I have a secret that I only just tonight shared with my husband. There’s a part of me that wishes we would find ourselves faced with the opportunity to live in Viet Nam for an extended period of time. There is something about leaving behind all of this American life and experiencing Viet Nam from a different level that is incredibly appealing. Honestly, this is shocking to me. I’m a homebody, I love my friends and family and don’t like to go long without seeing them, yet I have a secret desire to live on the other side of the world!

Some American adoptive families who take up residence in Viet Nam are there because they are offered no choice. If there is a NOID granted to their child and the United States decides that the child is not an orphan by their standards and refuses the child’s visa, the family cannot return home with them. They may choose to move to Viet Nam and wait out the couple of years it takes for them to be able to enter the US as a family. Still others choose Viet Nam to make their home for varied reasons.

By adopting a Vietnamese child I feel linked to the country of her birth. Perhaps it’s a dream of ‘getting away from it all’ or maybe I’m intrigued by the idea of Ella experiencing her birth country first hand without feeling like a jet lagged, out of place tourist or the fact that the International Schools look wonderful. Regardless, I doubt we’ll be packing up and heading to Viet Nam to stay (now my mom can breathe a sigh of relief!) but it’s still a thought I’ll hang on to. Does anyone else share thoughts like these?

If you’re like me and want to take a look into what it might be like to live as an American in Viet Nam, check out these sites:

Expat Vietnam offers classified ads and information for expatriates (people who live temporarily or permanently outside of their country/culture of legal residence.)

Allo’Expat offers advice and classified for expats in Viet Nam.

Living in Viet Nam is a great site full of useful information for expatriates.

Expat Women helps all women living outside of their home country with a variety of resources and forums to talk with others living a similar experience. Their Viet Nam specific webpage is full of useful links.

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