After over a decade in Vietnam, this ex-pat shares his repatriation experiences and cites better jobs and reconnecting with family as motivators to move home.
By Harry Hodge
This is how it’s been going since we moved to Canada just over five months ago, my first time living here since 2010.
My family (My and our kids Avery and Payton) had planned to make an earlier return, circa 2020, but of course, the old pandemic situation was an issue. In addition, after more than a decade in Vietnam, I had become accustomed to life there and worried how things would go should we move to Ontario. My father and stepmom are in Toronto, my mom is in Port Hope, and I grew up in Ottawa so I have friends there, making it the logical destination. Work-wise, it also seemed to have the most job postings and opportunities for me.
Returning to the Homeland
Being entrenched at my school and occupying a position of middle management, we had a number of reasons to stay where we were. While the hotel business, where my wife had been working, suffered greatly during COVID, education kept on chugging along – albeit with a forced move online. My children also benefited from the arrangement as I had a substantial discount for their tuition, and, as an employee, I could stroll by their classrooms whenever I wanted to check in to see how they were doing. Things weren’t perfect (as in any workplace) but all things being equal, there was no need to move elsewhere.
Except – there was. Almost 12 years overseas and you start to see all the life events from your homeland that you’re absent for: My grandmother’s funeral; my friend’s weddings (and some divorces); and mainly time spent with my parents whom my children had little connection to, apart from via Skype sessions every month or so. When you log in and see everyone’s gotten a bit older, or hearing isn’t what it used to be, or mobility is limited (or halted altogether during the pandemic) you start to reflect on how much time they’ll hang around for as the children just get older and older. Avery turns 8 in a few weeks, and Payton is 6.
COVID was also pretty dire for quite a while in Vietnam. The lockdowns were quite strict, and seeing truck convoys and people walking their dogs and what-have-you without police bellowing at you to re-enter your building suggested to me my countrymen weren’t aware of how restrictions were dealt with in other countries. I never considered foregoing vaccinations and the like, the least of which was my own selfish desire to be able to board an airplane and return to Canada at some point.
The Return
Shots sorted, lengthy visa delays (Vietnam wasn’t an urgent visa to grant in light of applications from Ukraine, Afghanistan, etc), and deciding how and when to wrap my time in Saigon all led to our eventual decision to return mid-July. Getting the apartment packed up, gifting away almost everything we had, and deciding how much to bring back in cash and what to leave in Vietnamese accounts for our different properties were all factors. And of course goodbye parties – there were a couple of bangers before I left! Trying to squeeze in final trips to Bac Ninh, Vungtau, Cat Tien park with friends, neighbors, and family were all part of our final 4-5 months.
Transiting through an eerily empty Hong Kong airport and then 16 hours to Toronto Pearson, made me realize how little I had seen outside Vietnam in the last four years. Arrival in Canada was messy – the airport staff seemed fairly clueless about everything from the ArriveCan app to what happened to our luggage. And then poof! You’re out of the baggage area and back into the general population.
Readjusting to my Own Country
Initial return things like getting children health cards, signing them up for school, and getting my wife a phone and ATM card were all fairly smooth. Even getting my license renewed after it lapsed overseas was (mostly) stress-free, although when they said I’d need to do a “test” I worried about the guy pushing 50 being in with the teenagers driving around cones. Turns out they meant a vision test, thankfully.
Taking a trip to my province of birth, Prince Edward Island, gave us a chance to see some old pals and family in Ottawa, passing through Quebec to New Brunswick and hitting the island for my first visit in over 15 years. With the pent-up demand for travel after restrictions ended, I didn’t foresee how pricey the country had become! Also, whiffs of cannabis almost everywhere we passed since the stuff became legal after we were here roughly four years ago.
Fast forward and sure, some things haven’t been smooth, but it’s gone more or less as I expected. My job search was fairly quick by Canadian standards (three months) and I’m working in marketing on a serene university campus in Oshawa, between where we’re staying in Port Hope and the Canadian metropolis of Toronto. My wife has made connections to the Vietnamese community in Port Hope and the children are in school as well as taking Muay Thai and swimming. I’m trying to use some of my old tricks from moving around over the years, since Port Hope is not a place or scene I’m familiar with, by getting in on some old boys’ rugby with a team in neighboring Cobourg, and also reading the news Monday and Wednesday mornings on the local community station.
There are days when I still feel like I’m digesting a ton of information, not only informing myself of the working world in 2022 but also what has changed socially in my country after living in another country for almost 12 years. The reconnection to the grandparents coupled with my natural restlessness after things become too “comfortable” were strong enough forces to get our asses in gear. Of course, there are things I miss about Saigon, like the friends and in-laws over there, the awesome food, and the ability to put away cash easily for investing; I also remember the crowding, traffic, and blazing heat starting to get to me more than they might have when I first moved there.
As long as my wife, children and parents are happy, I can make anything work. So far, so good.
Happy holidays to where you’re reading around the world!