Day 1 and 2: The Flight, the House, Pho, Traffic, and ASS PAIN

The flight: It was really really really really long. In my personal opinion, I am quite obviously NOT Korean. But it seems that even Korean people, flight attendants no less, think that I can understand what they're saying to me even though I have put on a very retarded expression when they are waiting for my response. I was outside the bathroom forever because the lady in front of me was either taking a massive dump over the Pacific or having trouble with her liquid eyeliner during turbulence. The food was terrible, but we had Chex Mix.

B3: That's the family home in Saigon and we have a super airconditioned room that feels incredible when you walk in and super terrible when you walk out. This morning, we ate Pho Tau Bay, a landmark pho place in Saigon. I found it interesting that their system of waiterring consisted of obscenities and shouting, rather than a pad and pencil. Then we went on Hondas to get to the cemetery, to visit my grandfather's grave. It started raining on the way there, which at first was really refreshing, but then it just became painful. The drops were literally going into my eyes and beating against my chest. To say the least, it was an experience.

Fitting in: I'm really dark, so I fit in pretty well. The only problem is that for some reason, everyone is wearing jeans and hoodies in 90 degree weather, and I look like a hooker in my shorts. I packed 5 toothbrushes, but no belt, and my niece and nephew keep on touching my butt to pull up my pants.

Serving as Guest Blogger for the duration of our trip to Vietnam, is me, Phuong, Linh's cousin.  A bit about me: I'm in college, I tend to fail when attempting to be funny on purpose, and I too, LOVE Harry Potter.

Day 1: So Korean Air is pretty awesome, I'd say, even for the poor, "economy" class.  Everybody's got individualized screens the entire trip, so the 14 hr flight was although incredibly long, really bearable.  My only complaint, which is really unpreventable, is the incredible ASS-PAIN that incurs whilst sitting too long.

Day 2:
The market place, (not supermarket) is where you really see how everyone makes a living here.  It's really dirty, but I'm told that's where the freshest food is.  (Which I agree with, because I was able to actually chew the squid prepared for me today.)  You basically moped around and if you see something you like, you stop, (yes, I said stop, not park to get off) and buy what you need, even if you're blocking everyone from coming through.  It was an interesting experience, to say the least.

So I basically have figured out Vietnam's traffic, and how it works, when such a system is essentially chaos.  The rules: There are no rules.  There's no "right of way", few street lights, jaywalking is the way of life, and there's an incredulous amount of beeping.  The beeping is not actually meant with any spiteful intent, but in fact just a warning to say, "Hey, I'm here...so don't hit me".  When entering traffic, whether walking or mopeding, you basically do so at your own risk, trusting the person who's about to hit you to stop.  99% of the time, that trust isn't broken.  The other 1% is probably why I did see 2 whole traffic lights in the whole city.  Anyway, that's how I see it.  It works out.  Still, I can't help but pray every time my cousin decides to swerve in front of SCARY ONCOMING traffic.