I have a lot on my mind about this trip and after class some of my concerns were answered. I have never traveled out of the country before so I’m a little nervous when we received that huge list of flights and all the transitions. However, I am going to go into this trip with an open mind and try to go with the flow.
I have a count down on my phone….only 59 days until we head to Springfield Airport to experience this amazing opportunity with a great group of people. But who’s counting! 🙂
One thing that kinda worries me is the communication barrier. I have been looking at how to communicate with local while we are over there because I want to try and carry on a basic conversation when we go to eat or travel to all the places to show my respect. I have also been thinking about what I am going to bring with me to give out to the people I meet as a gift of respect and thank you for welcoming me to their country. I have several friends that have traveled abroad and they talked about small things that they brought along with them to give to special people that they meet along the way. Some options are small hard candies, gum, chocolate (since our chocolate is much sweeter than what they are use to- even though this doesn’t travel well), small calenders, thank you cards.
After speaking with some students from the prior year I am thinking about the night life that is in Vietnam and about all the fun stuff to do on our free time. So many thoughts going on and on my free time I keep looking up random facts about the places we are going to be traveling to.
Tạm biệt (Good Bye)
Houxinjie Li says
Hi Amanda,
Yes, I am very excited about spending time with a group of great people for this trip too.
I can see you why communication is your concerns. We have plenty of layover time at the airport, and downloading apps always help. We also could use our body language. Learning basic words will be enough for me.
I think american candy will be good thing to bring based on my experience. It is super easy to carry, and people in Asian countries usually don’t write/receive thank you card.
I have not search for the night life in Vietnam, or fun stuff to do on our free time yet. But I an super excited about it. I am just thinking if you can share your searching results, that will be super.
Bella
Amanda Mullen says
Bella,
Thank you for the input on the gifts to bring over there to pass out to the people that I meet. I did not realize that people in Asian countries do not accept thank you letters. I haven’t done much searching but I will definitely let you know that I find out!
Amanda