Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Traveling Over...

He sat beside me on the plane, from San Francisco to Taipei. At first, I assumed he was Chinese and going to Taipei. He was resetting his watch shortly after taking a seat, so I asked him if he knew what time it was in Taipei. He didn’t and said he was still on Oklahoma time. Despite his accent, I could also pick out a bit of twang. He’d lived most of his life in Oklahoma City and was going back to Vietnam for the first time in over 30 years, taking with him his wife and three children, ages 17 to 27. He had graduated from high school in ’66 and was called up into the South Vietnamese army during Tet, in 68, serving as an officer in the Quartermaster Corp. He remained at his post as the surrender occurred, until relieved by the victors. For having done his duty, he was rewarded with a year in a re-education camp where he said he was forced to do hard work in the rice fields and on other projects deemed worthy by the conquering army. And he’d been hungry, always hungry, which was how they tried to control them. All former officers spent at least a year in the camps, he said. Some were there as many as five years. The first chance he got, like thousands more of his countrymen, he fled his homeland, taking a risk on a boat in the South China Sea. He made it to Malaysia, where he spent a year in a refugee camp. There, he met the woman who would become his wife. He noted that she was Chinese, although she’d been born in Vietnam as had her father and grandfather. They married after they were resettled to the United States and have been together for thirty years. He was excited but unsure of going home, of what he might find. “Vietnam is dangerous,” he said. He was leery about traveling with just his family and booked a tour so that his children can see the country from which their parents had come. But was only for a visit, for a month, afterwards he’d go back home, to Oklahoma. “The United States is the greatest country in the world,” he bragged proudly of his home.
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The trip began at the Grand Rapids airport with a ticket agent that wasn’t having her best day. She argued with me over my ticket-saying that it was because I was changing carriers that the full flight wasn’t showing up. I argued, since it showed me flying to Taipei, but not Jakarta, and I was on the same carrier. She wanted to send my bag to Taipei and have me re-check them. No way! Finally, she realized that it was because of the day change and said she’d have to manually enter my bags into the system to get them to Jakarta… GCK was the code and something didn’t look right. It said, “Garden City,” but I had no idea where that was at. My wife looked up on her phone and discovered that it was in Nebraska (or was it Kansas?). Needless to say, it wasn’t in Indonesia, so it was back up to the woman and she agreed that her coding could be a problem and recoded the bag to CGK (for Jakarta)…

From the train, between Jakarta and Yogyakarta

Somehow, I safely made it here. After a day in the capital city, which is hot and crowded and smoggy, I escaped over the mountains on a magical train ride and am in Yogyakarta (I keep thinking Yogi the Bear will show up any minute, which may not be farfetched as they showed an Indonesian version of Thomas the Tank Engine on the train!). More to come…

21 comments:

  1. What a wonderful conversation with your fellow traveler. I have a friend with a similar story, although he has never gone back to Vietnam.

    Wonderful photo, too - safe travels, Sage.

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  2. Just watched a doc about a Vietnamese girl whose father was an American serviceman in the war there. She was raised in Georgia and always yearned to see her birth mother again. The return trip there didn't work out so well as the family thought she should support them all, being a rich American...Thanks for the report. Yes, Garden City is in Nebraska. Who knows when you would have seen your luggage again... Write more, please.

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  3. Keep the stories and photos coming.

    BTW, my wife says that all of her immigrant students, whether from China, Vietnam or Bosnia say the same thing as your seatmate. We truly don't appreciate it.

    And Garden City is in Kansas. I've been there. It's hot and humid and flat and not particularly "garden"-like. You're better off.

    Cheers.

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  4. Thanks Sage ........my prayers are with you buddy; keep a good journal, I smell a travelogue book!

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  5. Glad you made it there safe. Must have been happy to venture out of the craziness and over the mountains:)
    Your adventures are only beginning...

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  6. The strangers you meet who are of home. Always a fascinating event during travels.

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  7. I'm having to brush up on geography to follow your posts/journey.

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  8. I can't wait to read about and see photos from your travels!! Be safe.

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  9. Amazing the people we are lucky to meet by chance....and what a story he has for sure...I hope all goes well with him on his return too. So sorry about your travel woes, I had that once flying to England and it is a horrible feeling...but it sure made my arrival even more thankful.....take care along your way and I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing more Sage!

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  10. nice...cool conversation...love the people we meet on our travels and sharing stories...

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  11. Nice to know you've arrived safe and sound. No doubt you will continue to meet interesting people on your travels and lucky for us, we'll get to hear about them

    I'm glad things worked out with your ticket. Clever you for figuring out the problem. You're smarter than the average bear (yeah, I'm channeling Yogi for you). ;)

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  12. Good story. It is a different world, different culture, with so many differences. Indonesia is colorful. Bali is wonderful. Try it our. Good luck and God bless.

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  13. Oh how I wish I was able to go to the places you go! I hope you post a lot while you are there and I loved the story of the man and his family returning for a visit.

    I'm linking you up -hope it is OK. My post is up later this morning and missed your visit Sage!

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  14. I wonder what the impression after a month visiting his hometown will be on your plane companion. I, too, went back to my country after so many years so afraid of it being unlivable, dangerous, inhospitable. I found it to be safe, beautiful, the people living there were happy and friendly. What a misconception our media gives us.
    Enjoy your trip

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  15. and so the adventure begins in the usual fashion...a few kinks, worked out and off ye go lad!

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  16. What a courageous man. Wow. It's stories like that that remind me of how trivial my day to day concerns really are. Stay safe, Sage. Can't wait to see more pictures!

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  17. The adventure begins! I'm glad you're happily on your way though I will miss seeing you this summer! I look forward to more blog posts!

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  18. Thanks for stumbling across my blog, and giving me a chance to find yours

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  19. Travel on Bro!!!!

    and keep us updated as only you can!

    John

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  20. Gorgeous pictures. It sounds like you're having the adventure of a lifetime. There's nothing like talking to a stranger and hearing an unbelievable life. You are in for some trip!!! Eat up every minute of it!

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