Getting Connected

I was talking to Joy Sanchez, an Internet friend, via Skype. She was teaching English at the New Star International English Center at 116 Nguyễn Gia Thiều, Suối Hoa Ward, Bắc Ninh City, Bắc Ninh Province, in the country of Việt Nam (VN). The school is located at the corner of the Lê Văn Thịnh and Nguyễn Gia Thiều Streets. Their number was 02413-874-323. Their website, officially, was NewStarGroup.edu.vn. Joy connected me with her school directors, managers, employers, Jimi, and Hoa Phan, via email. He encouraged me to come. I got my passport in like around August to October, 2012. I got my three-months Vietnam Travel Visa in November. I've been contemplating world travel since I was eight in 1993. I visited Disneyland in 1992. I went on a Youth Group Mission Trip in Idaho in 2000, a WOLBI Bible College Mission Trip in Quebec in 2006, a Salvation Army Mission Trip,, Revolution Hawaii, in Hawaii, in 2007. Then, in 2012, I went Han Solo to Vietnam, for five years, 2012-2017.

_{2012-11-01 - Thursday - 03:49:37 PM PST - Apple - Brent Groth - Screenshot}

Filezilla

2012-11-01 - Thursday - 04:38 PM PST, I emailed Brent Groth concerning our website, MeaOmnia.com, "I told you yesterday that you have to know where you are migrating to." I was trying to teach him how to move folders, filesystems, which websites are built on. Sometimes, you may need to move files remotely. You can use programs like Filezilla to remotely access, edit, and move files that are on other computers, servers, that are not on in your room, via the Internet, via applications like Filezilla. I spent a lot of time in November on Mea Omnia.

_{2012-11-08 - Thursday - 03:46 PM PST}

Getting a Visa

2012-11-08 - Thursday - 03:39 PM PST - My Vietnam Visa emailed me, "Order Status: under processing - ID 199552. Notes: This email is NOT the visa approval letter you need to pick up your visa at Vietnam airport. Hi Joseph Scott Arnold, This is to notify that your order was under processing. What is next? 1 - Please wait for the letter of approval that will be emailed you within 2-3 working days for normal processing and 24 working hours or less for the urgent processing. 2 - Prepare 25 USD per person for stamping fee at Vietnam airport for single entry and 50 USD for multiple entry. 3 - Prepare 2 passport size photos (4*6cm) *Note: You need to print the letter of approval off to board the plane to Vietnam. If you do not receive the letter of approval in the time range above, please contact us immediately. Thank you, Customer Support - +84-909-333-023 -- Recommended Reading -- Vietnam Online - The most comprehensive and up-to-date information and tips about travellling and living in Vietnam. Ha Long Bay Tours - Featuring a Variety Of Cruises/Tours In Halong Bay, Vietnam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Waiting For The Visa

2012-11-08 - Thursday - 03:46 PM PST - I emailed Joy, "I purchased a VISA for $20 a second ago, online, via a website called MyVietnamVisa.com and not via VietnamEmbassy.org. Hopefully it comes to me in the mail next week. Maybe I can order a plane ticket for next Thursday, if my dad does pay me soon. I think I have to come to Vietnam with a two pictures of me too that is part of the VISA thing. I will email you back if the VISA comes to me in the mail in a few days. They say the VISA should arrive in the mail in 2 -3 business days. Which means hopefully before Wednesday next week." 06:26 PM PST, My Vietnam Visa emailed me, "We are sorry, we already cancelled and made full refund since our service does not work for you. Please contact the embassy in US to obtain your business visa before you go."

Tourist Versus Business Visas

2012-11-09 - Friday - 12:02 PM PST - I emailed Joy, "No. They told me no. I can't get a tourist visa if I am going to work in Vietnam. I accidentally told them I was going to teach in Vietnam. Sometimes I wish I was not so honest. They say I have to pay around $150 or more for a business visa, & that I would also have to get a work permit. I do not understand all of this. So, I do not know what to do yet." 3:30 PM PST, Joy replied, "I told you not to tell them you would work here. sigh." 03:43 PM PST, I returned, "I slipped. I made that mistake. I just do not like doing illegal things. I am still kind of mad at myself. But I may not become eligible for a work visa or a business visa after arriving in Vietnam. I mean, I don't know. I am still pretty lost right now." 2:45 PM PST, I added, "I wonder if I can become a citizen or immigrant of Vietnam or get some kind of green card or residence card or something or travelling visa or I wonder if an entrance visa is different than a tourist visa. I also wonder if work visas are different than business visas. They also said I need to get a work permit." 3:45 PM: "No vaccinations are required except for yellow fever if you are coming from an area where the disease is present. However, visitors should be inoculated against typhoid, cholera, hepatitis A & B, tetanus and polio. VietnamEmbassy-USA.org. You don't have to get a work permit if you are only going to work there for less than three months according to VietnamOnline.com. I think a work permit is $20 USD & lasts for three years. 05:12 PM PST, I added, "If I go to work in Vietnam, I will have to get a work permit if I want to work there beyond three months. However, according to Expat.vn, I may not be qualified for a work permit because I do not have a college degree or five years of experience in teaching English." 05:40 PM PST, I added, "According to TotallyExpat.com, People who work in the educational field in Vietnam may be exempted from being required to get a work permit after three months of working in Vietnam." 05:56 PM PST, I added, "Another website, ExpatForum.com, says: You may convert from visitor status to work status while staying in Vietnam or as the work permit application is in process: However, foreign nationals cannot begin work until the application is approved and considered legal. Foreign nationals who enter Vietnam for employment for a duration of three (3) months or more are required an MEBV (Multiple Entry Business Visa and Work Permit). The Work Permit application has to be sponsored by a company or entity registered and recognized in Vietnam. 20% of managers, executives and specialists of foreign companies with intra-company transferees from outside the country, according to Vietnamese law, should be composed of Vietnamese nationals."

Dual Citizenship

2012-11-10 - Saturday - 04:21 PM PST: I emailed Joy: "According to SaigonNezumi.com, starting next July, 2009, Expats and Overseas Vietnamese following certain criterias will be allowed dual citizenship in Vietnam. Yes, I said Expats. If an Expat marries a Vietnamese national, they can become a Vietnamese citizen. Those who lived in Vietnam for at least 5 years, or those who speak Vietnamese, can also become dual citizens with Vietnam." 04:46 PM PST, I added, "According to Learn4Good.com, 1: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving within 6 days of visiting infected areas. 2: Following WHO guidelines issued in 1973, a cholera vaccination certificate is not an official condition of entry to Vietnam. However, cholera is a serious risk in this country and precautions are essential. Up-to-date advice should be sought before deciding whether these precautions should include vaccination, as medical opinion is divided over its effectiveness. For more information, see the Health appendix. 3: Vaccination against typhoid is advised. 4: Malaria risk exists throughout the year everywhere except urban areas, the Red River delta and the coastal plains north of Nha Trang. The risk is highest in the southern provinces of Bac Lieu and Ca Mau, and highland areas. The malignant falciparum form is reported to be highly resistant to chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine."

Richie Rich

2012-11-10 - Saturday - 03:15 PM PST - I emailed Joy, "Joy, my dad paid me last night. I have $1,300 apx now. I am researching how to become a citizen of countries right now. I also need to see if I can get a business visa without the help of your boss. I am also trying to see if I could get some other kind of visa & still be allowed to work in Vietnam. I would only go for the tourist visa if I can be for certain that I can totally become eligible & allowed to apply and get a business visa later when I am in Vietnam. It would make things easier if your boss could just ask the embassy or to ask around or to somehow figure out how he can endorse me, in order to get the embassy to issue me a business visa. Like I said, I do not know if the Vietnam embassy will issue me a business visa if I am already in Vietnam & already working in Vietnam. I also do not know if I can get a business visa without the help of your boss. I want to make sure I get this visa thing figured out before I buy my plane ticket. I will also try to get my immunization records from our clinic just in case. I may not need my medical records for this job at your school in Vietnam, but someday I may need it. I just want to make sure I got everything I need before leaving the United States. I will let you know if I can get a visa without the help of your boss. If I cannot, then I will have to wait on your boss to come & help somehow. With the help of Wikipedia, I am researching about how people become citizens of multiple countries."

Immigration Vetting

2012-11-11 - Sunday - 02:04 PM PST - I emailed Joy, "According to USAtoday.com, you cannot request a visa on arrival at the airport. You can obtain one, however, if you have an approval letter with you. These letters specify that you have been allowed into the country by immigration. Once you get to the airport -- letters are not accepted at land borders, so you have to fly into the country -- you show the letter at the immigration counter and your passport will be stamped with a visa. Letters are available in two ways. If you obtain your visa through the Internet, using a visa service, you will receive a letter via email, rather than an actual visa stamp. You can then print this letter and bring it with you to the airport. The other way to get a letter is from inside Vietnam. If you're already in the country and want to come back, you can visit any travel agency in one of the major cities. The agency will process an invitation letter for you for a fee and you can take that with you and use it to reenter Vietnam.... If you're already inside Vietnam, you can extend your visa once through either the local immigration office or through a travel agency. After a single extension, you might need to leave the country and reenter to obtain a new visa. There's no time minimum you need to spend outside the country; you could technically fly into a neighboring country, such as Thailand, and return two hours later if you have an approval letter with you." 02:18 PM PST, I added, "Business visas are not for employment but work visas are." 02:24 PM PST, "According to BusinessDictionary.com, and MyVietnamVisa.com work visas are also called work permits, they say. And I don't need a work permit or work visa for less than three months of working in Vietnam. If work visas and work permits are the same thing, then I am guessing that I am allowed to work for less than three months with a business visa...... but I still wonder if I could be allowed to work for less than three months in Vietnam with a tourist or entrance or travelling or other like visas that might be cheaper for me."

Less Than Three Months

2012-11-11 - Sunday - 08:13 PM PST - Nancy Bui of My Vietnam Visa emailed me, "Dear Joey Arnold, Thank you very much for contacting us. I would like to inform that you can stay in Vietnam less than 3 months and you should fill in the visa application form your proper purpose. At the current time, we have support travelers to get 01 month and 3 months visa entry. Thus, could you please access our website to have more information? Vietnam-Visa.com. There are two kinds of fees you should pay: - Service fee: Paid ONLINE for us to process the visa for you. - Stamping fee: Paid directly at the Vietnamese Airports for the Immigration officers in Cash (USD) to get your visa stamped. Kinds of visa - Service fee/pax (USD) - Stamping fee/pax (USD) - Visa on arrival – 1 month single - $21.00 - $ 25 - Visa on arrival-1 month multiple - $26.00 - $50 - Visa on arrival – 3 months single - $34.00 - $ 25 - Visa on arrival – 3 months multiple - $38.00 - $ 50 -NORMAL PROCESSING service fee: GUARANTEED 2 working days -URGENT PROCESSING service fee: 1 working day (plus 10 USD).
2012-11-13 - Tuesday - 05:54 AM PST - Visa HQ emailed me, "Yes, they can be, each country can use different terminology for it. We can only assist with work permits/visas for China, Russia and Nigeria. "At 11:23 AM PST, I responded, "Am I allowed to work for less than three months without a work permit in any of those countries like Russia, China, Nigeria? I just want to know the rules for visas and work permits for any of the countries that you may know about."

Arnold Attic Island

2012-11-13 - Tuesday - 10:50 AM PST - I emailed my older sister, Katie, "Katie, this is your brother Joey. I was hired to teach English about an hour north of Hanoi in northern Vietnam. I bought a $150 apx passport book that lasts for ten years. I've found a $720 one-way plane ticket. Return plane tickets are not required in Vietnam. Americans are required to have visas to enter Vietnam. If you are working beyond three months there, you have to have a work permit. Some people say that a work permit and a work visa is the same thing. To get a work permit, you have to have a good college degree and five years of experience in the field that you are going in. I do not have these things. So, I may not be eligible, but I may try to get a work permit to see. Some say that you are not allowed to work with a tourist or business visa while others say that you can. I know a girl from the Philippines who's been teaching there for the last six months. People from the Philippines can stay in Vietnam for apx 21 days without a visa. She then got a three month tourist visa, & then another three months tourist visa I believe, & she doesn't have a work permit. I hope she is not actually breaking the law there. The work permit rules came in effect in August. So the government must be getting stricter now. The Vietnam Embassy is possibly in New York & a few other places. Because I probably live too far away to apply for a visa in person, I will try to find a real website to order a real visa. And I believe that I would pick up the visa at the airport in Vietnam. I would rather the visa be mailed to me , but I guess that is not how it works. I've surfing the net & emailing people. I just want to make sure that I'm allowed to be employed with a tourist visa. Plus, if I'm denied a work permit, I hope that they also don't deport me too. Thanks for listening. This is just one step towards travelling the world to teach, work, volunteer, & maybe I will go on attend college in Australia." She emailed me back and said that was awesome.

Work Permit

2012-11-14 - Wednesday - 05:49 AM PST - Visa HQ responded, "If you are planning on going to any of those countries for work, meaning being paid and employed by a company in those countries, the proper way is to acquire a work permit/visa to legally work, each country is different with there specific requirements, these countries required a work visa to legally work in the country. If you have nay questions please contact the embassy directly for further information."

Mea Omnia

2012-11-15 - Thursday - 01:20 PM PST - Brent Groth emailed me, "Joey, I had someone help me on the database this early afternoon, and think I figured it out. I called someone, and they pointed me in the right direction. What was really helpful, was that they guided me to a program that can access computers worldwide. It's called Log Me In, here is the address to the site if you want to check it out. : https://secure.logmein.com/ . Basically, he gave me his password to this account, and I typed it into this program, and it gave him access to see what is on my screen, I thought this was pretty cool. So if I get in trouble, maybe getting a Log Me I n account might be useful. He was able to navigate on my screen, and I could see all of the clicks, and see what process, and steps he was taking on my computer, and guiding me through what it would take to successfully move the database. He really didn't tell me anything that you haven't already instructed. I was just missing one or two key elements that he showed me from him actually taking control on the screen. It was pretty cool to see that he could see what was on my computer, and use his mouse on my computer, and go through the windows, and stuff to show me what was going on, and what to do. At 4:00 p.m. today, I'm taking a tour of Free Geek, and will hopefully learn some. I will ask them about the volunteer program at the end of the tour if that is still offered. Right now my database is moving to that specific folder I moved it to, so hopefully it works. I can call that guy back if it doesn't. It seems to be working well I think. So if this works, I need to get on the phones with go daddy, and have them adjust the allowances on the settings for file limits in the php database realm. This is what I have for now, and what I'm doing." 03:01 PM PST, I replied, "Yes. Sweet. Cool website. I have never heard of this website. So, can we sign up at this website for free? Have our own free accounts? Does it cost any money? Does this site work like filezilla or SSH programs or anything like that? Can we migrate things? Because maybe this could save you if filezilla is not cooperating with you. After the tour at free geek, you can tell somebody that you want to be in the build program. That is when you will become a volunteer. At the front desk, they will keep track of your hours. They ask for your volunteer number. But if you forget your volunteer number, you can just tell them your name. When I was in the build program, I started in pre-build. That probably means that you will begin in Evaluation 1. They call it Eval 1. They have flow charts on the wall & they teach you how to recycle computers & when you get good enough at it, you show an instructor that you know how to do it, & they pass you on to the next level..... so i think there is a Eval 2 too..... and then eventually you will graduate to the build program." We would email each other back and forth, like hundreds of times that year alone (2012) while we worked on MeaOmnia.com, which was what Steemit.com went on to become in 2016. We worked on Mea Omnia from 2011-2013. We didn't make money off it. We stopped working on it in 2013. Brent went back to like construction work with his dad, full-time. We met at the Comcast Wanted Adventure Host television show on channel 38 which aired early in 2010. The auditions were at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, OR. In November, 2012, I was working landscaping for my dad during the day, and on our website during the night. I was basically working all the time. When I was working, I was watching things on my laptop or I would be making new Internet Friends on Skype, Facebook, Tagged, etc.

Log Me In

2012-11-16 - Friday - 01:11 PM PST - Log Me In emailed me, "LogMeIn is used by thousands of organizations just like yours to reduce the cost of supporting remote computers, with features like background access, Windows Patch management, monitoring, etc. and a very low cost of entry." They might be similar to Filezilla. I had a free trial with that website as we were working on Mea Omnia.

Vietnam Embassy

2012-11-18 - Sunday - 05:47 PM PST - I emailed Katie, "The Vietnam Embassy charges $170 for a multiple-entry three month visa, but travel agencies seem to have lower prices as low apx $60. You would think that travel agencies would cost more. I would rather trust the embassy instead of taking a risk with accidentally getting a fake visa, even if I do have to pay more. But there would have to be real travel agencies out there. And the agencies would probably include fees which would make the embassy be the cheaper option, right?" at 06:59 PM PST, She replied via her iPhone, "I think you are right and embassy is the way to go."

Australia

2012-11-18 - Sunday - 07:22 PM PST - Kristina Martorillas emailed me again, "I live on my auntie but she got many house rules." Maybe in Australia. She said she didn't want to live in Darwin, too hot. She must have been one of my Internet Friends that I've been chatting with since Tuesday, Oct 2nd, 2012.
2012-11-19 - Monday - 09:12 PM PST - Email From American Education Services (AES) - Monthly Bill - I was paying back my 2006 ABC college $3,500 USD student loan, at that time.

Christmas Present

2012-11-21 - Wednesday - 10:41 PM PST - Joy emailed me, "Joey, you should come here on the 20th of December (2012), because if you come here as soon as you get your ticket, I have to go home because they only need 2 teachers. So can you please come here on the 20th instead? please? I need some money until the 25th." At 02:02 PM PST, I emailed Brent, "Brent, title posts. I recommend adding posts. That is when you want to add videos, pictures, GIFs, or whatever to our site. I changed our site at MeaOmnia.com a little. Our site is showing posts. That is our home page. It is showing one post per page. I recommend posting videos mostly. But you can post pictures and articles and links and GIFs or whatever you want, too. But we should focus on videos. I recommend one thing per post. Like one video per post. One picture on each post. But maybe just one thing per post. Instead of having one hundred things or more of videos and pictures. I guess you can do what you want but please add a title to each post. Please ask me how to make posts if you forgot. I could give you a link to how to get there. You have posted blog posts before. But you have not always posted titles for those posts and your posts sometimes do not work. So you have to make sure you click on the "Preview Changes" on the right side of the "edit post" page. You got to make sure that the video or picture or whatever is showing up on the post, on the page of our website. If you add words and pictures to a post, then I recommend the words below the picture. I think it is better to have the pictures above the words. because if you have to pick from seeing pictures or reading words, i pick pictures..... and that goes with a post with video or videos and words.... the words should go below the video."

Clouded Vision

2012-11-22 - Thursday - 10:08 AM PST - I replied, "so, you will be fired as soon as I get there?" I didn't see a reply to that. And then at at 03:31 PM PST, I added, "i may still come as soon as i can regardless of how it might hurt you." 4:09 PM, she replied, "Wow. Alright." Looking back, this might have been the wrong choice for me to come to Vietnam one month too early. Joy wanted to go home to see her two daughters in the Philippines for Christmas of 2012. I was hoping either to be a third teacher at New Star or to maybe find another place to work at in Vietnam, which I ended up doing by the way.

_{2012-11-23 - Friday - 04:04 PM PST - Got a Visa}

Donald Trump - You're Fired

2012-11-23 - Friday - 12:05 PM PST - Joy wrote to me, "And when you come, dont forget my chocolates :P Thank you. :D I'm still excited to meet you in person Joey. :)."
2012-11-23 - Friday - 04:04 PM PST - I emailed Joy, "I have a visa right now. I hope you don't get too mad at me if I get you fired. Your boss emailed and said the two teachers generally work 30hrs/wk. He thinks that people need to work enough hours and not have too many breaks. I wrote an email back to your boss a second ago saying that if he worked three teachers less hours, then it would not cost him more money. So, I could buy a plane ticket right now but are you ok with me coming in a few days? And I kind of want to see your boss respond to me a little first. My visa expires Feb 22nd."

Booking My Flight

2012-11-23 - Friday - 04:47 PM PST - Flight Information - Cheap-O-Air - $793.20 USD Total. I worked for my dad in Hillsboro at a house. Raked leaves for a few hours. Rode my bike there. Then drove my bike to the Max Train to Portland. I then drove the rest of the way to Vancouver, WA. Matt & Heidi were married & were also moving out as well. A bitter goodbye to Lorrie Davis & to the other Salvation Army friends of mine.

Fundamentals, First

2012-11-26 - Monday - 08:07 PM PST - I emailed Brent, "Yes. It is good to work on the fundamentals. To keep things simple at first. We want to build a collection of the different kinds of things that we are posting on our site. The main categories should be around four to twelve different things. Here is a list of the possible main categories we may have..... and we can worry about expanding this list or with adding sub-categories later." I was always trying to teach him how to do things, web design, management. It was tough, but he learned a lot. He always pushed me to do the web design. I understood that but I really wanted him to be more involved, just in case I can't. Also, I wasn't paid apart from the bailout of jail, the pizza, our road trip in his truck through the woods, & a laptop he gave me. But we weren't making money off of it. I was already busy with other things. So, I was feeling burnt out. I also enjoy teaching, too, on top of that, and at the same time. On Monday, I was at Mike Kurtz's apartment in Gresham, OR. We played Settler's and video games with camp friends.

_{Things To Do In Bac Ninh, Vietnam}

Moving To Vietnam

2012-11-29 - Thursday - After Thanksgiving, on the 29th, of Nov., two thousand and twelve, I flew over the ocean for the first time ever, stopped by Los Angeles (L.A.), California (CA), Tokyo, Japan, and also Singapore, for airplane layovers, and then landed in Hanoi around 12:00 PM ICT, noon time. Mike Kurtz took me to the airport in 2012 & picked me up on my return in 2017. I was at Matt's during the weekend & Mike's after that.

Flight Plan

_{2012-11-27 - Tuesday - 09:20-11:43 AM PST - Portland, OR - 2 hr 23 min
2012-11-27 - Tuesday - 01:32 PM PST - Los Angeles - 02:15 PM - 03:25 AM Thu - 21 hr 10 min
2012-11-28 - Wednesday - 02:15 AM PST - Tokyo, Japan. "I thought we were going straight to Singapore but I guess not."
2012-11-28 - Wednesday - 12:37 PM PST - Singapore - I wrote, "In Singapore right now until about 8am (ICT). The plugins are different here. That means I can't plug in my laptop. I wonder what Vietnam or the Philippines are like. I hope I don't have to buy an adapter." At 12:51 PM PST, Facebook emailed me, "We detected a login into your account from a new device named 'singapore airport 2' on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 12:51pm. This device has been added to your account.Operating System: WinXP. Browser: IE. Location: Singapore, 01, SG (IP=203.116.11.244)."
2012-11-28 - Wednesday - 09:55 PM PST - Hanoi Airport, Vietnam
Total Time (Including Layovers) - 33 hours apx - Los Angeles to Hanoi}

Tom Hanks - The Terminal

I was terminal. I was lost in transition and in translation. I was like Tom Hank's character in that movie, Terminal. The plane taxied for a while. I was not out into the lobby until like 1 PM ICT. I told Jimi 12 PM ICT but should have said 1 PM ICT. There must have been a misunderstanding or something. It's possible he lied or something. All I know is that he said, through Google Translate, that he came and didn't see me. He didn't want to wait because he had to go back to work.
2012-11-28 - Wednesday - 09:28 PM PST - (Thursday - 12:28 PM ICT) - Jimi Quyết Phùng emailed me, "Where are you now. I'm at airport, but I can see you please take a taxi go to 116 Nguyen gia thieu_suoi hoa_Bac ninh. It cost 20 Usd.thanks." I emailed Joy on Wednesday, 2012-11-28, at 09:55 PM PST or 12:55 AM ICT, Thursday, and told Joy, "I am at the Hanoi airport... can u come here?" At 01:10 PM ICT, fifteen minutes later, Joy responded, "My boss called me a while ago. He was waiting for you. Did you meet him already?" I ended up taking a taxi. I think my plane was late.
2012-12-29 - Friday - On Friday, at 9:53 PM ICT, I emailed Joy, "i remember what it was like to have a phone. those were the good old days."

ICT Over PST

From now on, all dates to be ICT and not PST. While in Vietnam from 2012-2017, from this point on, times and dates will be listed in Indo-China Time (ICT) or as close to it as possible and ICT is fifteen hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time (PST), the time zone for California, Oregon, the West Coast, in America. You can calculate the time difference. If it is 2 PM PST. Then count up by three hours. That is 5 PM. But then change PM to AM. And then change the date to the next day. And to go from ICT to PST, do the opposite, 5-3=2. Five in the morning (PST) Thursday, subtracted by three hours, equals 2 AM. But Change AM to PM. And change the day to the previous day, from Thursday to Wednesday. In my biography, for my five years in Vietnam, I try to keep all the dates & times in ICT and not in PST or in other time zones.
2012-12-30 - Saturday - 05:58 AM - I emailed Joy, "Can I have coffee?"

Choosing a Driver

He sent like a taxi driver to pick me up, maybe. I ended up paying about $45 USD for a taxi. Not sure if it was the one he sent or if it was just a random guy. Regardless, it took me a few minutes to decide which taxi to go as they all wanted my business but I basically went with a taxi guy who acted like he knew me, or maybe Jimi, or he understood the general concept that I must be an English Teacher because my skin is white. I saw so many motorbikes for the first time, as this was my first day in Vietnam. The drive from Hanoi to Bac Ninh is like twenty miles. I've been told that I probably overpaid the cab driver. I saw chickens and other animals on the side of the street. I saw damaged buildings, like as if the Vietnam Civil War occurred yesterday. It was cloudy. Later, it was raining. I arrived to New Star around 2 or 3 PM. I met Joy Sanchez in person for the first time. She showed me around New Star. We went over to Papa Foods, which was the restaurant of singer, musician, extraordinaire, Andy Nguyen, who once lived in America. I also met American English Teacher, Writer, World Traveler, Tyler Capp, who went on to write a piece about me being a Parasite. My response