'Language is the Dress of Thought' - Cowley

I am heading to Saigon tomorrow to visit more new relatives except this time on my mom’s side. Uncle 7 (technically should be calling him by his first name, but have not actually learned it yet) is picking me up at the airport and I am not sure how we are to recognize each other - maybe he will be holding a sign with my name or perhaps somehow we will just know as we are scanning the crowds for each other or maybe I will call him on my mobile to make sure I am not climbing into some complete stranger’s car!

Local market in Saigon that my relatives go to daily.

Overall my experience has been quite positive here, but sometimes there are frustrating days (where the simpliest things seem to take a lot of energy) and times you are feeling a little bummed out. My internship will be ending at the end of February and I need to figure out what I am going to do afterwards and look for a job again. Being a contract worker has some perks but I feel like I am always constantly applying for jobs. It’s a full time job just looking for a job. Since I will be away for work and then away for Tet holidays, I am not going to worry about job prospects until the end of February. My visa goes until April so I think I will stay in Vietnam at least then, so if anyone is considering to visit ...

Near Hoa's village in a northwestern province

So I just found out I am heavier than a 7-month pregnant woman. That’s always a nice feeling. Linh is 53 kg and when I figured out what that is in pounds (about 117 lbs) I was shocked how light a pregnant woman could be. I feel very large boned-ed over here (even though I am at my normal weight), but at least I don’t feel short like I usually do in Canada. I am usually about the same height or a little taller than local women my age, but that is with me wearing flats and them wearing heals. That’s one thing that still makes me laugh: seeing vietnamese women wearing high heels while driving their motorbikes.

I will be heading to Vung Tau soon for a research mission. I am a little nervous – I will be leading an 8-day workplan with the senior municipal staff by myself. This is the base work of one of our municipal partnership projects where we will be creating a new census survey to capture the migrant population and using the results to develop better municipal service delivery like education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. I do a bit of independent work over here and I am not complaining (it was written in the job description), but when you don't have experience in leadership roles, especially in a different and typically traditional culture, it feels a bit daunting. It reminds me when I and the other Ottawa SURPers all just started our new jobs after graduating from Queen's and we all felt the same ... we were way over our heads! But I know it will be good experience and it will only make me stronger ... right?!