Barriers were meant to be broken.

I didn’t come to Vietnam with any expectations other than hoping the coffee was as good as they say it is.

I didn’t assign a level of difficulty to learning the language, loving the food, or anything else. My thought was simple: I love food, and I love to eat. So, if I find something that tastes good, then I’m good to go.

I figured if I could just learn one or two words, then that would be a start.

What’s amazing to me is that I didn’t think it would happen the way it’s happening. Meaning, the words I have to use every day are the ones I’m learning first.

Before I left the United States, I only had two words down, which were hello and bye-bye. LOL. But since I got here, I’ve adopted a few more words. And before you read them, it’s not a whole lot. Well, at least not yet.

Yesterday, I learned Xin lỗi, which means sorry. I keep running into people, partially because they’re smaller and I’m bigger, and partially because of my eye situation. So I figured this was the next basic word I needed to learn.

I also wanted to learn thank you, so Cảm ơn was naturally mixed in.

I also learned Cà phê sữa đá because I love the coffee!

This is an experience for me every day, and honestly, I’m trying to slow down and take it all in because it’s happening so fast. It’s like a new adventure every single day.

Daylight saving time kicked in back in the States, so we’re now 12 hours ahead. I’m writing this around 5:30 AM in Vietnam on the back porch. The sun is rising, and there’s a cool breeze flowing across the patio.

I’ve got drip coffee in the house and some Vietnamese snack sticks that remind me of Pepperidge Farm praline snack sticks. They pair amazingly well with coffee!

So I don’t see any barriers. I just see opportunity. I see new experiences. I see new relationships.

And maybe that’s the beauty of stepping outside of what’s familiar. You realize there’s so much more to experience when you’re willing to try.

I’m here to enjoy the journey, one word and one experience at a time.