Last April our family took a trip to Vietnam with Atty’s Klouters baseball team. Its mission was to continue to build positive cultural relationships between the US and Vietnam and secondly to introduce, teach and spread our love of the world’s greatest sport, baseball. Coach Phil Roginer helped establish the Hanoi Capitols baseball organization many years ago and has been making a team trip to Vietnam each year for the last 10 years or so. The students we taught, players we competed against, their families who welcomed and hosted us, the local people we met along the way, and of course the food (!!!) made it a rich and memorable experience. Baseball was the portal and platform for these interactions and opportunities.
Atticus giving a hitting lesson in Hanoi, April 2018.
So, as we we were getting ready to embark on our voyage, and thinking about the places we are going and the people we will meet, Atty said, “I want to play catch in every city/country we visit.” In a new unfamiliar place, and with language as a barrier, it can be easy to stay in your bubble, see the sights, eat at touristy spots, but have only limited interactions with the local people. The only real way to experience a place is to experience and interact with people. The population is shaped by the landscape, the weather, and the history of their home. So, armed with a case of fresh “pearls” we will look to find new friends in faraway places to have a catch.
First stop; Kobe and Kyoto, Japan.