Looking back, it seems like so long ago that I was sitting on that last flight to Vietnam from Seoul, trying to figure out how to deal with the creepy guy next to me, exhausted, and so excited for this experience. I really didn't know what to expect, but I was just really excited to experience life in a new place and learn more about other people, myself, and the world. These four months have been filled with real challenges (trying to find my place in the EAP group, trying to find ways to communicate with people despite language barriers, eating a lot of new food that I wasn't familiar with, facing people looking at me like an outsider every day, negotiating and communicating when working in groups, trying to figure out what's culturally appropriate to do and say...) and real joys and successes (improving my Vietnamese to the point where I can joke around with people and bargain well, getting closer with HANU students, new non-HANU Vietnamese friends, and new EAP friends, learning to forgive myself when I make mistakes, really feeling a connection to Vietnam that makes me want to come back...).
Beyond the life lessons I have learned and will take with me from this trip, here are some ways that I can stay connected to UCHANU and Vietnam:
-continue taking Vietnamese at UCLA if possible
-look into scholarship and jobs opportunities in Vietnam that I could do after I graduate
-stay in touch with my new friends on skype and facebook with all my new friends, and in person with the UC students
-look back on pictures, blog entries, and journal entries from my trip
-really reflect, as I get ready to leave, on what this experience has meant to me and what I have learned.
Ultimately, I know that things always change when you go back to your home country, but I hope that doing the above things will help me maintain a lifelong connection to Vietnam.
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