As I prepared for the trip to Vietnam over winter break, I was also reflecting on 2014 in preparation for the New Year to create my resolutions. In doing so, one of my main goals for 2015 was to be more happy through living in the moment. I was so excited to be starting off the new year with this trip to Vietnam and this week has been full of happy moments in a variety of forms.
Our first excursion was to visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Our bus pulled up along side buses carrying huge groups of Vietnamese children visiting the Mausoleum for a school field trip. As each group of children passed by, their eyes lit up and every child was waving and screaming “hello!”. They each repeated over and over as if they were saying it to each person in the group individually and, occasionally, a child would get up the courage to yell “What’s you’re name?” or “How are you?”. It brought such a smile to my face to see the reactions of all these children and I wanted to meet and talk to each one! Never in my life had I felt like more of a celebrity. To see the awe and excitement these children experienced seeing us brought me back to the innocence of childhood.
On Saturday we had a free day and a large group of us planned an excursion to the Bai Dinh Pagoda, the location of the largest pagoda and Buddha statue in Vietnam. Just being here surrounded by the mountain scenery and fresh air immediately created a sense of serenity peace. Being here, a place so scared and holy to so many people, made me just feel extremely blessed and happy to be alive. As I watched women pray at the statues it just reminded me of all I had to be thankful for that allowed me to be standing there in that moment.
Sunday, we traveled to Halong Bay which was one of the most breathtaking places that I have ever been. The day we arrived was overcast and rainy but we pushed through the bad weather and took small boats out to explore the fishing village. Even in the pouring rain, the whole place was so tremendous and beautiful. To reflect on the history of the place and how many millions of years went by in which nature was slowly creating the natural wonder is so humbling. The next morning as we all sat on the sun deck with the sun warming our faces and the sea air all around us I felt pure bliss that is so rare. It was a moment that can’t be recreated with material things; in that moment nothing else mattered. It was the perfect end to the first week of this amazing journey. I can’t wait to experience all the happiness that this next week will bring exploring the city of Hoi An.
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