In Transition

I can honestly say that I have no idea what day it is, what time it is, or even where I am on a map. I saw water outside my window on the plane, so I assume that I am somewhere on the Asian continent. My uncle tells me it's Taipei, which, considering my current confused state, means next to nothing to me; I really can't register or comprehend what most people are saying to me at this point. And yet, I feel strangely at peace. The plane ride was, while not the most comfortable experience, much less demanding than I expected. I feel no jetlag (yet) and, albeit a bit confused, I am perfectly fine. The lovely stewardesses were kind and hospitable, offering non-stop meals to distract the passengers from the monstrous twelve hour ride they were on. The TVs were equipped with recent music and movies which kept me entertained the whole way. And of course there was sleep. I hibernated for almost half of the ride, being careful only to sleep according to Vietnam time; I stayed awake until it was 8:00PM at the time of my destination and crashed shortly thereafter. I found the plane to be strangely peaceful when I was awake, most passengers snoozing softly with the exception of my uncle, who took it upon himself to entertain those left awake with a musical chorus of his snores and grunts. The conditions were perfect for one of my favorite pasttimes: people watching. I quietly observed the Chinese gentleman across from me struggle with his remote, chuckling to myself as he proceeded to remotely turn the lights above him on and off a ridiculous amount of times before realizing that doing so did not change the channel on his television. His technological troubles reminded me of my grandpa's own disparity with his television. I saw a group of three siblings sleeping together, reminding me of my two brothers left at home who are obviously devastated by the absence of their glorious eldest brother. I listened to an intereseting altercation occurring behind me between a man and woman concerning the nature of the man's shirt; she found it to be ragged and worn, asking him to change before she ripped it off for him. It took all I had to keep myself from bursting out laughing; this very fight occurrs between my parents almost weekly at my house. After I was finished looking at all the interesting individuals around me, I began thinking about what I had observed. While I watched the actions of these strangers, I was comparing them to my family, people in my life who behave similarly. I realized then that I miss them already. While I do not feel particularly sad, as shown above, I am obviously very much aware of their absnece subconsciously and compensate this by seeing them and their idiosyncrasies in other people. These thoughts are troubling to me; I don't want to say that I miss my family already! It's only been two days! Trying to escape these thoughts, I turned on the television set in front of me and began to watch some movies. The first movie I chose to watch was "She's Out Of My League", a comedy I had seen back home with my friends. I laughed at every goofy line, and found myself reaching into my pocket for my phone, as if I could send my friends a text telling them I was watching that ridiculous movie again. But I couldn't. Hmm. I then watched Chicago, a movie I had seen after prom at a friend's house. The insanely inappropriate dance numbers had me giggling, and again I reached for my phone, trying to let my friends know what I was doing. But I couldn't. I realized then that I subconsciously miss my friends as well. My inside jokes carried no weight with my uncle, whose face remained emotionless as I spewed out countless one-liners my friends would have died laughing at. For a moment, I was almost overwhelmed; I had realized for the first time that I was almost completely alone. Rather then let these revelations weigh me down, however, I use these feelings as evidence. If I missed my friends and family so much that even I was not consciously aware of it, they must be pretty darn great. I will use this as inspiration on my mission trip, as I spread the love within my heart to others who need it. I will share my jokes with them, tell them about my life back home, and help them to understand what love from a stranger feels like. Hopefully I will be successful, and when I am finished, hopefully I will have a friend in Vietnam who will miss me as much as I miss those back at home.

Internet is splotchy, but I will try my best to post daily updates. Love you all!

Also, my uncle Bac Nam would like to add that he is the coolest guy west of the Mississippi. Go figure.

Khang