Day 5
Today we went to classes in the morning again. The language class is getting better as I am picking up more and more key words and phrases. I can easily introduce myself and talk about what I do and where I live. After class we went to visit an engineering firm called Ascenx. This site visit was interesting because the guy leading it didnt only focus on the business and engineering aspects. Instead, he told us his background which was very fascinating. He is a Vietnamese man who fled the country after the war with his uncle and aunt. His story was so different and exciting. He was a really nice guy and he bought us all coffee after his presentation. That night, we went to a house and had a traditional home cooked Vietnamese meal. This meal was very good even though I dont enjoy fish so I didnt try everything. The family was large, three generations lived in the same house. Also, the family owned a restaurant that was connected to their house and was right on the river. They gave us this home made banana wine. It was really strong but quite good.
Day 6
That day was Saturday. We took a long trip to the Mekong Delta. The bus trip there was about 3 hours long and we made a few stops along the way. We stopped at a grave yard which was very interesting and at a local church of a religion i had never heard of. This religion combines all other religions like Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity. The temple was amazing and like nothing i had ever seen before. When we arrived to the delta we got on a boat and headed to an island. At the island we saw a tradtional style house and got a tour of the grounds. Then we went to a "factory" that made coconut candy. This "factory" consisted of abour 4 people and their little children who blend, cut, package, and distribute the candy by themselves. While there, a monsoon hit the area and actually blew part of the roof off. I thought this event was really cool yet frightening at the time. We went to eat when the monsoon cleared and we had fried fish. On the way back, we hit bad traffic and arrived 2 hours past schedule. Our Vietnamese friends then took us out to a night club.
Day 7
We had a cooking class this day in the morning. First we went to the market to buy the ingredients and then began the cooking process. We learned to make spring rolls, rice, and fish. The food was very good and making it was pretty easy. After the cooking class we got to go to Dem San water park with about 25-30 orphans. This was cool i liked spending time with the kids and showing them a fun time. It was a great water park eventhough 2 of the slides almost kill you when you go down them. The kids seemed to have a great time and i was glad that i could be there. That night we went to eat at the MTV cafe. Although the food was delicious, the service was horrible. It took them 3 hours to completely finish our meal. Not to mention we ordered hot dogs and 40 minutes after our order had been placed we were told that they didnt have them. What were they doing for 40 minutes? After that we got some of the best ice cream we have found here in Vietnam.
Day 8
In the morning we had classes again which were just about the same as usual. We learned more culture and more language. Afterwards we went to a real estate firm CB Richard Ellis. The woman who gave us the presentation was for lack of a better word long winded. She had a lot to say and was very enthusiastic. It was nice because she gave us the lowdown on the city. That night we went to eat at Thai Express. This was a great restaurant. The honey chicken was reallygood. We took motorbikes to get back to the Hotel. At 8 we all met up at the Rex Hotel, even Berman and Krysta. It was fun to get the whole group together for some drinks and entertainment. I got to buy Berman a beer which was nice because he is a really respectable man. After the Rex we headed to a club called Apocolypse Now. It was a fun night.
Day 9
The day started with the typical classes, same old same old. Then we ate lunch at the school as usual and went to visit the manager of the foreign commercial services in Vietnam. He was cool but very intense. He helps bring American businesses to Vietnam and he helps facilitate their entry. Also, he is incharge of helping U. S. businesses get the projects they bid on in Vietnam. That night we all went to dinner at the Hollywood Cafe. This was cool because the owner was only a few years older than me and he was born in the U.S. He was really cool and he taught us a few things about opening a business in Asia. We got to eat more or less American food while watching Charlies Angels. France, the owner, told us about a club that played hip hop so we decided to check it out. Although the club was cool we were the only people there. So we left to go to another club called Lush.
Day 10
Yesterday we had went to the school again. We took our normal classes then ate lunch. After lunch we had a party with the schools english club. This was an interesting event because we played games and danced. All in all it was a good time. After that we went to play soccer against a few kids. When we got there we knew we were in trouble. They were much better than most of us. After we were down 3-0 we recruited Co Dao. She plays for Vietnam's national womens soccer team. She was erally good and helped us come back and tie the game at 5 all. It felt good to atleast come back and not be totally embarrassed. After the game we went to eat at an American style restaurant where i could finally get a real hamburger. My burger was delicious and it was a nice change from Vietnamese food. After that we were all so worn out that we played cards in my room and just went to bed.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
past week
I have now spent a full week in Viet Nam. Here is a break down of what I have experienced this week and some of the things I have learned.
Day 2
The high point of this day was after our classes in the morning. We over filled the elevator with 11 people and when the door opened to let us out at the first floor, something snapped and the next thing I know we are free falling into the basement. Although this was very frightening, it was a good learning experience. I learned that we are in fact much larger than the average Vietnamese person and also that reading and obeying all posted warnings is a good idea. After that, we went to Glass Egg Digital Media. This company was very interesting to me because they designed video games. They were currently working on a racing game and it was incredible how talented their staff was. This was a good site visit to start the trip because it set the bar high and got all of us very excited to go on the others. That night we went to a local night club here in HCMC called Lush. It was really fun and pretty westernized so our group was very excited.
Day 3
On day 3 we had our culture and language classes as usual in the morning and then we went to the corporation called Phu My Hung. This site visit was really cool because this company was in charge of developing south Saigon. Their design was incredible. The layout of the proposed new city center was very modernized and very beautiful. That night, we went as a group to the Rex Hotel. After the Rex I convinced a few of the group members to come with me to the BB club. We stayed there for a little while but ended up leaving. Then, on the way home from the club i was invited by a Vietnamese man to join him and his 2 friends at their table on the street for drinks. My other group members left because they wanted to sleep but I am very glad I stayed and could have such an authentic experience with natives here. They were very welcoming and helpful. They helped me with my Vietnamese language skills, especially my pronounciation.
Day 4
This day was different because we didnt have our normal classes in the morning. Instead we went to a high school for gifted students. This was really cool because the students were very friendly and much different from what i was used to. After the high school we went to a site visit with a law firm. This site visit nice because the man running it was very knowledgable. This was a very hard day for me because I became quite dehydrated. I have realized that the weather here is much different than what I am used to. I have been uncomfortably hot ever since we arrived but it never affected me that badly before. After the site visit i took a long nap and then woke up to go shopping with some of our friends here. We have befriended a few Vietnamese students named Khoa and Chi. They took us to the local market place where we could buy many types of goods. It was a definite advatange to shop with them because they knew how to bargain. They got us all great deals on everything we bought. After that, a few of us went to this Hotel called the Majestic. When we arrived it was closed so we looked for somewhere else to go. We went to a club but it was too expensive and loud. We then continued down the street and saw a place with very cheap drinks so we proceeded inside. The minute the door opened i got a bad feeling about the place. There were only women inside and they were all dressed provocatively. Upon our entrance they all stood up and began to look at us. We realized that we were obviously at a brothel so we quickly ran back out the door. To finish the evening we got little kiddy chairs and sat outside a local store to drink. This sounds strange but the Vietnamese do this just about all day long. Its not strange at all here and we refer to it as doing work because thats all we see people doing.
Day 2
The high point of this day was after our classes in the morning. We over filled the elevator with 11 people and when the door opened to let us out at the first floor, something snapped and the next thing I know we are free falling into the basement. Although this was very frightening, it was a good learning experience. I learned that we are in fact much larger than the average Vietnamese person and also that reading and obeying all posted warnings is a good idea. After that, we went to Glass Egg Digital Media. This company was very interesting to me because they designed video games. They were currently working on a racing game and it was incredible how talented their staff was. This was a good site visit to start the trip because it set the bar high and got all of us very excited to go on the others. That night we went to a local night club here in HCMC called Lush. It was really fun and pretty westernized so our group was very excited.
Day 3
On day 3 we had our culture and language classes as usual in the morning and then we went to the corporation called Phu My Hung. This site visit was really cool because this company was in charge of developing south Saigon. Their design was incredible. The layout of the proposed new city center was very modernized and very beautiful. That night, we went as a group to the Rex Hotel. After the Rex I convinced a few of the group members to come with me to the BB club. We stayed there for a little while but ended up leaving. Then, on the way home from the club i was invited by a Vietnamese man to join him and his 2 friends at their table on the street for drinks. My other group members left because they wanted to sleep but I am very glad I stayed and could have such an authentic experience with natives here. They were very welcoming and helpful. They helped me with my Vietnamese language skills, especially my pronounciation.
Day 4
This day was different because we didnt have our normal classes in the morning. Instead we went to a high school for gifted students. This was really cool because the students were very friendly and much different from what i was used to. After the high school we went to a site visit with a law firm. This site visit nice because the man running it was very knowledgable. This was a very hard day for me because I became quite dehydrated. I have realized that the weather here is much different than what I am used to. I have been uncomfortably hot ever since we arrived but it never affected me that badly before. After the site visit i took a long nap and then woke up to go shopping with some of our friends here. We have befriended a few Vietnamese students named Khoa and Chi. They took us to the local market place where we could buy many types of goods. It was a definite advatange to shop with them because they knew how to bargain. They got us all great deals on everything we bought. After that, a few of us went to this Hotel called the Majestic. When we arrived it was closed so we looked for somewhere else to go. We went to a club but it was too expensive and loud. We then continued down the street and saw a place with very cheap drinks so we proceeded inside. The minute the door opened i got a bad feeling about the place. There were only women inside and they were all dressed provocatively. Upon our entrance they all stood up and began to look at us. We realized that we were obviously at a brothel so we quickly ran back out the door. To finish the evening we got little kiddy chairs and sat outside a local store to drink. This sounds strange but the Vietnamese do this just about all day long. Its not strange at all here and we refer to it as doing work because thats all we see people doing.
Monday, May 4, 2009
first day
Yesterday was our first day in Ho Chi Minh City. We went to the University of Economics and Finance and met with Vietnamese students there. It was very interesting to meet them and interact with them. While there, we started a Vietnamese language course which is not very easy. After that we went site seeing around the city. We saw the post office, the cathedral and many other locations. Then, we went to the United States Consulate here in the city. There we learned what the Consulate does and how it all works. We were given a history of the Consulate and a tour of the grounds. Later that night we ate dinner at a nice restaurant. We were served 5 courses of traditional Vietnamese food. The dinner was delicious and we all had fun. After dinner I went to the Rex Hotel with a few other members of the group. There we heard live bands play while we sat in their rooftop bar. The view from the top was incredible and the people were interesting to meet. I ended up meeting some people from Australia and a man from France. It was obvious to see the many differences between here and America. Here, traffic is very unregulated and quite dangerous. Although if you just walk out in the street most motorists will simply honk their horns and go around you. this was a major culture shock when I was nearly hit by a man on a motor scooter. Today we will be going to more classes and then a site visit. I will post more later after the day.
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