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.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
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!
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