Stockholm → Hanoi

There are so many things to love about October. Especially the lingonberry pumpkin muffins I just made. Although they didn't come close to the cranberry pumpkin ones they were inspired by. 

love the vines changing color on this house!

But this year, Stockholm's October feels like one grey day followed by another. For that, and many more reasons, I'm shipping out. Goodbye damp, cloudy days, hello - well, I'm not sure what hello is quite yet as my destination is somewhere new to me. I'm headed to Vietnam! Tomorrow! I've got my flights, my visa, my vaccinations, mosquito net, and a few dong to hold me over for the next 3 weeks. 

I'll be living with a family in a tiny village north of Hanoi near the border of China. It's a poor, mountainous region about which I know nearly nothing. I'm going to teach English to children there through this organization. I don't know many specifics and I've never taught before, but I'm excited to give it a go and see what happens. I know I'll learn a lot, and I hope they will too. 

Has anyone ever been to Vietnam? Or to the Ha Giang Province? Tha village perhaps? What did you think? Any tips??

I'll try to post from there, but don't know what kind of internet access I'll have, so if you don't hear from me, you will as soon as I'm back in November :) Wish me luck!

What being home a few days has taught me

I finished my job at The Local exactly 1 week ago. It was a bittersweet occasion, and definitely marks a milestone. We had a good run of 17 months, and now it's time to move along. 

That moving along process first involves me being home. Home as in my apartment here in Stockholm (home time the the USA happening soon, too!). It's been a few days, and I have to say I've been keeping myself plenty busy. In the midst of which, I've learned a few things:

• sleeping in makes one prone to less productive days
• grocery shopping on weekdays is soooo much easier 
• the northern Swedish city of Luleå is translated to Dubai by Google translate
• even the bureacracy of an efficient country is sometimes so inefficient
• my mind will always find something to think/worry about, even if a job isn't one of them
• never rent a car without insurance (and say no to Hertz!)
• my apartment is quite chilly - sometimes more so than it is outside
• how is it already 5pm?

Exciting adventures are in the works - more to come on that - but now I'm off to make dinner for my hard-working husband. 1950s housewife in the making!