Let's skip right to the good stuff. Fall Break. It's like an offering from the Gods. 6 weeks after school starts you get a week off. Public school in the US doesn't do that? Oh, pity. We like to hit the beach and relax during this break, so we headed to the ever popular beaches of Thailand. We scrambled a bit planning, but ended up picking a winner for sure - Krabi, Thailand. Leaving our house at 7a.m. all it took was a taxi, 2 planes, a van ride and a boat to have us on the beach at 4p.m. And what a beach. We stayed at an exclusive resort that was to die for. I cannot go on very much about excursions, activities and cultures because we pretty much woke up, ate breakfast with monkey's then hit the beach all day, toast the sunset, gorge on incredible Thai food, go to bed, wake up and repeat for 8 days.
We had a stunning karst formation sitting just offshore from us to stare at all day. We were able to take SUP boards and kayaks out to it at our leisure. At low tide it was possible to walk out to it (about 4ft deep?) but we chose to use the watercraft available. The water was so clear you could count sand pebbles from 10ft deep. We were either on the beach or in the pool the entire day. Graeme was in his element.Charging the tiny waves, building sand castles and making friends in the pool. He was always first to ask, "Is it cocktail hour yet?"
Who is steering this thing?
Yeah dude!
Sea Cucumber...
Beach combing with Momma
Our breakfast buddies
Nice score!
Secret snorkeling spot
I will never discount the upbringing I had in the ocean growing up in NJ. I love the "Shore" and will always cherish the experiences our parents provided us each summer to spend as much time in the ocean as possible. That said, it excites, amazes and chokes us up thinking that Graeme is having the opportunity to come of age in the ocean at all of these incredible places. I need to bust out the pen-n-paper and figure out the exact count, but I believe this was his 7th or 8th different sea? He has also spent time in some remarkably crystal clear environments (I came of age during the "medical waste" era in NJ beaches). A major highlight of this trip for us was when Graeme and I were coming back ashore with the SUP and he decided to try and catch a few waves on his own. Graeme's first surf adventures! He's been pretty steadily body surfing wherever we go, in Cambodia last year he caught some waves on a boogie board, and here just naturally progressed to standing up and sticking the drop! For Christmas break he said he wanted to go somewhere he can surf, so we rented a cottage on the beach in front of a surf spot in Siargao, Philippines...can't wait! (for some reason you can only see the video on a computer - not ipad, phone, etc.)
Cue the Baywatch soundtrack here...
Darn, this is hard work!
To see all of the pictures of our beach frolicking while in Krabi, CLICK HERE.
International Week When we aren't spending time on Thai beaches, normal life rules our day. Graeme has been very busy at school. It's incredible to watch him develop at such a quick rate just since starting 3 months ago. Ms. Tina has his class participating in so many wonderful things and he really enjoys being there! The EC program here has got to be second to none.... October break lead right into International Week. With 33 countries represented at SSIS, they spend a week with various activities celebrating the cultural diversity of the students' home countries. One morning I took Graeme to school and the walkway had the flags from all of the countries hanging from the ceiling. They had obviously been talking about it in his class, because he started pointing to different flags saying "my friend so-and-so is from that flag, my friend so-and-so is from that flag, etc." He didn't know what the countries were, but he knew which kids in his class were from which flags. Incredible. To think that a 3 year old even has the ability to realize that different people are from different countries is unfathomable to me. The culmination of the week was the parade and group picture. On one particular day, everyone was encouraged to dress in their home country traditional outfits. The kids paraded by class through the walkway and out onto the field. Here they aligned themselves into a human outline of the SSIS logo (Go Dragons!). Graeme got to be the "Line Leader" for his class - we think that was preplanned to keep him focused on the task at hand! It was great to see all the kids and teachers dressed up and representing. As a culture, USA is quite young (200+ yrs?) so we kind of pale in comparison to the traditional dress of others. Graeme represented the USA by rocking his red/white/blue flag outfit that his Aunt Debbie got for him over the summer. I believe her exact quote when he opened was something along the lines of letting people know where he is from!
Family in full Red/White/Blue
We are at "11 O'Clock"
For a look at all of the International Week pictures, CLICK HERE.
Halloween International Week bleed right into Halloween! While not actually celebrated in Vietnam, we live in such a Westernized area that parents really try extra hard to create the experience for all the kids around us. This was the first Halloween that Graeme was really interested in. He talked a big game leading up to it about Trick or Treating, and he delivered. Dressed up as an Explorer, Graeme made it through the Halloween Parade at school then hitting the streets of Hung Thai trick-or-treating with his friends that night. (videos may only play on a computer - no phone, ipad, tablet, etc)
Right here, Dad!
Giggle time....
Best Buds...
Want some?
Munchkins...
AAAGGGHHH!
The Hung Thai Halloween Crew...
After his school parade, parents were invited to his class to have a snack (Witch's Lips!) and watch the kids recite a song/poem they had been working on for the holiday. It was super cute:
For a look at all the Halloween pictures, CLICK HERE.
DALAT We had managed one earlier trip this Fall. We went "upcountry" to Dalat. A former Hill Station during French Colonial times, Dalat sits at a much higher elevation then Saigon (we may actually be below sea level here at times?) and is so different then where we live it is hard to imagine you are in the same country after only a 19 minute flight. Pine trees, clean air, cold temps (well, cold for us!) in the 60's at night, French architecture abound....really a pretty spot. Dalat is a bit of the agriculture capital of Vietnam with most vegetables coming from this zone. Our organic vegetables we eat are from this area. We spent just a few days bouncing around. No real major stories to tell. Just enjoyed a different climate and scene. Truly a beautiful country.
Our friend Rita on her portable SUP board
Talking to G-Nan....
One thing that remains consistent is Graeme's ability to pull a crowd. Dalat is pretty much based around tourism. There are large groups cruising around, backpackers, etc. At one stop, a place called "Crazy House" there were several large tour groups checking the place out (and yes, it really is crazy!) More then one of the groups thought Graeme was a greater attraction then the house:
Blonde kid at 9 O'Clock!
Scenario's like this happened at several places, even a Temple! So, yes, we still deal with an abundance of attention on a daily basis. With Graeme being in school full time, at least it is no longer a daily occurrence for him. For the most part he is a champ and rolls with it still.....
For a look at all of our Dalat pictures, CLICK HERE.
So here we are in late Fall, almost winter. The winds are shifting angles (losing our breeze in our apartment) as the season here changes from Wet to Dry. No more trips on tap until Christmas break, but knowing us we will squeeze a weekend or two away somewhere. We have a few people visiting this year which has us giddy in anticipation. Here is a pic of a typical sunset from our apartment. Book a trip to come visit and this view is yours for the duration of your stay. Just get here, we got the rest.....
When you have kids your whole world changes. Your whole life changes. Your previous goals, priorities and reasons for being change. They all shift to a little human being that you instantly fall in love with and just as instantly have an irresistible instinctual longing and sense of urgency to provide this person with as many opportunities in life as humanly possible so that, when the time comes, they will be able to make choices for themselves and carve out an existence in this life that is far greater then yours has ever been or ever will be. Each waking moment is spent configuring ways to create and provide these opportunities for your child.
Today, August 13th 2014, Graeme started his first day at school at the ripe old age of 3 years 7 months old. He is attending Saigon South International School (SSIS) in the Early Childhood (EC) program. A full day (7:45a.m. - 3pm), it is a 2 year program based on the Emilia Reggio approach, which is based on the principles of respect, responsibility, and
community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and
enriching environment based on the interests of the children through a
self-guided curriculum. Mixed with SSIS's Core Values - Academic Excellence, Sense of Self, Dedicated Service, Balance in Life and Respect for All. His teacher has 23 years of experience and has taught in several different countries and we couldn't be happier for him to be in her class.
Graeme was ready for this. In fact, I believe we could have put him on that bus a year ago and he'd be fine. He was so ramped up that he forgot to give me a hug and kiss goodbye. He was focused!
The bus stop crew....
We got this....
About a year and a half ago when we announced our plans to move abroad to Vietnam and start a new life, taking advantage of everything involved in living internationally. To some it came as a shock, to others it was almost expected. Our stock answer to those who asked "Why?" when we told them what we were doing was something along the lines of being able to travel, live a more family oriented life (no chores!), experience, opportunity for Graeme (and us) to see the world and other cultures in it we wouldn't otherwise be exposed to, blah, blah, blah. Most were content with the answers we gave. Some feigned their contentedness but you could tell they still did not "get it". Well, they say a "picture is worth a thousand words", and the photo above of Graeme waiting for the bus, proud as a peacock, wearing his new uniform, book bag loaded, and carrying his lunch box, should be enough to sum up our explanation as to "why?" we are doing this. Providing the best education possible for your child is very high on the list of opportunities that every parent strives for. There are many different ways to accomplish this and all of us do the best that we can. We chose this route. As fans of public education in the U.S., the reality is that California is ranked 39th overall. Private education is tremendously expensive. Moving states just to get to a better ranked public education wasn't on our radar. Working 60 hours a week to tread water and basically stay afloat without ever getting ahead while watching life pass you by wasn't appealing to us.
We are able to provide a top notch private education for Graeme all the while exposing him to various world cultures and getting to spend maximum time together as a family unit.
If I had to sum up "why" we are here, that would probably be the best sentence to do so. This is a mission statement that we would, at best, struggle to provide Graeme back in the USA, or not be able to provide at all. As the saying goes "nothing in life is free". Yes, his education is provided for as a benefit to Erin's position at SSIS. Yes, it is very easy to travel to many exotic places from where we live. But, we live on the other side of the world from our Family and Friends. That is the cost we are paying for this opportunity. Those closest to us understand. If not, I hope the the pictures here of Graeme on his first day of school will help provide the understanding. While we are missing out on some Birthday's, Weddings and other milestones, the fact is we are doing our best to equip Graeme with best opportunities in this life so that he can further on and carve out an existence that will provide happiness for himself beyond our wildest dreams. We are doing our best and trying our hardest to provide Graeme with the
best, as all parents do for their children. So, on this day, August 13, 2014 Erin and I are the proudest parents on earth. Here is to the future......
