Thoughts from Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - I am on vacation in Vietnam to visit my wife's side of the family and to see how Vietnam celebrates the Chinese New Year. It's hot, humid. The nights are cool and still humid. During the day, I can sit and drip sweat. During the night, everything is sticky.

it took nearly 24 hours to get here, door to door. My daughters are still adjusting to the time zone change. I've already adjusted in less than 24 hours - well, if I can get to sleep tonight at a reasonable hour, I will have adjusted.

We could have stayed at a hotel, but we are staying with the family at her mother's house. Most of our time is spent outdoors - had we stayed at a hotel, most of our time would have been spent indoors with air conditioning. During the day, while my kids (ages 3 and 5) were awake, they played with other kids in the family, even with a language barrier. They colored in coloring books, they watched TV, they played with dolls, they followed each other around.

The kids here provide proof to me that cooperation is baked into our genes. The ability and willingness to collaborate goes beyond all languages and borders - it is a requirement for our survival.

Everyone here speaks fluent Vietnamese except me. I have managed to use Google Translate to communicate some ideas to my family here. They are getting a sense of what I am thinking and saying.

I am away from home and am eating much lighter. During 3 flights to get here, I developed a sinus infection. It was brutal but after drinking Emergen-C and lots of water, with very little food, I am recovering.

While everyone else is working, playing and generally carrying on with their normal lives, I'm napping to adjust to the time zone, talking with whomever I can, and writing articles. I'm getting to know the family.

This place is very much alive with human activity. Motorcycles buzz by the high walls of the front yard. New Years Cakes are baking (more on that in a future post). People are washing, cooking, cleaning, socializing and the kids run around playing. I'm even showing some of the kids Steemit.

"Do you like to write?", I speak into Google translate.

"bạn có thích viết không?", says Google Translate.

"Yes", says two of the kids.

"You can earn a little extra money on Steemit," I speak into Google Translate.

"Bạn có thể kiếm được một ít tiền thêm vào Steemit.com.", says Google Translate. And the eyes of those kids lit up. I also mentioned that people write in many languages here on Steemit.com.

I am enjoying the weather (it's cold and dry at home), the family, and the food. It's enough for me, right now, without reservation.

Salad is here. Wow. Mustard seed sprouts and tomatoes. Now that's a salad. Boy do they have a kick. I guess this old year is going out with a bang.