Summary
Summary
"A lighthearted memoir of new friends, delicious food, and culture shock . . . A brisk chronicle of a family's (mis)adventures in Vietnam" ( Kirkus Reviews ).
During the 2008 recession, Karin Esterhammer was laid off from her job as a travel writer for the Los Angeles Times . No longer able to afford their comfortable lifestyle, she and her husband sold everything they had, rented out their house, and took their young autistic son to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. They thought that teaching English and living cheap for a year would help get them back on their feet.
Boy, were they wrong . . .
So Happiness to Meet You is the funny, inspiring, and eye-opening true account of one family's quest to regain their financial footing while living anything but the high life. Esterhammer tells of her family's trials, adventures, and victories in adapting to a foreign culture, overcoming the language barrier, and enduring the kind of heat and humidity that could drive a soul insane. She also paints an endearing portrait of neighbors who unabashedly stared into windows, kept cockroaches for luck, taught Karin how to shop and cook, and ultimately helped her find joy without Western trappings.
Full of love, laughter--and a surprising amount of barbecued rat--this is a "loopy adventure and charming cautionary tale for anyone who's ever dreamed of packing it in and starting over somewhere new" (Mark Haskell Smith, author of Naked at Lunch and Baked ).
Reviews (1)
Library Journal Review
When faced with the loss of her job during the U.S. recession, author -Esterhammer and her husband decide on a get-rich-quick scheme to rent out their L.A. house and live in Vietnam for a year at a fraction of the price. Excited at the prospect of living luxuriously while saving money, they find upon arrival that the rent in Ho Chi Minh City has jumped and they can only afford property in one of the poorest districts. In their year-which stretches into almost three years-abroad, Esterhammer, her husband, and son are threatened with a lawsuit from their renters, battle massive cockroaches, confront heat and flooding, and fall in love with their quirky and uninhibited neighbors. From the little children that run into their house as soon as the door opens to the neighbor who sells heavenly iced coffee to the sounds of karaoke going till midnight, the people they meet prove to be unexpected and unforgettable. Esterhammer creates laugh-out-loud moments of at times daunting or utterly embarrassing experiences. -VERDICT An energetic mix of wry humor and heartwarming moments, this engaging account will appeal to armchair travelers and memoir lovers alike in its representation of the people and culture of Vietnam and Esterhammer's experience of a lifetime.-Stacy Shaw, Orange, CA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.