My First Trip Back to the US

As I mentioned in my previous article, after my week in Vietnam, I made the long journey back to the US for the first time in a year and a half!  It was an exhausting 24 hour journey, but it was great to see my mom, dad and brother waiting for me at the St. Louis airport with a giant "Welcome Back" sign.  It was about 9:30pm when I finally arrived, and my first priority was to have a real American meal; since not much was open around that time, we opted for Steak 'n' Shake.  I didn't hesitate when ordering a giant milkshake; something I haven't really had since my time in Korea.  There's just some things America does better, and milkshakes are definitely one of them!

Translation: "Welcome Home. We Love You, Kylee"

Family selfie at the airport...yes, we got photobombed.

I only had two weeks in the US, and even though jet lag was tempting me the first couple of days, I powered through because I knew I had too much to do in such a short period of time.  Obviously the most important thing was to visit family and friends.  Luckily it's easy to keep in touch with people these days because technology makes being so far away a little less difficult, but it was nice to FINALLY see everyone in person.  I also had some quality cuddle time with my favorite furry friends, my dog and two cats.  I had missed them a lot, and thankfully I think they remembered me!  

Opening Christmas presents in February! 

I was definitely spoiled by everyone during my time at home, but I wasn’t complaining! Even though it was a couple months late, I got to celebrate Christmas and open a few gifts that had been waiting for me.  Grandma Betty made me my favorite homemade coconut cream pie, Grandpa John took me out for a steak dinner, Dad and I had a biscuits and gravy breakfast date and Mom took me grocery shopping to buy everything I'd been missing.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  If you couldn't tell, food was at the top of my to-do list.  No meal was wasted during the two weeks I was home, and when the time came for me to head back to Korea, I was disgusted by the sight of food.      

Steak 'n' Shake! 

I was also able to drive a car for the first time in over a year.  In Korea I always rely on either public transit or walking to get everywhere, but I was excited to get behind the wheel again...although my passengers didn't quite share my enthusiasm.  I'm not really sure why..

First time driving in a year and a half!

On a different note, just as I had experienced culture shock when I first arrived in Korea, I also had a similar experience upon returning to the States.  I should mention that in no way do I intend this to be offensive, but I think it should be said that the very first thing I noticed after landing back in the US was the countless overweight people I saw everywhere.  It took me by surprise how shocked I was, because it's no secret that Americans have the stereotype of being fatter; but, because seeing overweight people is so uncommon in Korea, it was really noticeable to me everywhere I went.  Secondly, I thought a lot of my meals were quite salty.  This obviously didn't stop me from eating, as I already mentioned my food escapades, but the food was considerably saltier than Korean food.

I knew my two weeks stateside would go by quick, but I do have to say that when the time came I was ready to make the journey back to Korea (but only after stuffing my suitcase full of some American necessities first!).  I was ready to get back to my own apartment, my own bed, my daily routine and my friends.  Being back home made me realize that nothing has changed that much since I left, and only confirmed for me the fact that I'm not ready to move back to the US quite yet.  So until then, I'll continue living my life here and blogging about it for you.  

  

Vietnam

Wow, what a whirlwind month this has been!  I finished up another semester teaching, traveled Vietnam for a week, and came back Stateside for two weeks for the first time in a year and a half.  I don't think I've ever been so exhausted in my life, but I have enjoyed every minute of my vacation time.

First let's talk Vietnam.  Vietnam had been on my travel bucket list for quite some time, so I was really excited to not only be able to go there for a week, but I was able to go with my friends as well since our vacation time happened to coincide.  We wanted to pack in as much as possible into our single week there, so our itinerary included three different cities: Hanoi (capital city), Danang and Hoi An.  We decided it was best to start in Hanoi and work our way south.  Hanoi was...busy, to put it simply.  Out of all the places I've been, Hanoi had the absolute worst traffic I've ever seen.  I don't even know if it was the traffic that was bad, or if it was the fact that there were no traffic laws.  My friends and I even began to joke that in Vietnam green lights mean go, yellow lights mean go and red lights also mean go.  Crossing the street was literally an endangerment to our lives.  Other than the awful street nonsense, I also noticed a lot of French influence in Hanoi, especially in the city's colonial-style architecture.

Just a glimpse of the traffic...the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

The Vietnam crew: Casey, Cara, Chris, JaeHee and Me

While in Hanoi, we took a 2-day/1-night cruise into Ha Long Bay.  The bay consists of about 1,500 small islands.  During our cruise we were able to do many activities, including: kayaking, exploring one of the larger islands that was home to wild monkeys, tour a pearl farm, and join a Vietnamese cooking lesson.  But possibly my favorite part of the cruise was being randomly grouped with all Koreans on our boat for the entirety of our Ha Long Bay cruise...it felt so familiar!  

Our cruise tour group: 2 Dutch, 4 Americans and 6 Koreans

Enjoying the views of Halong Bay while relaxing on our cruise boat.

Halong Bay is filled with thousands of tiny islands like these.

Kayaking in Halong Bay at sunset.

After sightseeing in Hanoi for a few days, we took a 45-minute flight to Danang which is situated in the middle of the country on the coast.  Danang was a much slower pace than Hanoi and we were able to relax on the beach and walk around the city.  I really enjoyed the fact that Vietnam, and especially Danang, had much fewer tourists than the previous Southeast Asian countries I have visited.

Vietnamese rice hats

We spent our last couple days in Hoi An which was about a 40 minute taxi ride from Danang.  Hoi An was my favorite stop along our journey.  Hoi An was a quiet town, and since it was smaller in size, we were able to rent motorbikes from our hotel and drive them wherever we went; our favorite spot being our hotel's private beach.  Hoi An also had a large outdoor market area where you could buy fresh fruit (many kinds I had never even seen or heard of), street food, custom clothes/shoes shops, souvenirs, or take boat rides along the river.  It was a very quaint and charming town that was the perfect end to our week.    

Hoi An 

Hoi An shopping district

I almost drove into a lake, but no one needs to know that. 

Food was also a big part of our trip to Vietnam.  In Hanoi, we stuffed ourselves with Pho, a soupy noodle-based dish accompanied by meat, green onions, and a hint of lime juice.  We also ate a fair share of fried spring rolls, which are also a Vietnamese staple.  The Vietnamese also make French-style baguette sandwiches, which are not complete without liver pate (chopped liver that is minced into a paste); don't knock it til you try it!  The food in Vietnam was absolutely amazing, but witnessing the local restaurants wash their dishes was less than wonderful.  We saw many places lay dishes out on the sidewalk, pour a little soap on them and then spray them off with a garden hose. Who needs a sink, right?

Eating traditional Vietnamese Pho.  So delicious!

Coffee is very popular in Vietnam.  We tried a special kind that was mixed with egg.

I would've loved to have been able to stay in Vietnam longer, but I had already made plans to go somewhere else...MO!  More on that trip next time!