Last two days in vietnam

My last night in peace house was a bit of a mixed bag. When I got home there was no water or internet which immediately pissed me off. There were also a ton of new Vietnamese and korean volunteers. I was extra mad because their first exposure to this organization was so bad. I tried to be as welcoming as I could so they would feel at home. The power went off for about and hour during dinner which was about the last straw for me. I made a few angry phone calls to people who ran peace house, but had no luck. Eventually the power came back on I spent most of the night talking with a new female Vietnamese volunteer about America. She loved America, knew about our constitutional rights, and was concerned with the poverty in country!!! It is amazing how many foreigners know and care more about America than Americans.

My last day teaching was really great. All the kids were really well behaved. I got to them have their gym class for the first time. One of the students plays a beat on a huge koto drum and the entire school lines up military style and exercises in unison. It was so cool. Every school should start out it’s day that way. The order and togetherness are what most school in the states are lacking. At the end of the day the principle wanted to see me to give me a gift. She gave me several boxes of tea, some kind of candy, and what I think might be sugar covered greenbeans (I’m not sure how accurate my translator was, I’ll find out more when I open the box.) I couldn’t believe how thankful she was even though I only taught at her school for a few days. Almost everyone in Vietnam was like this, friendly, kind, and appreciative. I really expected lots of hostility and attitude being from the west, and especially being an American, but it never really happened.

There were more knew volunteers at peace house after school so tried to give them the run down while I packed all my stuff for my flight to korea. After dinner one the female volunteers can back to peace house in tears after being pysically thrown out of a cab in the middle of the night. She was crying and all shook up. It was terrible. We all ran out and started arguing with cab driver. He was a real aggressive jerk and I was positive that we would have to fight him. The Vietnamese volunteers didn't really seemed phased by it, and tried to justify it by saying that it was understandable because gas prices recently went. After everything called down two car loads of us went into town to party at the dragonfly. It was a lot of fun, good music, good people, good conversation. I was pretty sad to have to leave. I got a ride to the hostel that I was staying at by my German roommate on his motorbike and went to bed. I spent the next morning walking by the lake in Hanoi and drinking at Bia Hoi corner. I haggled with some locals and got a few cool bracelets ate a cool vegetarian resturant and then took a shuttle bus to the airport. The airport sucked. It was super hot, nothing to do, and it had cockroaches. The food on the plane was inedible (asian airline food is absolutely disgusting, even the smell make me want to vomit). I’ll post about my first few days in korea tomorrow night.

kids at recess



view from my hostel window


bia hoi corner



my foot after nam (a combination of trekking, mosquito and ant bites and possibly leprosy)