Day 1

So today was our first full day in Viet Nam. Last night my friend Kyle and I arrived in a VERY hot and humid Viet Nam at 10:30 to find the whole plus 3 group waiting for us. Even though it had been dark for a couple of hours it was still very hot. We arrived at the Victory Hotel like 30 minutes afterwords to head straight up to our rooms and attempt to fall asleep. Sleep didn't really happen until around 3 am but the little bit of sleep I did get came in handy for the first day. We woke up and headed to breakfast where they served an assortment of meats, noodles, eggs, bread, and my favorite item, pineapple. For an untraditional breakfast, Viet Nam sure does breakfast well. We then headed out of the hotel to the University of Economics and Finance to meet our Vietnamese counterparts for the trip. They seated us all in between two Vietnamese students so we could get to know more people. I ended up sitting next to a guy named Tony who was very nice and funny. He would laugh when I attempted to speak Vietnamese words as simple as hello. We then all stood up and sang a Michael Jackson song about peace in the world, or something like that. It was odd but i'm pretty sure that we were all thinking the same thing.

After the welcomes and meet and greet were finished, we headed to language class. Let me start off saying that Vietnamese is very difficult. We learned how to pronounce all the vowels and consonances and all the variations that came with the letters. We soon moved on to phrases like "my name is Julie", "it is nice to meet you", "I am American", and the informal version of those phrases. All the tones get me mixed up. Like when to use a deep voice and when to use an increasing high voice is very tricky because it is nothing like English. Although i've come to realize that the vowels are very similar to French, and some words are identical. Although French has slipped my mind since 11th grade, I can still point out similarities.

After language class we ate lunch at the cantine. We had real spring rolls (which were delicious) and plantains that tasted perfect. There was other food as well but it has slipped my mind at this time.

We quickly took a stop at the hotel, then were back into the van to head on a city tour. We saw the War Memorial building which was right around the corner from our hotel, the cathedral, and were able to spend some time in a very popular market. Walking around in the market was amazing. So many things to buy from necklaces to fish to dvds. I didn't buy anything today because I wanted to get used to what went on in a market. We all definitely want to go back soon.

After the tour we headed to the US Consulate to take a tour and meet the head counselor general named Chuck, and a visa checker employee named Dave. We all headed to an upstairs boardroom where we were told about some of the history. The old US Embassy was positioned in that exact location until the Viet Cong took over the Embassy. We then were allowed to ask any questions we had for Chuck and Dave. I asked about how they decide who they give visas to and if they get a lot of fake marriages just so a Vietnamese citizen could travel and live in American. One thing that really surprised me was that the average time to get a visa for a Vietnamese citizen who has been petitioned for a visa from a sibling living in the US in 11 to 14 years. That makes all the fake marriages and sneaky behavior make sense. 11 to 14 years is a very long time. After the Q and A session we headed on our tour of the grounds. We walked on a field of grass where the Embassy once stood and view the memorial for the 5 men who died at from the Viet Cong attack. Of course we took a picture of the group at the memorial. We were then told to look over the wall guarding the Consulate to see a redish brown stone wall. That is the Vietnamese memorial recognizing the fallen Viet Cong. It was a little humorous of the placing of two such different memorials in such close proximity. We then walked back to our little van to go back to the hotel to rest for a little then head out for dinner.

Now dinner was amazing. Walking into the restaurant we had to cross over a bridge with water underneath it. That led us to a rainforest looking restaurant with many wooden staircases surrounded by a pond and many palm trees and plants. We headed up the flight of stairs and were seating at a very long wooden table. Also immediately after sitting down, they came around to get our drink orders. I ordered dragon fruit juice and was told that if I drank it that it would make my skin very soft. Right after that food started coming. Dish after dish we never knew when it would stop. We had a plate of spring rolls, a plate of steaming beef, squid, a spice soup like dish with clams, shrimp, and what we thought was tofu, plate of shrimp, pho, this soup where like shrimp were dropping into the boiling soup right before our eyes, and a plate of fruit. Of course everything was delicious. One thing I had that I don't believe i've had before was Jack fruit. It was actually very very good and reminded me of gushers for some strange reason. Dinner was amazing and I got full very fast.

After dinner some of the group decided to check out the swimming pool. It was warmish but very refreshing after the very hot and humid day. That was day 1 for me. Very exciting and I cannot wait to see what's to come for us in this great country.