Old journal..

Dear friend,
Just found this draft hidden somewhere on my computer.

March 9^th 2012

Dear friends,

For the last three weeks, I was in Vientiane, Lao PDR for a business trip.  During this time, I have had the, you know, typical ups and downs, emotionally. But one thing certain that I have learned from this trip is that I should be proud of myself, for doing the work I do and being able to identify solutions for the challenges I have encountered with.

This trip was the first business trip that I have been assigned to, that is longer than a week and that I am going alone. Luckily, I was sent here to Vientiane where language isn’t really a problem because I am Thai. They even accept Thai currency here. But the planning for this trip was quite painful. It was quite a short period of time. There was problem with my credit card. I was constantly worrying about whether the trip would be okay or not. But here I am at the end of the trip, heading back home to Bangkok before going back to the dearly beloved Hong Kong (umm… that was sarcasm, just FYI).

First few days were quite exciting. There were places to see, all the temples and history to learn about Laos. Yes, I have been here before, but I was young and did not care to learn too much about how things become the way it is right now. So there were so much to learn and explore, and I was ready to tackle all that.

At the office, things were slow. I did the basic stuff, administrative and preparation of the officer operations. People were welcoming me and I did not feel out of place. Afterall, I did meet all these people before but only for a short period of time.

Let me get into the reasons why I said I was proud of myself (then I will tell you why there are things that I am disappointed with as well). I was proud of myself for being there. For being ready to challenge myself to work alone in places I am not familiar with. For working hard and trying my best for the project.

During this trip I have got many compliments from many people i.e. “you’re a strong woman… always go somewhere far away from home. Studying in Seattle, working in Hong Kong and coming to Viangchan alone.” This reminds me of what my grandma said last time I was home. She said, “I raised you to be a strong, independent woman, who won’t be scared of anything. I made you play with guns rather than dolls!” But there I was getting this compliment from the lady that sold me some postcards and stamps, and she just happened to over see my postcards to Seattle.

More than half a year late.
I know I have another one. Stay tune!

Best,
Emily