Hanoi

Here we are in Hanoi. What a trip. Getting out of Hong Kong was a major challenge. At one point it was going to cost $1,800 US to get Karolyn and I out of the country. Yeah - after debating and arguing with Cathay Pacific Air for over 2 hours (thank God we got to the airport early!!) and trying to find someone at Northwest to talk to we were allowed on the plane. For some reason we could have our boarding passes and luggage tags but we could not board - even though we had confirmation numbers - until we paid them money and they re-issued our tickets. That process took two hours and after Jay got on the phone and got a little angry they actually refunded us $32 US per ticket. Very weird.
My experience so far in flying over the South China Sea is also not so pleasant. The trip was very, very bumpy - again.
We landed in Hanoi and cleared customs and immigration and made our way into town - about an hour ride. Very interesting ride - the traffic is CRAZY!!!! The rules really don't mean anything - wait - a better question would be are there any rules?? Wow!! Gives new meaning to the saying "arrive alive".
We found out when we got to the hotel that there had been a dinner planned for us at the Hanoi Club - a very private club on West Lake. We had this marvelous dinner of Vietnamese/Chinese fusion food. They just never stopped bringing out the plates. At dinner were the Director of the Nuclear Institute and his wife, Judy from UW-Madison and Tong - a program officer for the government for HIV/AIDS, and Mr. Hau, the Security Officer/Director for the US Embassy. We are also working with the US Committee for Scientific Cooperation with Vietnam.
Dinner also consisted of a HUGE bottle of vodka for the men and beer and wine for the others.
We decided to have a final drink back at the hotel and we were met by Mr. Dzung, who is the Director of the American Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - so our equivilant of US Secretary of State (think Condolezza Rice).
Today we are waiting for Bill to arrive from the US and we are then being taken on a city tour by two UWL students. This evening we have another formal dinner with families and new students who are coming to UWL in fall.
Sorry to ramble everyone....there is so much I want to tell all of you. I know one thing for sure - this is an experience of a lifetime - I simply can not believe I am here and meeting all these wonderful people and seeing such amazing sights.
More tomorrow.

Hong Kong

Hi from Hong Kong. We are here and are having a wonderful time. Our flights were crazy wild - we for sure will share stories later! We left La Crosse at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5th and arrived HK at 1:30 a.m on June 7th. This gives new meaning to being a LONG way from home. We arrived in pouring rain and woke up on Saturday to "black storm" warnings - which are the worst. Major flooding, mud slides and streets closed, and businesses closed as well. We set out anyway on foot and checked out possible housing for our return visit with students. The weather kept us indoors much of the day but that is not much of a problem in HK. This city is all connected well and on many levels. The city feels to us like NY - tunnels, bridges, ferries, subways, great mass transit and LOTS of very tall buildings. We took a ferry over to Kowloon and checked out that area. The evening was spent having an excellent dinner at a Thai restaurant. On to Sunday.....Karolyn and I set off on our own to check out the rest of the city by bus. We went up to Victorias Peak, then down to Aberdeen Fishing village where we got on a Sampan and toured the harbor. We were in luck because the Dragon Boat Festival was happening so we got to see the boats up close. Very cool. Then off to tour a jewelry factory (possibly the biggest lowlight yet!) and then off to Stanley Market. Our evening found us dining with University representatives and faculty at an Chinese Italian type restaurant. The food again was outstanding.
Today (Monday) we journeyed back to Stanley Market via a double decker bus to take photos. Not much is open today since we were surprised to learn that today is a national holiday. This evening we have dinner with UWL HK alums.
I love it here. It is very metropolitan and very diverse. It will indeed be very interesting to compare HK with Vietnam. We leave tomorrow afternoon for Vietnam. More from there later.

Two more days till we leave! Yeah! Hard to believe it is finally here.
Karolyn created a lonely planet map tool that will show you where we are. Here is the link:

http://lonelyplanet.mytripjournal.com/2008vietnam

What fun!

We are leaving soon!

If you are reading this you have decided to join us as we journey to Hong Kong and Vietnam. We hope you enjoy our posts!! We are so excited to be going and we hope that through this blog you can share in some of our excitement. Join us!