The book has begun

I've been finding it difficult to motivate myself recently. It's boring being home alone and unfortunately I've picked up a cold and am feeling suitably sorry for myself. I had hoped to go to another Zumba class this evening but decided that the honourable thing to do would be to stay at home and keep my germs to myself. I managed to get a little work done though, in the form of an introduction for my book. One thousand words done and only another 49,000 to go. Still, it's good to make a start on the epic task despite how daunting it all seems from this point. Times like this are testing for me; with no one else to watch over me it's so easy to find a distraction or an excuse not to work, and I find it necessary to keep reminding myself about my long-term goals. I will have to monitor, encourage and discipline myself. Certainly, the satisfaction at the end of a day of getting something done for my project, no matter how small, always trumps the short-term satisfactions that I may experience throughout a day of procrastination, such as beating my high score on Temple Run or re-arranging my books in a 'nicer' way. From here on in the work I have to do will become more challenging and it will take a big change in my lifestyle to get it all done. But if my experience of revising for exams is anything to go by, I know that when the deadline gets near enough for me to feel very scared, the work will begin furiously. I am starting to get this feeling now, with four months to go before I leave Vietnam and seven months until I have to formally present my work in front of everyone I know. Moreover, I am passionate about getting it done. The thought of not completing this project is despairing for me; the disappointment I would feel, as well as the disappointment of the people who are watching over me, is not even worth thinking about. Somehow, it will be done.

Until then, Lily will be returning from her trip on Saturday. The timing is very tight, because that day is the beginning of Tet, the lunar new year and Vietnam's major holiday period, which lasts a week. I have been warned that over this period buses won't be running, shops will be closed and travelling anywhere will be out of the question. At the beginning of the week there will be something to see in town, as one of the city's main streets becomes a vast flower market, but primarily Tet is a family holiday so there won't be much to see. Jessica will be in Taipei and Thuy may go home for much of the holiday, so Lily and I will have to be very organised and imaginative to make sure we don't starve or go crazy!