Once in a Thousand Years

Once in a thousand years will you be able to witness this celebration of a millennium (though its temporal accuracy could be contested). Once in a lifetime will you be able to study abroad in Vietnam as an undergraduate. This weekend was filled with "once in a lifetimes," and I wonder how these memories of me here will translate in my next few years. All the friends and even family I am making or (re)searching here; all the habits I am developing here and pet-peeves; all elements of my life situated in people's (ordinary) lives here.. I wonder how it will exist in my mind when I get back to the US.

I can't help but to think abstractly after this weekend because this weekend was abstract just like the traffic, the various accidents which included the explosion resulting in 4-12 deaths and numerous accidents on the road, the storm killing many people in the central region, and the meaning of all this craziness. It was a big party, but as a result of any large celebration of indulgence in pleasure and escape, there is definitively no escape from the trash and baggage that will left behind. Just like any large rave, there will always be that rubbish riding behind.

I can't believe I have only 2 months left here. The trip to the south is also in 2 weeks, and after that there will be only 1 month of school and the program left. Back to suburban sur-reality.

As much as I don't want think about the reality of this dream in Vietnam, I do. I do. I do. I can already imagine myself crying the days before departure. I will hold onto those marks I left here in Vietnam, and then I would have to let go. Never will I forget. Perhaps I will return next time, or even more. Perhaps. Let's hope we reunite once again. Past the Cold War politics. Past war.