the end is nearing

well, vacation is almost over...this afternoon we leave cat ba island to spend our last night in hanoi before flying out tomorrow at 8pm. these 6 weeks flew by. its hard to believe we have visited 4 countries in such a short amount of time. Next time we go on a trip we'll stick to one or two countries. Or we'll be gone a lot longer. give us time to actually get to know a place instead of just the tourist places. except for a few suggestions we kind of feel like we've been herded most of this trip. spending most of the time with fellow travelers rather than locals.
i think living in korea makes it feel this way. besides english teachers and some military the only people to travel around korea are koreans. and except for some places in the bigger cities, you have to try to speak korean. in the countries we've visited i've only really learned how to say thank you, beer, and hi. sometimes just the first two because 'hello' seems to be universal. it was hard to even find a menu that didnt have english, in fact i can't remember one.
spending the last few days on the beach has been perfect. i feel fully relaxed and decently tan enough to go back to teach the kiddies in gumi. soon we'll have a quick internet connection again and ill get all my pictures uploaded and sent out. fun for everyone!