Two-week mark!

Chào! (Hello!)  :)

Today marks two-weeks in Vietnam... and one-week since moving into the apartment.  :)

I feel very proud of myself for how much I've accomplished and learned in this short period of time. AND happy that I've felt so at peace with being here. I know there will be ups and downs over these next two years but I hope to continue feeling this good overall.

Walking home from lunch today, it seemed as if everyone was saying hello to me and recognized me!  I live in a close-knit neighborhood (I taught Mai what close-knit means earlier today, haha), which I enjoy. There's no way I can blend in here, so it's nice to be in a place that people recognize me and smile instead of gaping and giggling.  :P

The lady that I bought lychee from earlier today on the street kept saying something about đẹp to me and I did not understand. A girl came up to buy a watermelon and translated it for me - beautiful. Awww - sweet! She was telling me that I am beautiful... then she overcharged me for the fruit. haha

She loved when I said, cảm ơn and tạm biệt ... meaning thank you and goodbye. Those are basics that I've grown comfortable with. She giggled and said it to her friend - that I actually said thank you and goodbye in Vietnamese! Very cute... maybe if I continue to go back to her, she won't charge me double just because I'm a foreigner.  :P

I tried out new words today at lunch and the waiter loved it! I asked for the menu, thực đơn, and the check (or to pay the bill)... tinh tien. I've also been practicing how to ask for my latte to be hot (nóng), or iced (đá).

The waiter was surprised at first and said, "You speak Vietnamese very well!" (I was surprised, myself, that he knew that much English!) I laughed and said that I only know a little and am still learning. (If only he knew that I used almost all of my words with him, haha.)

The hardest is that, even though they are the same letters we use, words are not pronounced how you would think when reading it. People are good at saying something (a few times) and letting me try to repeat it.

Giang, my 'friend' at the Yamaha shop (like Vy, the realtor, I wish I could really be friends with him and keep hanging out even after our 'business' together is done... but c'est la vie... haha... throwing some French in there! Anyway...) said that many foreigners come to live in Vietnam and get by for years without learning any Vietnamese. I do not want to be that foreigner. Although it is slow going, I am learning words here and there... putting them down as notes in my phone and notebook... and trying not be too nervous to actually use them. So far so good! (It's also good that I have no problem laughing at myself if I mess up!)

I picked up this small mug today...

They use glasses for coffee and hot drinks but you cannot hold them because they get so hot. I wanted a little tea mug for the apartment and thought that this one looked cute even though I had no idea what it said.

Using Google Translator, the mug basically says: Love as hot as when the sun rises high. I love it!  :)