The journey was pretty smooth, not as bad as I imagined travelling for 24 hours would be! I started my trip in a lovely B&B in Horely, 5 minutes from Gatwick airport, after a goodbye full of brave faces from my parents and myself. This worked out well as, aside from avoiding the M25 traffic and giving me slightly longer in bed, it meant I wasn't left traumatised after saying goodbye at the airport.

I then embarked on the best flight I've ever had, courtesy of Emirates. The staff were great, the seats were large enough with plenty of legroom, the food was lovely, and (my personal highlight) they trust you with real cutlerly. Plus the in-flight entertainment gadget kept me amused for ages, and was even better once I'd got over being scared of the pilot's-view camera and downward-view camera. The person next to me was a lovely Norweigan guy called Jim, who turned out to be taking the same flight as me after Dubai to Bangkok. We chatted, kept each other company in Dubai airport, and then, as the flight wasn't full, got given a whole row of four seats for ourselves (one on each aisle) when we asked if we could have seats together for the Dubai-Bangkok flight. So that was good as we each had 2 seats to spread out into, and by each being on the aisle we could talk but could also sleep without anyone having to move to let people out.

It hadn't occurred to me that exciting things would happen before I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, but then I saw the view of Dubai at night from the plane. It was absolutely incredible, the whole place was lit up, it was golden. There were lots of massive buildings looking very impressive with their underlighting, including the tallest building in the world. It wasn't possible to make out the individual islands, but you could see the buildings that were lit up on the islands, which was a bit strange as it looked a bit like the buildings were just in the middle of the sea!

There was a bit of a mix-up at Bangkok with regards to luggage as it was only going that far. Jim wentto an information desk with me (he spoke thai) and the guy told me that I had to go to a transfer desk and they would take care of my luggage. So Jim and I parted ways, and then it actually turned out that I had to go through customs and then to baggage claim, which is what I had thought would be the case. So I rushed off to customs and luckily made it to the baggage carousel just as the staff were going to take it away to unclaimed baggage. The next flight felt so quick comparedto the other two! We got up into the air, had a sandwich and then started descending again. The flight, though not as nice as Emirates, was at less than half its capacity, so I got two seats to myself again.

As we flew over Ho Chi Minh City I was thinking "this doesn't look too big", then we got closer and I realised just how massive it is! I started to get nervous. Customs was fine at the airport and I got my baggage quickly. It was a bit scary looking at the sea of faces at the arrivals door, but I quickly found my host, Vi, and two AIESECers, Hai and Long, who were holding a sign saying "AIESEC HCM FTU warmly welcomes you to Ho Chi Minh". So from there, after exchanging some dollars into Vietnam Dong, it was on to what will be 'home' for 7 weeks. The boys helped me with my baggage, and I was told that we would be travelling by motorbike. It's safe to say I was scared, having never been on a motorbike before! So the boys took the baggage on their bikes, and I rode on the back of Vi's, clinging on to the bike and to her! She was very nice though and drove slowly. And then I experienced the traffic. It's crazy! There are thousands of motorbikes in among the cars and other vehicles, and the rules aren't paid attention to at all. It just seems to be that the bigger you are the more right of way you have, junctions just seem to be a free-for all, and people don't always stick to their side of the road, everybody just crosses each other. The traffic lights count down so that you know when they'll turn green/red, which I think is pretty cool. And the Vietnamese aren't averse to their horns when somebody is beingto slow or is in their way! Now I've been on the bike a few times though it's fine, I don't notice the horns so much and the traffic actually does make some sort of sense. It makes the city more interesting. I'm quite enjoying sitting on the back of the bike taking in the surroundings - there's so much to see! I've got my own mask already that people wear on their bikes to stop you breathing in so much muck.

The room I'm staying in is lovely, and Vi, my host and roommate, is even more lovely. She's made me feel very welcome and at home. So far I've been out to eat a few times - the food is delicious! Though it was a little strange to eat pho (pronounced fer) for breakfast, which is traditional Vietnamese noodle soup, with some sort of meat in it - I went for beef. The food is very fresh, with lots of vegetables. I went to the local police today to get a temporary visitor's permit, but the paperwork os complicated, so I have to go again tomorrow to finish it. I also went to a coffee shop near the university, where I met Nhung, the girl who interviewed me for the project, and Safir, another intern who is from Indonesia. Again, both are really nice people. Vi met us and we then went shopping for a few bits - I was very happy to see some brands I know, such as Dove, Vaseline, Head and Shoulders, Olay. Vi and her friend who lives upstairs cooked dinner for us, which was really nice, spring rolls, pak choi and tomato and egg soup, which we ate sitting on the floor of Vi's room. Vi says that she isn't a very good cook, so she just covered the vegetable part of the meal.

I'm quite tired, I only slept for 2-3 hours on my journey here, so I'm going to bed early compared to everyone else here, but I'm pretty much on their time, so it's ok. The heat doesn't help, it's so hot here! I'm sure I'll get used to it in a few weeks, but for now I'm feeling constantly sticky. I've got a party to go to tomorrow night with Vi, which I'm looking forward to. It's still feeling very different, and seven weeks feels like a long time at the moment, but I'm sure it'll go quickly, and I hope to enjoy every minute of it, as I have done so far.