-^-for posterity-^-

work on the huge project is over. it's not all for the public forum so email me if you want to know more.

i'm shifting gears, heading to hanoi and must start thinking about intercultural communicative competence.

a group of students and two faculty members from bluffton college is going to spend a little more than three weeks touring around vietnam and i'm going with them.

i'm currently in ho chi minh city waiting for my flight and preparing for their visit to the economic hub of vietnam. the place is, bustling, as always. people are everywhere moving and working and driving and pushing brooms and serving coffee and smiling and shouting and being, well, human.

i walk to all my familiar places and talk to the people i know.

'ah, the american with a southern accent! good to see you!'

'good to see you too. how are you?'

'great. do you want to buy the economist?'

'sure, do you have the two latest issues?'

'sure. for 70,000.'

'great.'

and that's all. everything's a part of normal life. things are floating along as they should. there's nothing strange on the radar.

these university students will come here and i will see the world through their eyes again. i will experience the first impressions of vietnam all over again and, for the next three weeks, i'll talk about our journey.

there's so much to learn. there are so many places to go. there are so many people to see. there's so much we don't know and we'll never know but why not put down whatever mindless task you're doing right now and do something new and fresh. something that changes you just a bit.