“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

Today marks the half way point of my internship here at IRRI with CCAFS-SEA! (I think my heart actually skipped a beat just now when I realized that…)

Judging by what you have seen so far in my posts you may think it is going to be a rushed job to get everything done. But I’m confident you will see a fully-fledged thesis with my name on it come August!

I can definitely say that I am not as panicked as one might think I should be. No, I do my work five days a week and then I swan off on my little adventures during the weekends!

As my mother would say “the more the hurry, the less the speed” which is sort of similar to the title of this post right? So in that spirit I do not intend to burn myself out during this vital part of the masters course and pace myself to get the work done.

I came into the office with a new lease of life this week after escaping from the city to visit Ninh Binh this weekend. Living in a major city like this can wear thin, so I was glad to get the fresh air!

Finally getting to see the Vietnamese countryside was an amazing experience; I got to see it from all kinds of perspectives on my trip. From the temples of the ancient capital of Hoa Lu.

To a sampan lazily floating down the Tam Coc river ducking through caves and feeling like I was in Jurassic Park.

And from the top of Lying Dragon Mountain! Almost 500 steps in 37 degrees; probably not my brightest idea but definitely worth it!

Getting out and seeing mountains as far as the eye can see instead of buildings has completely refreshed my mind for the second half of this internship! And I’m ready and raring to go on another excursion next weekend 😅

All this adventuring and the thesis too? Of course!

Like nature I do not hurry, yet everything that needs to be accomplished will be.