VietBlog

Special Guest Blogger Jay Dryer sends us a farewell. Jay is our fellow traveler Kapsoo Kim’s husband and accompanied us on many journeys during the first two weeks of the program. I have little doubt that what he writes is only a sneak peek for what the rest of the crew will experience next week when we head home (re: be sure to treat all of us very very nicely).

Up at 4AM during a thunderstorm for a 30 minute taxi ride to Tan Son Nhat
Airport for a 5AM check in for my flight home via Hong Kong and Chicago.

Yesterday I took a (to say the least) harrowing four hour car ride from Long Xyeun to HCMC, dodging trucks and motos on roads that varied between country roads to multi-lane highways. I witnessed two accidents where a moto was crushed by a large freighter truck.

I always experience a bittersweet melancholy feeling every time I return home from
Asia. Perhaps I lived as an Asian in a previous life, if you believe in such things.
I am especially sad leaving my wife, Kapsoo, as she continues with the class;
and I will also miss the good conversations and time spent together with the
students and instructors, along with all of the Vietnamese and Cambodian
friends, the shopkeepers, and waiters and also Mr. Cam.

Mr. Cam was our host at the Hai Lui Restaurant. He was a gracious host and constantly monitored our meal service to make sure everything was satisfactory.

He referred to our relationship as “brotherly”. And the price was right: just $22 for two for our first meal and $15 for our last meal.

As I look out the window of the 747 climbing out of SGN over the South China Sea I can see the flat land of the Mekong Delta converge into the mountains along the coast northward and I wonder what this scene looked like forty years ago.

The concrete shells for fighter aircraft are still present along the airport runway.

The sea was likely full of warships and aircraft carriers along with all their support vessels. Fighter planes buzzed back and forth like bees on their missions. Now, there are just beautiful white thunderheads building in the morning heat.

War in any form, in my opinion, represents man?s inhumanity to his fellow man. I was so impressed that the Vietnamese did not seem to hold resentment toward Americans.

The human tragedy is still apparent when you see the elderly, maimed and disabled Vietnamese along with our own disabled veterans in America.

Goodbye Vietnam. I hope to see you again. Now, take me home, to country roads.