here, there, everywhere

Happy 1000th birthday to one of my favorite places in the entire world! 

I'm not exaggerating when I say I think about Hanoi every day. Iain and I both miss it terribly, though we both know that in the year and a half that we've been away we've probably selectively remembered the good (our friends, our students, the endless bowls of pho and bun cha) and while letting the memories of the less good (the traffic, the pollution) blur somewhat. Hanoi was a place I was always unequivocally happy to be - and I met Iain there, so of course I romanticize it:  I can't think about the start of our relationship without thinking about the city. But I also love Hanoi independently of whatever parts of my own self-involved thoughts I project onto it - I loved walking or driving around aimlessly, people-watching, the alleyways I lived in, the way strangers would try to strike up conversations (this doesn't happen in Japan) or how you could always stumble across an amazing miniature cup coffee or a bowl of noodles. 

So, happy birthday to chaotic-but-beautiful, much-loved Hanoi! I hope the future only holds good things for you.