Today was the day many of us had been looking forward to: cooking classes. It actually turned out differently than we had expected. We were originally supposed to go to some fancy restaurant on an island somewhere in one of the rivers, where they would teach us how to make spring rolls. The cooking lessons still happened, but the locations changed. Instead of a nice restaurant on the waterfront, we were taken to (seriously) a 5-star hotel in the middle of the city. Now, none of us had any problems with the hotel we were staying in, but you could definitely tell that this place was on a whole other level. Just walking in, everything felt fancy. Just the lobby gift store had jewelry that was so far above my budget, somewhere in the hundreds of dollars. We got taken on a mini "tour" of parts of the hotel, which I think was just an excuse to get the big group of rowdy college students out of the way until the kitchen was ready for us. It was nice though: we got to hang around a cute little garden and admire the giant pool. The whole feel of the place was distinctly different from anywhere else we'd been so far on the trip. I can understand wanting to have nice accommodations, but I think most of us felt that staying in a place like that would have robbed us from experiencing the country as it really was. It wouldn't have been nearly as authentic. Nevertheless, we were all prepared to enjoy the experience while it lasted.
We were finally brought down to the restaurant area, and were immediately floored by the buffet. Our cooking class was to take place right next to their fancy buffet area, and I've never seen a more enticing display of edibles. Literally anything you could have wanted, from Asian to European and American. They had an entire table just full of fancy-looking desserts. Pulling our eyes away from the food, we began the cooking lesson. They taught us how to make two things, fresh shrimp spring rolls and friend pork spring rolls. We all got to take turns making the spring rolls, to varying degrees of success. I'm proud to say mine turned out alright (relatively). It was a hard process because it involved wetting rice paper, which, for those who have never done it before, makes the rice paper really sticky. Once we were done, though, we got to enjoy the fruits of our labor, and then some. They made the mistake of turning us loose on the buffet. Reminiscing on the experience, most of the details blend together in a sort of food haze, but I remember it involved bread, many different meats, sushi, fancy cheese, soups, steamed buns, more spring rolls, and five or six different types of dessert. I'd say it was a pretty special meal.
(Side note, but this hotel was so fancy that the guy in the "Man" sign on the bathroom door had a pocket square. I'll post a pic)
After lunch, we headed off to Saigon Newport Corporation, which was basically a big port. They gave us an interesting presentation on their involvement with the Vietnamese government, since their cooperation with the navy helps facilitate their business. They took us up to the control room so we could get an overview of the whole port. It was basically shipping containers as far as the eye could see, but it was more interesting than it sounds. After that, we drove the bus around the port for a while so we could get a closer look.
In the late afternoon, most of us went back to the market for another shopping trip. Most of us left after the market closed, but I and a few others stayed and had dinner by the market. I had snails. Afterwards, an outdoor market opened up in the streets around the indoor market, so we did even more shopping there, and I finally finished my souvenir shopping. It only took me three trips to do so.
To finish off the night, a bunch of us walked a dozen blocks from the hotel to go to a Dairy Queen, which was great, and then came back to the hotel to get remeasured for our suits. The tailor had all our outfits half-finished, so we got our first look, and they looked great! We were definitely pretty excited for the finished product.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Tuesday: Day 9
Tuesday was the big day, the day of our company visit. We didn't have class in the morning, and instead went straight to the first location. We had a long bus ride a little ways out of the city to the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), the first company of the day. Our company, II-VI, is located in the industrial park, so the two companies gave their presentations together. We got off the bus, decked out in our fancy clothes, and walked through a lobby area of their "presentation building". The center of the lobby was taken up entirely by a big overhead model of the industrial park, so we got to see how it was laid out. The model was really cool because it showed all the different sections of the park, as well as some of the infrastructure. The walls of the lobby housed display cases showing off a bunch of the different products that are produced in the industrial park, including some of the products made by II-VI. After looking around for a bit, we were led into a big conference room, where we learned about each company. The presentations were surprisingly interesting. The industrial park is the result of cooperations between the Vietnamese and Singapore governments. The parks basically try to create a perfect environment for businesses so that they can focus solely on making products without having to worry about things like infrastructure or space. The park takes care of everything from road construction and maintenance to fire safety and water treatment. They even have their own customs offices so companies can get their goods cleared on site and not have to worry about that later on. They also have amenities for the workers, with living spaces and restaurants.
Our company, II-VI, was really cool for all the engineers. The company mainly deals in specialty electronics and optical parts. They have locations around the world, in the US, Europe, and elsewhere in Asia, and are actually headquartered near Pittsburgh. We were all excited because we would get to see their factories. I thought my group asked a lot of very interesting and educated questions, which was great.
After the presentations, we headed back to the buses to drive to the factory. It had started to rain, which was a welcome respite from the oppressive heat, expect we were all in nice clothes that we didn't want to get wet. Luckily, it was just a few dozen feet from the bus to the entrance. The factory was super cool. For most of us (including me), it was our first experience seeing a real assembly line factory. We got to see all the different steps in making a lot of the optic lenses that the company produces, as well as the assembly of some of their specialty electronics. It all looked really intense and science-y. Most of the workers are Vietnamese, and they're all trained in-house by the company. Apparently, they had had problems retaining some of the workers in the past, because a lot of the migrant workers would make enough money to live off for a couple month and then quit and go home to their villages. They told us about a lot of the benefits that they started using to keep workers for longer periods of time, which makes sense considering the time it takes to train them. Overall, it was a really cool experience, one that was unlike any I've had so far. That's a recurring theme of the trip, though.
On the way home, we stopped at some restaurant for lunch, and the food was incredible even by the high standards of the rest of the trip so far. They just kept bringing out courses and courses of food. It all had a more Chinese feel than some of the other food we'd had so far, but it was still great. After dinner, Sam ordered Jasmine tea (of course), and shared it with the rest of us like the "good guy" he is. When we finished, though, they took the tea pot and brought out more tea. They did this three or four times. We were all pleasantly surprised.
In the afternoon, we all hung around the hotel for a couple hours. A lot of people went to the pool. I think I took a nap. For dinner, we went out for banh mi at a roadside stand. Each time I got banh mi in Vietnam, it was prepared with different ingredients, and each time was stellar. Banh mi was one of the things I looked forward to the most before the trip, and they didn't disappoint. The rest of the night consisted of us all hanging out together and preparing ourselves for the culinary adventure that the next day would bring (5-star hotel-- we were pretty excited).
Our company, II-VI, was really cool for all the engineers. The company mainly deals in specialty electronics and optical parts. They have locations around the world, in the US, Europe, and elsewhere in Asia, and are actually headquartered near Pittsburgh. We were all excited because we would get to see their factories. I thought my group asked a lot of very interesting and educated questions, which was great.
After the presentations, we headed back to the buses to drive to the factory. It had started to rain, which was a welcome respite from the oppressive heat, expect we were all in nice clothes that we didn't want to get wet. Luckily, it was just a few dozen feet from the bus to the entrance. The factory was super cool. For most of us (including me), it was our first experience seeing a real assembly line factory. We got to see all the different steps in making a lot of the optic lenses that the company produces, as well as the assembly of some of their specialty electronics. It all looked really intense and science-y. Most of the workers are Vietnamese, and they're all trained in-house by the company. Apparently, they had had problems retaining some of the workers in the past, because a lot of the migrant workers would make enough money to live off for a couple month and then quit and go home to their villages. They told us about a lot of the benefits that they started using to keep workers for longer periods of time, which makes sense considering the time it takes to train them. Overall, it was a really cool experience, one that was unlike any I've had so far. That's a recurring theme of the trip, though.
On the way home, we stopped at some restaurant for lunch, and the food was incredible even by the high standards of the rest of the trip so far. They just kept bringing out courses and courses of food. It all had a more Chinese feel than some of the other food we'd had so far, but it was still great. After dinner, Sam ordered Jasmine tea (of course), and shared it with the rest of us like the "good guy" he is. When we finished, though, they took the tea pot and brought out more tea. They did this three or four times. We were all pleasantly surprised.
In the afternoon, we all hung around the hotel for a couple hours. A lot of people went to the pool. I think I took a nap. For dinner, we went out for banh mi at a roadside stand. Each time I got banh mi in Vietnam, it was prepared with different ingredients, and each time was stellar. Banh mi was one of the things I looked forward to the most before the trip, and they didn't disappoint. The rest of the night consisted of us all hanging out together and preparing ourselves for the culinary adventure that the next day would bring (5-star hotel-- we were pretty excited).
Monday: Pictures
Food stalls in the market
Definitely the biggest durian I've ever seen
Banh Xeo, half eaten because it looked so good that I forgot to take a picture before I started eating
Karaoke!
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Monday: Day 8
Today was market day! We started out the day with Vietnamese culture and language class, where we learned all the basics that we would need to bargain with the shopkeepers in the market (the numbers, "how much is this", and "too expensive" being the most important). Then, it was off to the market for some shopping. The market we went to, Ben Thanh Market, is one of the oldest markets in the city. Apparently, its a more touristy place than some of the other markets in town, but we all loved it! I think most of us were pretty overwhelmed when we first got there. The entire market is inside this huge warehouse building taking up a whole city block, and the whole place is packed full of individual stalls. We entered the market and were immediately accosted by vendors on all sides. We finally made it to the middle of the market, where we set our meeting place for later in the day and then split up to go shopping. There were stalls for everything. A whole section of the market was dedicated to selling food, with a bunch of stalls selling fresh fish, meat, and vegetables, and even more stalls where you could sit and eat a meal. There were stalls selling shirts, ties, silk, coffee, small souvenirs, literally anything we could have wanted. For me, this meant one thing: Christmas gifts. I guess its never too early to start Christmas shopping, right? I picked up a bunch of things for my family (and more than a few things for myself, of course). I know they told us we would have to try hard to spend a lot of money in Vietnam, but believe me I was trying. I had to find an ATM and pull out more money halfway through the day. At one point, some of us went to the food section where some of the vendors had prepared food for us, but I was too busy shopping to eat. I've bargained at markets before, and I've never been that good at it, but I think I did a pretty good job. At one point, I got a bargain price on a shirt after repeatedly insisting that I literally didn't have more money than what I was offering (I ended up pulling out my wallet and physically showing the shopkeeper my lack of cash). Suffice to say, it was a good morning. By the time we left, I was already planning a second shopping trip.
After the market, we went on another company visit to VinaCapital. The company was located in one of the fancy skyscrapers downtown. We sat down in a very nice conference room for a really cool presentation. We heard a couple different presentations, one about the actual company and one about VinaCapital Foundation. The company is an investment and asset management company. They invest in a bunch of small businesses in Vietnam, and help those companies grow and be successful. VinaCapital is the NGO arm of the company. The main company covers all the overhead costs, which is cool because it means any donations to VinaCapital Foundation go directly to their projects. They do a lot of work in medical health and education in Vietnam, mainly working to provide medical services to poor, rural communities that would not have access to the services otherwise, as well as providing education for women in these communities. Women in many rural communities in Vietnam do not have many opportunities to get educated, and VinaCapital Foundation is working to change that. It was really cool to hear from a company in Vietnam that is actively working to help people's lives, especially in these rural villages.
That night, most of us went out with our Vietnamese friends for dinner. They took us to a restaurant for Banh Xeo. The dish is basically a giant folded-over pancake, made of eggs and vegetables and stufed full of meat and seafood, and it was probably the best thing I ate all trip. They probably brought out a couple dozen of these things, and we ate all of them, dipping them in a sweet sauce. Incidentally, they first brought out the sauce right after our friends had finished talking to us about tea, so of course Sam immediately assumed that the sauce was tea and poured himself a cup. We all had a good laugh at his expense.
After dinner, we went out to a Karaoke place. We were expecting something like a Karaoke bar, but this place had legit rooms that they rented out to groups, so we were the only ones who had to suffer through our mediocre singing. We all had a good time there.
Before bed, we spent some time going over our plan for the next morning. The next day, Tuesday, was the day of our company visit, and we all wanted to be ready. Then, it was off to bed.
After the market, we went on another company visit to VinaCapital. The company was located in one of the fancy skyscrapers downtown. We sat down in a very nice conference room for a really cool presentation. We heard a couple different presentations, one about the actual company and one about VinaCapital Foundation. The company is an investment and asset management company. They invest in a bunch of small businesses in Vietnam, and help those companies grow and be successful. VinaCapital is the NGO arm of the company. The main company covers all the overhead costs, which is cool because it means any donations to VinaCapital Foundation go directly to their projects. They do a lot of work in medical health and education in Vietnam, mainly working to provide medical services to poor, rural communities that would not have access to the services otherwise, as well as providing education for women in these communities. Women in many rural communities in Vietnam do not have many opportunities to get educated, and VinaCapital Foundation is working to change that. It was really cool to hear from a company in Vietnam that is actively working to help people's lives, especially in these rural villages.
That night, most of us went out with our Vietnamese friends for dinner. They took us to a restaurant for Banh Xeo. The dish is basically a giant folded-over pancake, made of eggs and vegetables and stufed full of meat and seafood, and it was probably the best thing I ate all trip. They probably brought out a couple dozen of these things, and we ate all of them, dipping them in a sweet sauce. Incidentally, they first brought out the sauce right after our friends had finished talking to us about tea, so of course Sam immediately assumed that the sauce was tea and poured himself a cup. We all had a good laugh at his expense.
After dinner, we went out to a Karaoke place. We were expecting something like a Karaoke bar, but this place had legit rooms that they rented out to groups, so we were the only ones who had to suffer through our mediocre singing. We all had a good time there.
Before bed, we spent some time going over our plan for the next morning. The next day, Tuesday, was the day of our company visit, and we all wanted to be ready. Then, it was off to bed.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Sunday: Day 7
Today was our beach day and, more depressingly, the official halfway point of our trip. It's hard to imagine we've already spent a week here. I know it's cliche, but it seems like forever.
We got up nice and early (7am) to head to the beach. The bus ride was a couple hours, but there was a lot to see outside. We drove through more rural area to get to the coast, and it was really cool to see a side of the country that we hadn't had a chance to see in the city. I had woken up late and hadn't had a chance to eat breakfast, so I was pretty hungry, and it seemed like every building we passed had a stand out front selling steamed buns. We must have passed +30 stands selling these buns, and I couldn't stop at a single one. It was terrible.
Once we got to the coast, we didn't go to the beach right away. On the biggest hill over the town we were visiting, there's a big statue of Jesus, similar to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio but a whole lot smaller. The bus dropped us off at the base of this hill, and we got to hike up. We've been walking around all week, but after the long bus ride (where many of us napped), I don't think any of us were fully prepared for the stairs. There must have been at least a couple hundred stairs up to the top, all crowded with other tourists (mostly Vietnamese) stopping at the various statues and monuments that lined the way to the top. I passed a few food stands and rest stops on the way, but I was determined to get to the top and so didn't get a chance to stop for food. I managed to be the first to make it up, and the climb was definitely worth it. The view from the top was great, but the real prize was the statue. It wasn't very big, but you could go inside and climb up to the arms of Jesus. The wait took forever, but finally we made it to the viewpoint on Jesus's arms. That view was infinitely better than the view from the hill. You could see almost 360 degrees around the hill, to the town below and the water farther out. The sea air was blowing in, and the view was breathtaking. I think I could have stayed there for hours if the rest of the line hadn't been pushing for a turn.
We hung out on top of the hill for a while. A big group of Vietnamese students and staff had come with us, and the adults insisted that we take a bunch of pictures. Everywhere they go, we always have to take pictures. I'm used to it, since my parents both do the exact same thing, but I think its starting to wear down some people's patience. I understand their logic, though; it'll be nice to have the record of everywhere we go.
On the way down from the hill, I remembered that we had passed a banh mi stand on the way up. Banh mi are Vietnamese sandwiches made with French baguettes and Vietnamese filling, and its one of the dishes that I was most excited about having in Vietnam but that I hadn't had a chance to try yet. At this point, it was hours after the breakfast that I had skipped, and I was absolutely starving. I ran on ahead of the group and bought one before we got back on the bus. It was amazing. Probably one of the best things I've eaten so far, and that's really saying something.
The beach we went to was behind a hotel that I guess we had paid to let us visit for the day. They had a pool and a whole bunch of beach chairs that we could put our stuff on. It was a hot day and the ocean water was pretty warm, but it still felt good after our morning hike. The water was kind of dirty, with some trash floating around, but we still had a good time messing around. I was only out for around an hour and I still managed to get sunburnt.
The hotel provided lunch for us, and it was one of the best we've had yet. They had a whole bunch of good seafood. Fresh cockles, fried squid rings, fried chicken wings, teriyaki fish, giant prawn, and seafood hot pot. I also had some sort of anise soda that I thought would be weird but that actually tasted pretty good.
After lunch, we all headed back to the beach. We hung out on the chairs under the umbrellas for a while. I continued my streak of sleeping on every beach I ever go to and proceeded to take an hour-long nap. Pretty soon after I woke up, we had to leave. I collected some sand on the beach before we left, though.
On our way home, we made a pit stop at this roadside market. I think we stopped mainly so people could go to the bathroom, but I resolved to explore the market and, once I realized there were food stands, try all the food. First, a stand with a lady churning out dozens of tiny pancakes. They tasted just like pancakes at home, but they were still good. Next, a guy with a big display container of the same steamed buns I had craved all morning. They were filled with some type of savory meat, which went really well with the slightly-sweet bun and tasted amazing. After that, I tried some type of sweet-tasting milk drink, another version of a banh mi (this one with different filling from my first), and rice paper and cashew candies. It was all really good, and super cheap. While I ate, I wandered around the market and looked at all the other stands selling fruits and vegetables, meats and sausages, and other raw ingredients. A few people even tried to sell me some when they saw my interest. Back on the bus, everyone passed around a whole bunch of different candies and treats they had bought at the market. It was definitely a worthwhile stop.
Back at the hotel, a bunch of people decided that they were craving American food and went off looking for some fancy burger place they found online. The few of us who stayed back and who had enough energy to go out went looking for more Vietnamese food. We walked a mile or two down the street from our hotel. The direction we walked took us out of the touristy area (which our hotel borders) and put us firmly into the local part of the city. We stopped seeing tourists, started seeing more locals, and the whole area took on a more foreign and exotic feel. Luckily, one of our Vietnamese friends was with us, and she took us to one of the many small restaurants that specialize in one dish. This one made a noodle soup dish called bun bo Hue. It was similar to pho, but with different noodles and broth. It was absolutely incredible, almost better than the pho we had earlier in the week. It was just spicy enough, and I liked the different noodles. Unfortunately, between our lazy afternoon on the beach and the food we ate at the roadside market, I was too full to each much. It was a shame, though, because that soup was amazing.
Today was the last of our two "fun days". I'm finishing every day exhausted, but somehow I don't mind. Everything we experience here is so incredible, it just leaves me wanting more. I can't wait to see what our second week here is like.
We got up nice and early (7am) to head to the beach. The bus ride was a couple hours, but there was a lot to see outside. We drove through more rural area to get to the coast, and it was really cool to see a side of the country that we hadn't had a chance to see in the city. I had woken up late and hadn't had a chance to eat breakfast, so I was pretty hungry, and it seemed like every building we passed had a stand out front selling steamed buns. We must have passed +30 stands selling these buns, and I couldn't stop at a single one. It was terrible.
Once we got to the coast, we didn't go to the beach right away. On the biggest hill over the town we were visiting, there's a big statue of Jesus, similar to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio but a whole lot smaller. The bus dropped us off at the base of this hill, and we got to hike up. We've been walking around all week, but after the long bus ride (where many of us napped), I don't think any of us were fully prepared for the stairs. There must have been at least a couple hundred stairs up to the top, all crowded with other tourists (mostly Vietnamese) stopping at the various statues and monuments that lined the way to the top. I passed a few food stands and rest stops on the way, but I was determined to get to the top and so didn't get a chance to stop for food. I managed to be the first to make it up, and the climb was definitely worth it. The view from the top was great, but the real prize was the statue. It wasn't very big, but you could go inside and climb up to the arms of Jesus. The wait took forever, but finally we made it to the viewpoint on Jesus's arms. That view was infinitely better than the view from the hill. You could see almost 360 degrees around the hill, to the town below and the water farther out. The sea air was blowing in, and the view was breathtaking. I think I could have stayed there for hours if the rest of the line hadn't been pushing for a turn.
We hung out on top of the hill for a while. A big group of Vietnamese students and staff had come with us, and the adults insisted that we take a bunch of pictures. Everywhere they go, we always have to take pictures. I'm used to it, since my parents both do the exact same thing, but I think its starting to wear down some people's patience. I understand their logic, though; it'll be nice to have the record of everywhere we go.
On the way down from the hill, I remembered that we had passed a banh mi stand on the way up. Banh mi are Vietnamese sandwiches made with French baguettes and Vietnamese filling, and its one of the dishes that I was most excited about having in Vietnam but that I hadn't had a chance to try yet. At this point, it was hours after the breakfast that I had skipped, and I was absolutely starving. I ran on ahead of the group and bought one before we got back on the bus. It was amazing. Probably one of the best things I've eaten so far, and that's really saying something.
The beach we went to was behind a hotel that I guess we had paid to let us visit for the day. They had a pool and a whole bunch of beach chairs that we could put our stuff on. It was a hot day and the ocean water was pretty warm, but it still felt good after our morning hike. The water was kind of dirty, with some trash floating around, but we still had a good time messing around. I was only out for around an hour and I still managed to get sunburnt.
The hotel provided lunch for us, and it was one of the best we've had yet. They had a whole bunch of good seafood. Fresh cockles, fried squid rings, fried chicken wings, teriyaki fish, giant prawn, and seafood hot pot. I also had some sort of anise soda that I thought would be weird but that actually tasted pretty good.
After lunch, we all headed back to the beach. We hung out on the chairs under the umbrellas for a while. I continued my streak of sleeping on every beach I ever go to and proceeded to take an hour-long nap. Pretty soon after I woke up, we had to leave. I collected some sand on the beach before we left, though.
On our way home, we made a pit stop at this roadside market. I think we stopped mainly so people could go to the bathroom, but I resolved to explore the market and, once I realized there were food stands, try all the food. First, a stand with a lady churning out dozens of tiny pancakes. They tasted just like pancakes at home, but they were still good. Next, a guy with a big display container of the same steamed buns I had craved all morning. They were filled with some type of savory meat, which went really well with the slightly-sweet bun and tasted amazing. After that, I tried some type of sweet-tasting milk drink, another version of a banh mi (this one with different filling from my first), and rice paper and cashew candies. It was all really good, and super cheap. While I ate, I wandered around the market and looked at all the other stands selling fruits and vegetables, meats and sausages, and other raw ingredients. A few people even tried to sell me some when they saw my interest. Back on the bus, everyone passed around a whole bunch of different candies and treats they had bought at the market. It was definitely a worthwhile stop.
Back at the hotel, a bunch of people decided that they were craving American food and went off looking for some fancy burger place they found online. The few of us who stayed back and who had enough energy to go out went looking for more Vietnamese food. We walked a mile or two down the street from our hotel. The direction we walked took us out of the touristy area (which our hotel borders) and put us firmly into the local part of the city. We stopped seeing tourists, started seeing more locals, and the whole area took on a more foreign and exotic feel. Luckily, one of our Vietnamese friends was with us, and she took us to one of the many small restaurants that specialize in one dish. This one made a noodle soup dish called bun bo Hue. It was similar to pho, but with different noodles and broth. It was absolutely incredible, almost better than the pho we had earlier in the week. It was just spicy enough, and I liked the different noodles. Unfortunately, between our lazy afternoon on the beach and the food we ate at the roadside market, I was too full to each much. It was a shame, though, because that soup was amazing.
Today was the last of our two "fun days". I'm finishing every day exhausted, but somehow I don't mind. Everything we experience here is so incredible, it just leaves me wanting more. I can't wait to see what our second week here is like.
Saturday: Day 6
Saturday was probably one of the most interesting days of the trip so far. We drove a couple hours northwest to the city limits to Cu Chi District, where we visited the famous Cu Chi tunnels. The tunnels site is basically an old battlefield. During the war, US troops were stationed all around the city, including in Cu Chi District, and the Viet Cong resistance established the tunnel network as a means to hide their forces and launch surprise attacks on the Americans and their allies while avoiding detection. Cu Chi District is way out on the outskirts of the city, so we had to bus through a pretty rural area to get to them. The day was one of the hottest yet, and we were out in the jungle, so the heat was a big problem. It did nothing to lessen the impact of the tunnels, though. The site was incredible. We were first led on a dirt path through the jungle, past a few pavilion housing display cases of old guns and artillery, to another pavilion for a short presentation. This pavilion had a TV, a map of the District, and an old diorama of a portion of the tunnels, complete with flashing lights to represent explosions. Before their representative came, Dr. Berman and Pete gave us a presentation on the history and significance of the tunnels. After that, their person came over and played us a video. Dr. Berman had warned us about the video beforehand, but it was still a pretty jarring experience. The video was made in the 1960's while the war was still going on, and was clearly made as a propaganda film against the Americans. It was black and white, bad quality, and full of narrative exalting Viet Cong heroes for the number of Americans they had killed and condemning American soldiers for the atrocities they had committed. It definitely offered a different perspective of the war, to say the least. I think a lot of us were pretty uncomfortable after seeing it.
In any case, once the video ended, the real tour of the site began. We were paired with a cheerful tour guide who took us around and explained all the exhibits to us. The first was an old well, and it was our first chance to go into the tunnels. Clearly, these tunnels weren't made to accommodate most of us. Even with the expansions and restorations they must have done to make the site fit for tourists, a lot of us barely made it through the tunnels. Whenever we went down, I had to practically crawl on hands and knees to make it through, and I'm not even the tallest one on the trip. They're also very narrow, and anyone who is at all claustrophobic definitely shouldn't attempt to go through. After the first site, our guide showed us a couple examples of the methods used to hide the countless entrances, peepholes, and sniper bunkers that the Viet Cong had hidden all throughout the jungle. He opened a tiny opening in the ground and, after waving goodbye, lowered himself in and closed the opening. There is absolutely no way that anyone who didn't know where it was could have found the entrance. We practically lost it, and we had just watching him lower himself into it! A few minutes later, he popped out of another hole a few feet away (that, again, no one had noticed). He then led us past a few different examples of traps that were set in the jungle to catch and injure careless patrolling soldiers. We got to go through a few more tunnels, these ones with displays showing Viet Cong soldiers cooking, working, and caring for wounded (along with more than a few real-life bats).
I think I was beginning to understand how awful it must have been fighting in the jungle. Between the hidden entrances, gun posts that look like rocks, and punji stick traps in the ground, I would have been terrified to walk anywhere in the jungle. We had a moment where, at Dr. Berman's suggestion, we just walked through the jungle in silence. Listening to the forest, hearing all the natural sounds and seeing how empty everything looked, I caught a sense of what it must have felt like being a soldier walking through those same trees.
The whole area is also covered in old bomb craters. They're all overgrown now, but you can still see the big cavities carved into the earth throughout the jungle. The whole site is built up to be a big tourist attraction, with the built-up paths and colorful exhibits of weapons and traps (most with painted background images of dying Americans). They have gift shops selling candies, replica Viet Cong uniforms, and lighters made out of bullets, and even a shooting range within earshot in case anyone wants to try their hand at firing weapons in the jungle. It's almost easy to forget that the site is a battlefield, where soldiers fought and probably died just a few decades ago. It was surreal, and definitely an experience I'll remember for a while.
After our tour, we bused a short ways away for lunch. Our lunch spot was at a restaurant built onto a big wooden platform floating on the banks of a river. It was really cool (literally; the river air felt a whole lot better than in the humid, airless jungle). We had little spring rolls, grilled giant prawn, crunchy rice cakes with vegetables, chicken, and crispy baguette rolls. After eating, we hung out for a while and enjoyed the cool river breeze. The water was covered in these floating water plants, and if you stared at just the plants as they floated by, it gave the impression that the raft was floating down the river.
After lunch, we went back to a temple that we had seen before we got on the bus at the tunnels. It turned out to be a big memorial to all the people, soldiers and civilians, who had died in the District during the war. It was a massive complex, with beautiful gardens and fountains surrounding the central temple. The outer walls were covered in murals that depicted the oppression of the Vietnamese under the French, soldiers fighting during the war, and the eventual happiness at the war's end. We had to take our shoes off to enter the main temple. Inside the temple, there was a huge statue of Ho Chi Minh. All around the sides, the walls were covered with writing. They listed the names of every single person who had died in the District. I don't remember the exact number of names, but it covered the back and both side walls, with very little space to add more. Some of the Vietnamese students who had accompanies us lit incense at the alter in the temple. Reading the names was another indefinable experience. We really got a feel for the full cost of the war on the people in the area. We made one more stop, at the cemetery where all those people are interred. This was a weird experience, because a lot of the graves aren't yet finished. It was weird seeing rows and rows of graves juxtaposed with crews of workers hauling wheelbarrows and mixing cement for even more rows of graves. The site was empty except for us and the workers, so we had free reign to walk around and look at the graves. It added to the feelings I had already gotten while looking at the names back at the temple.
After a long bus ride home, we got to relax for a few hours at the hotel. Most of us were pretty beat from the morning. A couple of us guys went out for dinner before the tailor came to measure us for suits in the evening. We went to a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel, where I got banh xeo, which are these little omelet-like pancakes with vegetable and seafood filling inside (and they were really good!)
My favorite moment of the day, and probably one of my favorite moments of the whole trip, was on the bus ride back from the tunnels. We were driving through a rural area, passing by farmers huts and rice fields, and it started to rain. Looking out the bus windows over the rice fields in a rain storm that came out of nowhere, it felt like a scene pulled out of any Vietnam War film. It's hard to imaging such terrible things happening in such a beautiful country.
In any case, once the video ended, the real tour of the site began. We were paired with a cheerful tour guide who took us around and explained all the exhibits to us. The first was an old well, and it was our first chance to go into the tunnels. Clearly, these tunnels weren't made to accommodate most of us. Even with the expansions and restorations they must have done to make the site fit for tourists, a lot of us barely made it through the tunnels. Whenever we went down, I had to practically crawl on hands and knees to make it through, and I'm not even the tallest one on the trip. They're also very narrow, and anyone who is at all claustrophobic definitely shouldn't attempt to go through. After the first site, our guide showed us a couple examples of the methods used to hide the countless entrances, peepholes, and sniper bunkers that the Viet Cong had hidden all throughout the jungle. He opened a tiny opening in the ground and, after waving goodbye, lowered himself in and closed the opening. There is absolutely no way that anyone who didn't know where it was could have found the entrance. We practically lost it, and we had just watching him lower himself into it! A few minutes later, he popped out of another hole a few feet away (that, again, no one had noticed). He then led us past a few different examples of traps that were set in the jungle to catch and injure careless patrolling soldiers. We got to go through a few more tunnels, these ones with displays showing Viet Cong soldiers cooking, working, and caring for wounded (along with more than a few real-life bats).
I think I was beginning to understand how awful it must have been fighting in the jungle. Between the hidden entrances, gun posts that look like rocks, and punji stick traps in the ground, I would have been terrified to walk anywhere in the jungle. We had a moment where, at Dr. Berman's suggestion, we just walked through the jungle in silence. Listening to the forest, hearing all the natural sounds and seeing how empty everything looked, I caught a sense of what it must have felt like being a soldier walking through those same trees.
The whole area is also covered in old bomb craters. They're all overgrown now, but you can still see the big cavities carved into the earth throughout the jungle. The whole site is built up to be a big tourist attraction, with the built-up paths and colorful exhibits of weapons and traps (most with painted background images of dying Americans). They have gift shops selling candies, replica Viet Cong uniforms, and lighters made out of bullets, and even a shooting range within earshot in case anyone wants to try their hand at firing weapons in the jungle. It's almost easy to forget that the site is a battlefield, where soldiers fought and probably died just a few decades ago. It was surreal, and definitely an experience I'll remember for a while.
After our tour, we bused a short ways away for lunch. Our lunch spot was at a restaurant built onto a big wooden platform floating on the banks of a river. It was really cool (literally; the river air felt a whole lot better than in the humid, airless jungle). We had little spring rolls, grilled giant prawn, crunchy rice cakes with vegetables, chicken, and crispy baguette rolls. After eating, we hung out for a while and enjoyed the cool river breeze. The water was covered in these floating water plants, and if you stared at just the plants as they floated by, it gave the impression that the raft was floating down the river.
After lunch, we went back to a temple that we had seen before we got on the bus at the tunnels. It turned out to be a big memorial to all the people, soldiers and civilians, who had died in the District during the war. It was a massive complex, with beautiful gardens and fountains surrounding the central temple. The outer walls were covered in murals that depicted the oppression of the Vietnamese under the French, soldiers fighting during the war, and the eventual happiness at the war's end. We had to take our shoes off to enter the main temple. Inside the temple, there was a huge statue of Ho Chi Minh. All around the sides, the walls were covered with writing. They listed the names of every single person who had died in the District. I don't remember the exact number of names, but it covered the back and both side walls, with very little space to add more. Some of the Vietnamese students who had accompanies us lit incense at the alter in the temple. Reading the names was another indefinable experience. We really got a feel for the full cost of the war on the people in the area. We made one more stop, at the cemetery where all those people are interred. This was a weird experience, because a lot of the graves aren't yet finished. It was weird seeing rows and rows of graves juxtaposed with crews of workers hauling wheelbarrows and mixing cement for even more rows of graves. The site was empty except for us and the workers, so we had free reign to walk around and look at the graves. It added to the feelings I had already gotten while looking at the names back at the temple.
After a long bus ride home, we got to relax for a few hours at the hotel. Most of us were pretty beat from the morning. A couple of us guys went out for dinner before the tailor came to measure us for suits in the evening. We went to a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel, where I got banh xeo, which are these little omelet-like pancakes with vegetable and seafood filling inside (and they were really good!)
My favorite moment of the day, and probably one of my favorite moments of the whole trip, was on the bus ride back from the tunnels. We were driving through a rural area, passing by farmers huts and rice fields, and it started to rain. Looking out the bus windows over the rice fields in a rain storm that came out of nowhere, it felt like a scene pulled out of any Vietnam War film. It's hard to imaging such terrible things happening in such a beautiful country.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Friday: Day 5
Last day of the week! We started out with breakfast, then more History and Culture class, and finally another Language class. I'm getting pretty good, if I do say so myself. We've all memorized a couple of the key phrases like "see you again" and "thank you," and we're using them all the time, even with each other. We learned the numbers today in preparation for going to the market on Monday. We'll have to use them to barter with the shop owners. This makes 5 languages that I can count to 10 in.
After lunch, we went to the US Consulate. It's basically an equivalent to the US Embassy. The real embassy is in the capital of Hanoi, and the Consulate is here in Ho Chi Minh City on the site of the old US Embassy in South Vietnam. So we got to step back on "US soil" in a way. We had to go through a bunch of security and leave all our cameras and phones at the front desk. We started out with a briefing from four different members of the State Department. They work in four of the different departments at the Consulate: economics, politics, consular assistance (which handles visas to America and helps take care of Americans abroad), and education. Each of the members gave a rundown of what they and their departments do at the Consulate, which was really interesting. Working for the State Department seems like a really cool job. The Q&A portion of the briefing turned into us asking questions about the department and how you can apply. It's definitely something that I would consider looking in to in the future. After the briefing, we took a tour of the grounds with the Consulate's resident historian. The former Embassy was the site of an insurgent attack that was part of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. The Embassy grounds were breached by a group of Viet Cong insurgents, who killed some of the MP's who were defending the building. They didn't make it into the embassy, but it showed the public that the US government was a lot more vulnerable in Vietnam than they were previously thought to be. We walked around the grounds and got to see the original flower pots that the dead Viet Cong were photographed in. It was really surreal actually seeing it because we've been shown pictures of the area before.
After the Consulate, we walked a few blocks to the same building that the Commercial Service is in. Their facilities have an American Center, where Vietnamese students can come to study, and to get advice and help applying to American schools. The staff wanted us to talk to some Vietnamese students about American schools. A whole lot of Vietnamese students showed up, and so we split up into smaller groups to talk to them. We were only supposed to stay for a half hour, but we all ended up staying an extra hour talking to them. It was a really cool experience. We started out talking about American schools, and Pitt specifically, but it quickly turned into conversations about us and our lives. We asked each other about a whole bunch of things, like what we do for fun and what life is like in our respective countries. I got my group to make me a whole list of Vietnamese food that I need to try. Getting a chance to speak to a new group of Vietnamese students was an awesome experience. Unlike the UEF students, a lot of these students were engineering students, so it was cool being able to compare our programs and see what they learn and how it differs from us. I had a whole conversation with another mechanical engineering student. In the end, we had a whole lot of new Facebook friends, and some really great conversations to remember.
Friday night, we had a Guys Night. One of our new friends, Bo, took all the guys out to a hot pot restaurant. The restaurant was the most authentic place I've ever been to. We were the only non-Vietnamese people at the place. The restaurant was basically a big room with a bunch of small tables with little chairs haphazardly placed around them. It was a goat hot pot place, and the food was incredible. We started out with an appetizer that was basically the Vietnamese equivalent to balut. Balut is a Philippine dish that I first heard about on Survivor, and its basically a half-grown boiled duck egg. We were all really excited to try it, but it turned out that it just tasted like regular boiled eggs. After that, we had goat, which was pretty good, and then they brought out the hot pot. I love trying new foods, so this was perfect for me. The hot pot was a big bowl of broth and vegetables, into which we put brain and goat meat. I've never had brain before, but it was surprisingly great. The texture was really weird, but the flavor was great. We absolutely destroyed the food, down to the broth itself. It was definitely one of the coolest eating experiences I've ever had. After dinner, we found a cool coffee shop to hang out in, before heading back to the hotel tired and full.
Our first week has been great. I'm really excited for the weekend; we're going to the Cu Chi Tunnels on Saturday, and then the beach on Sunday. Our time here has been going by so fast so far, and every experience has been great.
After lunch, we went to the US Consulate. It's basically an equivalent to the US Embassy. The real embassy is in the capital of Hanoi, and the Consulate is here in Ho Chi Minh City on the site of the old US Embassy in South Vietnam. So we got to step back on "US soil" in a way. We had to go through a bunch of security and leave all our cameras and phones at the front desk. We started out with a briefing from four different members of the State Department. They work in four of the different departments at the Consulate: economics, politics, consular assistance (which handles visas to America and helps take care of Americans abroad), and education. Each of the members gave a rundown of what they and their departments do at the Consulate, which was really interesting. Working for the State Department seems like a really cool job. The Q&A portion of the briefing turned into us asking questions about the department and how you can apply. It's definitely something that I would consider looking in to in the future. After the briefing, we took a tour of the grounds with the Consulate's resident historian. The former Embassy was the site of an insurgent attack that was part of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. The Embassy grounds were breached by a group of Viet Cong insurgents, who killed some of the MP's who were defending the building. They didn't make it into the embassy, but it showed the public that the US government was a lot more vulnerable in Vietnam than they were previously thought to be. We walked around the grounds and got to see the original flower pots that the dead Viet Cong were photographed in. It was really surreal actually seeing it because we've been shown pictures of the area before.
After the Consulate, we walked a few blocks to the same building that the Commercial Service is in. Their facilities have an American Center, where Vietnamese students can come to study, and to get advice and help applying to American schools. The staff wanted us to talk to some Vietnamese students about American schools. A whole lot of Vietnamese students showed up, and so we split up into smaller groups to talk to them. We were only supposed to stay for a half hour, but we all ended up staying an extra hour talking to them. It was a really cool experience. We started out talking about American schools, and Pitt specifically, but it quickly turned into conversations about us and our lives. We asked each other about a whole bunch of things, like what we do for fun and what life is like in our respective countries. I got my group to make me a whole list of Vietnamese food that I need to try. Getting a chance to speak to a new group of Vietnamese students was an awesome experience. Unlike the UEF students, a lot of these students were engineering students, so it was cool being able to compare our programs and see what they learn and how it differs from us. I had a whole conversation with another mechanical engineering student. In the end, we had a whole lot of new Facebook friends, and some really great conversations to remember.
Friday night, we had a Guys Night. One of our new friends, Bo, took all the guys out to a hot pot restaurant. The restaurant was the most authentic place I've ever been to. We were the only non-Vietnamese people at the place. The restaurant was basically a big room with a bunch of small tables with little chairs haphazardly placed around them. It was a goat hot pot place, and the food was incredible. We started out with an appetizer that was basically the Vietnamese equivalent to balut. Balut is a Philippine dish that I first heard about on Survivor, and its basically a half-grown boiled duck egg. We were all really excited to try it, but it turned out that it just tasted like regular boiled eggs. After that, we had goat, which was pretty good, and then they brought out the hot pot. I love trying new foods, so this was perfect for me. The hot pot was a big bowl of broth and vegetables, into which we put brain and goat meat. I've never had brain before, but it was surprisingly great. The texture was really weird, but the flavor was great. We absolutely destroyed the food, down to the broth itself. It was definitely one of the coolest eating experiences I've ever had. After dinner, we found a cool coffee shop to hang out in, before heading back to the hotel tired and full.
Our first week has been great. I'm really excited for the weekend; we're going to the Cu Chi Tunnels on Saturday, and then the beach on Sunday. Our time here has been going by so fast so far, and every experience has been great.
Thursday: Day 4
On our fourth day, we started the day a little differently. Instead of going straight to class, we went to the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a Taoist pagoda in the city. I've been to more Catholic churches than I can count, but I've never been anywhere quite like this. The entrance was a courtyard with a few different statues and shrines, and a big pool with a bunch of little turtles swimming around inside. Off to the side, there was another pool with a gigantic turtle and some fish. The entrance to the pagoda was all intricate carved wood with a ton of different figures and symbols. The inside smelled almost overpoweringly like incense because all the worshipers light it in front of the different shrines. The shrines consisted of carved panels, pictures and paintings, and these huge carved figures. I don't even know what they were depicting, but they were incredible. It all looks very old, and it was really cool to be able to see it. We got to walk around the whole inside. There were a lot of different alcoves and smaller shrines. It was a really surreal experience.
After the pagoda, we went to UEF for a class on Vietnamese History and Culture. Our teacher gave us a lot of extremely detailed information, and went on forever about everything he brought up. We're all pretty tired and some of us had a hard time staying awake, but the lecture was actually really interesting. He went through the history of Vietnam and talked about the different ethnic groups that live in the country. It was cool actually learning about the history of the country, since we've spent some time here already.
After lunch, we went to Glass Egg Digital Media. We were all pretty excited for this visit because the company does programming and design for video games. Historically, they've specialized in cars. They've done a majority of the cars for the Need for Speed and FORZA games. Lately, they've branched out into other genres. The tour was really cool. We got to walk all around their studio and see what everyone was working on. We could see all the artists and programmers making and designing cars, environments, characters, and other video game elements. The work spaces were all really cool, and it was awesome to see real game designers at work. Afterwards, we had a briefing in their conference room. We got an overview of the history of the company. They basically hire themselves out to larger game companies and do a lot of the artwork and element design for those companies without actually creating the full game itself. They're apparently pretty well known in the video game world. They work regularly with big companies like Microsoft and Sony, and they have clients all over the world. We also got to talk to some of the leaders of the company. One of the heads of the company was actually a Vietnam War refugee who fled to America when he was a child and who came back to Vietnam in the 90's and ended up helping found the company. It was interesting to hear his story because one of the Vietnamese teachers who's coordinating the trip and helping us out was from south Vietnam and her family didn't escape after the war. Hearing their two sides to the conflict was really interesting, and gave a different perspective on the war and its effects.
After Glass Egg, we spent some time relaxing in the hotel before going out for the night. We had dinner at this Korean BBQ place, which was really good. We all ordered individual kebabs; I had a coconut chicken and a lemongrass chicken kebab. After dinner, we all went out to a club that's actually co-owned by some of the higher-ups at Glass Egg. We spent a couple hours there dancing and hanging out before heading home for bed.
Today in particular was really cool. Glass Egg was definitely the best site visit yet. We had some great food, and are becoming even better friends with the Vietnamese students. Tomorrow is the last day of the week before the weekend, when we'll be able to take it a little easier and go on some interesting trips out of the city.
P.S.
Forgot to say that I actually got sick today. I guess I'm not as invincible as I thought. Pretty much everyone has been sick in some way since we've gotten here. Mine was just an upset stomach which turned into fever and some achey feelings, and luckily I was over it in the early afternoon after taking some meds. Over people having been getting it a lot worse. I didn't miss anything, though, which I'm very grateful for. Hopefully these are the last problems I'll have on this trip.
After the pagoda, we went to UEF for a class on Vietnamese History and Culture. Our teacher gave us a lot of extremely detailed information, and went on forever about everything he brought up. We're all pretty tired and some of us had a hard time staying awake, but the lecture was actually really interesting. He went through the history of Vietnam and talked about the different ethnic groups that live in the country. It was cool actually learning about the history of the country, since we've spent some time here already.
After lunch, we went to Glass Egg Digital Media. We were all pretty excited for this visit because the company does programming and design for video games. Historically, they've specialized in cars. They've done a majority of the cars for the Need for Speed and FORZA games. Lately, they've branched out into other genres. The tour was really cool. We got to walk all around their studio and see what everyone was working on. We could see all the artists and programmers making and designing cars, environments, characters, and other video game elements. The work spaces were all really cool, and it was awesome to see real game designers at work. Afterwards, we had a briefing in their conference room. We got an overview of the history of the company. They basically hire themselves out to larger game companies and do a lot of the artwork and element design for those companies without actually creating the full game itself. They're apparently pretty well known in the video game world. They work regularly with big companies like Microsoft and Sony, and they have clients all over the world. We also got to talk to some of the leaders of the company. One of the heads of the company was actually a Vietnam War refugee who fled to America when he was a child and who came back to Vietnam in the 90's and ended up helping found the company. It was interesting to hear his story because one of the Vietnamese teachers who's coordinating the trip and helping us out was from south Vietnam and her family didn't escape after the war. Hearing their two sides to the conflict was really interesting, and gave a different perspective on the war and its effects.
After Glass Egg, we spent some time relaxing in the hotel before going out for the night. We had dinner at this Korean BBQ place, which was really good. We all ordered individual kebabs; I had a coconut chicken and a lemongrass chicken kebab. After dinner, we all went out to a club that's actually co-owned by some of the higher-ups at Glass Egg. We spent a couple hours there dancing and hanging out before heading home for bed.
Today in particular was really cool. Glass Egg was definitely the best site visit yet. We had some great food, and are becoming even better friends with the Vietnamese students. Tomorrow is the last day of the week before the weekend, when we'll be able to take it a little easier and go on some interesting trips out of the city.
P.S.
Forgot to say that I actually got sick today. I guess I'm not as invincible as I thought. Pretty much everyone has been sick in some way since we've gotten here. Mine was just an upset stomach which turned into fever and some achey feelings, and luckily I was over it in the early afternoon after taking some meds. Over people having been getting it a lot worse. I didn't miss anything, though, which I'm very grateful for. Hopefully these are the last problems I'll have on this trip.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Wednesday: Day 3
Our third day in Vietnam! After breakfast, we started out the morning with another guest lecturer, this time on Rural Development in the Mekong River Delta. This one was really interesting. The professor grew up in the region, so he was an expert on the area. We learned all about the economy of the area, who lives there, and what their lives are like. I follow a lot of National Geographic photographers on Instagram, and lately some of them have been posting a lot of pictures of the Mekong River Delta, so it was particularly interesting for me to learn about the area. Climate change is a huge threat in the region since most of the area will be covered with water of ocean levels rise considerably. It was interesting to learn about that aspect, since it deals with issues that have a direct effect on my life, too. After the lecture, we had a short break, and then another language class. We're quickly becoming friends with the Vietnamese students through the classes. It really is a big help to have them there with us to help us with our pronunciations, and to help us practice the phrases. They're all so nice.
Since we're three days in already, apparently it's time for people to start getting sick. A bunch of us have been having small problems adjusting to the food and the climate, and it's affecting some people more than others. Some people didn't even make it to class this morning, and had to stay at the hotel. A couple more people left throughout the day, so by mid-afternoon, we had decidedly less than the whole group present.
Lunch was great as usual, and then we were off to the US Commercial Service. We didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to actually be pretty cool. The department is basically an offshoot of the US Consulate, which is located in the city. It was located in the Diamond Square Plaza, a big skyscraper in the middle of the city. We had to go through security to get in and everything. We had a briefing from the Principal Commercial Officer, Patrick Wall. Not that many people are aware of what the Commercial Service does (I had no idea they even existed before today), but their jobs sound really cool. They basically facilitate business between the US and whatever country they're in. They hire themselves out to companies for a small fee, and in return they help gauge the market interest for that company in the country, help them deal with any political or legal hurdles, and hook them up with contacts and potential partners in country. Our briefing was fascinating: Mr. Wall had a bunch of great stories about instances over the years where his department was integral in closing some big deals for some major US companies.
After the briefing, we had time to relax before we went out for the night. One of our new friends, Kate, who is the president of the English Club at UEF, took us out for dinner. At this point, we only had 14 of the 20 students who weren't either too sick or too tired to tag along, but we made do. We went out to this restaurant, and there just happened to be a cat chilling on the top floor where we were sitting. We basically spent the whole meal playing with the cat. After dinner, we taxi'd over to a bakery and got these things that I think were called Singapore cakes, which were basically creme puffs with different toppings. So good! We brought them to this awesome coffeehouse to eat. It was in this alley close to these train tracks, but inside there was a small, misty pond, and a bunch of people just drinking coffee and hanging out. It was definitely worth the drive over.
I can't believe we're almost half a week through the trip. We've already done so much! Tomorrow, we're going to Glass Egg, which will be very cool. Until then.
Since we're three days in already, apparently it's time for people to start getting sick. A bunch of us have been having small problems adjusting to the food and the climate, and it's affecting some people more than others. Some people didn't even make it to class this morning, and had to stay at the hotel. A couple more people left throughout the day, so by mid-afternoon, we had decidedly less than the whole group present.
Lunch was great as usual, and then we were off to the US Commercial Service. We didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to actually be pretty cool. The department is basically an offshoot of the US Consulate, which is located in the city. It was located in the Diamond Square Plaza, a big skyscraper in the middle of the city. We had to go through security to get in and everything. We had a briefing from the Principal Commercial Officer, Patrick Wall. Not that many people are aware of what the Commercial Service does (I had no idea they even existed before today), but their jobs sound really cool. They basically facilitate business between the US and whatever country they're in. They hire themselves out to companies for a small fee, and in return they help gauge the market interest for that company in the country, help them deal with any political or legal hurdles, and hook them up with contacts and potential partners in country. Our briefing was fascinating: Mr. Wall had a bunch of great stories about instances over the years where his department was integral in closing some big deals for some major US companies.
After the briefing, we had time to relax before we went out for the night. One of our new friends, Kate, who is the president of the English Club at UEF, took us out for dinner. At this point, we only had 14 of the 20 students who weren't either too sick or too tired to tag along, but we made do. We went out to this restaurant, and there just happened to be a cat chilling on the top floor where we were sitting. We basically spent the whole meal playing with the cat. After dinner, we taxi'd over to a bakery and got these things that I think were called Singapore cakes, which were basically creme puffs with different toppings. So good! We brought them to this awesome coffeehouse to eat. It was in this alley close to these train tracks, but inside there was a small, misty pond, and a bunch of people just drinking coffee and hanging out. It was definitely worth the drive over.
I can't believe we're almost half a week through the trip. We've already done so much! Tomorrow, we're going to Glass Egg, which will be very cool. Until then.
Tuesday: Day 2
On Tuesday, our second day, I woke up really early for some reason. Breakfast was amazing again. It doesn't change that much, but the food is still great so it's not an issue. We bused over to UEF, where we started the day off with a lecture on Urban Development in Saigon. The Vietnamese professor who gave the lecture basically read off slides for the majority of the lecture, and we have all the slides printed out in a booklet, but the Q&A at the end was interesting. It's really cool to learn a bit about the development in the area and get a different perspective from home. So far, I've seen more construction in this city than I've ever seen in any other cities around the world, so it was really cool to learn a bit about that development and its effects.
After the lecture, we had a little downtime, so a bunch of us went down the street to a coffee shop and got ca phe sua da ("iced coffee" in Vietnamese). I have a feeling we'll be drinking a ton of it over the next couple weeks. We then went back to the school for another language class. We're slowly learning how to say all the basic phrases, like "nice to meet you," and how to give basic information like where we go to school. Ironically, there are a few key things they haven't taught us, though, like how to say "yes" and "no". Our teacher is adorable, and she's really good about making sure we can all pronounce everything and we're getting all the tones right.
Our lunch was amazing as usual. They bring us a bunch of fruit after the main food, and its some of the best fruit I've ever had. The mango is absolutely amazing!
After lunch, we had our first site visit. We drove across town to Phu My Hung, a new residential and business development area. Our visit was with the company that manages the development. Basically, the area was once a jungle, but the original CEO of the company envisioned a modern area where people could live and work, and managed to raise the money to begin developing the area. The briefing was really cool. They gave us a couple presentations about the history of the area and the work thats currently going on. The company basically does things like building the infrastructure of the community, and they manage who builds in the area and what businesses move in. Its an entirely planned community, with apartment complexes, commercial businesses, presentation halls, parks, and recreational areas. They're not finished with all the building yet, but the stuff they have is really cool. After the presentations, we all got back on the bus and one of the representatives of the company gave us a tour of the area. They have a bunch of different schools, many of them international schools. It actually seems like a really cool place to live.
Tuesday night, we had our first real taste of Vietnamese street food! A bunch of the UEF students took all of us out for the night. We started out at a pho place. I've had pho before back in the US, but this was amazing. We went to a small local pho shop, and it was incredible. I destroyed mine. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), the UEF students decided that the massive bowls of pho weren't enough food for the night. We went to a square in front of the local cathedral, and they sat us down on newspaper and brought us a whole bunch of different street foods. There were big containers of tofu and meats, some sort of sauteed corn salad, crispy rice paper tacos with meat and spicy sauce inside, and bags of rice noodle salad. It was probably the most amazing spread of food ever, but we were all so full from the pho that we could barely eat any of it! We tried it all, though, and it was worth it.
After eating, we walked down to the main street in the center of the city. That part of the city is the really touristy and nice area, with all the nice restaurants and fancy hotels. It was really cool to see the "downtown" area of the city. From some street vendors, we bought a bunch of these light-up helicopter spinners that you launch into the air with rubber bands. I've seen them all over Europe, and it was cool to get some here, too. They were my dad's favorite, so I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to hear that I got more.
In all, it was a great day. We learned more Vietnamese, had our first site visit, and got to hang out with the Vietnamese students. I can't wait for tomorrow.
After the lecture, we had a little downtime, so a bunch of us went down the street to a coffee shop and got ca phe sua da ("iced coffee" in Vietnamese). I have a feeling we'll be drinking a ton of it over the next couple weeks. We then went back to the school for another language class. We're slowly learning how to say all the basic phrases, like "nice to meet you," and how to give basic information like where we go to school. Ironically, there are a few key things they haven't taught us, though, like how to say "yes" and "no". Our teacher is adorable, and she's really good about making sure we can all pronounce everything and we're getting all the tones right.
Our lunch was amazing as usual. They bring us a bunch of fruit after the main food, and its some of the best fruit I've ever had. The mango is absolutely amazing!
After lunch, we had our first site visit. We drove across town to Phu My Hung, a new residential and business development area. Our visit was with the company that manages the development. Basically, the area was once a jungle, but the original CEO of the company envisioned a modern area where people could live and work, and managed to raise the money to begin developing the area. The briefing was really cool. They gave us a couple presentations about the history of the area and the work thats currently going on. The company basically does things like building the infrastructure of the community, and they manage who builds in the area and what businesses move in. Its an entirely planned community, with apartment complexes, commercial businesses, presentation halls, parks, and recreational areas. They're not finished with all the building yet, but the stuff they have is really cool. After the presentations, we all got back on the bus and one of the representatives of the company gave us a tour of the area. They have a bunch of different schools, many of them international schools. It actually seems like a really cool place to live.
Tuesday night, we had our first real taste of Vietnamese street food! A bunch of the UEF students took all of us out for the night. We started out at a pho place. I've had pho before back in the US, but this was amazing. We went to a small local pho shop, and it was incredible. I destroyed mine. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), the UEF students decided that the massive bowls of pho weren't enough food for the night. We went to a square in front of the local cathedral, and they sat us down on newspaper and brought us a whole bunch of different street foods. There were big containers of tofu and meats, some sort of sauteed corn salad, crispy rice paper tacos with meat and spicy sauce inside, and bags of rice noodle salad. It was probably the most amazing spread of food ever, but we were all so full from the pho that we could barely eat any of it! We tried it all, though, and it was worth it.
After eating, we walked down to the main street in the center of the city. That part of the city is the really touristy and nice area, with all the nice restaurants and fancy hotels. It was really cool to see the "downtown" area of the city. From some street vendors, we bought a bunch of these light-up helicopter spinners that you launch into the air with rubber bands. I've seen them all over Europe, and it was cool to get some here, too. They were my dad's favorite, so I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to hear that I got more.
In all, it was a great day. We learned more Vietnamese, had our first site visit, and got to hang out with the Vietnamese students. I can't wait for tomorrow.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Monday: Day 1
Today (Monday) is our first official day in Vietnam. We got up nice and early today and had breakfast at the hotel. The breakfasts are absolutely amazing! They have a huge buffet of food, and it's all traditional Vietnamese food. The only semi-American looking food they have is a big plate of bacon. They have noodles and dumplings and big dishes of fruit. They even have a whole pho station for breakfast. They also have coffee, which is amazing. You put condensed milk in it, and it's the best thing you'll ever drink. After eating, we met up in the lobby, where we all got red polos with the logo of our partner school, UEF (University of Economics and Finance), to wear. At the school, the students and faculty had a huge welcome planned. We all got flower wreaths as we got off the bus (like you would expect in Hawaii), and they took us to the top floor of the school for the welcome ceremony. A student group put on a couple different traditional dance performances; there were speeches from representatives of their school, our school, and the Ministry of Education; and they played a short video of highlights from the past years of the program. We also met the Vietnamese students for the first time. They're all very friendly. I can't even count the number of pictures they took with us. We'll be spending a lot of time with the students: they sit through our classes with us, and some of them will take us out at night and show us around. A lot of them already wanted to friend us on Facebook. They all seem really excited for us to be there, almost as excited as we are.
After the ceremony, we went down a couple floors to a classroom where we had our first Vietnamese language class. We sat at tables with the Vietnamese students, and they helped us throughout the class. It was the first day, so we started with the basics: learning how to pronounce the Vietnamese alphabet, learning the accents and tones, and learning to to say "hello" and "my name is . . .". It was actually a lot of fun. The tones are hard because we don't have anything like them in English, but it isn't too bad once you learn. After class, we went to lunch at a different school. It was a whole family-style spread, with big bowls of rice, chicken, beef, and pork, vegetable soup, and salad. It was incredible. From what I've seen so far, all the food here is amazing. After lunch, we had roughly an hour and a half to hang out before our next appointment. The girls went off to get measured for traditional Vietnamese dresses, and the guys had to hang out and amuse ourselves.
After that, we went to HUTech (Ho Chi Minh University of Technology), which is under the same umbrella of private universities as UEF, but it actually has technology programs like engineering. We watched a short video about the school, and then we split into a business and engineering group and they talked to us about their programs in our fields. The guy that talked to us was really cool. He was a 45 year old Vietnamese man who had studied in Moscow and taught in the US, and spent most of the time talking to us about how we should gain experiences and always be learning and broaden our perspectives. He also talked about the engineering program, which was cool, but mostly he just gave us interesting life advise. We all loved it.
After HUTech, we went back to the hotel for an hour, and then walked to dinner. We went to this really nice restaurant that had basically taken a bunch of street vendors and put them under one roof, so they had really authentic and great street food but with higher standards for cleanliness. We were able to walk around and watch the cooks making the food, and then we ate. They had crab and quail egg soup, shrimp and vegetable spring rolls, giant prawns, fried spring rolls with crab and pork, beef and vegetables on rice cakes, crab noodles, and even more. For dessert, we had this coconut drink that had a bunch of stuff in it, sort of like bubble tea. It was really similar to Thai desserts that I've had before. At this point, we were all exhausted, and we barely made it back to the hotel before passing out for the night.
It's only been one day so far, but I can tell that our trip is going to be amazing. Everything we've seen, heard, eaten, and experienced has been nothing like I've ever dealt with before, and I'm absolutely loving it. Based on the first day, I can already tell that I made a great decision coming to this country.
After the ceremony, we went down a couple floors to a classroom where we had our first Vietnamese language class. We sat at tables with the Vietnamese students, and they helped us throughout the class. It was the first day, so we started with the basics: learning how to pronounce the Vietnamese alphabet, learning the accents and tones, and learning to to say "hello" and "my name is . . .". It was actually a lot of fun. The tones are hard because we don't have anything like them in English, but it isn't too bad once you learn. After class, we went to lunch at a different school. It was a whole family-style spread, with big bowls of rice, chicken, beef, and pork, vegetable soup, and salad. It was incredible. From what I've seen so far, all the food here is amazing. After lunch, we had roughly an hour and a half to hang out before our next appointment. The girls went off to get measured for traditional Vietnamese dresses, and the guys had to hang out and amuse ourselves.
After that, we went to HUTech (Ho Chi Minh University of Technology), which is under the same umbrella of private universities as UEF, but it actually has technology programs like engineering. We watched a short video about the school, and then we split into a business and engineering group and they talked to us about their programs in our fields. The guy that talked to us was really cool. He was a 45 year old Vietnamese man who had studied in Moscow and taught in the US, and spent most of the time talking to us about how we should gain experiences and always be learning and broaden our perspectives. He also talked about the engineering program, which was cool, but mostly he just gave us interesting life advise. We all loved it.
After HUTech, we went back to the hotel for an hour, and then walked to dinner. We went to this really nice restaurant that had basically taken a bunch of street vendors and put them under one roof, so they had really authentic and great street food but with higher standards for cleanliness. We were able to walk around and watch the cooks making the food, and then we ate. They had crab and quail egg soup, shrimp and vegetable spring rolls, giant prawns, fried spring rolls with crab and pork, beef and vegetables on rice cakes, crab noodles, and even more. For dessert, we had this coconut drink that had a bunch of stuff in it, sort of like bubble tea. It was really similar to Thai desserts that I've had before. At this point, we were all exhausted, and we barely made it back to the hotel before passing out for the night.
It's only been one day so far, but I can tell that our trip is going to be amazing. Everything we've seen, heard, eaten, and experienced has been nothing like I've ever dealt with before, and I'm absolutely loving it. Based on the first day, I can already tell that I made a great decision coming to this country.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Travel Days
We made it to Vietnam! The trip was the most brutal that I've ever had to endure, but it also wasn't as bad as I expected. After spending my last night in the US in Tower C, we got up nice and early for our flight on Saturday morning. Pittsburgh airport was one of the smallest airports I've ever been to, but it wasn't at all crowded which was great. After a short flight to Chicago (I slept the whole way) and an even shorter layover, we finally officially left America. Our flight took us north from Chicago, up through Canada, down over Russia and China, before finally landing in Hong Kong 16 hours later. That would've been the worst part of the trip, but I ended up sleeping for roughly 70% of the flight. In Hong Kong, we had a longer layover, so we had a chance to explore the airport. We went to this really cool Chinese snack food shop. They had a whole bunch of candies and desserts, along with other snacks like dried cuttlefish and beef cubes. We also had dinner in the airport, which was really good. I had stir fried flat noodles with beef. From Hong Kong, we had one more flight to Ho Chi Minh City, and then we were finally in Vietnam! Customs and immigration were super easy to get through, and luckily all our luggage showed up with no problems. At this point, none of us had any real perception of what time it was, since we were all so messed up from the flights, but it was around 12:30am (11 hrs difference from back home). We took a big bus from the airport to the hotel, which is actually pretty nice. They have a pool and a restaurant attached, and the lobby smells like cinnamon.
We're all very excited to be here. From what we've seen so far the country is amazing, and I can't wait to explore the city. The food in particular is going to be great. I'm almost too excited to fall asleep, except I'm completely exhausted despite sleeping for the majority of the past 48 hours. Tomorrow begins Day 1, and I couldn't be more excited.
We're all very excited to be here. From what we've seen so far the country is amazing, and I can't wait to explore the city. The food in particular is going to be great. I'm almost too excited to fall asleep, except I'm completely exhausted despite sleeping for the majority of the past 48 hours. Tomorrow begins Day 1, and I couldn't be more excited.
Welcome!
This is my first official post to this blog. As you might know from the title, this blog chronicles my trip to Vietnam, summer 2015, with the Plus 3 Program at the University of Pittsburgh. As I'm writing this, we've been in the country for almost two whole days now, and it's been absolutely amazing. I wrote a few blog posts over the past few days, but I never had a chance to actually post them, so I'm going to post them now and we can all just pretend that they were posted earlier. After this, I'll try to post updates every day. Regardless, it's been great so far, and I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I'll enjoy sharing it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)