I used to think that eating any non-local food while being abroad was lame…that is, until I started spending more time abroad. Years ago, when I was volunteering in Thailand for a month, one of the greatest meals I had was at a Scandinavian restaurant in the seaside town I was staying in: toasted ham… Read More The globalisation of homogeneity
The sight of roasting dogs in Vietnam (such as this one) regularly freaks out tourists who come from places where dogs don’t end up on a menu. There’s an old joke floating around that goes something like this: Q. How do you know if a Vietnamese guy has robbed your house? A. Your dog’s missing and… Read More Not all dogs end up on a menu in Vietnam
One of the biggest watershed moments of my life was visiting Vietnam in December 2010 for the first time. My life has now been cut up into life Before Vietnam and After Vietnam. Since that first trip 18 months ago, I’ve continued to return on a regular basis, for trips of varying lengths – 3… Read More Sweltering in Saigon
I came back from Hanoi on Wednesday morning, before heading back to Vietnam again yesterday afternoon. I know, talk about a crazy amount of flights and travelling! It’s definitely not my preference to have back to back trips and if I had the option to stay on in Vietnam and work from here for those… Read More Bob Dylan in Saigon
I’ve spent the last hour writing my parents a card in Vietnamese, with the constant help of a Vietnamese dictionary to ensure that I get everything correct. I’ve never learned how to read and write formally so don’t know how to do it that well. Even though I am totally wiped out after four very… Read More Postcard from Hanoi
It wasn’t exactly a soft landing in Vietnam; from the airport, I headed straight to my grandmother’s 80th birthday at a fancy hotel. I was actually picked up by my uncle (who I know from back home) and it was great to see a familiar face and catch up. We don’t regularly see each other… Read More Being present
It seems kind of crazy that less than a month after I left Vietnam, I’m heading back. So yes, tomorrow. My life is over-full these days, with all the visitors we’ve had between the two Vietnam trips. Josh’s family came to stay for two weeks, and my friend Mike is hanging with us for a… Read More Back to ‘Nam
The Travels of Elephant Woman 