Our journey stays the same (part 2)

In the city we're all in love with

Our journey stays the same

October Updates

It has been one week and four days since the National Championships. I should have written something here just to quickly update the blog. So here it is.

My partner and I finished the comps with decent results, which are somehow better that what I had expected. We got a bronze medal in Paso Doble (each dance is counted an individual competition) and overall ranked 5th in Grade A. I had to admit my confidence before the champs went down to a very low level. For a week I seriously suffered from sleep deprivation and the pressure of having the routines (plus the dresses) done. Nobody really knew that during the practice session one day before the comp, I was intimidated by, weirdly enough, almost every couple I saw. That night, I stayed up until 5 A.M to put rhinestones on my three dresses. Unfortunately, at about 3 A.M, the most disastrous thing happened: I completely ruined my most favourite black dress when trying to fix it up. It was terrible going to bed not knowing what I was going to wear the next day. I got up two hours later, asked my Mom to help me out with decorating the dresses at the very last minute (she is amazing at sewing/knitting and stuff) and went back to sleep after finding myself nose-bleeding. All those events sound horrible but in fact, I love dancing and competitions because of those tiring sleepless nights and all that jazz. Believe me once you stop competing because you think you're wasting your time on some stupid dance acts, you'll be missing it so badly.

We did well in the comp - the adrenaline kept us going even though for more than once my mind was blank and my muscles were tired. At the end of the day we felt truly happy and proud of ourselves.

I finally had a good sleep that night.

Panic!!!!

13 days to National Champs.
I'm panicking right now.
Once I thought it would be OK to pratise five dances in one month , once I thought I'd have plenty of time for my dresses.
But the clock is ticking and I'm far behind schedule.
One more routine still undone. The rest is waiting to be polished.
I'm picking up my gowns tomorrow and hopefully things are gonna turn out better.

September Updates

I'm writing this note just to say that I'm so satisfied with everything right now and that the two months I've spent at home have been amazing (though there were lots of ups downs).

I'm still sick but today might be a good day as my granddad is finally coming home after a week at hospital. It's has been eight months since things totally changed for my family. Challenges kept coming one after another, mentally and physically. I would never forget the nights when I was so sure that Mom and my uncles were sleepless back home. Unable to do anything, I watched "La Maison en Petits Cubes" and cried. Looking back at that time, I think I'll never question the power of love and a strong family bond. Whatever may happen in the future, at least he's still with us now and we're happy.

Friends. There're not enough words to describe how thankful I am to have friends like you. Friends who I haven't seen or won't be seeing in a long time. Friends who stay with me through both hardness and joyful moments. Friends who inspire me so much without them being aware of it. Friends who tell me their utmost private stories, I'm really honoured. Friends who encourage and believe in what I can do.

Talking about Hanoi, I'm pretty much the lamest person you can find. It's cool to have friends that are obsessed with this city the same way I am :)). I simply love those afternoons driving around the Old Quarter. We get foods and drinks on the street, spend little money on little boutiques along the way, go to galleries and museums and head towards West Lake just to have some fresh air and observe how people enjoy their time after work. Whenever I forget my helmet, Sơn tells me this: there's one rule in the Old Quarter, that is people DON'T wear helmets! We laugh but always ends up getting one somewhere. Once we popped into the Water Puppet Theatre and was quite impressed by how the show has changed to become really funny and original, then I suddenly realised that there are so much more you can get from this chaotic city, and that you can fall in love with it all over again because of all the littlest things somehow you accidentally ignore to see.

My plan: For people who are wondering what I'm doing at the moment, the answer is: enjoying life. I'm not an always-lucky-and-happy girl but the key to happiness is thinking positively and it works for me. In a short term, I'm gonna do what I enjoy doing the most, which is dancing. Competitions and results might not make sense all the time, but DANCING ITSELF DOES.

At least I'm here

Another challenge, this is so emotionally hard, but mostly for my Mom and my family. Hope that we can get through this together.

It's been such a long time since I last lay on my bed reading a good book like this. After all the hustle and bustle of summer, it's time to slow things down and enjoy a competition-free period. I'm starting to love this transitioning season for how it reminds me of high school life. Once again this nostalgic feeling comes everytime I think how quickly time passes by and how differently my beloved friends live their lives.
Lately, I've been having stirring emotions over several people and events. The was an element of fear and disbelief, strong enough that I was scared of following the path I chose. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to that time, when we had simple dreams and a genuine feeling of belongingness.