Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone!

We haven't had a lot of free time after we left Ho Chi Minh City.  We've gone through Mui Ne and Dalat and are on our way to Hoi An tomorrow afternoon.  Look out for some crazy heavy updates soon.  However, I did want to post this special Thanksgiving video we made for our parents.  It was my first Thanksgiving away from home and I missed everyone dearly. Who thought I could get homesick?! We were in Mui Ne when we made this video, eating an American meal at Jibe's. The food there was delicious.....minus the rubber band we found in our pizza.

I am so thankful for the two months I have in Vietnam. I feel like I am experiencing so much growth here.

I am thankful for - long bus rides.
     Long bus rides from town to town provide ample time to reflect on goals, life's purpose, things I know for certain (like...I am way more capable than I give myself credit for), and things that remain forever uncertain to me (like...what the hell is love, or, I wonder where I will be in two years).

I am thankful for - new destinations.
    One or two new cities each week gives me plenty to explore, people to meet, and delicious food to try (I have taken beef and pork back out of my diet and will try hard to stick to vegetarian food, fish and chicken).

I am thankful for - all the new people I am meeting.
   Conversations with locals give me insight on Vietnamese culture, politics, and philosophy.  Conversations with other travelers inspire me to live passionately and in the moment.

I am thankful for - all that I have learned thus far.
   For instance,
-PSY really is an international phenomenon.
-I know more Vietnamese than I thought.
-It's still barely enough to get by.
-If I can't remember a Vietnamese word, saying the English word with a Vietnamese accent sometimes helps.
-Most of the time...it doesn't.
-In America, people typically categorize me as Vietnamese.
-In Vietnam, I am "White".
-Family is forever. My aunt in Saigon called, persistent that she call up everyone she knows throughout Vietnam to boil twenty eggs for us to pick up as we travel from destination to destination. That's love.

I am thankful for my wonderful family, my beautiful friends, my job that I am excited to return at the end of next month, and everyone that has taught me a little something something about life.

Hope everyone had a fun Thanksgiving! I sure did!