Day 11

Now on this day it really hit us all that we will only have about two more days here in Viet Nam. So we ate breakfast like usual then left for UEF all decked out in matching shirts for our soccer match in the afternoon. We arrived to the school and walked up the seven flights of stairs for the second to last time to see a table with some students. They told us to write our names on a name tag and choose a paper with a number on it out of the fishbowl. I chose number one. It decided which group we would be in for the morning.

We got into the room where all the table were already taken out of the room and chairs lined the walls. We said our hellos and took our seat for Tony, one of the UEF students, to sing a song for everyone. He was very good! We then chose group names and started with our activities. The first activity we did was each group was asked a question. Our question was how do students handle school and working. The Pitt students all said time management. The UEF students say they do not normally work and study at the same time. Then we got into our second activity of a blindfolded yogurt race. Hard to explain. There's a video on facebook of us doing the race. We then took lots of pictures and headed off to the field to play soccer. The field was a turf field but it was a lot smaller than we imagined. It was very hot so we drank a lot of water. I would say some of the Pitt students played very well and we were able to hold our own against the UEF and ICP soccer players.

Once the match was over we had lunch at the Victory Hotel before going to the War Remnants museum. The museum was very graphic and hard to stomach. By the end of the museum, I needed to leave because the images were way to hard to look at and some things they said about the Americans or the war in general was way too intense for me.

The rest of the day was filled with shopping and going out as a large group for the last time. We are all getting sad yet a tiny bit excited to be going home. I'm pretty sure we all miss our beds.

Day 10

Today was a pretty typical day for us, but what made the day a little special was that it was our last business presentation. We all have not started to realize that we have to leave soon and probably are still hoping to stay longer.

The day started off with breakfast at the hotel again. My typical breakfast of eggs, bread, watermelon, pineapple, and water. The Vietnamese breakfast food has started to scare me because like half the people on the trip are having stomach issues. But anyways, after breakfast we headed to UEF for another history and culture class. In this lecture he spoke about the Westernization of Viet Nam and how it had an effect on the culture. One example that he spoke of was the new religions that were adopted. The people started to migrate towards Catholicism and Puritanism. Although they switched religion preferences, they still kept some of their culture in their Catholic religion. The Western Catholics worship Jesus, whereas the Vietnamese worship the mother Mary because they prefer to worship females instead of males. The teacher than went into the yin and yang philosophy that the Vietnamese tend to base a lot of things on. One part of the yin and yang philosophy deals with even and odd numbers. In Viet Nam, odd numbers are considered lucky whereas even numbers are for the dead. Something interesting that he said was that when people build houses, they will only build one or three gates, never two. Two gates is reserved for graveyards. He went more in depth into the philosophy but by that time all I was concentrating on was keeping my eyes open. By the end of the lecture I was asking myself why did I stay out till 1 AM the night before. I was able to catch the end of the lecture about the Ngu hanh philosophy made up of five elements: fire, earth, water, tree, and metal. Fire is yang, water yin, tree yang, metal yin and earth in the middle is both yin and yang.

After the lecture we got a break where some of us got ice cream from the cantine. It was delicious. I got this cone that was pre-wrapped with vanilla ice cream and a delicious chocolate topping. Yes I enjoyed the chocolate topping a lot. After finishing the ice cream and over break we started language class. We learned words like engineer, business, happy, beautiful, naughty, and tired. All things that that we can add to responses we have already learned. Like when someone asks us how we are doing we can now say we are tired or happy or even naughty. We then learned of a quiz that we will have to take on Friday. I’m going to need to study because I cannot recognize words yet only speak them.

After language class we went to lunch at the cantine. We had tomatoes, fries, this beef stew thing, and rice. We are all thinking they know what we like because they put out so many fries for us. Lunch was short so we could head back to the hotel to change before heading just a few blocks to the UEF administrative office for a presentation done by Mark Oakley of Duane Morris, a law firm here in Viet Nam. He spoke about the ups and downs of foreign investment in Viet Nam. Something he highly recommended for all people wanting to invest in Viet Nam is to go in alone or with someone you highly trust. He said he has seen way too many businesses get screwed over by local partners. He knows that there is a lot of potential in Viet Nam but coming from the law firm side of things, the government puts so many regulations on foreign investment that people considering doing it, needs to get things right the first time if they want a good shot of making it. The presentation was very interesting and I found it nice to hear about Viet Nam from that viewpoint.

After the presentation we headed back to the hotel at 3 where I fell straight sleep until 5:20. After waking up we all, except Andrew, headed to the same place we went last night, The Black Cat. They guys still loved the burgers this time. I got a chicken panini that was not too good. The burger last night was definitely a lot better. We all came back to the hotel and then went out to have a few drinks at the world famous Rex Hotel rooftop to enjoy the view of the city. We decided to walk back from the Rex. On the way back we saw a bat just walking on the ground so we took a picture of it. Then we just enjoyed our walk back through the city. Our time here is getting shorter and there is still so much we all still want to do in the city.

Day 9

We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel like every other day. After breakfast we rode the van over to Viet Capital Securities Company. This is a stock company in Viet Nam. This was by far our shortest site visit. We walked into the company and saw a big board with stock numbers flashing in green or red. We took our seats and waited for someone to come and give us a tour or something. Well today must have been a very busy day because our “tour” consisted of us getting taken behind a counter in two groups and given a 3-minute briefing on what the company is and explaining what the big board is saying. Basically what she told us was that it was a rather new company in Viet Nam because stock is rather new here. Someone asked about why some numbers are highlighted and it was because those are being changed at the time. So after each group was briefed, we were finished our site visit about an hour ahead of schedule. So collectively as a group we decided to go shopping at the Tax Center in downtown HCMC. This center had three floors. The bottom floor was all jewelry, the next floor was brand clothing, then merchant clothing, and the last floor was merchant souvenirs like wooden bowls, paintings, chopsticks, and other things of that natural.

We headed to the hotel for lunch before going to ASCENX Technologies for our second site visit. Now this site visit was much more in-depth and by the end of it, no one wanted to leave. The site visit started like any other normal visit. We went into the boardroom of the company and waited for the two heads of the company to be ready. Dr. Berman then briefed us on the man who would be given the presentation and how he had an amazing story about leaving Viet Nam and how he ended up in California. Tung T. Bach gave us a presentation on the company. The company deals with repairing technology when companies do not or cannot go through the manufacture for the repairs or upgrades to their technology. They are basically the side mechanics when Ford does not have the part or they will not upgrade the technology. After the presentation someone asked for him to go into detail about his story. When he was five, his uncle, a very smart naval captain for the South Vietnam navy, ask his family to leave the country with him because it was right before the South fell to the North. His grandfather said no because he wanted to stay with their grandmother who had recently passed away. The uncle was later captured and put in jail. During that time, Bach’s mother visited her brother many times in the jail. After about a year he escaped with two other men and proceeded to be in hiding for four more years before he was able to escape. When he did escape form Vietnam after years of perfect planning, he was able to take two people with him. He chose Bach’s aunt because she was a female with many opportunities to gain away from Vietnam and Bach because his mother was kind enough to visit the uncle in jail. They escaped successfully by boat and lived in a refugee camp until their application to live in America was granted.

After the presentation, we were asked to go to coffee with us because it was the Vietnamese way. We went to the ground floor of their building and all got drinks while they talked to us more about their business and story. They also recommended places for us to eat and to go at night. We finished up the coffee and said our goodbyes. Everyone agreed that ASCENX was his or her favorite company so far.

Because of the ASCENX recommendation, we went to this place named The Black Cat for dinner. They had the best burgers any of us have had in a while. It might have been because we haven’t had American food in over a week.

Day 8

Monday officially started our second week here in Viet Nam. We all are getting used to the area around our hotel and the foods we have are having each day. Everyone is just excited to see what the second week will bring. What exactly I am thinking on this Monday is that the countdown to the end is beginning and that I really need to do everything that HCMC offers.

As for what Monday brought us, we started off at the school for a history lesson and than language class. The history class was about the ancient history or Viet Nam before Westernization. It was a little boring at first, but once it hit the time period right before Westernization it got very interesting because it really showed a lot of their beliefs and why the city and people are how they are. And then language class was just like normal but this day we learned the numbers. All the guys were excited for this lecture because they have all already learned one, two and three because they would always say one two three cheers! Mot, hai, ba, yo! Other than that class was pretty normal. Then we had lunch at the canteen, which was pretty ordinary with fries, these really good tomatoes over lettuce, bread and some other more Vietnamese food. By this day, we had seen most of the things that they can make so there really were no more surprises.

After lunch and a quick stop at the hotel to change, we headed over to the University of Agriculture and Forestry. Here we heard from some of the professors on catfish farming. The first PowerPoint was on the University in general. We learned about many things pertaining to the University like who are their international partners and the multiple degrees students can earn from this University. We then had someone from the faculty of fisheries talk to us about the main aquatic farming happening in Viet Nam. They spoke about the wealth in aquatic farming as well as the difficulties that have come because of either human actions or farmers wanting to switch the kind of farming they perform. The last presentation was on catfish farming. One thing that stood out during the presentation is the types of catfish farming. The cage farming was cool to see in pictures because we saw that on many waterways heading towards the Delta. The pond like farming we would be able to see a little later in the day.

We then took a short bus ride to another part of campus to see where they test and treat the catfish. They had created like a little sample catfish farm. They had the area where they hatched and grew the baby catfish, and where they changed the gender of the catfish from male to female. It was a very interesting display but because we were short on time, we had to leave for the hotel after only 15 minutes.

Monday night we all stayed in because we were tired from the weekend. I ended up going to bed early that night.

Day 7

This was our day off of site visits and classes so we went to Vung Tau. How did we get from Saigon to Vung Tau you ask, we took a catamaran on the Saigon River. The trip was a little over an hour so not too bad of a journey. When we got there we stopped for iced tea and water at a little restaurant across from the dock.

After a quick stop we took the bus to a mountain where on the top of the mountain was a huge statue of Jesus. So instead of just admiring the statue from afar we walked up the many stairs to the top in the heat of the day. I’m pretty sure the back and shoulders got burnt there because by the time we reached the top, we all looked like we had just gotten out of the water. But being up there was totally worth the hike. Benches lined the paths that had cities engraved in the bench. I found many benches from W. Chester, Pennsylvania. So it felt like a little piece of my hometown in Viet Nam. We then climbed back down the mountain so we could head to lunch at the same little restaurant we were just at.

When we arrived at the place for lunch, we opted to eat outside because the breeze felt much better than being indoors. We had lots of plates filled with Vietnamese cuisine. I wasn’t quite sure what I was eating but I ate it anyways. Lunch was a nice break from the intense heat of the day.

After lunch we finally went to the beach. Let me just say it was not what I was expecting. The water was littered with pollution so swimming was in moderation. At one point a net wrapped around my leg. So instead of spending all my time in the water I laid out on the sand and under the huge tent we rented. After two hours or so, the sun started to get to all of us. We drank a lot of water to get from getting dehydrated and put on a lot of sunscreen. We were able to shower before heading back to the catamaran. The ride back took a lot longer than the ride there. A coconut leaf I guess you would call it got stuck in the motor so we had to pull over at a dock and wait for divers to pull it out. By this time we all just wanted to get back to Ho Chi Minh and eat dinner.

We finally arrived back to the City and headed to the hotel for a little before heading to dinner. We walked to this place named the Barbecue Garden because it was only 5 blocks away and we are so glad we went there. We were able to eat as a large group. This place is were you got raw meat and barbecued it with the grill that is in the center of the table. It was a very nice restaurant and very delicious. I didn’t order anything I had to grill because I wasn’t that hungry so instead I got clams. They were delicious and on top of my plate of clams I got this rice cake that was to die for. Dinner was fantastic but one thing that was weird was that we had to pay for the napkins they placed in front of us without us even asking. That is a lot different than anything I have seen in the States. After dinner I walked straight back to the hotel then off to bed for the night.

Day 6

Our day at the Mekong Delta has finally passed. At almost every site visit we are asked if we have gone into the countryside and more specifically the Mekong. We travelled on a highway lined with small houses and fields for growing or raising plants, animals or even fish. I slept a lot of the time because we had to get up early so I have some pictures and only a few memories of the drive to Ben Tre.

We arrived at the warehouse of Vinacacao where they meet with sellers and partners. Out front where they actually had their desk was just a little hut with a straw roof and open wood sides. This allowed for the breeze to easily enter the “building”. We then got a tour of the warehouse where they had a few things showing how they complete the process. They showed us the actually cacao shell with the cacao inside. They told we could eat it so we all tried a piece. It was horrible. I will never eat raw cacao ever again. We then went out back to see where the cacao is fermented. It was just a bunch of wooden crate like structures where the cacao would go. After we got to see and try the fermented cacao. This time I was unable to swallow the fermented cacao because it tasted darker than baker’s chocolate. After we took some more pictures, we saw where the cacao is dried in the sun out in front of the warehouse.

We then left Vinacacao to eat lunch. The place where we ate lunch was beautiful! When we first entered the hidden paradise we saw tons of tables that were floating above a lake. There were hammocks hanging from the many palm trees. The outdoor paradise also over looked the Mekong River.

After lunch we headed to the Success Alliance head corridors in the Mekong. There we saw more of the process of producing cocoa and was able to taste test the chocolate liquor. I opted out of the taste test because dark chocolate and I do not work well together. After the presentation and taste test were finished, we went on an adventure to an actual cacao farm! It was super cool to see the cacao trees all over the place. The walk through what seemed like the wilderness was a lot of fun except for the fact that a fire ant bit me. It hurt a lot more than I would have thought. We walked up to a very pretty house with chickens just roaming around in the front lawn area and that is where we took a break. We drank a lot of water, and then we were served the freshest fruit I have ever had! It was absolutely delicious! My favorite new fruit was lychee. I hope they have it in the states somewhere. So after eating the best fruit ever we went back on the bus to go home. We were all exhausted and needed a shower or two because of how much we sweated and smelled. We arrived at the hotel and grabbed a quick dinner at KFC (Vietnamese KFC is a lot different than in the states). After eating the terrible meal I went back to the hotel and fell asleep for the night because tomorrow we are off to the beach for the day!

Day 5

Friday was an interesting day full of site visits. What made the day extra interesting was the site visit in the middle of the day to Intel Products. We started the day in the lobby of the hotel to meet some students from UEF who joined us on the trip out to the technology park. We started out with a tour of their factory. The factory was very empty. We weren't told at that time why it was empty expect that it was a new facility. We later found out through the presentation that the factory was empty because they were only going to add to it when the demand for the product demands it. After the tour of the factory, we headed to the office space. It was the coolest office I had been in yet. One thing that reminded me of Dupont was that all employees had to hold on to the hand rails when going up and down the stairs. After heading up the stairs we see a very large colorful room filled with cubicles. They were very spacious and lower to the ground as to rid the large room of closed in spaces. Walking down the hall we head to a room that is called RELAX. Yes this is s room build for the sole purpose of relaxing anytime during the work day. On or off of breaks. As we sit in the brightly colored couches and beanbag chairs our tour guide tell us we need to leave because she has to show us the "play room". We all run to the next room to see a large TV, pool table, darts and many more games. It was such a cool and different environment than any other office I had been in. We end the tour and are given a presentation on the company. We are told that this plant of Intel is one that is responsible for assembling the processors. Rick Howarth, the general manager, also goes into detail about the future of Intel. They want to put their product in smart phones and mini laptops. They are working on creating silicon that can be small enough and fast enough but run with little energy so the phone they do create will be able to have a long battery life. All these ideas are so that they can be viewed as a growing company and not a mature company in the eyes of stock holders. The presentation and office space were very cool and I will definitely be excited to see what they have in store for the future of their company and the future of their impact in Viet Nam.

After Intel, we came back to the hotel to eat lunch. Lunch was okay but I really enjoyed the ice cream. It was pink and seemed more like an icy than a cream. But it was a pretty neat texture. After lunch we walked like 9 blocks to hear a presentation from the ACDI/VOCA and Success Alliance on Cocoa bean producing. They talked about everything we would be seeing the next day in the Mekong Delta. They showed us how the cocoa plant in grown then harvested and fermented. There are all these steps that are taken before anything even remotely tastes like edible chocolate. Success Alliance went more into detail about how they teach farmers in the Delta to grow cocoa as a living. By teaching people this skill, they are able to make a living in the Delta. The presentation got us excited for what Saturday would bring.

We ended up taking a taxi back to the Hotel because we needed to get ready to meet our guide Miss Tu and our new friend Phung for a shopping/dinner/music night. We headed to a shopping plaza where clothes was the number one selling object. It was like a mall but with booths instead of stores and you could barter the price down. It was a neat experience and I was able to come away from the plaza with a shirt, necklace, and headband. We then headed to dinner which was typical Vietnamese cuisine. My roommate Rayna and I shared prawns and an egg. It was very delicious. Then after dinner, Miss Tu took us to a Rock Show at a local coffee shop. It was fantastic! They played live old rock songs like Hey Jude and we sipped on drinks for about an hour and a half. When the concert ended, we returned to the hotel, some on motorbikes, and met up with all the boys to go out for the night. We headed to a place that looked and was named the Factory. That was the end to our friday. Tomorrow we go to the Delta!