Far Far Away
It’s 4:30 am, my alarm clock has gone off again after the third snooze. I find myself asking “Why am I doing this?” Then I remember my hopes and excitement for this trip. Despite my great aversion to early morning events, I was excited. Plus I also remembered it was 5:30pm in Vietnam so that’s not too bad of a time to wake up.
Now I find myself sitting in an airport terminal listening to elevator jazz music with the noises of Starbucks coffee being brewed in the background. What could be a better time to start this journal? I guess I just want to open with my thoughts and hopes for this trip. The first question being “Why am I going to Vietnam?” It was almost just an impulse that I signed up for this trip. I mean I was convinced and turned in my application in 2 days right on the deadline. It was a combination of the thrill of travel, and the desire for some form of business class my junior year. Having taken up Computer Science as my 2nd (and now primary) major, I have been forced to catch up on that work and push business classes off until at least the summer if not senior year. The Vietnam program has provided me with an exciting way to maintain my business education during my junior year.
Most of you may recall that I have said I didn’t want to study abroad, and that is true. I don’t want to spend an entire semester away from Trinity. I love traveling to new places and learning new things, but I don’t want to miss out on everything that happens at Trinity. This trip has provided me a way to satisfy my desire to study abroad, but for a shorter period of time.
What do I expect from this trip? Honestly, I don’t know. I mean obviously I want to learn about Vietnam, it’s history, economic and business policies, etc. Beyond that, I really don’t know what to expect. I’ve never been to Asia, and I’ve barely been out of the Western hemisphere before so I’m excited to experience new cultures and lifestyles. I guess one thing I do expect is to gain a greater appreciation for traffic lights and crosswalks.
Well I’m writing this portion from the flight between Houston and Tokyo. It’s kind of sad to be able to say “We’re almost there” when we’ve still got a little under 3 hours remaining. It’s truly amazing how we (humans) have come up with the technology to make a large aluminum tube fly through the air at 550 mph. What is even more amazing is the number of people we cram into the aluminum tube. It almost makes me think of the cost of first class more like a health insurance cost, since I can only imagine the amount of germs and bacteria there are floating around in economy class after 14 hours. I have a strong immune system so I’m not worried, and so far the flight has been pleasant enough.
Something I’ve also realized is that I am basically losing an entire day of 2011. I mean, I’m not losing it in the sense of not living it, but as far as my mind is concerned it’s still Saturday (9:40 pm back home) but when we arrive in Tokyo it will be Sunday afternoon. Time is truly a strange thing.
Finally, sitting in our first hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City I get a chance to actually relax. Despite the fact that ESPN is showing the Air Asia ABL (I believe it stands for Asian Basketball League, correct me if I’m wrong). It has been a long busy day(s) of travel. I realized I had concentrated so much on the 14 hour Houston – Tokyo flight that I forgot we also had a 6 hour Tokyo – Ho Chi Minh City flight. The cramped quarters, and lack of leg room mad this the most uncomfortable flight of the day (It also might have something to do with the guy next to me ordering 4-5 beers throughout the flight).
The streets were fairly quiet this evening, but I’m sure that will change during the day. As for the sights of the city, that will have to wait for another entry, since I’m quite tired and have probably rambled on long enough for now.