As I begin this blog and the first installment of my impressions about my recent trip to Vietnam and Thailand, John Lennon’s lyrics instantly come to mind:
"Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right in the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead"
(Lennon never minces words)
Did you ever have that feeling that there was something out there for which you would someday connect with that would make sense of your life’s journey of twist and turns, and along the way you found yourself taking small steps to get wherever our journey was taking you and then
BANG, one day it “knocks you right on the head”.
And so it was our adventure to Thailand and Vietnam. Lynn Edwards with HRG North America who was also on the trip with approximately 100 other buyers from China, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa and Australia, joined me in a discussion about Karma as a few of us sailed down the Mekhong River in Vietnam having no real idea of where we were heading but knowing that Diethelm Events never let us down when it came to wonderful surprises along the way.
Our lives are sometimes like that. We go to school, get degrees and plan for the future but really never knowing what is coming around the corner. Life has been like that, born of a Mother from Casablanca, North Africa who spoke French and served couscous for dinner and who, my childhood companions, perhaps thought we all came from a different planet.
We were a little different in middle class post war Levittown Pennsylvania. Many of the people living there came from the closed coal mines from up north to work at US Steel plant along the Delaware River, the river that General Washington had crossed to crush the invading Hessian
army in Trenton NJ.
Not long ago US army platoons were sailing down this Mekhong River fearing for their lives and seeking out VC. Here we are sailing down this same river waiving to passing sampans carrying families and their goods as they travel from village to village. Along the banks we can see shelters that serve as homes as well as work places. Here villagers are eking out a living, preparing daily meals from the rice and vegetables of the nearby fertile fields of the Mekong Delta, fixing motors that run their boats or fans that keep them cool, or generators that run their
TV sets.
Twenty miles south of Levittown, down the Delaware I enrolled at Temple University where I found myself at International House of Philadelphia meeting students from around the world and planning student trips to cities across the USA during university breaks. I enrolled for one year of studies at the University of Bordeaux, among other reasons, to broaden my world view and learn a little more about my French heritage. Returning and finishing my degree at Temple, I exchanged my VW bug for a bus ride to Thunderbird Graduate School of International
Management in Glendale Arizona.
It was a terrible time to be 19 years old. Not many of us wanted to win the lottery back then. On my way to the airport in Portland I met a Vietnam Veteran on the Tri Met light rail. He was in a powerchair with two oxygen canisters and tubes running up to his nose. He wore a Navy cap and had a flag tied to his powerchair. He shared with me that he was a victim of Agent Orange. He was curious about my trip and I was curious about his experience over there.
He signed up for two tours. I thanked him for his service. He thanked me for thanking him. I thanked God for what I now know as karma for binging me to this place and time..
Forty years have passed since I knew of the Mekong Delta from the news in those days. Perhaps much has not changed here in more than 100 years with the exceptions of the two wars. We stop at a village along the way where rice cakes are being made and participate in the popping of the rice over an oven that is fueled by the shell of a fruit that is enjoyed by villagers. Nothing is wasted in this land. Everything is recycled for another use. We enjoy our
rice cake and local fruit drink and again are on our way.
Albert Camus, Antoine de Saint-Exupery and my mother’s constant complaint about Philadelphia winters eventually inspired me to fly south to seek sand, sea and sun in Miami where Time Magazine once called the city the “Casablanca of North America”. It was in Miami that my wonderful daughter Veronique was born. Hablamos Espanol en Miami, ella se llama Veronica. To me alone she is now known as my lovely Vero. Miami was my jumping off point for sales missions to Central and South America as well as to Europe calling on travel agents
to send me business as DOSM of several South Florida Resorts. The rivers we travel to do our trade are now in the clouds 30,000 feet above our planet Earth.
Along the Mekhong River there are coffin makers, furnaces for baking brick, wooden sampans so laden with goods that you would think that they would sink. And you would find hidden behind the brush these wonderful Vietnamese tiny villas with high ceilings and colorful bright window shutters open to the breeze that finds its way down this brown river carrying all the scents of
the lush green exotic tropical jungle found in this region that is also our world.
On the road as many times as I was, and single again, out of the blue I meet this beautiful and wonderful Chinese Indonesian hotelier, Juliadi Two, at a trade show in Washington DC and soon after we wed in Singapore, my first trip to Asia. And then we meet Marguerite who is of Vietnamese descent, adopted by an American diplomat after the war, well traveled and a joy to be with and who convinced us to move from South Florida to Portland on the banks of the Willamette River to enjoy the good life of Portland, Oregon.
What is it about being on or near the water? Certainly it is a route that takes you from one place to another. I felt like I was on more than a journey to wherever we were headed. I felt lifted from the present to another world of endless possibilities. Karma has been good to me to bring me to this river of life that provides nourishment to nearby rice fields, a sense of belonging to my soul and so happy to have taken the journey that has led me here. A confirmation of who I am, from where I have come, and where I am going.
"What in the world you thinking of?
Laughing in the face of love
What on Earth you tryin' to do?
It's up to you Yeah, you"
Three years ago “Ground Hogs Day” syndrome of hospitality sales and marketing management hit me and I began to explore new opportunities. Conferon Global Services was my pick. The
“Global” part really tugged at my heart with the globe of the earth right on my calling card. Okay, so we changed our name a year later to Experient and the globe disappeared but then I meet Ping He from China our Director of International Market Development and I had a new mentor among others and my faith was restored for having joined Experient.
This trip down the Mekhong River has restored my faith in nature and the human race. Nature is resilient, for one can imagine how many times this river has overflowed its banks and yet the jungle flourishes and the people survive. This land has survived more than 100 years of war by
the French and Americans and yet we are genuinely welcomed by the villagers and with smiles and waves from those who pass us traveling down the river. Karma has finally been good to these people who love their land and who are proud to be who they are.
Back in Portland, life’s journey put me on the Board of the Portland-Suzhou Sister City Association driving around media from Suzhou China. I am visiting Hong Kong and Singapore meeting with tourism, convention center and meeting professionals. I am accepting an invitation by Diethelm Events and the governments of Thailand and Vietnam to familiarize myself with
their countries, culture, venues as well as meeting with their travel and tourism officials.
"Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna hit you right in the face
You better get yourself together darling
Join the human race!"
As our Portland based company down the street from me says, “Just do it!” I am just so
surprised to look back at those “just do it” moments. Most of the time I wonder if I am just crazy and I never cease to surprise people who know me. They don’t realize how surprised I am myself.
I was truly surprised to find ourselves at this beautiful French Villa at the end of our journey. It reminded me of Hemingway’s home in Key West where the outdoors and indoors share common space with the surrounding gardens and every corner is more interesting than the
next. We were graciously served lunch by the owner and her staff dressed in traditional Vietnamese silk gowns. Here East met West and I felt quite at home in this French Vietnamese setting among mostly Americans who were on this extended tour. I never felt so at peace with myself. This is where I want to be from this day forward, not bounded by politics or history or war. This is my planet, my world, my market place. Go global!
This journey down the Mekhong River would make for a wonderful full day experience.
Approximately one and half hour road journey via highway from Saigon with rest stop at an upscale craft store. Diethelm plans for a wonderful midmorning snack on the covered sampan and makes several stops along the way at a number of villages for refreshments and snacks and an opportunity to meet the local villagers with a final stop at a colonial French Vitenamese villa for a memorable and tasty late afternoon lunch.
To be continued: Suzhou, China and their 30th Annivrsary as a Sister City, Tiger Hill, The Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou Art Musem, Shangri-La Grand Hotel, Huanxiu Resort and Spa, World Expo, Shanghai, Saigon, War Museum, Bangkok, The Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, the River of the Kings, Chiang Mai, the Elephant Camp, Five Star Hotels including the Peninsula, the Oriental, the Shangri-La and the Four Season Hotel and the Five Star service of Diethelm Events.
