Teeny tiny victories and lots of gratitude

So I am a sick puppy today and have been in bed, sleeping, for the majority of the day. However, in my weakened state, I stumbled out of my hotel room to go to the pharmacy to get some anti-biotics for what looks like the beginning stages of my seasonal case of bronchitis. (Note to self: it really would be useful right about NOW to memorize "I am allergic to all penicillin derivatives!" in Vietnamese.)

After going to the pharmacy and stocking up on Cipro (should be safe in terms of -cillan drugs) and codeine (it'll be a lovely sleep tonight!), I stopped for a lunch of fish soup, which I can't say I loved, but I also have very few taste buds so perhaps I'm not giving it enough credit.

However, the exciting part was when I got up to leave (without having finished every last ounce of broth- that's when you KNOW I'm sick!!!), I asked the price ("Bao nhieu tien?"), and she responded "Hai lam nghin," to which I promptly, without even stopping to think, pulled out the exact change of 25,000VND.

Why is this significant? Because I've been hardcore struggling with numbers/prices, which makes going out to eat or to buy anything a huge pain and also quite an embarrassment. But today not only did I identify the numbers, but I did it on the first try, without having to ask her to repeat the price several times for me to comprehend it.

It's funny because I'm sure that one year from now, when I'm re-reading this blog after returning to the States, I will laugh at myself for how happy this triviality made me. I'm sure my Vietnamese will be, well, not fluent, but decent enough so that prices will be a piece of cake for me. It's nice to keep this end goal in sight, but it's also nice to recognize that four weeks ago, I would not have been able to buy soup off the street, but today I did it like a regular.

I have been vacillating between "Oh my gosh, I am terrified to move to Ha Tinh" and "Oh my gosh, I am so excited to move to Ha Tinh" on an hourly basis, but this minor accomplishment pushed me over to the "I can't wait for this new challenge and experience!" side of the spectrum.

Here are some excitements and affirmations:

• I'll be able to interact with people just fine. 
• My Vietnamese will improve. 
• I will make friends. 
• I will find my "purpose," and be excited to work with my students and to speak English with them. 
• I will fend off rats, cockroaches, and other intruders. 
• I will figure out how to do my laundry, and set up a weekly routine.
• I will ride my bike to Vinh to visit Sasha (this is my first short-term goal for when I move to Ha Tinh. Sasha lives about an hour bus-ride away from me, so I figure a bike ride there should take about 2 hours, which is manageable and sounds pretty enjoyable). 
• I will unpack and "decorate" my apartment so that it feels like a comfortable home. 
• I will find a tailor and have a few pairs of pants made (the problem with not being a 100-pound waif is that I officially cannot find clothes that fit. Vietnamese people are so teeny-weeny that the idea of trying on any of the pants in their clothing stores is laughable. I am trying not to let this get to me and give me a huge body image complex. Instead, I am celebrating the idea that I will get to have clothes made to order!! Unique and exciting!). 
• I will find this alleged park that is right near my apartment, and I will get accustomed to the 1-mile loop arounds it perimeter, which I'd like to walk several times a day. I will go on walks and jogs to explore the city, and I will bike ride the 20 km to Thien Cam Beach, which is supposed to be extraordinary.
• I will explore the Vu Mon Waterfall, Vu Quang National Park, Ke Go Lake, and Son Kim Hot Springs. (Yes, all of these are located right in Ha Tinh Province, and I intend to see them all several times!)
• I will cultivate a loving relationship with myself where I am happy to spend days and weeks alone and on my own.
• I will read tons of books on my Kindle, and fill up at least one journal with thoughts and reflections (What? You think that you, my loyal blog readers, are privy to my deepest and most personal thoughts? I think not!).
• I will survive the 3-month rainy season where apparently the sun will not peak through for even one minute, and I will buy a cozy space heater that makes my room warm and welcoming for students and friends to visit.

Above all, I will be happy this year. I am so grateful for this opportunity - grateful to the Fulbright Commission choosing me, grateful to the United States for prioritizing global education and relationships, grateful to Vietnam for opening its arms to me and other Americans, grateful to my friends and family for supporting me, grateful that this experience is "only temporary," and that I have an amazing life to return to just one year from now. I'm grateful that my penicillin allergy is not life-threatening (one of our fellow Fulbrighters has a severe peanut allergy, and I admire her bravery in coming here and not letting an allergy get in her way). I'm grateful that Senegal taught me so much about acceptance, flexibility, and bare necessities. I'm grateful that I am intelligent and pretty decent at learning new languages in conversation, so hopefully Vietnamese will follow this pattern. I'm grateful that I have teaching experience (albeit not the kind that most of my peers have had in teaching English abroad or in ESL classrooms, but the kind of teaching experience that I gained while leading groups and working in a psychiatric hospital over the past year). I'm grateful that Pitzer College leads the way in Fulbrights per capita, and that I was able to go to such a school that offered me such advantages. I am grateful for the incredible hotel staff here at the Rising Dragon, and how willing they have been to look after us, and especially in all of our various sicknesses, how accommodating they have been. It is so lovely to walk downstairs and see Dung, Min, Thu, and Han, and have them immediately ask how I'm feeling, offer to get me anything, and make conversation with me. I feel lucky and blessed.

And now, at 8:13 PM, I am grateful for my codeine pills that I am about to take for a long, peaceful, hopefully cough-free, night's sleep. Goodnight, loyal readers!