February 8, 2003

It’s been almost three weeks since I returned from Vietnam. That’s longer than the time I spent there, but I have to admit that I still haven’t processed everything that happened to me in those two weeks. I wish I had more time to spend just thinking about the trip. Going over pictures and such, but there’s just no time. Time doesn’t slow down just because I want it to.

Speaking of time, jet lag was terrible. I really had no idea what the twelve-hour time difference was going to do to my body. It’s been nearly a decade since I went to sleep at 8:00pm, but the entire first week back in America, I was asleep by at least that time. I was hungry at odd hours and wide awake at 5 in the morning. My dog appreciated my early rising, but she was the only one.

There’s a move afoot now to get everyone together for a picture-exchanging party. I hope it works out. I don’t have any non-digital pictures myself, but my Dad took plenty for us both, so I think I’ll take those when I meet with everyone. It’s strange, but I really hope that everyone is able to come. Our group grew so tightly knit, that it would be very weird not to have us all there.

Above all else, my trip to Vietnam has really changed how I view the world. Before, I felt myself fairly internationally savvy, but after, it’s easy to see how much more naïve I was than I thought. I’ve been to the other side of the world now, and I’m not just talking about geographically. I think what will stay with me most, though, is that in spite all the differences between Americans and the Vietnamese, we really are all just human beings. That is the tie that binds.