So Happiness to Meet You: Foolishly, Blissfully Stranded in Vietnam

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Review “A lighthearted memoir of new friends, delicious food, and culture shock…A brisk chronicle of a family's (mis)adventures in Vietnam.”―Kirkus Reviews"Karin Esterhammer has artfully delineated what it's like to live outside your comfort zone. Her sharpshooter's eye for detail captures the Vietnamese people, their culture, and the pretzels an American family has to twist themselves into in order to adapt."― Phil Doran, author of The Reluctant Tuscan"When life hands you financial ruin―as the Great Recession did to former L.A. Times journalist Karin Esterhammer―the answer might seem simple: Why not move to Vietnam? Along with her husband and child, Esterhammer did just that, facing her new life in Ho Chi Minh City with courage, wit, and an open heart, all the while examining one of life's biggest questions: What is it that truly makes us wealthy? It's an unforgettable―and important―adventure of the body, soul, and pocketbook."― Alison Singh Gee, author of Where the Peacocks Sing: A Prince, a Palace, and the Search for Home"A loopy adventure and charming cautionary tale for anyone who's ever dreamed of packing it in and starting over somewhere new―the perfect read for the armchair expat."― Mark Haskell Smith, author of Naked at Lunch and Baked Read more About the Author Karin Esterhammer is a travel writer whose work has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Christian Science Monitor, Orlando Sentinel, The Standard—China's Business Newspaper, and more. Her diary-style article in the Los Angeles Times about the move to Vietnam earned more letters to the editor than any travel story the paper had ever published. Karin has also had essays published in the Chocolate for a Woman's Soul series, and she once won the grand prize in a romance essay contest for Harlequin Books. After their years in Vietnam, Karin and her family are now living again in Los Angeles. Read more