I’m going to Vietnam in less than two weeks.

I’m not even sure how this happened. It probably has something to do with my girlfriend undergoing a one-third-life crisis and deciding she was going to travel and see the world No Matter What. I got swept up in her jetstream, and now I’m off to spend 2-3 months in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

It still feels slightly unreal. There are some places that you are absolutely certain you’ll get around to visiting in your lifetime. Vietnam was never one of mine. I’m going to be living in a country with a political system completely antithetical to anything I’ve ever known; a place which, when I thought about it before, carried only images of war and burning forests. Certainly, my Lonely Planet guidebook is not much of a help in coming to terms with this cultural divide, as it’s suspiciously selective regarding historical information. The well-intentioned author of said guide saw fit to include extensive sidebars detailing the evils of the U.S. and Australian militaries during the war, as well as the glorious deeds of Ho Chi Minh (who I always thought was simply a lesser Mao or Stalin, his murders numbered in thousands rather than millions).

These are things I must come to terms with. The flight is two weeks away, and I feel supremely uninformed. I feel like I lack sufficient knowledge of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, the Chinese invasion, the French colonial rule, the war between the north and south, even the American war. I feel unequipped in a way I never did in Europe, as if people will spot my lack of historical knowledge a mile away. I don’t want to be another gawking tourist with a camera, yet I barely know where to start.

But all that aside, I’m starting to warm to the idea. We’ll be spending most of the time in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon to the locals), so I’ll have plenty of time to explore. Along with the usual cheap tailoring and pirated DVDs, they apparently sell ‘pirated books’ over there, an idea which I am struggling to comprehend. Foodwise, there’s the snake’s blood, barbequed monkey, fried grasshoppers, frogs, snails and, of course, Man’s Best Friend. I’m not sure if this makes the Vietnamese daring culinary pioneers or hungry crazy people who eat anything that wanders near them, but I’m about to find out.

Most of all, I think this will be a good place to write. I’ve got my travel laptop all ready to go, and ideas for the next spec script kicking around in my brain. I’ve even considered keeping a diary and dabbling in a bit of travel writing. But one thing’s for sure: I’ll be indulging in the Drunken Bearded Expatriate Writer stereotype, in the best tradition of Hemingway. And I promise to keep you all updated.

That is, if I haven’t been caught and eaten by hungry people.