Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

The photo below is of my branch president, his wife, Thang, and I on my birthday. I can't express how thankful I am for them for being such amazing friends. They have welcomed me into their home to eat delicious ice cream. If any of you live or are going to visit Hanoi, I would highly recommend their ice cream. It's to die for! Check out the many delicious and unique flavors they have, link! They have helped me eat the most amazing and interesting food here in Vietnam and keep on coming up with more for me to try! I love it! They also have the cutest four year old daughter who has so much spirit. I'm so grateful for their love and their friendship these past few months. THANK YOU! I have enjoyed getting to know their family and story.

I'm very grateful for Thang, he has helped me so much in seeing all that I wanted to see in Hanoi. We have had so much fun these past three months. I'm going to miss driving or riding his motor bike basically everyday. A lot of the adventures have been his ideas and he has helped me accomplish my bucket list for my time in Vietnam. My first ever bucketlist I have ever finished! He has been my translator, drove me all over the city, and has taken me to eat amazing food. Thank you so much! I couldn't have done anything in the church especially family home evening with out his help. My time in Vietnam would have been entirely different without this friendship and I will never forget any of it.

Thank you so much to everyone in Hanoi who made my time in Vietnam very special. I will always remember my time in Vietnam. It really was a life changing experience for me especially this trip being my first time really out of the Unites States. Moving and living across the word when I'm 19-20 years old is a big step! I know that I have written about all the fun I had but it wasn't always easy in Vietnam.  I have grown and learned so much because of every single thing I have seen, participated in, and heard. I’m very grateful for everyone in the church who has taken in into their branch family. I have truly feel like I was meant to meet the people in Vietnam in this time in my life for a specific reason. They have changed me and made me into a better person.  

My aunt is amazing and has taken me into her home with open arms. I’m so grateful for her kindness and hospitality in what used to be a new country, language, and work. I have loved watching movies, introducing me to new restaurants, and going to church together. I have learned so much while in my time here and will never forget any of it. I have learned how a business works especially overseas. There are so many factors that go into a business that before working in my aunts company I had no idea it existed. I have learned so much about design and how much goes into every single design. I have also learned so much about how the products are made in the many different factories that my aunt works with on different projects. The factories are amazing and I think it’s amazing how they run each one, they are all different. I have loved getting to know the people who work at each one. She has done so much for me and has taught me so much about Vietnam and her business. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies but when does life every work out the way you plan it. I have loved getting to know my aunt more and her life here overseas.

I really love these two photos of this older man (I have 20 pictures of him) because I never saw his face the whole time I was photographing him. I think it makes him more mysterious and tells a story. I have loved sharing my passion of photography will all of you and will miss talking so many photos in Vietnam.

I have learned to be excepting of different cultures that I wasn’t use to before coming to Vietnam. I have expanded my knowledge about how the other side of the world lives. It’s great to finally understand why certain people act the way they do because of their upbringing. I have learned to be more open and to trying a whole range of things from food to motor bikes. It’s amazing how different someone’s thinking can be because of the culture around them. I have loved everything that I have participated in and will in the future.

There are so many people that come from so many different back grounds that have come together in Vietnam. I really feel like I was part of a family in Vietnam. I have landed safely in Salt Lake City where I will be for a few days before I return back home to Chicago. Thank you everyone who has read my blog and for everyone's support while in Vietnam. I can't wait till I can go back and see everyone again, I'm sure it Vietnam will grow so much in the next few years. It's great to see my family again and to see all my friends again. I already miss the busy city life and riding on motor bikes. I have a quote that I recently came across, "I'm not the same having seen the moon shine from the other side of the world." Vietnam you will be missed!

Tạm biệt cho đến thời gian tiếp theo

Good Byes are No Fun

The picture above is of the Hanoi church building that I have been attending for the past three months. It's four stories tall and has a lot of meeting rooms. This is where I go for English class and family home evening on Monday nights. I'm going to miss everyone in the three branches, especially all my YSA friends. The picture below is some of the relief society sisters as we watched a broadcast together a few weeks ago. They are all so awesome and amazing!

This is Justin and Rachel a couple from America who are teach in an international school her in Vietnam for the past two years and will be staying for one more. They have come over for Sunday dinners and have been great friends since I have been here! The young man is Heui and he is on a mission now for about a week now in Vietnam and will maybe soon going to London. This was taken on his last Sunday before he left. He was one of the first young single adults that I hung out with when I first arrived as he took me to eat my favorite food, bun cha!

I went out to see Fast and Furious 8 with the some people from the church (are pictures above) one night and then went out for Thai hot pot! The movie was very good and the hot pot also. I have come to realized that eating hot pot  is not easy when you still struggle with chop sticks when the food is heavy.

One of the friends who is really good at Frisbee and is just over all amazing! We have had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun!

I'm too tall with my heels on here so I decided to take them off for the pictures...you can see them in the corner. These ladies are always asking me how I'm doing and been amazing during my time here.

One of my friends who has made it to almost every family home evening that I have directed but also is constant support with the treats I bring every week.

 The sister missionaries that I have taught English class with every Wednesday, they are amazing and have brought so many people to family home evening. Go to miss teaching with them!

 We were inspired by a speaker from Hawaii haha but good luck to this guy on his future and on his mission call! Its been such a joy to get to know you through YSA.

 President Cahn! Has been a huge support in my YSA calling in my church and in the brownies I make!

 This girl is amazing and is such a sweet heart, I have gotten to see her grow so much as a person and in her piano skills! Going to miss you!

 My last family home evening in Hanoi, Vietnam! It has been an amazing experience to be the leader of these guys for the past three months. I have loved every activity, so thankful for everyone's support and participation! I have made so many life long friends that I will never forget their strength and kindness. Going to miss you all so much! I can't even express how sad it's going to be to not see them every week.

 One of my dearest friends Gabby got me a goodbye present, the most beautiful paper flower bouquet. It's beautiful and I think it looks just like real flowers! Thank you so much! They are traveling with me to Chicago where I will keep them in my home. The missionaries also made me a goodbye card, I'm going to miss teaching with them!

The young single adults that I have gotten to know have taught me so much about the culture here in Vietnam, how to speak the language, and how to be an awesome friend. I will never forget all of them and what we have done these past few months. They have kept me strong and brought me so much fun!

Photos from Hanoi

Some of my small adventures

I went to the mall in Long Bien, Hanoi, which is better than any mall in America. It was a combination of an amusement park, grocery store, furniture stores, retail, and restaurants. Needless to say, it was huge and seemed brand new! I don't have any photos of the place, but like anywhere I have been, it has green vegetation which was nice. I also found out that I'm a master at arcade basketball. One night I was walking around I came across this man who was sleeping on the side of the street. You can see in the photo that he has a radio, it was a bedtime story! Every time I drive on this street no matter what time it is, this man is there on his couch.

On the sides of the streets in very popular areas there are women selling a type of desert. It consists of a type of pancake, sugar cane, coconut, and pepper. It's delicious! Mainly because its all sugar but who cares! The women have all the ingredients in the box below and set this up everyday.

Thang had never had Mexican food before so I took him to decently authentic restaurant called Salt n Lime. They had some really good and big burritos which he liked.  

One of the young men from the other branch got his mission call for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint to southern Australia! He leaves in August and I'm beyond excited for him! 

One the games they play in around Turtle Lake uses bamboo sticks. They open and close the two sticks to a specific beat and then people hop across to the other side with out getting caught.

They have Zumba at every park here in the early mornings and at night. This is a video of me hoping between all the old ladies doing two different dances. We have gone to Zumba dancing a lot in the past month! It's so much fun but I look like an idiot!

Birthday Celebration - "I'm feeling 22"

It was Thang's Birthday a few weeks ago as he turned 22 this year. We had a party with a few people from the church and their families. It was a lot of fun! One of the branch presidents in Hanoi has two kids and they are very smart and a lot of fun. The photos below are of me braiding their daughters hair and we played Barbie's. We ate dinner using a hot pot, we had so much food! It was all very delicious especially the mushrooms! We had shrimp, pork, many vegetables, tofu, noodles, and so much more! I'm going to miss Vietnamese food when I leave, it's all so fresh!  Also going to be so weird not eating with chopsticks!

Of course we had cake to sing to Thang for this birthday and so amazing ice cream that a family made from my branch. They have some really good ice cream with some very new and exciting flavors like black berry and cinnamon. This night I did learn more Vietnamese words because one lady is an online English teacher and helped me so much! This language is very hard but it's starting a little bit to make more sense.

Fruits

Hers is an example of one of the women who sell fruit by the side of the road. This picture was taken in Long Bien. There are so many of these stands along the road with women that sit out here all day, everyday, selling these fruits.

The fruit here is very fresh and delicious! I'm in love with dragon fruit and mangos, I have them every morning for breakfast. There are a lot of fruit stands but also stores that look like the photo below of women selling fruit.

They have a fruit here call Durian or the king of fruits. The size of this fruit is bigger than a watermelon and is spikey.  It smells really disgusting like bad body odorn which is why a lot of foreigners don't like it at all. I have found that people either love it so much or they can't even stand the smell of this fruit.  I tried it in a yogurt mix which isn't as strong as eating the actual fruit but I though it wasn't the best or the worst things I have tasted. However I didn't like how the taste stayed in my mouth hours after eating it.