Every party has to end sometime. I've had a wonderful experience in Vietnam. The people, food, landscape and opportunities for professional development have been outstanding. Never regretted coming, in fact every day was a confirmation that I made the right decision. My hope is that the blessing I gave was larger than the one I received.
The Fulbright staff are doing a great job here - a very dedicated and talented group of individuals. The faculty and students at VNU have been wonderful. The International Relations staff treated me like family. Park employees helped me to conduct the visitor survey. And thanks to all the "other" people I met while living here - you just appeared out of nowhere.
My last week in Vietnam was a fun-filled adventure. It passed too quickly. I travelled to the northernmost province, on the border with China, to conduct a tourism analysis of the Dong Van Karst Geopark. Its the world's newest geology park (dedicated by UNESCO in October, 2010), but it contains some of the oldest rocks on the planet. In addition, about 250,000 indigeneous people live there (17 ethnic minorities are represented). Mostly their life consists of subsistence practices, but they want use tourism revenue as a supplementary source of income. It's a rare opportunity for someone to be involved in a project from the start. Their goal is to create an international tourism destination in Vietnam and they asked me to help. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. So they want me to come back this summer and do some more fieldwork. Sure, why not!
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