-^-for posterity-^-

eric- i don't really want to go home right now.
jon- why?
i'm just getting to finally know some people here. It's a critical point and now we have to leave.
how long would you like to stay?
another month or two.
what would you do?
someone would find something for me to do, wouldn't they?
what would you like to do?
what would i like to do? something to do so that i could interact with the local people, learn a bit of the language and delve into the culture more. (delve was emphasized)
what are you gonnna tell people at home?
about what?
about this place.
if they ask, "how was vietnam?", or whatever? i'm gonna say, it was awesome, if you get a chance go there. and then i'll relate somewhere around fifty stories involving coffee and buying flags.
what was the best part of this whole thing?
i don't know dude.
what was the worst part?
too many bug bites. getting frustrated sometimes at the language barrier and my american ignorance.
american ignorance of what?
of other languages and other cultures. pretty much being ethnocentric. everyone learns english.
what's the best part about this culture.
the best part about this culture? the people i've interacted with, they're pleasant. i've only been here two and a half weeks and that's not enough. even with people who don't speak the language. i mean english.
what's the first thing you're gonna do when you go home?
i'm gonna turn on the radio and order a pizza.
right on. anything else you wanna say?
i want your job.
*chuckles all around


so, uh, josh, what's up?
just finished packing. getting bit by mosquitoes.
why'd you come here?
thought it would be a very unique experience.
in what way?
in that no one outside of bluffton my age has been to vietnam that i know. you can word that a little better.
no, dude, this is vernacular. so, um, what are you gonna tell people at home?
it was a great experience.
in what way?
i learned a lot about a different culture and i also learned about the stuff that i kinda take for granted back home.
like what? what do you take for granted?
um, i don't know, like, hot shower whenever you want it. cold coke, soda or pop. like little things that are like so normal for us but it's actually a huge difference. stuff we're used to and we just think, "yea, this is normal and we deserve this." stuff that you don't really need. it's nice but you don't need it.
do you feel guilty?
not so much guilty, it's just, i don't know i feel better knowing about the way other people live now. i mean i'll definitely treasure kind of respect the things i do at home more. like, the littler things. i won't take them for granted as much at least not right away. it's hard to always remember, jon's half way around the world right now without a bean burrito.
yea, thanks for the beans.
no problem dude.
uh, whadja think about tonight?
it was definitely very interesting. like when, whenever they would announce a song they would relate it to either icc, the world in some way, particularly sticks out in my mind the orphan song, about how they, just, the orphans in the world are miserable but lets be happy now with this dance. i know the thing that i found different was, about three or four acts in, they just said, "how does everyone feel about this tonight?", and everyone didn't know what to do and they just clapped.
yea, that was hilarious. she said, "how does everyone feel? happy?" and that was it. her english was, a, well, how do i say it...
missing a word every now and then.
how much of this is fake and how much of this is real.
what do you mean, "this."
i mean, this, me sitting here typing stuff you're saying talking about something neither one of us really understand.
i don't understand it enough to say what's real and what's fake, jon.
yea, but does any of this feel really real? or is it all some... um... i can't even put it into words...
a lot of this trip has felt surreal. you can't really capture it. it's so different and amazing, you just can't really think about how to put it into words. you want to take a picture of something but a picture won't even do. you can tell a story but what i really want to do is go home and grab someone and take them here. i wanna take them to this spot and that spot.
you think the world would be better if more people came here?
eric- no, because people will come here for four days and declare the country atheist.
josh- if people came here with sorta the same mind-set as we did, than yes. but if we just said, "ok, everybody has to go to vietnam for three weeks." it'd be different. if everyone came here i don't think vietnam would stay the same so i don't think people would be able to take the same things we took out of this culture. i think it should be a requirement that everyone have a cross cultural experience, i think it would open up their mind, just a little bit. it's hard to stay close minded when something's in your face for three weeks.
eric- god, why don't you just be an ad for bluffton college.
josh- i'm not a mennonite.
*random discussion about bluffton and mennonites and foreign exchange students
jon- anything anyone wants to say before i end this?
eric- i've seen pretty people just appear like smoke. (singing)
josh- *long pause
eric- this is an ad for bluffton college!