It’s our last day in Vietnam. I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed… I do not want it to end at all. I have seen and done some incredible things and I have made friends that I will have forever. These two weeks have been some of the best weeks of my life. 

We start off the day with a presentation about the trade between Vietnam and Pennsylvania. It was interesting to see just how involved and connected the countries have become this quickly after the war. I was very intrigued by this presentation but all that was on my mind was the upcoming language class and cumulative test. After the presentation was over, I continued to practice my pronunciations and learn and memorize all the words and phrases I had learned. Our UEF friends joined us in the class and helped us to make sure that we would do well on the test. After I finally felt comfortable and had basically memorized everything I needed to, it was time to get up in front of the class and speak. I was partnered with Alex and we were instructed to have a conversation asking each other our names, how we were doing, what we did last night, and where we went last night. I thought it went very smoothly. Next, I had to talk about myself and give information about myself in Vietnamese. It was going very well until I stumbled and forgot a word. I couldn’t think of it so I had to sneak a peek back at the board. I guess that was my only mistake because my teacher gave me a 9 out of 10. We took pictures with our teacher and the whole class. It was all starting to hit me that we wouldn’t be coming back. I did not like it. We had lunch at the UEF canteen for the last time. I no longer needed instruction on how to eat with chopsticks, including rice! I absolutely plan on using chopsticks when I get home too. After lunch, we drove to the soccer field for the UEF-Pitt game. We were very excited and hoped that all of our hard work and long training sessions would pay off (actually just a few minutes on the beach in Vung Tau). It was so hot. I don’t think I have ever played in heat and humidity like that. I was dripping sweat less than five minutes after starting. The sidelines were packed with UEF kids looking to cheer both teams on. I made sure that our UEF friends were ready to cheer loudly for us. My promised me that if she didn’t play she would be chanting “TIM TIM TIM” from the sideline. The game was very fun. The teams were pretty evenly matched. In the end, we won 3 – 2! It was an excellent team effort from Team #YOLO. Once the game was finished we continued the festivities with some more games. First was a potato sack race. We had to pair up one girl and one guy, one UEF kid and one Pitt kid. I paired up with My, we were definitely the clear-cut favorites going into the competition! In the first heat we took second place after a hard-fought race. I started off and had us tied for third and then My took over and hopped herself into second place! This meant that we would race in the finals. The final heat did not go as well as we had hoped but it still provided plenty of laughs. Before My could finish she tripped while she was hopping. After the potato sack race, where Tam and Alex brought home the gold, we had yet another dance off. The Vietnamese surely like to dance, but I am not complaining because I love to dance too! We set up in three lines and followed as a few of the UEF kids showed us how to do a traditional yet modern Vietnamese dance. It was extremely hard to follow but very fun. Once the festivities had ended, we exchanged even more gifts. My and I won a duck for our fourth place finish in the potato sack race. Even as I sit on the plane, the duck reminds me of all of the fun times we had with our Vietnamese friends. I’m also finding that this journal is becoming increasingly more difficult to write. It’s really upsetting me to think that I won’t wake up in the morning in the Victory Hotel with a whole day of classes, business presentations, and hanging with the UEF kids.

When we got to the hotel, we all showered and a group of us headed to the co-op one last time. I bought my last bun… these buns were delicious. After a quick stop at KFC it was back to the hotel to start packing and then get ready for our farewell dinner. Just as we were about to gather in the lobby for the dinner, we discovered that all of our flights had changed drastically. The flight from Hong Kong to Chicago had been delayed meaning that we would be unable to catch our flight from Chicago to Pittsburgh (or Newark in my case). We all freaked out. Some of us were going from Hong Kong to Newark. Others from Hong Kong to Tokyo to Newark. And even some were going from Hong Kong to San Francisco to Denver to Pittsburgh. The whole thing was extremely screwed up. We had to stop thinking about it and enjoy our last night here because there was nothing we could do until we got to the airport. The dinner on the boat was beautiful. It had an open deck that was light up and had tables and chairs set up on it. We headed towards a large table towards the front of the boat. Equipped with dramamede I felt prepared to enjoy this farewell dinner. The food was great! And although most of it was seafood which is not my favorite thing in the world, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the last time I would have true Vietnamese food. The dinner was bittersweet though. After we had finished we had to say good bye to the incredible people in UEF that made this whole trip a huge success. It was the beginning of many more goodbyes. Did I mention that I hate good byes? Back at the hotel, the UEF kids were waiting for us. They are truly some of the nicest people I have ever met. They agreed to stay with us until we took off, some of them even driving to the airport to see us off. We hung out in our hotel rooms for the night. It felt like we had known them for our whole lives, we all got along so well. Once again, showing just how unbelievably nice they were, each of them had gotten all of us gifts so we would never forget our time in Vietnam. I will now be reminded of each of them wherever I go because of the many things they so graciously got for us. As it got closer to our time to leave, I had to try harder and harder to not think about the goodbyes I would have to say. I talked with My for awhile. We exchanged emails and I promised her I would message her and email her as much as I could. She wants to come to Pittsburgh in July through UEF. I really hope she can so I can see her again (before next summer when I get an internship at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City!). None of the other UEF kids can go though which really sucks. The time had finally arrived. The group of Vietnamese kids drove their motorbikes to the airport while I packed up some of my last belongings. As we were walking out of room 326, Eric and I said a small goodbye to our home for the past two weeks. Once at the airport, the emotions really hit me. Alex was the first one to start crying and once he started I knew I was done for. These last few goodbyes were some of the toughest things I had to do. I said good bye to Tam and Dang and Nang and Tuan and all of others that accompanied us to the airport. I could not even express in words how grateful I was for everything every single one of them had done with us.  I said goodbye to My last. This one was the hardest because I had gotten so close to her over the last two weeks. I did not think it was possible to get to know someone so well in such a short period of time especially with a pretty significant language barrier. But it happened with My and I. I told all of them that there was no way I was not going to come back. I am determined to get that internship with the hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, but if not I would do everything in my power to find a place to volunteer or even shadow next summer. My last, last goodbye was for Tran. Our savior and guide on the trip. Not only did she help us navigate and survive the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh but she became a great friend too. It was just as hard saying goodbye to her as it was saying goodbye to the others. Walking away from every single one of them really hurt and I struggled checking in my luggage and going through customs and security. Surprisingly they did not charge me for an overweight bag even though I was 2 kg overweight. The flight from Ho Chi Minh to Hong Kong went smoothly. But now Team #YOLO had to split up. Although it was not nearly as sad as saying good bye to our Vietnamese friends because we would see everyone the next three years possibly more, it was sad parting with the best Plus3 group out there. Brice, Hailee, Huyen, and I rushed to our gate and boarded almost immediately. Although the rest of them have more flights left, I have on direct flight left to Newark, New Jersey. For a brief second I was super excited to go home and see my family and friends but then I remembered what I was leaving behind and it quickly disappeared. Don’t get me wrong, I really missed everyone back home but Vietnam was an incredible experience that I will never forget.  

As if I have not been sappy enough, I have more to add. But before I begin, I just want to take this time to recognize and thank someone for their help throughout the trip. Our trusty program assistant, mother, commander, chairman, and new friend Brice. Without his help I’m not so sure some of us would have made it. From “finding” life-saving medication to his guidance and support, without him this trip would not have been possible. Cam On (Thank You) Brice! Now for the waterworks… I wrote this while sitting on the plane and I can pretty much say I have been crying pretty consistently through it all. I know I probably have said this a million times and you may even be getting sick of me saying this, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to even put it into words the things that the UEF students did for us. I think it is safe to say that the Vietnamese kids we met and befriended have become more than just our friends, they really are like family now. So I guess this is it. My last journal entry. I hope you have enjoyed experiencing my Vietnamese journey alongside me. I apologize for not keeping up but as you read my entries I’m sure you’ll understand just how busy I have been. Alright well as they say in Vietnam, XIN CIAO HEN GAP LAI! Good bye and see you later!