Resolutions
2009 – How did that creep up on me? Considering my 2008 challenges (it’s not going down in history as my favorite year – that’s for sure) I thought I better try to get my life and mind pointed in the right direction in 2009 and make some resolutions. I normally don’t do this as a habit, but since I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels in Vietnam, I had better try to get some traction; or else I will lose my sanity.
When there is something that I want to do, but am intimidated to do it, I publicize it. I am a person of my word and when I say I will do something, I do it. This is how I handled running my first marathon, quitting my job and traveling around the world, getting my ESL certification, and moving abroad to Vietnam. I merely told people that this was what I was going to do, and once it was verbalized and out there, it was something that I had to follow through on no matter how scared or unsure I was about it.
So – here goes….
My first resolution is to learn how to ride a motorbike in Vietnam – specifically HCMC. I will rent my own motorbike and become a member of Vietnamese society by joining the masses on two wheels…no matter how terrified I am to do this…I will. I even started the year by purchasing a new full face helmet; a proper helmet for biking. Most of the motorbike helmets are no more than glorified bike helmets; and I’ve seen too many accidents here to test my fate any longer. Step one is accomplished, step two is to rent the bike…my goal is to do this by my birthday in February.
My second resolution is to take the free Vietnamese lessons that my language school offers. Learning Vietnamese is not a requirement to live here; you can easily get around HCMC without it. However, if I’m going to live abroad, then why not learn the language? I know that I will probably suck at it since I’ve never been able to successfully learn another language; but hopefully I will know more than I know now.
So that’s it…it’s in black and white now for the whole world to see….I must do it! After I successfully complete these resolutions, I will be able to drive the streets of HCMC AND yell at people in Vietnamese when they cut me off!
By Lynn Nill January 4, 2009 - 3:37 pm
Hi Sherry,
First of all it was GREAT having you here and seeing you in person again. It just confirmed that the person you are in print is the real you, and a very enjoyable you that is! Secondly, great resolutions, especially to learn a little Vietnam. Even if you suck at learning languages (as I certainly do) learning a little bit of the local language pleases people no end. Even after a year of lessons and three years in Hong Kong I can only carry on two word conversations because Cantonese is so hard and because you don’t really need it here and I’m lazy. But I can say “nice weather”! Or when Sarah and I went to the lingerie store I could say the colors we wanted to see, which made the shop girl unleash a torrent of Cantonese, until I said “slower please” which made her laugh and stop.
Hang in there…we watched the Anthony Bourdain epsisode about Laos and Lee asked me if I wanted to rent motorbikes there. I’m MORE than terrified to do that since I never even drove Sarah’s moped. Right now I’m thinking no, but I might want to try an elephant ride instead!
By Janelle January 7, 2009 - 5:53 pm
Good luck with your resolutions, my dear! They are both within reach for you, I know it. And having ridden a scooter myself around Taipei a month ago, it’s actually not too bad! I surprised myself. A bit scary, but not as terrifying as I expected. And learning Chinese has been good too – incredibly humbling and it’s taught me a lot about myself as a teacher and has helped make me more empathetic to my struggling students. I now know what it feels like to feel so dumb and to hate going to lessons. It’s good for me.
Good luck with all that! I know you’re gonna kick butt on the road and in the classroom!
By backpackingteacher February 1, 2009 - 8:43 am
How’s the bike riding going? Having just started riding a bike in Saigon I have to say it’s an absolute buzz …. its great to have the freedom to get around easily but its also a lot of fun riding on a bike … occasionally it gets a bit hairy (riding round on the days before Tet was a bit much) but overall a must do … enjoy
By Sherry February 1, 2009 - 9:01 pm
Hey BPteacher – I saw that you had arrived in HCMC on your blog. It sounded as if you enjoyed Tet…and had some adventures. Good for you for being brave and getting out on a bike so quickly! I have to say that I’ve made no progress on the bike resolution yet as January was full of travel instead. I plan to tackle it in Feb. Yet I’m still rather terrified of the whole thing, but will try it and see how it goes – lord knows that I would love the freedom to get around on my own! I’ve been here 4 1/2 months now and I’m tired of feeling dependent!
Good Luck and I”ll see you on the roads!
Sherry