1 - It's almost always hot so you never have to cope with aches & creaks from the cold or that particular kind of lethargy which always seems worse in cold weather.
2 - Over the counter medications - it's almost all OTC so you don't need a prescription. Just don't overdo it on the self medicating though.
3 - Domestic help is very affordable. Even I, as a lowly English teacher, can afford a cleaner. I currently have a lovely, diminutive lady called Varleak who comes twice a week and takes care of the big stuff. Her husband also comes sometimes to clean the outside of windows and look after the plants.
4 - Lots of cheap, fresh fruit and veges. Good diet helps support the thyroid.
5 - Beautiful mornings. Morning is the best time of day. Mornings are cool & sunny with a playful breeze, and everyone's out doing their tai chi or walking, all of which does help you to get out of bed and get your day started earlier than you ever thought possible! I have never been a morning person but now if I sleep past 6.30am, I kick myself as I am really missing out.
6 - As a foreigner, you get a lot of help with bureaucratic stuff. I'm a mess when it comes to anything bureaucratic and generally can't cope with it. God knows how I ever enrolled at university or got a passport to get out of my own country. The fact that I did these years behind everyone else shows how paralysing a bureaucratic blind-spot can be. Now all I have to do is read over the translated version and sign. Someone will have collated all the necessary papers and filled in all the necessary blanks. If you do have to do this yourself, there is a someone there to tell you exactly what to do. I am so grateful for this, and it reduces my stress levels no end.
7 - You are a long, long way away from your rellies. Not everyone has a functional, happy family and getting away from family stress makes it easier to cope in the daily thyroid battle. You can always visit or they can come and visit you. You might even start to cope with each other better with this kind of arrangement. If not, you can take comfort in the fact that you are a long, long way away from your rellies.
8 - Delivery. You can get everything delivered. If you are too knackered to cook all you have to do is summon the energy to dial the number of your favourite restaurant. And it's cheap with a lot more healthy stuff becomming available, so there is no excuse for not maintaining a good diet.
9 - It's a casual kind of place. Outside of work, people don't care if you look like you've been dragged through a gorse bush backwards. You don't have to go out in full make-up, although you can (it slides off pretty quickly though), you don't even have to get dressed. Pyjamas are it! Everyone wears pyjamas. You can even go to the local market in your pyjamas and almost blend in!
10 - Massage. It's cheap and it's everywhere. My local women's only place in HCMC was just $3 for 1 hour and my salon place was $17 for 75 mins. My new massage place in PP is $11 for 1 hour, $16 for 90 minutes & $20 for 2 hours, and yes I've had the 2 hour massage. I've also had a special back massage for back pain (caused by muscles between my ribs spasming - the after effect of a car accident when I was 16). I bounced back on my feet the next day, which is also in record time.
Finally, you're a foreigner so you are expected to be a bit odd. That's it as far as expectations go. It's amazing how refreshing it is to live without the pressures our own cultures and communities thrust upon us. Just don't make the mistake of trying to recreate or look for that same set of expectations, as many do. This is known as ex-pat hell. Enjoy the differences of living in a different culture but remember to take it at your own pace.
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