An Unhelpful Guide to Asia: Good Evening, Vietnam!!

It has been an exhausting couple days. We had our Vietnamese final, left our host families, and had our closing ceremony. I was more sad then I expected to leave my host family. It was even more of a shock to be shoeless in the shower after a week.

Thursday

Woke up to the house completely deserted. Except for the dog it was very quiet. Well, and me walking all over the house practicing Vietnamese.
Had lunch with Hostess. She paid for the food, I paid for the desert. Then we sat and watched the others wait for me. It was funnier than it should have been.
Took our Vietnamese spoken and written final. Even though I did horrendously bad on the spoken part I had the best pronunciation in the class (minus Drexler) and an average score. I think she was being generous.
After the test I was supposed to go with my host student. Instead, I was cornered by this girl who asked strange questions and then this really creepy guy showed up out of the blue (it honestly felt planned). He started off asking me about how I do group projects. This should have been my cue to get a hold of Hostess and get out of there but I was too nice and stayed there for another twenty minutes of answering reasonable but ultimately weird questions. Eventually I texted Hostess my location and she came to get me. They talked in Vietnamese and then Hostess became my knight in shining armor. She told me that when she walked up they didn't believe she was my host sister (the girl didn't understand the word 'host' and thought I was talking about my sister, so she asked if Hostess was actually Vietnamese) so Hostess very politely asked if she could take me away. She told me they were talking about me as if I was there God. Apparently, the guy is a second year student who is famous for being creepy so the Vietnamese students will know who I am attempting to describe.
The day got much much much better after that encounter. We went to a cat cafe where you drink coffee and pet cats. We went in the girl cat's room first. This was a mistake since everyone knows boy cats are so much better. You had to buy the girl cat's attention with milk or a toy and the cat who eventually settled with us would not let me take pictures for free (I started calling them cat prostitutes). Plus, there was a bunch of loud and obnoxious high schoolers who treated the cats in a way that would have gotten you removed from my house in the blink of an eye if you attempted it. The boys room was much better. Less people and more welcoming cats. The kitten in the room curled up on my lap and Hostess made friends with a fluffy black and white cat with green eyes. Too bad we had to leave so she could go to evening classes again.
Fast forward to after she came back and ate dinner. We went to pick up my ao dai via taxi since she was feeling sick. I said I could have driven us there. Her response was "I have thought about how I want to die. That is not the way I want to go." My ao dai is gorgeous. It barely needed any adjustments and I could take it home right away. So I put it on for my host mother. Two things always go with ao dai's: high heels and push up bras. She said I needed both, but otherwise I looked 15 years old (which is her way of saying I looked young and sweet).
Said good bye to my host mother. She didn't really get what I was saying at first but then expressed her wish that we would meet again one day. I told her I was never coming back to Vietnam because the boys here are so creepy. I also taught her the word flip flops.

Friday

Again woke up to the empty house. Spent some time saying good bye to the house. And the cat. And the dog. It was really sad and too soon I had to leave. I read O'Henry while I waited for everyone else to arrive. Thankfully I found a secluded spot so my followers couldn't find me.
Chipette and Hostess did not arrive till half way through the closing ceremony. Scared me a bit but everything went better than expected. I wore my ao dai for my performance and for the rest of the day. Chipette and I performed "Good Time" by Owl City ft. Carly Rae Jepson. Everyone said I looked amazing. Hostess started crying when she was asked about her feelings on the trip and I would have joined in as well if it weren't for Deanna. Instead I told the volunteers that I'm sorry that I'm shy and didn't get to know you all better because you all seem very fun and welcoming so thank you for sharing Vietnam with us.
Unlike other years it was only the American students who went to the farewell dinner (which makes no sense!!) We went to a tourist trap buffet (a very high class buffet) which served every kind of Asian food imaginable. The highlights were tiny crabs, snails, and bird soup (some pieces still had the head). I had all three. And some other tasty things like burned your calf salad. Seriously, that's what it was called. I was bursting out of my ao dai by the end of it.
I really miss my host family already. There will be no more extra servings of vegetables, no more motorbike rides, no more at home Vietnamese lessons. Actually, the last one isn't that sad. Vietnam has been an up and down ride but a memorable one.