Sights and sounds of Vietnam

I am writing you a few lines while in the beautiful land of Vietnam. I find it easy to feel like home here. Southeast Asia does that to you. The people are kind and hospitable. One shouldn’t confuse that with weakness, though. The Vietnamese are very strong and tough as well. They are hard working and you rarely see any over weight people here. No idling around, always activity.

You don’t experience stress here. There is a some what slow but still efficient pace. The traffic is not aggressive, even if you have cars and hordes of mopeds coming from every direction seemingly on collision course with you. And yet, things move on smoothly.

During the heat of day, they have siesta. It wonderful to see people spread across a floor for a midday nap. And then they carry on late into the evening, when they might end the day with a dinner on a sidewalk.

The warm and humid weather, sometimes abrupted with intense rain torrents, thunders and lightning, wraps itself around you like a wet blanket. Once you give up the idea of staying dry, it is actually quite nice. No dry skin here!

During rainy season as now, everything is extremely green. A trip to the mountains dazzles all your senses. Palm trees, banana trees, water buffalos, exotic birds singing and ”dancing” butterflies of all colors capture you.

It is hard not to fall in love with Vietnam, and especially with the precious brothers and sisters in the Lord. We are from different cultures, have different histories, speak different languages, but have so much in common in our shared faith!

I am rich! I have many friends in Vietnam!