This was worth the whole trip in a way, to sit and celebrate with 12 Vietnamese friends, eating and drinking, much laughter, next to no English being spoken on the night before Tet. I'm here at Lan Anh's mothers house in a town north of Hanoi, and this evening we had a celebration dinner with the close relatives, uncles, brothers in law, aunts, cousins. the food was incredible, the company outstanding and the alcohol was flowing as we were downing small shots of vodka, wine and beer as part of the bonding ritual.
They liked me a lot, and I was very moved to be in this environment, sharing good times with our former enemies. At a certain point, I wanted to make a little speech, which I did, and it was along the lines of 'when I was 16 and our country was at war with Vietnam, I went to Washington to protest. When I was 18 I was drafted and they wanted me to come fight here, but I wouldn't. Most all of the Americans of my age feel guilty about what our country did here, because we were wrong. And it means so much to me to be here and sharing this time with you.
They were very appreciative, and Lan Anh's mother '56' years old added that our government should make reparations to all the Vietnamese who were damaged by agent orange. But they totally appreciated my sentiment, and it was a beautiful thing. I need to cut this short as Lan Anh and I have to go again to the police station to let them know that I'm staying here in the village. It's a bit 'gestapo' in that regard, but more on that later... we must show our papers....
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