Stuck in Hanoi!

A combination of bad weather, early transportation connections to get anywhere, general laziness, and an easy-to-like Hanoi has been the cause of my inability to get out of the city. Instead, I seem rather content to visit one Hanoi-sight a day and then sit in a cafe and watch the world pass me by.

Of course one of the benefits of this sloth is that I've had enough open time-slots in Hanoi to manage to hook up with my favorite newly-weds for a late night tea again. Since they got married, they've been doing non-stop family visits. Anyone who has lived abroad before knows that the short visits we get at home are invariably filled partially with obligatory visits (not saying that you don't enjoy them, but just that you have to do them either way.) Even I can attest to the fact that on short visits, balancing these obligations with the time you want to spend with family and trying to catch up with friends is no small task. Of course, for them, there is even more to do as they get home maybe once every year and a half.

If that's not enough, this trip back has been for the wedding and of course it entails all of the after-wedding thank you trips that are required in addition to the fact that all of a sudden, there are DOUBLE the obligations - two families becoming one and all that jazz. I'd never really thought of this idea actually - I mean, I knew of how difficult it could be to juggle the holidays for a couple, but I'd just never put two and two together to realize that rare trips back home would be doubly busy!

In any case, super happy they have made the time out to see me yet again. I'll try to be better and get out of Hanoi, so they have one less (lazy foreign wedding guest) obligation to think about! :)