• bitofarambler
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      18 days ago

      you know what, he really sounded sincere when he said it, and literally every Vietnamese person who welcomed me to their country(which was every single one I was able to communicate with over 3 months) sounded so happy that an American was visiting.

      it seemed like they were all as nervous as I was about our relations. but the fact that I was there and trying to poorly speak Vietnamese and just interested in their country really meant a lot to them.

      though yeah, winning a war with “the most powerful country in the world” probably soothes a lot of the awkwardness.

      there’s this crazy site called. the B-52 lake, even though it’s only a few dozen meters across, and a B-52 is stuck in this pond in the middle of a residential neighborhood where it was shot down by the Vietnamese during the war, and it’s sticking out by one wing the way it landed when it was shot down.

      I rented an apartment right next to it and had no idea until I walked out of the building and saw a B-52 sticking out of a pond.