February 2012
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We're not in Kansas anymore, Rachelita
We have officially spent more than twenty-four hours in Hong Kong, and I think the consensus (by which I mean my personal opinion which I’m imposing on everyone), is that Vietnam is very sorely missed.
Don’t get me wrong—Hong Kong is beautiful and thrilling, but I think we’re just homesick. (Is it possible to be homesick for a country that isn’t your home? Yes. Yes it...
Clearly, Rachel and I can't agree which city is...
You’ll all just have to come here and figure out for yourselves.
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Hue, or the blog post that has taken me far too...
It’s been a couple (okay, more than a couple; I realize I’ve slacked on the blogging front) days since we left Hue, and I think everyone in our group agrees that we miss it. And not just because we practically became legends at the DMZ Bar (inappropriate name, maybe) or because of the amazing shopping ($7.50 handmade shirts for all!), but because Hue was the kind of city you could...
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In the land of Pho and French Fries
Rachel has had the assignment of writing about our adventures in Hue, and even though she hasn’t done it yet (we’ve been really busy, so it’s not her fault), I’ll let her stick to that. Be sure, though, that it was a great week, and we both had a really amazing time.
Today is our second full day in Hanoi, and as everything else, it has been a brand new experience. While...
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"Stop making it stare at me!"
So, it’s been a while since either of us posted, which means I need to resist the temptation to write an endless post today. Unfortunately, so much has happened in the past week that it may be impossible.
Anyhow, I think one of the coolest things to talk about would be our over-night stay in the Mekong Delta. Rachel and I have both posted a picture or two of it, so it’s high time we...
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After boats, buses and planes
we have made it to Hue
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What We Talk About When We Talk About School
On Wednesday I had the chance to have coffee with a student named Anh. He’s a sophomore at the Foreign Trade University, one of the most prestigious universities in Saigon. He’s been studying English since the sixth grade, but admitted that I was the first foreigner he’d ever spoken to. I have to admit, his English was spectacular. His accent wasn’t thick, and other than a...
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How about...50,000?
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned since arriving in Vietnam is the art of haggling. It’s the difference between paying $2.50 for a t-shirt and getting ripped off for $10. As an American suburbanite, I’d never really been exposed to the practice of bargaining for a lower price. Working at Tiffany’s over four Christmases has shown me that no one is too proud to...
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Cu Chi: Land of Paradoxes
We visited Cu Chi the other day, a city just a little north of Tay Ninh province, and the site of some of the most major fighting during the war. To say the least, it was a really heavy experience, one fraught, for me, with a lot of conflicting feelings.
One of the biggest attractions of Cu Chi are the Cu Chi tunnels; an underground city made of intricate and intense tunnel systems utilized by...
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