe they were an important part of my experience. I learned a lot from them, not only in the stuff of my career, but also little things like how to be a part of team.

Jemma, we shared some crazy hard experiences with teachers. Jordan, we shared a bunch of 9th floor breaks. Chantal, we shared a lot of good arguments.

H12
These guys were my first family. I'm so glad we got to all start at the same time. I'm certain that coming into the craziness of center 12 and being on the front line of all its initial problems brought us together. And then, as the years went by so many things changed for us. People left, others grew up, still others grew apart. But for those that stuck around, I'm glad our "original" group was never forgotten.

Family
I admit that for the time I spent living with family when I first arrived, I didn't understand half of what was said to me. Body language and my aunt's patience thankfully filled in a lot of gaps.

There were so many awkward silences, great home cooking, pesky mosquitoes, and funny stories about work (when I did understand what was being said). Most of all, I'm thankful of all the times I got to see "real" life in Vietnam and a fraction of what my parents saw when they still lived there.

Students
And last but not least, my students. They were my first group of students that I cared deeply for, and they stayed that way throughout my time in Vietnam. In some ways they've kept in better touch than some of the other people I knew in Vietnam.

They may not know it, but they inspired me in a lot of ways. Because of them, I kept going, even on the hard days. Because of them, I know why people choose to be teachers. Because of them, I may never find a close group of students because they set the bar so high!

And now for goodbyes...
For all the people who were a part of my 3.5-year adventure, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll be looking forward to the day we see each other again.