Sitting up halfway in a hotel in Hue, Vietnam, staring out the open window as birds circle between the nearby hotels and “touristic”—as everyone calls it overseas—restaurants. Ben is reading me a potential itinerary of this week’s must-sees: a museum of Cham Dynasty ruins from the 4th–12th centuries in nearby Da Nang, a Czech Brewery and restaurant (but they sell turtles and crocodiles from China, so that one is a no-go), …, and I can only listen halfway as I am focused on recording this memory for the future so that I can remember how lucky I am to be experiencing all of this.

These days, I’m fortunate to be able to take work when I want to, and have only to worry about seeing the country before I run out of that country’s visa. In India it was only three months. In Vietnam, it’s only one. There have been countries whose visas we didn’t fully use, like four months in New Zealand or nine months in China, instead of the entire one-year in either, or days in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, and the Philippines, instead of the month or almost.

I spend my time seeing what I can of each place, meeting new people, resting, organizing the next trip, eating a mix of local street food and at international restaurants when homesick, and then trying to document it all through photos, videos, and journal musings that I never have enough time to string together. There definitely are people who pack up their things at home and take off abroad for a while, but for some reason, most people end up going back home or stick around in one spot because of the comfortable life they’ve created there. We haven’t found home, yet, and I think that’s what we’re looking for…

Street vendor going about her business and reading the day's news in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Here’s a profile I wrote, by the request of EF. Seems like they weren’t too miffed by my honest account of my experience in China, so that’s a relief.

Suzanne: Abroad in Guangzhou

Here’s a new article I wrote for The Get Go about a visit to “China’s Hawaii” (cough).

It’s on page 26: “Island Under Water”

At the last Get Go party, I won the Texas Hold ‘em table, so a trip to Macau might be in the works soon…

Lots more to share, but have to run.

Lights!

Dapper and happy

There were salsa dancers, glow lights, an English band, a DJ who spins at the city’s sole Mexican restaurant, and lots of raffle prizes — three of which Ben, Kevin, and I all won. Ben won a number of brews at the German pub in town called the Wunderbar. And Kevin and I each won 500RMB worth of “hair treatments” from Toni & Guy, which we couldn’t stop laughing about.

(Last week turned out to be a lucky week. I found out last Thursday that I won the video contest at work: see previous entry. But, so did everyone else who entered since there were so few entries…hehe.)

I was amused and embarrassed when I walked into Bravo and saw my face on the homepage of the Being Fun China homepage displayed on a projection screen on the wall…

On the Being Fun China homepage

The  e-magazine has a nicer layout of the article if you download it and open the table of contents. I can’t see the issue with my Mac, so here’s an HTML version:

Month One in China: Needing a Break and Breaking the Bank
by Suzanne Mahadeo

Now that I have the time (and the internet connection!), here’s a video I made for a contest at work. It’s a two-minute glimpse at an average day in Guangzhou.

A Day in the life of Suzanne Mahadeo in Guangzhou

Hope all is well, wherever you are.

First impressions of the route from the airport to our hotel, after three months in India:

• The streets here are newly paved, wide, clean, and lined with big, beautiful, green trees. (I haven’t spotted a single cow yet.)
• The people are friendly, helpful, and happy.
• The women are very fashionable! They wear short, classy dresses and heels at all hours of the day. My plaid shirts won’t cut it here unless there’s a resurgence of Grunge in the East.
• The men are very polite and offer friendly smiles as you pass them on the street.
• It’s quiiiiiiiiiet!

We purchased several pairs of khaki pants to go with the rugby and polo shirts we are to don for our new positions, at a branch of the largest language institution in the world, located in hundreds of cities and countries around the world (some of which I haven’t even heard of, like “Nice” in North Italy). So far the company has been very kind, picking up our flight to/from China, two weeks in our hotel while we look for an apartment, and Mandarin lessons throughout the year. They’re also flying us to Shanghai next week for some more training. I’ll be honest, though, after several months of living out of luggage, I’m ready for a clean apartment, a closet, and to get back to work…

Happy Father’s Day, from the Great, Great Grandfather Land

Thanks so much, Bibi and Ben. As always, I love your work.

I look forward to using this blog, especially since I’m about to move to a country that blocks sites like Facebook and YouTube (more on that in another post)!