Nha Trang Dec'12

As soon as I got into Nha Trang I called Denise and luckily she was in, Tri waited with me until she came to meet me. I was a little sad to say goodbye to him, not surprising really as he had been my constant companion for three days. Denise has gone through the same thing Nha Trang as I'd gone through in Phan Thiet, people moving on and life changing. Hildegaard is now in Phan Thiet, Becky is back in Australia and Alicia is moving to the U.K., so all that's left out of her originally group of friends is Mel. So it made sense for them to move into together, they have a small house down a quiet alley behind the main drag in the city. It was going to be my home too for the next few days. It felt as if I hadn't seen Denise in years rather than months, she knows how to wring every last drop from life, good and bad. We caught up over the course of days rather than that afternoon as there were other people there and then Hilde and her brother arrived, they were staying too. We went out in the evening, I think it's mandatory when I am there. As usual I ducked out and came home before everyone else. It's all in my mind that I don't fit in there but that affects how I interact with everyone until it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. Add into the fact that I don't like how I look at the moment and I feel like the fat girl hoping someone will ask her to dance. The next day was New Year's Eve and I did want to spend it with Denise. I could handle Christmas alone because here it doesn't feel like Christmas but New Year's is a whole different ball game. Luckily Denise went through her wardrobe and found me something to wear. She is so kind, she thinks I look better than I do myself, it's really good for my self esteem. Plus I went and had my hair coloured, the grey was getting to be too much and it's not a good look when the rest of my hair is so dark. We started with a few drinks in town but our main party was at Mia Resort. A friend of Denise's, Amy, works there and she had to work that night so the girls decided to party with her there. Amy was so generous, she had arranged food and drink for us at staff rates. After Mia it gets a bit hazy, I arrived back at the house about 3am and for once I wasn't the first home. I had a good New Year's. The first day of the year was spent quietly recovering, although we did all go out for a couple of drinks in the evening. I think that's the nature of Nha Trang, it's a party town and you can always find somewhere and someone to party with. In fact the next few days were generally quiet. Once I'd got over my hangover I was up at my usual time and would leave everyone sleeping in the house to go and have coffee. I walked, then borrowed Denise's bike and cycled a little. One morning I even managed to get some sunbathing time in. I always forget how different the weather in Nha Trang is from Phan Thiet. It's the rainy season here now and the days were generally grey and cloudy and even if very little rain actually fell there was always the possibility. The first Saturday was another party night and I promised Denise that I wouldn't go home early as I had other than New Year's Eve. I bought a dress and even I thought I looked good. I felt good too. It was a fun night, I am so glad that I have another opportunity to hang out with Denise. When I get to Japan I am not sure when I'll be able to get back and even if there will be people here to visit if I do come back. The expat life is so fluid with people always moving. My last few days in town were wet and miserable, I didn't stir very often outside of the house. Luckily the house has a covered outdoor patio area that is perfect to sit in and watch the rain. I left on an early bus on the 8th January, it had been good and I was sad to go. It would have been all too easy to stay.