Since moving here we’ve quickly grown to be friends with the neighbors to the right. They told us as we were moving in, let us know if we can help, or anything you need to borrow.
I’m pretty determined in my not asking people for help most of the time…if there’s any possible way at all, I will ultimately make every effort to avoid letting my burden become in any way someone else’s - so naturally, I never took my neighbor up in his offer. Unpacked a shipping container, two cars and three trailers into the house without knocking on their door. I came close one day. Would have really liked a dolly, but no one was home, so it never happened.
A month or so ago he called me over as he and a couple friends were sitting in the driveway having some beers. I had been taking out the trash before going to sleep, and now my neighbor was offering me a beer. My wife had just gone to bed, plus in general I’m always excited to meet and see my neighbors, so I stopped over for a quick one. (Which did turn into two, but no more at that time.)
A week or two later I came home from work and was excited to see my wife and kids were over there hanging out. I hopped out of the car and joined them, and we chilled until after midnight - my youngest daughter took the picture above when she got ahold of my phone that night.
Since then our families have gotten together for a beach trip, barbecues, Labor Day and even a family gathering of theirs. We sit together in the night and spend time enjoying each others’ company. We share food, stories, music, all kinds of stuff - we feel very fortunate to have made friends with genuine and kind people so quickly after moving here.
I’ve always enjoyed learning new languages, albeit I’ve never mastered a second language…not even close. While it was never a language I thought I’d be capable of learning, my new neighbors have introduced me to Vietnamese, and having friends gives me reason to know how to say certain things, so I’m excited to try learning at least enough to be comfortable in light conversation.
Since I don’t want to turn every chance we have to chill into a language q&a, I figured I’d start using my commute to practice and learn. So far this means less car-fluting, but I’ve been really enjoying learning the language and using it in real life.
I’ve been using the app above, which lets me build a list of words and phrases, then plays them slowly on repeat - in English first, then in Vietnamese…so I can listen and repeat for 30 minutes in the morning and another half hour after work.
Here are some of the things I’ve been learning!
Currently I’m focusing on these words/phrases:
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*other online sources have indicated that the Vietnamese language doesn’t really use greeting that make distinction for time of day. I haven’t had a chance to try either of these yet, but will find out soon!
Additionally, I am using #hive to find posts written in both Tiêng Viêt and English to build recognition!
I really like my new friends a lot, and am excited to learn the nuances of their language so I can share experiences with them in a new way. I’m very excited to surprise them with my new phrases when I see them this weekend :)
Thanks for checking out some more of my work! As always, I hope you enjoyed witnessing as much as I enjoyed creating!
© Photos and words by 
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