Hello Asia!

After Christmas in Hong Kong, we have made it down to Southeast Asia and are in Hanoi. Hong Kong included eating some interesting dishes, including a 100 year old egg, and some extreme shopping. Despite some issues with jet lag the first night (resulting in watching BBC at 3AM), we have adjusted well to the 12 hour time difference. 

Hanoi is a beautiful city and the French influence is very apparent. The first day of touring was great. We started at the Ho Chi Min memorial and saw where he lived- a tiny one bedroom house on stilts because he thought the palace had bad feng shui. The French had been there, then the Japanese, then the Chinese and all had been forced out. Mr. Flynn and I discussed the political irony of the fact that he essentially defeated the greatest super power in the world (and their leaders in their fancy homes) from a shack. We then tried some passion fruit with sugar (recommendation of Mrs Flynn)- definitely a high point. 

Then we saw the “Hanoi Hilton” or prison where POWs were kept. There are quite a few pictures of John McCain. It was very interesting to hear the Vietnamese take on the treatment of American POWs during the war- none of which seemed to line up with what we have learned. They even have a statue to commemorate where John McCain was shot down. The statue is a man parachuting down- there is an inscription to the left and a USAF to the right. Not entirely what you might find in the USA, but interesting none the less. 

We ended at the Temple of Literature- an historic royal education center in Hanoi. For good luck in law school for the next three years, I made sure to enter through all the appropriate gates. The crane standing on the turtle's back with the pearl in it's beak symbolizes balance in wisdom so I obviously decided to take a picture with that as well. Just for good measure. 

All in all, the trip is going well. After receiving my letter of attestation from the IJM office, I am becoming more and more excited about my upcoming adventure.