Day 4

Day four started off with breakfast at the hotel as usual then straight off to UEF for some classes. The first class was about rural planning and development in the Mekong Delta. The lecture was interesting because it was given by Le Quang Minh who has lived in the Delta almost his whole life. We learned many things what is grown in the Delta and the current problems they are having live the mixing of salt water farms for shrimp and pure water farms for rice. Before it got to the end of the presentation, I was called out of the room. It turns out that a Ho Chi Minh City television station was doing a piece on the program and wanted to interview a female from the group. They asked questions like how I like the culture and how I liked the classes, if I was excited about the site visits and activities planned. I probably said exciting and interesting a lot more times than I needed to but it's whatever. So hopefully, on day, I will be on Vietnamese television!

After the Mekong Delta presentation, we had Vietnamese Culture class. Now this class was very interesting because we learned common things to say and do while in Vietnam so we would not be viewed badly. One major thing is to not let anyone lose face because it is viewed in a very negative light. Another thing that we learned was in order to not lose face, never admit you are wrong. Something that our entire group has been trying to do more of is complement the service or gift instead of just saying thank you. Thank you does not allow for growth in a friendship. Culture class was definitely a positive experience that has made us more aware of the Vietnamese culture.

We soon left UEF and travelled to the US Commercial Service Office in the center of district 1. There we met with Jennifer Ludders the economics officer for Ho Chi Minh City and Dave Averne the commercial officer. They are in Viet Nam to help US businesses decide in Viet Nam is the right place to grow their business. Using current statistics and knowledge they have gained about Viet Nam, they are able to connect US businesses with Vietnamese companies to given them a little more insight.

Since we were in the middle of the city, we decided to walk to the markets after the site visit. Little did we know that some monsoon rains would hit us then. We tried to wait it out but after 15 minutes, we decided to walk through the rain, 5 blocks, to the market. It was an experience and totally worth getting soaked. At the market I bought a lot of things which will become known to everyone once I get back.

To make the night short, we had dinner at this VERY nice Vietnamese restaurant but the cost of the meal was less than 7 per person. We all decided that we will be looking for these nice restaurants and eating at a new one almost everyday.

Day 3

The third day consisted of two site visits. The one to the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park was definitely very interesting because we were able to go see II-VI. Two-six is a company that specializing in optics for lasers and a chip that will cool down electronic devices. We were able to go into there factory and have a tour in the actually places where the materials are created. It was really cool to learn about the optic side of the operation because we learned how the glass works in Physics 2 just last semester. Even though I didn't learn anything from Physics, it was nice to see how Physics can be applied outside of the classroom. As for the cooling chip, it is currently the chip used in the Xbox's Project Natal to cool down all the electronics used in the system. Visiting two-six really gave me the opportunity to see how foreign businesses are run. One thing that caught a lot of our eyes, no pun intended, is that none of the workers who are working with glass material were wearing safety glasses. That would not fly in the U.S. at all. After the first site visit we went to a buffet style lunch at Monaco buffet. I would call the lunch interesting. I didn't fall in love with anything there so I ate very little but tasted a whole lot of things. I had my first rice pancake and solidified my love for the watermelon here in Viet Nam. The watermelon is not seedless but the work done to get the seeds out is more than worth it.

After Monaco we went to Glass Egg Digital Media. All I can say about that company is that they really disappointed us as a group. After talking to Dr. Berman about how the tour and info session went last year, we were really mistreated. Apparently the two people who wanted and invited us there had a surprise meeting and were unable to join us. We asked really good and in-depth questions and only got a couple word response. The scary thing was, I had to be the one to give the gift of our appreciation to the presenters. I was shaking and definitely mispronounced towel. Oh good old me and my lack of vocabulary and word pronouncing skills. I got the job done and in the end I made them laugh at my ridiculous pronunciation.

The site visit not going so well disappointed us but after we headed back to the hotel and probably all fell asleep. Not for an hour but for 4 hours. It was crazy how tired and jet-lagged we still were. But the nap seemed to do the trick. We all have been sleeping mostly through the night! After waking up around 8 p.m... we needed to eat. We didn't know if any places would be open and we need a burger so we went to the Hard Rock. It was totally worth the high price tag. The fries were delicious and even if our stomachs could only handle less than half the burger, it still tasted so good. But probably what made the night was that it was just the girls from the trip so we were able to get to know each other a little better. Hard Rock ended our night and we then proceeded to fall right asleep all over again.

Day 2

Today we got more intense into our learning and studying of Viet Nam. It started off with breakfast again where they served Singapore Noodles. Didn't get a chance to try it but the next day it is out I will have it. After breakfast we headed to the University in our little van. Van rides are getting hotter and longer because they are not as exciting as the first few times we went in one. The motorbikers are still very very intense. We were able to drive through rush hour which probably was slower than if we walked. It took around 8 minutes just to go one block. So anyways, at the university we had a presentation on the business and industrial facts about Viet Nam as a country. Surprising they have a very low (5.3) unemployment rate. The informative lecture was boring at times but it was good to know about some facts that pertain to the country. The lecture was over in about an hour and we then continued our language classes. Today we learned more words like what to say when you are talking to your friend or your teacher. All the 6 or 7 phrases we have learned are already running together in my head. But i'm pretty sure that i've got thank you and hello down solid. After language class ended we went to lunch at the cantine again and had more Vietnamese food. It has yet to get boring and I have fallen in love with it.

So I have come to realize that a very important part of being in Viet Nam is drinking water. I probably have 5 to 6 water bottles a day and most days that still isn't enough! I drank a lot of water at the school but when I got on the bus to travel to South Saigon to meet with the leaders of Phu My Hung, I got so car sick. So my lesson of the day, water water water water. Now Phu My Hung put on a great presentation. Being an engineer, I was really into how they were engineering this "new city center". What Phu My Hung is doing is building in what used to be swamp lands a new city center for Ho Chi Minh City. The point is to bring people out of the congested "old city" and into the well maintained and less crowded new one. My thoughts on the project: it will only bring more foreigners into Ho Chi Minh because of the high cost of living that the project already brings to the table. There plans are to reduce pollution in the air and congestion in the streets. I hope there goal is reached because if not, the project could end up costing more for the city in terms of pollution and disorder.

So after Phu My Hung we travelled back to the good old Victory Hotel to eat then hopefully go out for the night. We ended up ordering pizza (very different from american pizza) then taking a taxi to a club called apocalypse now. It was interesting to say the least.

So that was my day two... 12 more to go and I cannot wait to see what's to come!

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.