10. Fresh air!

9. watching the Mekong river go by

8. The sunsets on the mekong, different every day.

7. Biking past the forest temple, seeing people herd cows and buffalos in the late afternoon sun

6. Having hamburgers at Milford’s New York Bistro and Vietnamese food at namnueng deang and having vietnamese curry at the little vietnamese place with pictures of her children graduating on the wall and the bowlegged Siamese cat that likes to be cuddled like a baby on his back, and the vietnamese woman who makes Jok, and and her husband who makes Radna, and the Issan guys who makes roast chicken on a spit, and the snobby woman who makes fruit juices and the fat waitress who recommends all the best food at Dee Dees and the roti place which is so popular you have to order 1 hour ahead of time!

5. My little room, listening to the storms outside at night, opening the windows to let in the night air, watching a million seasons of America’s next top model on the cable

4. Bicycle riding at night to 7 when it’s so quiet

3. Bicycle riding at sunset in the villages outside, all the kids waving at you like you’re a superstar, the deep, deep beauty of the countryside

2. Temple fairs! Issan music and dancing, and funny Issan guys with checkered shirts

2b) Thasadej market

2c) Antonio’s Italian cafe, his expresso

2d) running into everyone at the Vegetarian restaurant

2e) The delicious smell of soi Mutmee

2f) Poon and Valerie and Julian and Ae and Anton and David andJustins and Pim Jong-Il and Kevin — all these great people!

2g) Don and Jiim, who run my building, how hard Jiim works

2h) The Sunday night market, with its puppies and limes and chicken embryos and “touk yang yi sip baht” stores

2i) The Haisoke Club Tai chi group!

1) The fresh air, the clarify of the light which falls on this part of the world like no where else, the wide open sky, serenity.

(source: http://goeastyoungwoman.wordpress.com/2 ... nong-khai/)