Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Good Morning Vietnam!

Up Before Dawn

Nha Trang at 5:30 am on Independence weekend.


Many mornings this past month, I'd wake up all groggy at 8 am and wander down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast. The usual greeting at that hour is "chao buoi sang," but for me it'd be a nice warm "LAM BIEN!" ("Lazy!"). I woudn't think getting up at such an early hour would cast me as such, but apparently in Vietnam it does.

I used to think my dad would have the world record as an early riser as he's often up before 6, but in Vietnam he wouldn't even be in contention for a medal. Many nights I wake up at 3 am and see a small figure creep past my bed and out to the porch outside my room. "What on earth is she doing up at this hour?" I ponder for a moment, before my thoughts fade back into dreams. I now know that the small figure is Tim Phong, my host mother, getting ready to play badminton with her friends. It's difficult for me to fathom anyone getting up at 3 for the purpose of recreation.


Early morning Tai Chi on the boardwalk in Nha Trang.


3 hours later...

As I stir in bed, my sleep-crusted eyes make out a new silloette through the frosted window. This time it's Chu Phong bobbing up and down doing the oddest of exercises. For the next twenty minutes I watch him do a routine that combines lifting dumbells with high-speed waddling. I personally find doing laps around a gymnasium to be monotonous, but he amazingly does his running everyday on a porch that's only ten feet long!


My host brother, Anh Tien (left), and family celebrating his 24th birthday.

1 Comments:

At 9:49 AM, Blogger Thompson Tribe said...

Hey Stephen,

Thanks for the blog update! It is really fun for us to read up on what you are doing. We miss seeing you.

Looking at all that food laying there made us hungry - Brooke's and my favorite restaurant to go out to is a Vietnamese place called Miss Saigon. I think I told you about it.

We think about you often. Hey maybe you already are, but Brooke has been updating our blog fairly often, so you should be able to keep up on the kids.

We love you Stephen. Many blessings on you as you hold down the fort in Southeast Asia - at least for a few more weeks. It won't be long until Jay and Lucy come to join you with the family. I am sure that sometime you guys will be able to get together.

Talk to you again soon!

Love,

Jeffrey, Brooke, Jonathan, Katherine, David, and Grace.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home