Over the past 48 hours (I think it's been 48 hours), I've felt stressed, excited, elated, nostalgic, and finally, tired, and I've only actually been in Vietnam for 7 hours!
Let me just start off by saying that I really love the other law clerks that I got to know this summer. You guys made my summer awesome. My supervising attorney was also a great guy, though often times intimidating, and surprised me by taking me out to get a tie at Brooks Brothers. The only way that the end of my externship could have been better is if I actually got to say goodbye directly to all of the clerks, instead of texting some. I'll miss the ones that I won't get to see when I get back from Vietnam.
After spending the night with my mom and visiting one of my best friends and my dad the next day, I was back in San Francisco for another round of last minute packing before we headed to the airport, where Jess intimidated the airline rep into seating us next to each other instead of 10 rows apart. On the plane, two airline dinners (mine and most of Jess's), two plastic cups of red wine, and 2 hours of Gerard Butler the bounty hunter chasing down Jennifer Anniston knocked me out for about 60% of the flight to Taipei.
The Taipei airport was confusing because we walked past a set of doors that were labeled as our gate, but turned out to be the exits. The elevators were also the size of a small closet, and 6 people with luggage still tried to squeeze in.
The flight from Taipei to Saigon was pretty chill. Two fried rice breakfasts (mine and most of Jess's; what can I say? I'm a hungry guy) and Iron Man 2 later, we landed in Saigon.
The coolest thing about the flight though was being found by Toan Nguyen at SGN airport. It was the most random meeting I've had in my life, since we both had no idea that we'd be seeing each other half way around the world.
After Jess's aunt came to pick us up, we went to Leo's mom's house, where we were treated to fresh coconuts and a barrage of barks. I gotta say that one of the things that I looked forward to the most in Vietnam was the food. Starting off my trip with a fresh coconut with the top cut off was fantastic.
I am now chilling in our hotel room. I should be sleeping, but my mind won't let me sleep knowing that we're in Vietnam. I have this big urge to just wander the streets, but I'm trying to stay sweat free before I go to dinner with Jess.
To the uNAVSA folks, I hope yall had a blast. Honestly, if I wasn't thinking about Vietnam, I was thinking about what I was missing in DC. I know the staff rocked out the conference. Great job yall.
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