Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

What are some of your favorite memories of your time in Viet Nam?

The Engelbrecht Family - Cyclo rides, Hoa Long Bay, trip to our daughter's province

Christina - The best parts were the times when Zeeb was happy and smiling and having fun, even if the kids were just playing with toys in our room or on the hotel playground. But when we went out, the biggest hits were the Water Puppets and Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, the shopping and the zoo in HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City,) and the day/night we spent at the beach in Long Hai.

The Mynes Family - Meeting our son for the first time. Eating lunch with the officials and orphanage director of Ha Tinh. The food was a little scary but it was interesting and we felt very important. All the wonderful shops and shopping. Meeting other families that were there adopting . When we were in Viet Nam there were also 7 other families there too from Asian Children Servies. Going to visit Bac Ninh orphanage for the day. The PA boys choir was touring in Viet Nam at the same time we were there so we got to go see them sing at the opera house. All the wonderful restaurants.

Were there any experiences you had in Viet Nam that you would choose to NOT repeat?

The Engelbrecht Family - none

Christina - We were not very adventurous, so we didn’t have any really bad experiences… the worst parts were when Zeeb would throw a huge tantrum in the middle of a restaurant or while we were shopping. I’d definitely choose not to repeat those parts. :)

The Mynes Family - Our time in Viet Nam was very pleasant. I got very sick when we were there and I forgot to pack cough medicine. I was coughing so bad I thought I had pneumonia. Hoa (on staff with our agency) took me to a pharmacy that was just this hole in the wall place and the guy gave me some pills for my cough. I took them once and they made me so stomach sick I flushed them and never took them again. I think it was because the pills were a very strong dose, too strong for me. I will never forget to pack cough medicine again!

Related Reading:
View of Viet Nam: Museum of Ethnology
View of Viet Nam: Water Puppet Show
View of Viet Nam: Nagu Bear

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