Melanie’s ready to hit the highway in a vintage motorcycle sidecar in Phong Nha, Vietnam
DANANG, VIETNAM – This month marks a milestone for us on our world travels. Three years ago, on June 15, 2017, we bid farewell to our home of 25 years in Western Washington state and set off with one-way tickets to Edinburgh, Scotland intending to travel around the UK for a couple months.
Ten weeks later we hopped back across the water to the U.S. to visit friends and family on the East Coast and the Midwest. Then, after two months in the Seattle area wrapping up some final loose ends, we flew off to Asia.
Happy readers get together at a recent meeting of the Da Nang Book Club (photo: Da Nang Book Club/Meetup)
DA NANG, VIETNAM – This week Melanie and I attended a meeting of our local book club, where we discussed the works of Haruki Murakami, a Japanese author who has penned several novels and collections of short stories. His works have been translated into 50 languages and have sold millions of copies around the world.
The book group gets together about once a month to discuss a specific title, author, writing genre or topic. Past reading themes have included science fiction and fantasy, short stories by Vietnamese authors, spiritual books, great writers in 1920s Paris, humor and more.
Fellow readers bring a wide range of experience
Attendance varies from one meeting to the next, but there are always people from a variety of backgrounds and experience… young people teaching English and other subjects at local private schools, expats working remotely as they wander the world, retirees like Melanie and myself, and local Vietnamese citizens looking to expand their horizons beyond the borders of their homeland.
This past week’s group included expats from Australia and America, as well as a handful of Vietnamese from around the country, and ranged in age from early 20s to nearly 70 years old.
As always, the monthly book, author or genre is the starting point for our discussions, which can often be quite lively as everyone weighs in with their opinions.
It’s OK if you haven’t read the current book
Reading the current selection is not necessarily a requirement for attendance at the gatherings. In fact, it’s often the case that as many as half (or more) of the attendees have not read the book being discussed.
All that’s really required is a willingness to connect with other people and express honest opinions about whatever the discussion brings.
Our conversations always range far and wide from the initial beginning, veering off into personal experience, expat life, cultural differences and more.
Among the most valuable takeaways from our meetings are the recommendations from attendees of other books and topics to check out.
Coming as we do from such diverse backgrounds, it’s literally like tapping into a vast window on the world of literature.
Join us at the next meeting for lively conversation
Learn about the next Danang Book Club meeting on Facebook or on Meetup.
A woman in a traditional conical hat and Western dress sells flowers from her bicycle in HanoiA motorcycle-mounted vendor sells tropical fish on the street in Hanoi
DA NANG, VIET NAM – “Banh Bao! Banh Bao!” A pre-recorded shout echoes off the neighboring buildings as the motorcycle food peddler putt-putts down the street. Flames burst from the back of his side-saddle warming oven. On top of the oven is a glass case filled with warm, yummy steamed buns.
For a foreigner from a Western country, seeing open flames from a motorcycle-mounted wood-fired oven… Well, that is just plain crazy!
But it’s just another typical everyday occurrence in this Vietnamese city.
