-^-for posterity-^-

after almost two years in vietnam, i finally found a place to go running.

running was impossible at first. i tried it when i was up in hanoi and found it involved too much weaving and dodging curbs and the like. i woke up a couple of times at about 5 and tried it but found the streets were already busy.

because of the high population pressure, 81,000,000 people in a country the size of california, people are everywhere at all times of the day. the only places that are sparsely populated are the farm areas and they have a house every few hundred yards. i don't life near enough those areas to enjoy that space.

however, behind the current university campus (there are two campuses with a total area of about 9 hectares) is a new stretch of land that will be built on when funding is secured. this new stretch of land (four times larger than the current campus) is uninhabited. tall grass, what i would call elephant grass (though i have no idea what elephant grass really is) blows lazily in the wind. the roads are already finished in preparation for the new school. brick sidewalks stretch out for nearly a mile and eventually lead out to a quiet fish pond next to a rustic shack.

i ran out there yesterday and only saw (not counting the hundreds of people who were gathered around a makeshift soccer stadium a little ways away) about 20 people. i saw men driving their children down the road slowly and talking to them. i saw a couple of older ladies walking down the road for exercise. i saw a number of younger couples sitting and talking next to the natural wall of high grass.

it was a peaceful time and running under the blazing sun was tempered by a cool breeze that blew unhindered across the field and across my forehead.