I just got back from picking up up my passport with its shiny new Vietnam visa.

Now, I’m not going to let myself freak out about it too much, but the visa is only good until March 19. I specifically wrote March 26 on my visa application. I wouldn’t be too worried about it if I were just going to be hanging out in Vietnam for a week with an expired visa. The problem is that we had planned to come back from Laos just a day or two before heading to Japan on March 26.

I’m just going to put this out of mind for the time being and assume I can work out the details at some official office in Hanoi.

Last night I fell asleep listening to my Vietnamese lessons. I didn’t get very far. I’ve been staying up really late for the last week or two in order to get some work done before I leave. Most nights I haven’t been asleep before 3am. The problem is that for the last two weeks there’s been construction going on in the basement of my building (directly beneath my floor). The guys start working around 7:45am, so I’ve been averaging just under five hours of sleep a night.

I’m not sure what they are doing down there, but aside from what sounds (and feels) like pounding on the building’s structural supports with sledgehammers, they are clearly cutting the concrete floor up to update the drainage system.

So I didn’t get a lot of Vietnamese practice in last night, but I did go through three lessons today on my way to get the visa.

The fun thing about Vietnamese is that the English pronoun “you” doesn’t exist. Rather, I should say it exists in four (at least) forms, depending on the gender and age of the person you are talking to. So there is a different “you” for an older man, an older woman, a younger man and a younger woman (“ông,” “bà,” “anh,” and “cô” respectively). A quick glance at the Vietnamese pronouns entry on Wikipedia shows just how much more confusing it can get.

At least now I can say “Excuse me. Do you understand English? I understand a little Vietnamese, but not very well. I’m American.” More importantly, I can say “yes” and “no,” as well as “hello” and “good-bye.” I’m just working on “Please let me back into your country. I don’t know why your consulate screwed up my visa.”