Fun is Universal !

Sometimes, we forget to record and share with you, that in addition to our work, we really have fun here in Hoi An! In the evenings our bike rides through the villages and rice paddies always offer vews of rural life....water buffalo with their young calves, the mothers munching on grass, the young nuzzling at udders for a snack; fields of brilliant green, straw conical hats dotting the carefully laid out plats. It is a veritable visual feast.

Of course, our friends and family are a joy. As you can see technology is the bridge with the young. Nam is our housekeeper's 13 year old son who is happy to come to feed and walk the dog if he can use the internet for a a few minutes. His friends seem to want to come along too! We practise our Vietnamese ( Bruce is getting fairly good at the basics) and they their English. Our conversations are often better than a game of charades, with lots of laughter and cheering if we manage to understand each other.Not to be outdone, by the youth Binh and Quyen are very computer savvy and have duelling I-phones!

One of our favorite recreations is to cycle to the local beach An Bang ( not Cua Dai where all the large hotels are!)Here we walk on the sand, wade in the surf and drink strong black coffee at a small bistro. The bistro , La Plage is run by two expat friends, who have been conscious since they built the place last year that it would be accessible for persons of disability and also kid friendly. There are beach toys and table games. We are all at home here.

Of course our days are sprinkled with visitors to our house, invites to others' homes, dinners out, wedding parties and celebrations of every kind. Nga and her sister My came by one day with both Sophia and Lucky, their three year olds...they were very sweet but a little intimidated by our resident Doberman, both mothers and children. Zen seems to them a very big dog!

Gentle pleasures sparkle through our days. The newspaper seller in Old town remembers us from our previous stays in Hoi An. He watched us this morning trying to share the crossword puzzle. He was back in two miuntes with copies of the previous two days papers, so that we could each have a puzzle AND still have one to bring home. This kindness is so endearing and we can not count the times in each day, wherein, someone is particularly helpful, and welcoming. How lucky we are to be here!