August 14, 2011. Technically the flight leaves August 15th at 2am from LAX to Taipei, and Taipei to HCMC, arriving at 11:40am Tuesday, August 16th. I'm flying with EVA, who I also flew with for my 2009 research trip to Phnom Penh. Having this date set changes many things. Now I know exactly when I'm departing and I now have a timeline to get things done. Tomorrow the paperwork fiasco begins. I'll be calling to begin my background check, to figure out how to authenticate and notarize my BA, TEFL certificate, and so forth. I'm also going to plan out this week, a review of the English tenses. I am hoping to spend a good two weeks on each tense to ensure I have all of them down in my head, by memory. It should help with the interview process, another part I will begin with LCC. I'll be contacting them to begin the job placement service so I can have interviews setup before I even step foot into Vietnam. That is of course, assuming all goes well.
It's interesting seeing the varying reactions between friends and family members when I tell them the flight is booked. It's happening. I am moving to Vietnam. It's already become much of a bittersweet routine. Some with enthusiastic, happy for you responses. Others with sad, dejected, "oh" or "so you're going eh?" Either way, it's going to be a constant balance between excitement and longing. But now, it's GO time.
Time to enjoy what I have here while I can. And time to get everything setup for a smooth transition 8,161 miles away. This weekend was spent seeing great friends and watching my nephew ride his unicycle in the circus. I have to say I'm very happy I went to the circus, I missed it the last two years being in Berkeley, and this year I finally was able to see Wesley romp on his uni. Viewing the circus today made me realize how much athleticism and elegance it takes to participate in such a spectacle. Never before did I really consider this, but how graceful all the participants were. It was a constant work of art, movements catching eyes, breathtaking falls and catches. The satirical scenes between stage setups brought me back to Berkeley, remembering what it was like to set the stage up for the BCSA culture shows. Then to also act and perform in it, how stressful it was, but most of all how much fun it was to be around such great people and to be part of such a meaningful event.
I have my 24th birthday coming up Wednesday. I can't wait to get to 24. This past year of being 23 has been a lot like that Blink 182 song, "What's my age again?" The nobody likes you when you're 23 part. When I visited the fortune teller in Phnom Penh during the summer of 2009, she told me that it would be a difficult year and that I would not return to Cambodia until late 2011 or 2012. I'm happy to say she was right about coming over in late 2011 and that 23 was a bit difficult. Right after graduation, I turned 23 and had great aspirations for finding a job with a nonprofit. Eventually I did find a job with a nonprofit, though it wasn't one in the field I was hoping for. Looking back at it, things could have been much worse, but in comparison to what my expectations were at the time, it was like going 100 MPH successfully and coming to a screeching halt. Returning to the present, 24 is supposed to be a better year. So far, the fortuneteller was right, I hope she continues to be. This year I will live in Vietnam. Just 84 days from now. I must say, these next few months are going to either fly by or crawl by. Either way, I am going to enjoy them as much as I can, and get as much done as I can along the way. 24 and Vietnam, here I come :)
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