today, i begin my journey home. i have no idea what awaits me there. maybe that’s a lie. i know of a few things that are certain:

1. time travel and jet lag
2. badminton at 5:30am with nicole and others?
3. laundry and packing
4. tennessee
5. tears
6. reunions
7. noise
8. tea
9. long bike rides
10. pho

here are a few things i wish were certain:

1. sam’s sushi
2. a job
3. school
4. my future plans
5. a visit with my mother
6. pumped up bike tires
7. sleep
8. a reunion with casey mcbride
9. sua chua nep cam
10. rest

it’s been exactly 2 months since i left the states. everything has changed. everything is different. jean no longer lives in the bunk below. instead she lives thousands of miles away. i think change is easier to deal with, even welcomed, when it is gradually introduced. i’ve been living in my own little world for 8 weeks now. transitioning back will be difficult and i’ll be honest, i’m a bit nervous about my return.

on a more positive note, japan was wonderful! koji and mamamoto took such good care of me. i wish i knew how to truly express my appreciation. koji, if you are reading this, i want to say, “thank you so much!!!!!! i don’t really think you are a liar. i think you are wonderful and i promise to never say your full name in public ever again.”

anyway, Japanese food is beyond delicious. my favorite was probably okonomi yaki and then closely followed by ramen. why is food so delicious everywhere but in the usa? maybe sam’s is the exception. there are so many endearing things about japan. there is a peacefulness that i can’t really explain. i’m sure it has something to do with the lack of noise. i walked around this park the other day while koji was working and found myself drawn to a tiny bench. i sat there for a long time and heard nothing but birds and the sounds of water. maybe you are saying to yourself , “she was probably alone.” NO! i was not alone. i was surrounded by kids and old men playing chess. i wonder if children are taught volume control in elementary school. maybe we should try something like that in america, especially Philadelphia.

well, it's time to board my plane. see you all in another life

under the net!

in less than 2 weeks, i will be leaving Hanoi. my time here is coming to an end. 2 months is such a short amount of time. it took a month to settle back into life here, and now that i am finally readjusted, i must prepare my heart for departure. it’s amazing the things you can see clearly when you venture into the unfamiliar.

Vietnam always seems to pull and stretch me in ways i never thought possible. i have successfully disciplined myself to get out of bed at 5:15 every morning to play badminton. at first, i had difficulty staying awake past 6:30. i would play badminton and then go back to bed. now, i am able to stay awake and actually enjoy my mornings. it feels good. i must confess that my motivation for getting out of bed is directly related to the people i spend my mornings with. nu, my one and only punctual friend, is always waiting for me at exactly 5:30am. huong and phuong show up next. together we sleep-walk down the street to meet up with xuan, phan, and sometimes phuong anh. we grab a seat on a step and watch the fan ladies dance. they are beautiful. when the weird, instrumental version of Love Potion Number 9 begins, we take our cue and begin to play badminton. it’s the perfect way to start our day.

there are so many things i wish to share, especially with my mother. she has shown signs of extreme curiousity about my life here. too bad we can’t connect our minds like deanna troy and her mother in star trek the next generation. today was another wonderful day. i made some delicious iced tea using my free sample of tra man. huy picked me up for lunch and we ate at our usual bun cha place. i met my class at 1:15 for a party in the park. huong and i counted the couples making out. we feasted on fruit and other tasty treats. i tutored some lovely ladies after dinner and then met with nu and phan. together we attempted to correct some English translations of songs written in Vietnamese. a Russian professor at this university stopped me the other day and asked if i would help him correct his English. he is not only a Russian professor, but also a composer. we weren’t too successful with the translations. we were able to figure out that he meant “violet flower” and not “violent flower.” that’s pretty much as far as we got. ha.

oh geez. i should be in bed. goodnight

thai binh

it's amazing how the simple things will change your life forever.

this past weekend was unlike anything i could have ever imagined. i took a short little trip to the province of thai binh. i went with my dear friends, nu and phan, to visit their families for about a day and a half in their village (i uploaded a few pictures on flickr). i had no idea what to expect. i have never felt more welcomed and loved. basically the entire village invited me into their homes for tea and fruit. and that is how i spent most of saturday. we ended the night with a trip to the local "bar in the field." it's not what you are thinking. the bar consisted of some plastic tables in the middles of a field. we ate yogurt with ice and drank mineral water. the moon was so bright that no lights were needed. i could spend hours trying to describe this weekend but i don't have the time or the energy. i'm exhausted and in need of some sleep.

i am forever changed.

mama says there'd be days like this...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristenwenttovietnam/

joy and jubilee

what a glorious day! it's 11pm and i am exhausted.

toxical rain

last week was a rough one. however, things began to improve saturday night. i spent the evening biking around ha noi (on a bike 2 sizes too small, i might add) with my dear friend nu. we started out in my dinh, where traffic wasn't too chaotic. we made our way around the soccer stadium and headed into the city. on the way we ran into phan. phan had been nice enough to let me borrow his bike. to return the favor, i decided to give him a lift home. after dropping off phan, nu and i headed toward the ho chi minh mausoleum. the sun was setting and it was finally cooling down. nu showed me a secret back way home. at this point, most every way is a secret one to me. for dinner we readily decided on bun cha. i convinced nu that i knew of a great place and that i could get us there easily. however, in the back of my mind i wasn't so sure. we were coming from the opposite direction and i had never really paid much attention when huy and i would go there for lunch. i put on my best "confident" face and took the lead, weaving in and out of traffic. after 20 minutes of searching for this hidden bun cha place, we were ready to admit defeat and head home. as we turned our bikes around, i heard an annoyingly familiar voice! it was the bun cha man! we had found the place! i'll try to take a picture next time i eat there. anyway, nu and i parked our bikes and consumed a most delicious dinner.

over the weekend some changes took place. i was informed that my class would no longer meet at 8am. starting on monday, we would meet from 1:30-4:30pm. let's just say that this news thoroughly excited me. i needed a change and i got one! no more going to bed early. no more worrying about lesson plans. if i don't finish them at night, i can always finish them in the morning. oh! i could go on forever about the advantages of having class in the afternoon, but i won't. monday rolled around and i was feeling good. i woke up early to say goodbye to sandy because she was leaving for the states that night. we ran some errands and on the way home i had the most delightful conversation with my taxi driver, in vietnamese. i didn't speak much but i could understand most of what he was saying and responded appropriately. class was a riot! over the weekend i had purchased a piggy bank. my students didn't think i was serious when i said that i would start charging them money for speaking in vietnamese or for not doing their homework. they now know that i wasn't joking. i made about 12,000 vnd. maybe i shouldn't say "i made." it's more like, "we made." i informed the class on friday that we would be having a kick-butt, end of the summer party. those who broke the new rules would be funding it! haha. after class, nu, phan, and i played some fierce badminton for an hour. my joy had finally found its way back!

today was a continuation of steady improvement. linh met me after class and took me to west lake. he took me to a part that i have never seen before. it started to pour soon after he picked me up. in typical vietnamese fashion, we pulled over to the side of the road and threw on paper-thin rain jackets. when we finally reached west lake, we took them off and rode around. the rain was quite refreshing. i'm pretty sure that linh wouldn't agree, but that's ok because he is always wrong. today was the first time that i actually wanted to take pictures. i made a few unsuccessful attempts. i'm sorry mom, blame it on the rain!

tomorrow, i will once again rise at 5am to play some badminton and then watch the old ladies do their fan dances. maybe this is a suitable activity for me.

mu bao hiem

i finally broke down and purchased a few treasures today. i met linh for lunch and together we went shopping for new helmets! not only did linh have language on his side, but also charm…or so he said. my hopes were high! however, when it came time to bargain prices, my dear friend dropped the ball. you win some, and if you’re a foreigner, you get ripped off some. ha! i don’t think we really got ripped off. i just think that we could have gotten a better price. i was reminded of a dream i had last night. i woke up so angry. in my dream, my mother was visiting me in Vietnam. i took her out for lunch. i ordered 2 banh mi thit nuong (Vietnamese hoagies) from this little café. we sat, ate, and talked. when it was time to pay, i asked the lady how much we owed. she looked at me quite seriously and said, “360,000 VND.” i was shocked. normally they cost about 8,000—10,000 VND/sandwich. i gave her the money and stormed off. i hate it when my dreams trick me. i spent about 15 minutes this morning trying to talk myself out of being angry.

everyone is heading back to the U.S. sunday night. i’m not. weird!

hey mom, here is a pictures for you. i love you!