After working around Asia as well as Hawaii, I have retired with my wife (who is Vietnamese) to the quiet and tranquil countryside of southern Vietnam. We live near the city of Ba Ria which is also close to the beach resort of Vung Tau. We have a nice size garden which needs perpetual maintenance, and I have started a banana grove. I currently have two bunches of bananas getting ready for the eating, about one month and two months to go.
I was raised in the country in Northern California so worked in the peach orchids and tomato farm when I was growing up. After I graduated from Chico State (now renamed California State University at Chico), I attended Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) as an exchange student with the California State Overseas Student Program. After 1-1/2 years at Waseda University, I was drafted in the U.S. Army and spent 2-1/2 years in Vietnam in the Military Intelligence field. Upon conclusion of my military obligation I went back to Waseda University to learn more Japanese and then went 2 years to graduate school at Sophia University. I worked as the overseas manager for a Japanese engineering company, then was the Director for the State of Mississippi Office in Tokyo. Subsequently, I represented Californian Agriculture in Japan and Korea; had my own business in Japan. Then, moved back to the U.S. and worked for Home Depot in California and Hawaii.
I have taught English in Vietnam at a vocational training college, but have since fully retired and have enjoyed riding around the countryside on a motor scooter with my wife. We have also made a number of friends in the area and we enjoy meeting with them over food and/or coffee.