I have good news! I have arrived at the volunteer guest house, and have been met by a very friendly chap who is also apparently my boss at the pagoda.
I have come from busy, mean scary Hanoi to run-down, basic, but friendly Hanoi and feel much better about the next 4.5 weeks. I also visited the Embassy again this morning, and have ordered a new passport which should arrive in 10 days time - the photo is of make up less-distressed-abandoned tammie, and is not at all flattering (!!) but this there is currently nothing I care less about! I don't have the time to write properly now, but I thought I'd say that all is well again. The rain has also passed and it is very sunny here - time to crack out the factor 50+!
Also, I am having a lot of trouble accessing facebook at the moment, but this page seems to be fine. Will write soon xxx
Glad to see you are smiling again. You should be proud of your accomplishments thus far and hope to hear you shining brighter than the Hanoi sun. Always in my prayers, Stuwy xxxxxxxx
ReplyDelete:) The upside (or downside) of that passport photo - you only have to carry it for the next 10 years then you get to change it!!! :) Life will settle soon - although I suspect it does not feel like it right now. Everything may feel strange for the first few days and the best thing to do is to get self into a routine (most especially after the past few days of yuckiness). That will add a balance back that will begin to feel more familiar in a foreign land.
ReplyDeleteAs you start work in the orphanage that will offer another perspective on your crash course into life outside the UK. Remember you are 'living it large' but more importantly 'living it strong'! Strength itself is borne out of our ability to deal with times when we feel vulnerable. TV has a lot to answer for. We watch from our comfortable existence other places and spaces but the reality is often different - and this is the University of Life that you have entered into. All that you will experience will enrich you in so many different ways - blending the good with the bad and sprinkling the in-between.
Time to focus on your mission. Get that beautiful camera out. Start snapping the world through the eyes of Tammie. These moments will pass you by just this once. They are not to be wasted. They are to be embraced, cherished and experienced. It is these that will change your perspective and you will see the beauty of the world and all its people (even the nasty ones do have some good inside - and sometimes their need is greater than ours - despite the largeness of your recent charity 'donation')
I want you to know how very proud we are of you. In fact I want the world to know that. I want you to know that you are loved and cherished beyond the words I can scribble on here for your consumption. In the lonely moments know too that, that is but a state of mind, and not always a state of being. Draw on the memory moments of your life and journey through some of the happier moments - like feeding the Longleat goats :) Remember it is what we do with all we experience that matters - we can allow it to make us bitter and we can create a pity party where we are the only attendee .... or we can allow it to shape our minds into the beauty and wonderment of who we are, find things that we never thought we were capable of, we can surprise ourselves, we meet new situations that are not new for long.
Practical advice - Eat well - Drink loads (preferably water to rehydrate) - Sleep peacefully - all these are the foundation to our thoughts on the world around us. Write your journal honestly - conversation (even written with ourselves) is part of who we are.
Our love transcends the miles and embraces your every moment.
Mum xxxxxx
Right so i'm in the torture chamber about to embark on page..120 of Wuthering Heights in order to get ahead of myself. I also need to do 2 law cases a day for the rest of the week, maybe if i get in the work mindset now it won't be a shock in september when I have a full timetable again!!
ReplyDeleteI have Matthew Russell on facebook chat, capital lettering me at the fact he can't comment on your blog? I shall call and talk the old man through it, bless him, apparently technology developments are moving to fast for your generation. Either that or I think you need to open it up so that everyone can comment on it.
So I start at the conservative club tomorrow at 11am-3pm (easy much?) And then I have the solicitors calling at 3:30-4pm (ish?) so that I can sue the backside off of the dentist. I am also out club chapliencing on saturday night and that is the extent of my life at the moment.
ooo i made mum and i pancakes today, they were yummy and beasty, I decided I was bored/hungry - well one or the other, or maybe both? anyway I wondered into the kitchen to find out we were running low on eggs - my aim to make cakes was SHATTERED!! So pancakes it was.
I've also taken to not watching the crime and investigation channel why you are away, I'm finding the OC a little more lighthearted to watch before I sleep, however this does not give you permission to end up on crimewatch which is on at the start of september!! Yes? Good.
I love this blogging thing, I can say what I want and you can't argue back at me?
-I pause here to give Matthew Russell the lime light...-
Matthew:
boom
thanks
your sister is a rockstar, I read her blog on the train today, I loved it
Back to the best person, ME!
We have it down to two doggies: This is Buscuit, he is the snow dog look-a-like/wanna-be! http://www.battersea.org.uk/dogs/biscuit.html
And then this is George, the roles in the neck one:
http://www.battersea.org.uk/dogs/george_1.html
See which one you like, personally I'm rooting for George! Well it's 8:43 and that means it's nearly jack time which means i get to put off Wuthering heights for a little bit longer - YEY! I'm so hoping that "Jane Eyre" and "Great Expectations" are no as hard graft as this one is. Well I say hard graft, I have 3 or 4 pages where I have no clue what they saying, who the hell is saying it or what an earth is going on and then I have a bit where I get excited because I understand it... Determination!! Grrr.
I had a good rummage as well, I've so far borrowed a hat, and a bag, I don't dare wear your shoes because I might stretch them or infect them with MY FEEET!!! :-)
I love you lots big sister xxx
From Emily Tidball via Facebook Wall:
ReplyDelete" i've tried posting on the blog but haven't managed it yet due to rubbish phone and computer. I have sent a couple of texts though. Don't know if she's got them but she's probably been inundated!"
From Emily Pt 2:
ReplyDelete"hmmm, must check I've got the number right. Tell Tams that Jumpy Balls always said 'keep on keeping on' and send my love. I'll check the number"
I'm with Sam right now...and we read with shock and awe. Good work on mingling with the locals. As a culture, we Asian people are gentle and friendly and definitely really good at scams and stealing. Also, communist Vietnam = blocked facebook.....Dude get with it!
ReplyDeleteStay alive and enjoy the delicious 'pha'
Regards
Terence
I feel like you personal PA :)))) Another message for you -
ReplyDeleteImpressive Tam!!
I've had many experiences whilst traveling - but not that one! that takes the biscuit - and it all happened before you had time for tea! there's nothing like getting any yucky bits out of the way and leaving you free to enjoy the great bits.
But, how proud I am of YOU! No matter how hard we fall, it's such a strength when you can turn lemons into lemonade, fantastic! Each moment is a gift, even though it might not always be what we want!. Savor it and keep faith in the goodness.. "May the force always be with you".
There is so much more to your experience, right now, than you realize. You are a passenger on an amazing journey, and the destination is the journey - as much, or more than - just a journey simply leading to a destination!
Remember...
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Helen Keller
"A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl." Stephan Hoeller
As dismaying, or inconvenient, as this experience has been, realize that, like everything else, it too shall pass, and something new will emerge, expect something MAGNIFICENT!
Take comfort in that no matter how hard we fall, sunshine comes after showers.
To the extent you can risk being open to life, you can derive continual benefits, even in the most difficult circumstances.
Keep on breathing in the awesomeness of life!
You Have An Awesome Life!
If there is anything - ANYTHING - I can do - just ask, or phone and I'll call you back.
love'npeas
'tanti fi
xxxxxxxxx
Michelle Quick writes .....
ReplyDelete"Please also pass on my thoughts and prayers to Tammie. In a small way I know what she is going through (although I won't post details here!) which is why reading this made me cry.I think she's being amazing in ways I couldn't be, and I so admire her courage and bravery. I have tried to comment on her blog but I can't get it to work!!! ( Although in doing so managed to change my home page....lol). I will be following her story though and remembering you all in prayer and who knows by November might be able to get that blog to work!!!!"
Lots of love