-^-for posterity-^-

i will eventually end up in a town called long xuyen after about two months of langauge training in ho chi minh city. i was reading in "the rough guide to vietnam" about long xuyen. "vietnamese towns don't come much duller than this..." and "hurry past long xuyen's unsightly market..." and "dominating the town is the spire of the ugly concrete cathedral... numerous tiny portals shed light on the anaemic interior, illuminating gilt stations of the cross..."

i'm still absurdly excited.