Today is the day — #CougsGive! Let’s come together to celebrate and support the WSU causes that we are most passionate about. Your participation, whether through donation or advocacy, makes a significant difference. Visit https://cougsgive.wsu.edu to be part of the fun!
I might be getting too old to travel across oceans in coach class. It wasn’t long ago that I could sleep the entire flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. The trip to Vietnam (over 19 hours of flight time and more than 10 hours of layovers) was more challenging. Regardless, it was well worth the time. The 45-person delegation was great. It was nice to get to know some people better and meet many of the impressive list of leaders for the first time. I appreciated how punctual the visits were. This was not easy for the organizers to pull off because of illnesses, flight delays, and changes in availability for key speakers and attendees.
Vietnam is rapidly changing. If I hadn’t already visited a number of times since 2010, I wouldn’t recognize the change in transportation mode and built infrastructure, as well as other signs that the country is an emerging global economy. Still 100 million people strong, it is a challenge to take a photo without a person in it, but I wanted to show the Washington agricultural products featured throughout our trip. While Cosmic Crisp is not a preferred variety, we repeatedly heard that Washington is the preferred apple supplier. Who knows, perhaps the yet to be named WA 64 will be popular with Vietnamese consumers! Be sure to submit your name suggestions for WA 64 before May 5.
This week and next are annual review conversations, with two to four meetings each day. I am out of airports until late next week and looking forward to hanging around Pullman for this nice weather. My sister in Virginia Beach, Va., reported temperatures over 85 F on Sunday. After a few days in Ho Chi Minh City with temperatures over 100 F, I am quite happy staying below 75 F for the next few weeks or longer.