More BIG Changes!
Now living in Quang Ngai, Vietnam
Xin Chao!
I hope this finds you well and feeling good. It's been quite a while since I checked in and now is a good time to get you caught up.
At the end of May, I gave my thirty days notice and resigned as Senior Producer at Balance Studio in Ho Chi Minh City as well as giving up my apartment in the Tan Dinh ward of District 1. I've been in HCMC (Saigon) since January 12, 2020 and in that time have had an up and down relationship with my now soulmate girlfriend Lien Anh. It's been the hardest work I've ever done other than being a father and former
husband and the payoff has finally come.
At the end of June, I shipped off my motorbike and three boxes of stuff and moved to Quang Nagi (Central Vietnam) to cohabitate with my lovely Lien Anh. It's been a long, hard road since February 25th of 2020, but real love is real work and we've both undergone significant transformation and continue to grow and do the work necessary to stay together forever. We are now very happy with each other and it's great to live together in this little jungle compound adjacent to her father and his wife, her sister and her family as well as her brother and his family. The centerpiece of this property is a lush garden coffee shop filled with fruit trees and exotic flowers run by her father's wife. It's quite a lovely environment [other than all the flesh loving insects] that bustles with local regulars enjoying themselves daily from 8am to 10am with the sounds of laughter and Vietnamese music.
Where we live in Quang Ngai is about a twenty minute drive from some beautiful coastline and decent waves worthy of some fun body surfing. I can be out in the water for hours like when I was eighteen without knowing time is passing. It's great to be so close to the ocean after so long while having a super fun family to go with and enjoy the incredible benefits of life by the sea.
Now that I have this dream like part of my future dialed in, I'm once again figuring out how to pay for it. Fortunately, I don't have a monthly rent payment and all my meals are lovingly prepared at Lien Anh's sister's house who has converted to raw veganism as has Lien Anh for the most part. It's so great to be with such healthy and happy people who live simply and ask nothing from me. Her sister and brother's
young children adore me and keep me active and playful.
That said, my expenses are pretty low now other than astronomically priced fuel for my motorbike and kicking in money for food and electricity. I have incurred some other minimal recurring costs [charities, Dropbox and a weekly subscription to Vietnam Weekly], but overall I could probably live fairly well on Social Security. Unfortunately, I will need to wait a few more years for that so in the meantime, I'm relying on my decades of experience in the world of advertising design, video editing and copywriting to take care of me.
I'm currently beating the pavement again in search of freelance creative work to take care of my little life which does not need to be too much at this point. I have recently reintroduced my capabilities and skills in a design portfolio using Behance, a free online portfolio site. I'm feeling pretty good about what I can still do and hope I can pull in a few projects a month to keep this train moving. See my portfolio at the link below.
https://www.behance.net/markarinsberg1
Well, that's about it for now. I will certainly keep you posted. If you happen to hear of someone looking for an old creative dude who can do a lot of cool creative things, please think of me. Thanks so much in advance.
Much love,
Mark
______________________________
Mark Arinsberg
Design Portfolio
Citizen44 with Mark Arinsberg (podcast)
paypal.me/MarkArinsberg (Donations much appreciated)
mbarinsberg@gmail.com
+84 775790593
"This is because that is." – Thich Nhat Hanh