Anticipation

This crazy idea of quitting my job and taking time to do the things I’ve always wanted to do probably started when Matt and Amber told us of doing the same except they were literally traveling around the world for 9 months. At that time, it was more of an admiration for what they were going to do and not really a distinct possibility for me.  Months flew by, and I was exhausted from working with folks in three regions across the world. Somewhere in there, one of my training buddies said she was going to take 3 weeks to tour around Vietnam. So, I slowly lost the will to work and gained this desire to see more of the world. Now here I am, starting the first leg of the journey towards ‘the motherland.’

I don’t know what to expect. A lot of the other Vietnamese kids have gone with their families to visit family. I am going without my family, like any other tourist, except I speak the language.  Well, ‘speak’ is relative.  I understand Vietnamese, and I have a decent vocabulary thanks to all the dubbed kung-fu soap operas I watched with my grandmother when I was growing up.  I have a Northern accent made worse with an American accent, and  I’m afraid that when I get to Saigon, no one will understand my Vietnamese.

Well, at least I finally get to resolve the question of whether or not I look Vietnamese.