Sunday

Hello all!
It's Sunday here and I am sitting in my new room at the university!  It really is quite nice.  I have two desks - great for storage - a fridge and a back door leading to a little patio.  I feel so fortunate to be here!  The university is very safe (for those of you with a few worries!) and my room is in the middle of campus so I am shielded from the noise of the surrounding streets and traffic.
Jet lag is a real challenge...my body is fighting the 15 hour switch, but I'm being gentle with it and getting rest.
I start work tomorrow.  Very excited!  Later, I will take some pics and post them.
For now, however, I'm really tired so need to rest.
Later!

the Landing

Hi all!
After many hours, I made it to Hanoi in good shape, albeit more than a bit jet lagged!  I packed my sweater and turned on the airconditioning...yes, already?!
Had my first VN breakfast - morning glory, cabbage, Pho (prounounced fa) - a wonderful soup akin to our chicken soup, and noodles.  I also had a shot of VN 'regular' coffee - black with a touch of sugar.  Their regular coffee is our espresso!  It's loaded with caffeine, so I'm jet lagged and wired all at the same time!  What does that mean???  It means I am typing reallly fast and making all kinds of typos!
My VN colleagues have prepared a welcoming for me that is wonderful!  Someone will escort me to my accommodations at the university on Saturday and then take me to lunch.  On Monday, I will attend a couple welcoming meetings and then be taken to lunch again!  Then, I dig into the work, which I'm really excited to begin!
Until then, I rest, read, take some walks and rest some more.  Given the intensity of the last month, this next couple days is like a vacation!
more later!

Four Days to Go

Funny, when I first typed the Title for this post, I accidentally typed 'Four Days to God'.  hmmm...interesting!  One could definitely ponder that one!
This last few weeks has been a marathon of preparations to leave... and it's still not over.  Every once in a while, I catch my breath and am amazed at the 'never ending todo list'.
Of course, any major trip of this sort will require many preparations.  The thing, however, is that I have worked so hard the last few years to simplify my life so that I could walk this path!  I have divested myself from 95% of my material possessions, cleared all my debts, rented out my home, bequested family heirlooms to my children, moved into a room in my friend's home...
and yet, the 'todo' list to leave for this trip is pages long...
What does that say about our American lifestyle?  That is my question.  Yes, at 51 yrs old, I have a lifetime of 'stuff', not just in the proverbial closet but in my day-to-day existence.  But, I look at my friends in Zimbabwe who share a four bedroom home with four families (15 people in all).  And, I look at my friends in Vietnam who, similarly share single family homes with multiple families.  I do not believe, even in my 'simplified' version of lifestyle, that I have even touched their daily experience.
In my simplest form and with my meager earnings, my privilege still surpasses that of most people in this tiny world!  Things I take for granted, like potable water or a warm bed, can not be presumed by many of my friends...
the moral of this story?  I don't know.  I guess we all have to ponder that for ourselves and find our own answers.
I feel that, for me, the privilege into which I was born came with a responsibility and a request...that I share that with others, who for reasons not of their own making, didn't happen to be born in the richest country in the world.
funny...perhaps the typo in my subject line wasn't that at all!
my love to you all

Countdown

Hi all!
The countdown is on.  Not surprisingly, despite all the preparations to date, new and unexpected issue arise as the date of departure draws near.  So, I find myself in high gear, moving between taxes and fasfa, packing, saying my 'good-byes', moving, stopping insurance on the truck....
pant, pant!
Just a word about the work I'll be doing...
I am being hired as an international consultant by the only political university in the country - all Vietnam's political leaders must partake in education at this university (HCMA).
The country is striving toward middle income status in the world and is highly cognizant of its need to 'retool' political leaders to operate in this new place.  Wisely, they understand that old modes of thinking on leadership are outdated and no longer relevant.  So, they are seeking assistance from folks like myself and my colleagues at PSU to bring new and different materials and ideas to the table.  The request for this work comes from the apex of the Vietnamese government.
Vietnam is a one-party government, Communist.  Now, for those of us older than say 40, there will be the characteristic chill running down our spine accompanied by the many mantras of 'evil empire' crushed into our skulls by our own government in years past.
My challenge to us all - Recognize those reactions for what they are - reactions.  I have learned from the Vietnamese people - they have enormous wisdom to share with us.  As time passes, I will share with you examples of the depth and breadth of the caring in this society for its people and environment, and we will all learn to take care in our presumptions about what different modes of governance can do.
For now - one quick story.  When I first arrived in Vietnam, I held my breath looking for the inevitable sign that worst of capitalism has indeed infiltrated this society - the presence of McDonalds.  Looking everywhere, though, I could not find them.  So, I asked.
My Vietnamese colleagues explained how the government had, indeed, been negotaiting to bring McDonalds into the country.  They required, however, that Vietnamese farmers and Vietnamese meat be used.  They wanted to build the economic and social strength of the people of Vietnam, not just create another outlet for a transnational corporation to draw out the country's resources and leave nothing behind.  McDonalds refused, saying they used their own farmers and product.  Vietnam said, 'Okay.  We will not be doing business with you.'
Undoubtedly, there was profit in that deal that was lost, but the Vietnamese government cared enough about its people to resist the temptation.
more later!

Hearing the Calling, Facing Forward

There was a child, many years back,
  tucked safely under the covers of her warm bed...
  dreaming, visualizing herself living and walking
  among those in the farthest reaches of the world.


Her task was simple....to help in whatever way she could;
  to give back to life 
  in gratitude for the many riches bestowed on her.


This vision was a legacy left her by
  her father and her grandfather before him,
  both of whom courageously set upon
  paths fraught with uncertainty and, in no small part, danger; 
  following the light shining in their soul;
  driven to answer the calling.


Life called to them, 
  showed them the suffering in this world,
  peered into their souls
  and found hearts willing to commit everything
  - all they were -
  to life, to giving back.


This same fire touched the soul of that girl child,
  and has never let go;
  calling, inspiring, leading...


There is a deep knowing
  in my soul 
  that one is in this life
  to be and do certain things.


To walk the path to which I have been called
  is the essence, the raison d'être, 
  for my existence.


Now my children are set upon their own paths,
  finding their own light and
  living by the grace of God.


And, the call to my soul has grown
  from a whisper and lure
  to an ever present voice.


So, with both feet firmly planted on this path,
  and a future unknown,
  the girl child knows... 
  her soul and person are facing God.


It is time.