Moving Day

During graduation on Thursday, much of the talk among the various teachers was of summer vacations and impending flights. Some people were leaving the following day or over the weekend, while a few, like us, were leaving early the following week and some, not leaving at all. Those who had upcoming flights were mostly packed and ready to go, others had lots of last minute plans to pick up clothes at tailors, have those last meals at favorite spots and say goodbye to friends made over the past year or two. Steven and I had all of those plans as well, with a flight leaving the following Tuesday evening at 11 p.m., but when Tuesday morning came around, we found ourselves yet unpacked and with more than a few last minute items to attend to.

We spent the day cleaning out drawers, packing up suitcases, figuring out future bills, arranging to final payments all while caring for a three week old baby. In the midst of all of this, our landlord brought someone by to see the house; The, the guy who had helped us find our house came by to say good-bye; and our neighbors were in and out to say goodbye and alleviate us of all of the things we had decided to leave behind. Finally around 9 o'clock, two hours before our flight, the couple we had rented our motorbike from showed up to collect the bike. Because we were running behind, they helped us by getting a cab in the alley and transporting our many suitcases on their bike from our house to the cab. "Grandma" from next door and her son where there to see us off with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. As they walked us to the cab, I thought about how neat it was that we had developed such a positive bond with our neighbors in the time that we were in our house without having spoken the same language. It made for a bittersweet ending to our second year in Vietnam, both of us glad to be moving on to something new, but sad to be leaving the country that had been our home and the people that had been our friends for the past two years.

We will miss Vietnam.