I have never been at a resort, much less spent more than a day at the beach. Granted, Oklahoma beaches are not exactly "off the coast of Thailand" beaches, but still it's similar territory. Anyway, the six of us headed 3 hours outside of Bangkok, Thailand and spent a week at Dolphin Bay Resort in Hua Hin. I had never felt so relaxed in Asia!

Last summer I finished my MA and was really looking forward to not having homework during the winter and summer breaks. Since I've been teaching in China, this has always been my experience. However, while others in the MA program were having classes in Chiang Mai, I was in earthly bliss. It's been great not to have homework or papers or reading or stress related to anything of that sort. Because of this, I have totally enjoyed being freed from the clutches of this cycle - and Dolphin Bay was the first taste of this.

Basically, I watched TV, ate great food, slept in, took daily naps, went shopping around in the city, and had an overall great time doing nothing. This feeling was awesome and I left Hua Hin completely having enjoyed it.

The highlight of this portion of my break was going to Monkey Island and seeing all of the monkeys. They were cute and small, so technically I think they were macaques. We feed them food, watched Mark challenge the alpha male (don't ask), enjoyed Daren's leg being bit at, seeing Sarah's dress being pulled at (yeah, Sarah joined our crew half way through our time at the resort), and boating around the whole island. It was a good day.

Up to this point in my life, the longest train ride I was ever on was with Jonny and Rachel during the "pre-Samantha" years. However, I really wasn't ready to spend 24 hours on a train. Yikes!

The previous cabin we had from Hanoi had two electric outlets. I didn't have the right adapter to plug in my laptop for that leg, but I had found a good one while in Hanoi. I was ready to watch movies and entertain myself with my laptop until Saigon. However, the cabin we found ourselves in had no outlets. I was bummed beyond belief! I now had to resort of low-tech forms of entertainment.

I had brought along 6 dice to play a game called "Farkle". The concept of the game is simple and it involves skill, as much as luck. I had taught Jude how to play it previously on the trip and we played it on my bed. Mark had watched us play, so he decided to join us as well.

Going through the coastline of Vietnam gave us amazing scenery to view. Quaint villages, mountain-top houses, marshy low-lands, and countless rice paddies were the common features. Daren and Mark took lots of picture. Unfortunately, I got zilch pictures because my camera broke. I'll probably have to wait until China to try to get it fixed. Big bummer!

The six of us in our little cabin afforded interesting bonding time. We played games introduced by me, talked about how smelly the bathroom on the train was, what it would be like to have better food than our crackers we brought onboard, and the number of hours yet to ride until Saigon.

What was most funny about the trip was the arrival. I had woken up at about 4:30 AM; I was hot. I was in and out for 30 minutes, trying to go back to sleep. However, I heard, several cabin doors down from us have a loud "knock, knock" on the door and the words "Saigon, Saigon". The person was doing and saying this for every cabin - and it was getting closer and closer. We had anticipated a 24-hour train ride yet it was going to be about 17. Sure enough, this was our stop and we had arrived in Saigon.

We then departed the train station and there was a driver who greeted us for our ride to the hotel. Sadly, we couldn't check in until 10 AM, so for about 3 hours we just got out in the lobby. Good times, good times. It was good to know I didn't have to get on another train until China.

After a 16-hour train ride, the six of us arrived in Danang. It was slightly surreal being there because my father had served in the Vietnam War in this area. We were greeted by our driver, who was holding a sign and waiting for us, and he briskly took us from the train station and drove us about one hour to the city of Hoi An. Hoi An is a highly touristy area. Part of me was sad that we didn't see a lot of Danang, and I didn't feel like I was on the streets of Vietnam, being so touristy and all. But still it was great being here.

After a meal and freshening up, we began a tour around the area with our guide, Vinh. He was a local with acceptable English, so he knew the area pretty well and he could be understood just enough. The city itself was pretty small. There were several small islands clustered together that made up part of Hoi An. And there was a billion places to spend money. At every corner, someone was selling something: silk shirts, lanterns, jewelry, and all manner of trinkets galore. It's overwhelming when you come with absolutely NO INTENTION of buying anything; I'm not carrying "stuff" all around Asia before arriving back in Siping. Plus, I felt what I saw in the stores I could just as well find in China (copycatted, of course). We finished our day of sightseeing with a meal and headed back to our hotel.

Now, the coolest thing about our little tour around the city was seeing the factory were they made silk. They showed us (in microcosm) the process by which silk is made. They showed us the silk worms eating the mulberry leaves. Then they showed us the cocoons they create in the process of becoming a moth. They showed us the machine that "gathered" the silk off of 10-15 cocoons to make a strand of silk. Lastly, we saw the machine that put it all together as a weaved and finished product. It was amazing to see this process.

By the way, the local area is known for a special kind of spring roll - and it was gooood! Most Americans, when they think of Chinese food, think of egg rolls (or "spring rolls" as they are common called in China); however, egg rolls aren't common in Siping at all. Most menus don't even feature this item. However, in Vietnam spring rolls are everywhere and are impressively delicious.

We were only in Hoi An for less than 24 hours. After a good night's sleep, we headed back to Danang to board the train. Previously, we had  a comfortable, adequately clean, and well-ventilated cabin with four beds for a 16 hour trip. However, when we got on this train and find our car with our cabin, the accommodation were not so welcoming. We still had four beds, but my bed had what I call "fungus among us" and my "clean" bed sheets had what I called "human stains". Yuk! Mind you, I decided not to complain but this train ride, which we boarded at 11:28 AM, was going to take us almost 24 hours to complete - from Danang to Saigon. I wasn't mentally prepared for this, but I quickly got there! Needless to say, the six of us were going to have a interesting ride.

Mark, my fellow teammate, was in charge of the Vietnam leg of our trip. And it was on 11th that we flew from Hong Kong to Vietnam.

Now, I have experienced short people. When I went to the Philippines, I saw short people, but I really feel that Vietnamese are shorter than any Asian group I had previous seen (including Filipinos and Thai).

My first introduction to this fact was, while flying on Vietnam Airlines, the size of the seats on the flight from Hong Kong. I'm talking small - I felt like that last piece of clothing you stuff into an already over-filled piece of luggage - out of place, uncomfortable, and running over. Thank goodness I was in the exit row and on my left was a small Chinese guy and to my right no one. At least I was able to use the space on my right.

Upon landing, we had to get our Vietnam visas, which were $25 each. Prior to our arrival, the travel agency Mark had used in Vietnam for our trip had secured all the paperwork we needed for this point. We filled out some necessary forms and within 10 minutes we were in the country.

As we walked out of the airport, we were happily greeted by our driver who was to take us to the travel agency, drop us off at a place to eat, then deliver us to the train station. Apparently, he was aware of the last two of these duties. We had a quick supper then were at the train station 35 minutes before departure; however, we had no tickets. Mark repeatedly told the driver we need to go to the travel agency, but the driver, in very rudimentary English, simply repeated the statement. We thought it was an acknowledgement of the issue, rather there was apparently no understanding.

As we waited in the train station parking lot, a lot of calls were made with *stressed* Vietnamese being thrown about. We had no idea what was happening other than we were told to wait. It was about 5 minutes 'til 7, when the train would depart for Danang, and we had no tickets. Somehow, we received four tickets to board the sleeper train and we were off to Danang. And, unfortunately, Will's backpack of toys was left by Jude in the back of the van. But we all had a train bed.

I've completed a life-long mission to get to Disneyland. Mind you, it wasn't from one in the US, but I did get to the one in Hong Kong just two days ago. I am officially addicted to the Buzz Lightyear Blasters ride. You get in a two-man car and receive a laser gun in front of you. As you go throughout the ride, you have targets all throughout the ride that you hit for points. The highest I got (in two rides no less) was 327,900 points. I figured out going through it the second time which targets were worth more points. If you know the Toy Story plot, you know that Buzz Lightyear's enemy is Zerg, so every target had a "Z" on it. It was awesome! My inner child is beyond satisfied. I'm now getting packed up and getting ready to fly to Hanoi, Vietnam. I'll then take a night train tonight to Danang near the DMZ. I'll update when I can get online.

Tonight begins traveling madness in Sonny Land. I'm almost packed up with 30 minutes to go until I need to leave. It's really strange not having homework for Wheaton classes, as I have this feeling that I'm missing stuff. But I'm off for a lot of fun and some new adventures. I even gave myself a "soul patch". (If you don't know what that is, look it up or ask a trendy guy.) Most of the day found me doing laundry, getting last minute errands in, and packing. I actually just returned from Haerbin for the Ice Festival. I'll post pictures of that later. For now, I gotta get outta Siping! See ya, dudes!

With classes over and a new year having arrived, I've been able to relax. I finished the last of my grades two days ago which officially ended the term. I'm currently preparing for travel time that begins today. I'm going to Haerbin, Heilongjiang for the Ice Festival that happens every year. Massive ice sculptures are created then lights are placed within them for night viewing. I'll be gone a couple of days to see these then return to Siping. I leave for Beijing on Wednesday, so I'm getting mentally prepared to see some cool stuff in Hong Kong and Vietnam.

I actually don't begin teaching until the first Monday in March. China follows the lunar calendar with the Spring Festival occurring on January 25th. My company's contract has me teaching 16 weeks, so I finish earlier compared to my Chinese colleagues. And, since, my university has classes all the way to two weeks prior to Spring Festival, I get around 10 weeks off. Life is good.

And to everyone, Happy New Year (新年快乐)!