8:58 At Noi Bai Airport waiting for our flight to HCMC and then
home. Ride out from Ha Noi was pretty quick and check in crowds
minimal. On the ride out Maggie corrected my memory of Ho Chi Minh's
lying-on-display suit. I recalled it as pale, no doubt from the memory
of his white jacket on display at the museum. That display includes his
sandals made from tire treads and inner tubes, his "lunch box" and
helmet. It is all so very simple. It was that simplicity combined with
discipline and determination that won Vietnam's independence and
reunification. Just as American simplicity defeated the far more
sophisticated and powerful British forces in the 18th century, so too
did Vietnamese simplicity outlast American power 200 years later.
16:11
Seated on Eva Air flight 396 from HCMC to Taipei. Our flight down from
Ha Noi was short and easy. Left us plenty of time to make our
connection. In a few minutes we will leave Vietnam after 25 days here.
I'm sad to see the trip end but also very much ready to get home. I
leave Vietnam with many fond memories and a strong desire to return. So
very different from last time.
16:39 Up, up and
away! Heading for Taipei now and into the coming night. It's 1:40 am
Friday morning in Olympia now which means another 16 hours in
transit--lots of time to think and reflect on this adventure. I arrived
in Vietnam three and a half weeks ago a little uneasy and apprehensive
about the trip--not afraid and depressed like in 1970--and it all worked
out fine. We pulled off an extended, complicated trip in a very
foreign country and, most importantly, changed my whole perception of
Vietnam. It went from war, fear and destruction to peace and, if not
prosperity, certainly progress. I spent over three weeks not only
surrounded by Vietnamese but depending on them. They showed me great
friendship and hostility. A few took advantage of me but no more so
than would many of my fellow countrymen if they had the same
opportunity.
The best part was meeting the students in
my classes at Da Nang University. They were keen to learn despite their
shyness and very positive about life and the opportunities available to
them. In many respects they are like kids everywhere which re-affirms
my belief in the oneness of the human species.
This
trip has altered one of my fundamental memories of Vietnam. For the
first time in 40 years I did not experience December-January as a replay
of those months in 1970-71. This year I focused on the run-up to this
trip or the trip itself once in-country. I think that future years will
see me replaying this experience along with the orginal.
06:16
Now it's January 8 Saturday in Vietnam. We're about two hours out from
touchdown in Seattle where it's still Friday the 7th. I am somewhere
suspended in time. The next hurdle on this trip will be getting through
US Immigration and Border Patrol, a group about which I am not at all
fond. I recall being apprehensive passing through immigration in
Vietnam. The officer at my station had the hard look that I associate
with the North Vietnamese Army. As it turned out, he just checked my
documents and stamped me in. That was the first of many encounters that
made this visit to Vietnam so much different from my last. It's ironic
that I view my own country's agents with the same apprehension I felt
for my former adversaries. Perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised at
this border crossing as well.
18:26 PST Friday, January
7, Sea-Tac Airport: I may never get the chance to see how friendly
and/or courteous US immigration officers will be. Their computers shut
down about a third of the way through processing our planeload of
passengers. So we are all waiting, waiting, waiting. From this vantage
point, not much is happening. Maybe someone somewhere is working
frantically (well, just working) to fix the problem. A guy just walked
by with an officer, saying he was here to fix the computers. There is
also a rumor that the system is down nationwide. Could be a long night.
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