Hoi An

It's Christmas eve day in Hoi An, Vietnam. We arrived a few days ago and we're not sure we ever want to leave. So far we've just been doing a lot of walking around the town and visiting tailors. I can't believe it, but I'm getting a whole new wardrobe made for myself here. A new suit for the one time a year I have to wear suits, and a whole bunch of work clothes, since I haven't bought new clothes in about two years. The ladies making the bulk of my clothes are really fun, which is probably why I'm going overboard a little bit.

The food here is consistently some of the best I've had anywhere. We have yet to be really disappointed by a meal: fresh herbs and vegetables, delicious seafood and pork, scrumptious broths and interesting mixes of western and Asian dishes. And they have fresh bread! and one of their national dishes is a sandwich!

I'm making a real effort to relax and not think about work for this vacation. I was expecting work to be a little easier (I mean, it is my FOURTH YEAR for crying out loud), but things aren't turning out that way. At least I'm pretty sure that my busy-ness is productive this year. Anyway, some things I'm doing to keep my mind off of work include:

The Wim Hof Method- This is the iceman guy some of you may have heard of who does things like run marathons in extreme conditions (above the arctic circle and in the Namib desert with no water). I know it sounds crazy, but I like the effects. So far, it's just breathing exercises and light yoga, but it's pretty cool. After four days, I can already empty my lungs and go for 90 seconds without taking a breath; the most amazing thing to me is that after that, I just take one deep breath and then I can breathe regularly: no huffing and puffing.

Badland- The most fun I've ever had playing a game on my phone. The physics are really cool, puzzles are just hard enough, and there are loads of interesting ways to die. This game makes me laugh out loud.

The Windup Girl- Post-global-warming collapse speculative fiction. Finally found a new author I really like, unfortunately he only has two books out for adults so far.

So, I'm well entertained and my cells are fully charged with oxygen. We're heading out to the beach for the day to take a break from shopping. I'll try to post more with some pics next week. Happy holidays everyone!