Trip Update

Since my last post on everything that I had to do/needed about 2 weeks ago I have made some progressions:

1. I sent out my documents to the Office of Authentications in Washington D.C.
2. I purchased my flight from San Francisco to Hanoi! In total it will be about 17 hours (including a layover in Hong Kong).
3. This bag is now mine!
4. I found out that I can mail my Visa application to the consulate in New York City and pick it up when it's ready, so that's a big relief.
   

I've been working on my Vietnamese lately with Pimsleur Basic Vietnamese Lessons and so far I am capable of having a conversation that goes something like this:

A: Hello (young lady/young man/older woman/older man)
B: Hello ...
A: Do you understand English?
B: No, I do not understand English. Do you speak Vietnamese?
A: Yes, I understand a little Vietnamese.
B: Are you American?
A: Yes, I am American. How about you?
B: I am Vietnamese. How are you?
A: I am fine, thank you. And you?
B: I am fine, thanks. Goodbye!
A: Good bye!

I've also been working a little with the Rosetta Stone Vietnamese program. With RS I'm learning more vocabulary than grammar which is just fine.

I'm including a little video (about 9 minutes long) showing downtown Hanoi. Enjoy!