Well, it still hasn’t really sunk in that a week from now I’ll be in Vietnam.

Tomorrow morning I go to the Vietnam Consulate in San Francisco to pick up my entry/exit visa. I went in last week and gave them my passport, a separate passport-size photo, and $90. I suspect the price of the visa changes depending on how long you’ll be there, and whether you’ll need multiple entries.

Last Friday I got my Typhoid shot and prescriptions for Doxcycline Hyclate (anti-Malaria), Ciprofloxacin (antibiotic) and Lorazepam (sweet, sweet anti-anxiety).

I have a little work to do before bed, but before I fall asleep I’m going listen to a couple of Pimsleur Basic Vietnamese lessons. So far I can’t really say much of anything aside from “Excuse me.” For some reason, Vietnamese doesn’t stick in my head the way Japanese does. I think because Vietnamese is a tonal language, so it’s not just about remembering new words, but also how to intonate them.