Flower vendor in Hanoi, Vietnam, December 2000. Photo by Sarah Weddington.

This year ended for me during my first-ever month-long trip.  It was an adventure to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar (Burma).

Why Southeast Asia? I like to experience places in as close to their natural environment as possible and certainly before McDonald's gets there. I made it this trip (everywhere except Bangkok)! I was surprised to find Luang Prabang, Laos (a world cultural heritage site) my favorite city of the trip; to find it necessary to hold hands with others in a group to cross streets (like a demonstration line) in Hanoi and Saigon (or Ho Chi Min City) because there are virtually no traffic lights amid swarms of bicycles and motorcycles; and to find that TVs with satellite dishes and computers are the front line of a battle between people who clamor for access to the wider world and various governments opposed to that access.  According to a guide in Burma, a TV is #1 on every family's wish list; #4 is a refrigerator.

Vietnam was very a difficult environment for me because a favorite cousin, a military pilot, went down, never to be found, during the Vietnam War.  The people were gracious, and many of the places visited were interesting in part because I had seen them on TV or heard about them during the early 70's. For example, the red phones in the Presidential Palace during the War have been sitting in the sun since and are now an incongruous pink.  Most of Cambodia is mired in poverty and problems. Contrary to Rudyard Kipling's poem "Road to Mandalay", there are no flying fish in Burma and the sun does not come up like thunder.  However, there are some magical scenes of gold and white temple and stupa spires. Angkor Wat is so large and so impressive that it was especially hard to photograph in a way to convey it's size or grandeur.  In the "small world category", I unexpectedly saw Ann Richards at a hotel near Angkor Wat, and she and her two daughters were on the same boat as I was in Burma. The leisurely visit with them was a treat.

Spring, 2000 was a busy time with teaching and speaking engagements.  However, my work at The University of Texas - Austin has temporarily ended. After 14 years of university teaching, I'm on leave without pay for the 2000-2001 academic year.

Each fall I teach a class entitled "Gender-Based Discrimination" and each spring "Leadership in America". I love working with students and the opportunity to teach.  I'll return to teaching in September, 2001. One of the nicest things that happened to me as my spring semester ended involved a ceremony here in Austin to honor the Outstanding Young Alumni of the University. Christine Crain, a former student, was one of the four individuals honored. When the question was asked "Who was your favorite teacher at the University?", her answer was "Sarah Weddington". That moment is one I'll long remember and treasure.

Giving a commencement speech always involves being part of a happy occasion. I was honored to participate in the millennial graduation exercises at UT-Austin as the speaker for the School of Nursing. The Texas Women's Chamber of Commerce recently named me a "Texas Woman of the 20th Century". School of Nursing Dean Delores Sands kindly named me a "Texas Woman of the 21st Century".

Speeches during 2000 were frequent and varied.  For example in May I spoke to several groups in Austin, including a retreat for managers of the Texas Electric Cooperatives and the Women in the Public Sector. In Milwaukee I spoke for NARAL events and also visited with members of two outstanding local groups, Professional Dimensions and Tempo.

Atlanta was also on the schedule where I had the opportunity to first speak for the Atlanta Women's Network and then to participate in the Possible Woman's Conference (which included 700 participants), all as the guest of Linda Wind and Kennesaw College. Mary Matalin, another of the featured speakers, used her acerbic wit and  quipped "Hillary Clinton has united New York Republicans and Democrats. Each is using the bumper sticker 'Run Hillary Run'. The Democrats put the stickers on the back bumpers; the Republicans put them on their front bumpers".

May ended with a trip to Minnesota where I spoke at the Women's Studies Banquet at Carleton College in Northfield and was the featured participant at a fundraiser for Rebecca Lightsy, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. At Carleton I stayed in very pleasant accommodations at the Alumni Guest House. When my hostess told me that many speakers including William Buckley have stayed there, my immediate thought was: "Oh, I hope he stayed in a different room. It would be awful for there to be a rumor that Sarah Weddington and William Buckley slept in the same bed - even if on different nights".

The summer included team teaching a course at Texas Woman's University (TWU) in Denton and time there devoted to preparation for the Sarah Weddington Centennial Leadership Conference scheduled for TWU for March 30-31, 2001.  I'm grateful to Diane Dwight of Austin for the impetus to create that forum at her alma matre. We are hoping to reach a very diverse audience and to entice many students to attend.

It also included time in Austin to gather items requested by The Women's Museum, which opened in Dallas in late September, for an exhibit called "Unforgettable Women". The opening was thrilling.  The idea for the museum was initiated by Cathy Bonner of The Foundation for Women's Resources, a board I've served on for many years. The exhibit of "Unforgettable Women" included a display case with Babe Dedrickson Zaharias, Amelia Earhart, and me.

Other honors in 2000 include being named a "Face of the Century" by the San Antonio Express-News;  one of "The Tallest Texans - Those who left their mark on Texas and the rest of the world in the 20th Century" by the Houston Chronicle; and "One of the Most Influence Lawyers of the 20th Century" by Texas Lawyer.

It's been a demanding year.  As the year ended, I was delighted to "run away" to Southeast Asia to see new places and experience new cultures.  For me those opportunities always have a reviving effect.