>From: "jeremyhenrickson" >To: jeremyhenrickson@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [jeremyhenrickson] The heat is on Saigon... >Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 12:20:49 -0000 > >Greetings from Vietnam! > >It's been a while since I've written, so there is much to update you >all on before I dive into my experience landing in Saigon. Excuse >any excessive rambling -- I've been traveling for about 25 hours. > >Let's see... I had a great time crashing with Jen and Andy at their >Boston pad. Thanks for being great hosts! I also had a chance to >meet up with several old friends, as well as my youngest brother, who >is on track to finish up at the Berklee school of music and enter >into the world of entertainment law. > >After Boston, I made my way to Canada (eh?), making stops at Montreal >and Toronto, where Paul (the friend I made on my way down the Grand >Canyon) was kind enough to show me the town and share his apartment >for the evening. From Boston, it was to Chicago to visit Tiffany. >She works at the Latin School, which is this fabulous high school in >Chicago that in no way resembles my own. It was great to see you >doing so well Tiff. > >Next was Minneapolis, home of my brother Mark and his always- >enchanting girlfriend Mackensie (whose name I always manage to >misspell). Among other things, Mark showed me how to get around my >bicycle and we managed to get in a good ride or two. After following >the six year undergrad plan, he will be getting his degree in >cultural studies with a focus on 20th century music shortly. >Congrats Mark! > >I visited home one last time before my parents move to southern >california. As always, it was good to see them and the always >growing metropolis that is Sioux Falls. I had a chance to visit a >couple of the high school friends that I maintain infrequent contact >with, and managed to visit most of my teachers and mentors. It was a >good way to spend the last few days home. > From there, I rushed back to the bay area and made it just in time to >hear my friend Heidi Hau do her magic on the piano. After vanishing >to Ireland for so many years, it was nice to have her back and hear >her play. > >Katherine invited me to her GSB reunion dinner, so I had a chance to >meet more of that fun crowd. The rest of last week was spent >visiting a few people that I was able to get in touch with, but >mostly just preparing for my trip out here. Unfortunately, all of my >plans for training hard last week vanished when I got sick on >Wednesday, but I was lucky enough to get one tough ride in on Tuesday >before my immune system gave up on me. > >I spent the weekend down in Monterey, attending the long-anticipated >Mike Hanson and Anne Fullerton wedding. It was a wonderful wedding! >And it gave me a chance to see the Hanson/Fullerton relatives, and to >chat with Judith, who I hadn't seen in years... > >OK. Vietnam. The flights were normal enough, if long. I left San >Francisco around 1:30am on Tuesday morning, flew through Hong Kong >and Singapore, and finally managed to make my way to Saigon around >4:30 local time on Wednesday. (Note: Signapore airlines, especially >the 777s, is by far my best flying experience. Aside from all of the >normal things everyone says about the airline, the food was great, >seats moderately comfy, and things ran like clockwork. I suppose >that should be expected from such an ordered country, but it was >different to see it in action.) > >After landing, I slowly made it through immigration and customs (my >bike box was even mostly in tact!) and managed to find my way >outside. Now ,I've been to many warm and humid places in my life. >But 37 degrees (celsius, of course) with this humidity is pretty >ridiculous, even for 5:30pm. I was greeted by Vinh (who was >energetically carrying a sign proclaiming that he was looking >for "Geremy"). After stuffing my two panniers and the bike box into >his car, we headed out on to the open road. In order to imagine rush >hour traffic conditions in Vietnam, you first need to stop thinking >about cars. Instead, it much more closely resembles a magnified >arterial blood flow. Everyone pretty much drives wherever they want >to get where they desire to go. No one stops -- even slowing down >puts you in danger of being rammed by the vehicle behind you. And of >course the vast majority of people are riding motorbikes, with >bicycles coming in second, and cars firmly in third. Watching an 8 >year old on a bike taking on a truck is something else. > >In any case, after a fun conversation with Vinh about his plight of >not being married at 31 (and his disappointment that I'm not married >at 27), we finally made it to Hotel 64. No, it's not a Nintendo >game. The hosts are exceptionally friendly. Before any sort of >attempt at getting to a room was made, I had to drink tea and be >offered bananas and dinner several times. Anh, Vinh's sister and >another host of the hotel, informed me that today's weather is hot >even by Saigon standards. Thank god. > >So here I am. A little sleep deprived, but I think that I'll >probably be adjusted pretty quickly. I'll try to send out occasional >updates while I'm here. Hopefully that will continue to be as easy >as it was tonight. > >With any luck, my next message will continue quoting Broadway >musicals, not Francis Ford Copolla movies. > >Take care, >Jeremy