UPGRADE!

Current location: Seoul, South Korea.
Hours without sleep: 24
Amount of time in the airport/left in the airport: 1 hour down, 3 more to go
Amount of total airplane time done: 5 hours
Amount ahead of me: 21 hours (3 of which are a lay over in Chicago)
Good part of the day: When I started crying while watching Toy Story 3 in the plane, I got to do so in a reclining seat with a 17 inch monitor in business class. Yes. That's right! I got upgraded. And guess what, it was only for my 5 hour flight and not my 17 hour flight. Am I still happy? Yes. Am I going to try and upgrade in my next flight even if I have to pay? You betcha!
Bad part of the day: I had to pay American prices for my Caribou Coffee. I used my debit card for the first time in four months at a store. I didn't like any of these aspects of the day. (But the coffee was pretty good.)

Well, this isn't everything that I will talk about. The last week in Vietnam has been filled with lots of work (finishing up my Independent Study Paper and Presentation), eating lots of food, going to Vung Tau and swimming in the ocean, drinking beers behind a market watching tourists, and buying lots of name brand clothes with small defects at super cheap prices in Saigon. It was great and I still can't believe I am going home. It's so crazy. Also, it was in the high 80's our last few weeks in Vietnam. Guess where it's not in the high 80's? MN. I guess I need to contact the weather gods again.

Alright, see anyone who wants to see me soon. You'll know me by my glowing tan that most of you probably lack by this point!

Last Chances

Well, well, well...who would have thought that 15 weeks could fly by so quickly. Certainly not I, every time I have looked at the calender lately, I haven't really grasped the date. The fact that Santas seem to be popping up everywhere didn't even tip me off that December truly was here. This lead me to a very angry 15 minutes, when I realized that I can't be in two places at once. And then I got even angrier, because seriously, what are scientists working on these days. Instead of working on things like renewable energy or a longer lasting lipstick, they should be doing something to ACTUALLY benefit me. Come on; who ever finally achieved it could make millions. I feel like the military maybe has technology for this, but I don't think I could afford it.

I leave to go back to Minnesota on Sunday, and I've started thinking about the things I will miss most (and least). And whether I like it or not, this week will be my last chance to soak in the grandness of all the things I have come to love. I thought I would share some of these things with you.

• Mani-pedis that cost less than $5. 
• Entire stores devoted to fans.
• Motorbikes and honking.
• People starring at me.
• GOOD coffee.
• 80-90 degree weather.
• Fruit and vegetables (or leaves, as I called them when I first arrived. Some of them are, after all, simply leaves)
• Biking in the traffic.
• Geckos.
• Obvi, my host-family. 
• Street food.
• Meals costing $1. 
• Entire stores devoted to stuffed animals.
• Chopsticks.
• Monks on motorbikes.
• T-shirts with English sayings that don't make sense.
• Old Vietnamese people.

Things that I won't miss in Vietnam are:

• Motorbikes and honking. 
• 80-90 degree weather.
• Mosquitos.
• Vietnamese music. 
• The Backstreet Boys.
• My bike helmet.
• Warm beer served with ice.
• My "Giant" status.

See most of you soon!