Culture, Quiz, and the War

We had a historical day here in HCMC, but I'll get to that shortly. The morning started off fairly normal; I had some toast for breakfast (really liking the pineapple and orange jams). We went to UEF for our LAST culture class and language class which is really sad. The presenter today was Nguyen Ngoc Tho, Ph.D., Vice Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. His focus was on the cognitive culture of the Vietnamese people and different beliefs they have had historically. He covered Yin and Yang and the dualism in life. This also leads to the three powers (the sun/sky, humans, and the earth) and the five elements (earth, fire, water, tree, and metal, each of which has a corresponding color). He shared several traditional stories, several of which included divorce and a woman with two men. He also talked about fertility and its hidden presence in art and sculpture, needless to say he got a lot of laughs. After class, we headed out for ca phe sua da, which was delicious as always. We went back to the classroom for our final language class: the test. We broke into teams and each person had to complete a different language task. We had to translate in both directions, read a conversation, and give a full spiel about ourselves. We didn't keep score... but my team definitely won. We took a bunch of pictures and said "chao co" to the teacher. We had lunch at Kent, delicious as usual, and took our three part trip on the Vietnam War. We started with the Xa Loi Pagoda. I have seen many beautiful catholic churches, but this Buddhist Temple was very different in style, inside and out. The pagoda was also a stronghold for the southern Vietnamese people who opposed the corrupt government put in place after the Geneva Accords. Thich Quang Duc was a Buddhist monk from this Pagoda and strongly opposed Ngo Dinh Diem and the South Vietnamese government. To show the world the pain their people were going through, he led a procession of monks to a street corner several blocks away. He poured gasoline over his body and lit himself on fire. He remained perfectly still through the burning, and the self mutilation was his final sacrifice for his people. We followed his footsteps from the Xa Loi Pagoda to the street corner where there is now a memorial in his honor. A large statue of him surrounded by flames is on the corner, along with a wall displaying that day. It's amazing to consider his great sacrifice by giving up his life in protest, and the will that some have to push for what they believe in. We continued walking and went to the War Remnants Museum; I should mention it was originally called the Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes. Outside are several US Army and Air Force tanks and aircraft that were captured by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. We went inside to see three stories exhibiting violent acts from the US during the war, including bombings, Agent Orange, and the treatment of women and children. It was a very difficult museum to walk through and I fully understand why Dr. Berman doesn't go inside. The only comparison I could make would be to the Holocaust Museum from the former-Nazi prospective; it isn't a good feeling. Although, this museum only represents one side of the war. I know a lot happened on both sides. Moving on... We went back to the hotel where I finally took to time to catch up on my blog. I think I got most parts with the help of a few other blogs. We split up in a few groups for dinner. I went with a group for Vietnamese and I got some delicious shrimp wontons (although they were very slippery and difficult to grab with the chopsticks). We headed back to the hotel were I blogged a bit more and then participated in an intervention for one of the girls on the trip (don't worry, we got it covered). We then found a place to take some UEF students to give back to them for everything they've given us. It's been a very full day, and I definitely got a lot out of it. Tomorrow is my last day! It's sad and happy, but I'll talk more about that tomorrow. I'm just going to make the most out of the time we have left. Until then...

New World and Newport

We got to sleep in! I slept in enough to miss breakfast, so a Top'n Top (chocolate muffin thing) held me over until lunch. We hopped on the bus and arrived at a luxurious five-star hotel, the New World Saigon. This was quite a step-up from our Victory Hotel, but at two or three times the cost, I could see why. We sat in their main dining area and took a simple cooking class on how to make fresh and fried spring rolls. This was a lot of fun and was even better when we got to eat our "creations." We then enjoyed an incredible lunch from their buffet. Ngon qua! (So good!) We had fish, ham, sushi (this was actually my first), fruit, and a huge array of other food. There was also a huge desert selection with some hand made ice cream. Everything we've tried on this trip has been amazing, but this was a different kind of good. From there, we headed back to the hotel and changed for our last company visit to Saigon Newport Corporation (SNP). This was an interesting visit for myself specifically as it is a shipping company that is run by the Vietnamese People's Navy. I still don't understand the combination of commercial and military for this company, but I tried my best. Pham Thi Thuy Van, the Vice Director of the Marketing Department, talked to us about the company and how it functions as a port and offers shipping services to companies around Vietnam. The company has also recently allowed her to enter their navy (her rank was lost in translation, but after some quick research, I believe she's now an O-2). She still works for SNP, but is an officer in the Navy... like I said, I really don't know how it works. We went up to the control room for a great view of the dock, and then drove around to see thousands of shipping containers and several barges being loaded. This was a nice visit, and I'm glad we got a see the dock. We went back to the hotel and then quickly headed back out to the Ben Tanh Market where I finished up my shopping. After shops started closing, we went to the hotel and a group of us went for a swim. This was cut short by Dr. Berman telling us our suits were about to arrive from the tailor. We went down to the lobby, and after a few minutes, they were here. I tried mine on and it felt amazing! I'd never worn any kind of clothing that fit that perfectly. We went back down for the tailor to check the fit, and everyone was looking sharp. We changed out of the suits and a group of us went out for Dairy Queen; that really hit the spot on the hot night. This was another great day, though I'm realizing things are starting to come to a close. I'm going to make the most of my last couple days!

Industry

Sorry I've been seriously slacking on my blog! The UEF students have been keeping us up late and I keep falling asleep too quickly, so here's catching up. Also, sorry in advance that I may miss a few specifics...

This morning was an early start to make the drive out of the city to Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Binh Duong. VSIP is a large "one stop shop" industrial park that includes power, water, sewage, customs, and other amenities for operations in the park. Companies can choose to move into pre-built factories or buy land and build their own facilities. A variety of Vietnamese and foreign companies have factories in the park,E including Siemens, Nokia, P&G, Nissin Foods, and Foster. We also had a briefing from a Chief Engineer, David Baker, from II-VI (one of the companies in VSIP), a precision engineering company that is based in Saxonburg, PA. II-VI focuses in three main sectors: laser solutions, photonics, and performance products. The briefing also included information about the global expansion of the company and the benefits and challenges that come with growth. The company entered Asia to be price competitive with their products by using cheaper labor. We toured two II-VI facilities; one facility manufactured optics for medical instruments and laser application, and the other factory built electric thermoelectric coolers for aircraft, power generation, and telecommunication. It was interesting to see the processes of fabrication and how they utilize labor skills in Vietnam. Mr. Baker also informed us of the original difficulties with employee turn-over at the factory. It is common practice for people to work for several months leading up to Tet holiday, receive their bonus, stay at home until they run out of money, and then look for a new job. II-VI has developed strategies to prevent this from happening and has lowered the turn-over rate to less than one percent. Our visit to VSIP included a large rainstorm; the sky went from clear to pouring and flooding the streets within minutes. The storm settled down as we were leaving and we went to lunch at a restaurant nearby. The chef was actually from Hong Kong so the food was closer to Chinese, including sesame and orange chicken. We drove back into the city and to the hotel to wrap up our day. I went up to the pool for a quick dip and then went out with the group. Mr. Baker recommended an Australian sports bar that his son runs, so of course we had to check it out. I had a great milkshake and some onion rings for a little piece of home. The street had a host of other expat bars which we stopped in as well (found out I'm pretty bad at darts). We got a taxi ride home and everyone crashed for the night. This was a solid day.

All about the money (and how you spend it)

Today was a nice start back into the week from our day trips over the weekend. I woke up, had breakfast, and we headed for UEF. We started the day with language class in which we played a game to memorize numbers in Vietnamese: when your number was called, you would have to run to the front of the room and grab the ticket before other person. Fun and effect game! We then acted out some bargaining scenarios which were pretty fun, and apparently we have some pretty stingy salesmen in our group. We then got to put our skills to the test at the Ben Thanh market in downtown HCMC. I've been to a lot of markets, but this was by far the largest and most crowded that I've seen. We bargained with the merchants, buying souvenirs and gifts for back home. I got some good deals, but I definitely paid too much for my t-shirts (which are awesome anyway). We had lunch at the market, a noodles and pork(?) dish, then headed back to the hotel to change. We then took the bus back down town to have a brief from the VinaCapital Foundation. This is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that collects investments and puts them impoverished and disadvantaged children, specifically in the areas of health care and education. Rad Kivette, a North Carolina native, talked with us about the foundation and how they are one of the only organizations in which 100% of the donations go towards program work.This is made feasible by the VinaCapital Group that covers all overhead costs. We also got a talk from a member of this group, the largest investment firm in Vietnam. This was a very business orientated company visit, and I may (along with most others) have came close to drifting off during one of the speakers, but I held my own fairly well. It was nice seeing a good philanthropy in a country with over 20 million impoverished citizens; it's comforting to know that someone is there for them. I'm also excited that wealth from the company is being used for good purposes, skipping deep businessmen's pockets and going into the future of Vietnam. We came back to the hotel and I took a walk with a few others back towards downtown, looking for banh mi. We couldn't find a spot so we just ended up grabbing some snacks from the co-op. At this point, some UEF students arrived at the hotel and we headed for dinner: banh xeo. They Vietnamese call these pancakes, even though they come with different kinds of meat, you wrap them in lettuce and other greens, and then dip them in a spicy sauce. They were absolutely delicious. We then took taxis to a karaoke place, which was awesome. I'd never been to a place like it, but it was truly a great time. We wrapped our evening back at the hotel with hanging out in one of the rooms and enjoying the night. This was a nice easy day, though I continue to get more out of every day. Until tomorrow, goodnight folks!

Beach Day

Another long and full day in Vietnam. We got an early start today; I had a quick breakfast and we hopped on the bus for a three hour ride to Vung Tau, "a beach resort destination for vacationing Saigoners" (quote from Bryan). We drove to the base of a small mountain with a statue of Jesus on the peek. We climbed our way up 811stairs (there was a plaque) and were able to inside the statue to stand on his arms. It was a ridiculously hot hike, but the view 360-view from the top was absolutely worth it. We could see far out into the ocean to the front and over a beautiful village to the back. Breathtaking sight. After some quick and refreshing ice cream, we made our way back down and drove over to a resort. We changed, dropped off our bags, and ran right into the water. Amazing! The water felt perfect for the hot day, and it was actually warm, much unlike the Atlantic. I should probably mention that we were in the South China Sea, but the Vietnamese have disputed for its ownership and thus call it the East Sea. Anyway, we played in the water for a long time and slowly made our way back in for lunch. Clams, prawn, squid, cuttlefish (maybe?), and so much other delicious seafood. We went back down to the beach to relax under some umbrellas for a bit, and we also realized that many of us (including myself) forgot to put sunscreen on our shoulders, oh well. We got back in the water for a bit and then the UEF students decide to play a game similar to steal the bacon. Two teams stood a distance from a center object, in this case a plastic bottle, and when a person's number (later multiple people) is called they have to bring the object back to their side. The evolved as we continued to play, started as just tagging the person to stop them, to having to steal the object from them or fight them for it. I got the bottle a few times and ended up scratches and bruises on my arms from the girls' nails; apparently they know how to play rough. After showering off, we got back on the bus to make the trip home. We stopped part way at what the considered a truck stop... it was a small market. I got a peanut snack, and someone from UEF bought a bunch of snacks for everyone to try on the way back. We got back to the hotel, showered up, and headed out for dinner. A group of us, on the recommendation from Bryan, went to "Soul Food," and American burger joint. This was quite possibly the best burger of my life. After so much rice and other Vietnamese food, which is extremely delicious, a burger really hit the spot tonight. We got back to the hotel and I had a quick FaceTime chat with my mom and Heidi. Happy Mother's Day! It's nice knowing that things are good back home. I wrote my blog from yesterday and this one for today and called it a night. It's been an amazing first week and here's to week two!

The Tunnels of Cu Chi

This was a long day; I was exhausted by the end and didn't have a chance to blog, so here this is...
It started as an early day. I got up, grabbed a quick breakfast, and we headed to the Cu Chi District, about an hour and a half from HCMC. Driving through the rural countryside was quite an experience. Coming from Lancaster County, I have some expectations of a farming community and what a farm looks like. This was incredibly different! I knew that crops would be different, this was mostly rice, but I didn't expect such small fields and everything being so flat. Also, there was a greater level of poverty outside of the city, for which I felt sorry. We arrived at a tourist site for the Cu Chi Tunnels in Ben Douc and started the tour with an introduction from Dr. Berman and my roommate, Pete. The tunnel system was used by the Viet Cong as a place for people to live, travel, and facilitate guerrilla activity during the Vietnam War (it was used before this war, but this brought it to a new height). The tunnels started as underground bomb shelters with added tunnels between them. They continued to grow and the Communists eventually ordered their expansion for tactical purposes. A political booklet from the war states the primary role of the tunnels as such: "they are for the strengthening of combat vitality of our villages. They also provide more safety for our political and armed units, and for the masses as well. But their sheltering purpose is only significant when they serve our soldiers in combat activities. As mere shelters, their great advantages are wasted... There must be combat posts and equipment inside the underground tunnels for providing continuous support to the troops - even if the enemy occupies the village" (from The Tunnels of Cu Chi by Tom Mangold).  Dr. Berman also wanted us, specifically the engineers, to view the tunnels from an engineering perspective. The over 250 km of tunnels (at their max) were completely dug by hand and small tools. There were wells, kitchens, small health clinics, and tactical meeting rooms through the networks. The communication passages were between 0.8 and 1.2 meters wide and between 0.8 and 1.8 meters tall. For tactical advantage, entrances were well hidden trapdoors on the service, covered in natural foliage. This was truly an amazing feat of engineering and planning, not to mention the stamina and determination to live in the complex. Getting back to our day, we began our actual tour of the tunnels with a Vietnamese propaganda video from 1968; this was very difficult to watch. The video glorified the guerrilla warriors of Cu Chi and spoke of Americans as the "white devil." There was footage of American troops being shot upon relentlessly and tanks being exploded by the Viet Cong. Not only was this bad enough, I couldn't help but to the of similar American films with the roles reversed. It's a chilling thought. We then took a walk to some of the tunnel entrances. Our tour guide reached the first and miraculously pulled up on a door from the middle of the path. He squeezed down in and disappeared without a trace, until he popped up at another spot about 40 feet away. We continued on the first one tourist could enter (it was slightly enlarged to accommodate larger bodied guests). We walked down a few steps and then squatted into a tunnel between two rooms, snug fit and there was also a bat that flew by. We came back up and were able to try a few more, one of which was around 30 meters and required and almost vertical dropping maneuver. Due to my size, I actually found the tunnels to be pretty navigable, though the heat was even worse inside the tunnels than it was above ground. This also made me realize that I would have been a tunnel rat during the war, a solider that climbed into the tunnels, without any knowledge, to scout and search for the Viet Cong; this thought made the experience very real and connected me to the experience. At a quick stop between tunnels, we grabbed some water to cool off and some students bought scarves to wet and cool off, I was later surprised to find out these were part of the Viet Cong uniform. Once we finished the tour, we had lunch by the water and watched the thick water hyacinth fill up the river and flow down stream. We went to a memorial temple for all of the lives lost in Cu Chi; this included a central statue of Ho Chi Minh, and then a the names of all the people lost around the inside. It was interesting to compare the American memorial in DC with all of the names listed there as well. We wrapped up our day trip with a soldiers' memorial graveyard. With the straight rows of headstones and incense pots, I compered this the Arlington National Cemetery in the US. We got on the bus and made it back to the hotel. I went with a group of guys to dinner, but we all filed out quickly to make it to our suit fitting back at the hotel. Around 20 suits were almost completed and this gave the tailor the fit specifics he needs to finish. We cleaned up a bit and went downtown for a bit with some of the UEF students. After a full day, I was exhausted when we came back and fell asleep as soon as my bed hit the pillow. It was a very intense day, and I'm glad we had this retrospective experience while in Vietnam.

We the people

I took my time getting going today, probably too much. I woke up early, took a shower, rinsed out some clothes in the shower (after I was done) as a pseudo-laundry, and hung them up in the bathroom and on our balcony. I got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. I realized I was running out of time, so I quickly ate some rice, an orange ball/cake/thing, and some other kind of meat. To save time I had to use a fork... it was a weird, but familiar feeling. We (for the first time all 20 students) got on the bus to go to UEF for the continuation on our culture lesson from yesterday. The focus of today's class was on the religions and beliefs of the country. The Vietnamese have a very strong connection with their ancestors and follow a belief system based on that. Buddhism is also the most popular religion in Vietnam, though it is generally a harmonized religion of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Ancestor Worship Cult. Catholicism also has a very strong following Vietnam from the French Colonization; this is evident in the large Notre Dame Cathedral in downtown HCMC. After culture class, we had a short language class on numbers... wow. This was definitely an interesting class, not only did we learn their language-number system, but we also learned it in context of money and had to practice converting USD to Dong (yes that is the name of Vietnamese currency) and vice versa. It required a lot more thought than just normal parroting phrases. The class ran a bit over time and we had to make and appointment, so lunch was rushed today. In true American fashion, we downed large amounts of food and did so in record time. We then went to the US Consulate, which was the US Embassy in Saigon prior to 1975. (Abbreviated history lesson... During the Tet Offensive in 1968, the Viet Cong attacked the Embassy and revealed American vulnerability. The attack basically came down to the Embassy locking down and the Viet Cong bursting in through a hole in wall around the building. A four hour fire fight resulted in the deaths four USA MP, one USMC Cpl, and 18 Viet Cong guerrilla fighters. The Embassy was lost in 1975 during the Fall of Saigon, though it acted as a final launching place for many Americans and Vietnamese refugees leaving the city before the fall. The land was given back to the US in 1995, when our relationship was being repaired, and the former building was torn down a new facility was built.) We were able to talk to several Foreign Service Officers about what the Consulate does and how they function in HCMC. We were also able to tour the grounds, including plaque for the American lives during the Tet Offensive. It was interesting that visible on the other side of the wall, no more then 10 feet from the perimeter wall, is a Vietnamese plaque in honor of the Viet Cong fighters that died attacking the Embassy. It was odd seeing both plaques at once, knowing that there a two very different views of the attack and what it meant to the respective parties. After our tour, we went the American Center, which is a place for Vietnamese to go and learn about America and our culture. Over 70 Vietnamese students came to talk with our group about America and our school. We broke into small groups and opened ourselves to questions from the students and talked about any part of American life we thought they might be interested in. It was fun trying to explain American football and what the Cathedral of Learning is, but a particular conversation gave me a new perspective. One student asked our group about racial violence and another followed that with school safety in terms of race. This is an image of America that they've been recently presented with, which is not good. It was very difficult trying to explain what is happening unbiasedly, while also trying figure out how we justify this ourselves. This is a hot topic right now in the US and clearly it has received international attention. Dr. Berman, allowed us to leave, though all of us, enjoying our conversations, stayed for another hour. It was great getting to talk to other students, answer their questions, and swap stories with each other. After this, we wrapped up our formal day and went back to the hotel.
I had some time to blog the above portion before our guys night. Bo, one of the EUF students, took the guys out to a very authentic Vietnamese hot pot restaurant, in other words, we were literally the only westerners. We kicked off the dinner with Balut... fertilized quail egg!! It was absolutely terrifying to crack open the egg and seeing a partially formed bird, with feathers! We said a quick toast and threw it back... tasted just like a regular egg, nothing too crazy, just an egg. It was still pretty weird. We stepped down (relatively) by just having some goat breast as an appetizer, which was insanely good, and then they brought out the hot pots. These were pots of goat meat in broth with seasoning and vegetables. Things picked back up when we added in pig's brain!! We also added tofu, noodles, and some more greens while it finished cooking on the table. We started dishing it out to our bowls and I jumped on some pig brain; it was a delicious experience that literally melted in my mouth... so good! The stem was a completely different experience all on its own, rubbery, but tasty in its own right. I should also mention that the regular goat and the broth, which had a mix of everything, were amazing as well. We went back to the hotel to clean up a bit and then headed down Pasteur Street to find the craft brewery owned by some of the expats from Glass Egg. We found it, but it was crowded and getting late so we just went to a café nearby. A nice glass of ca phe sua da (iced coffee with condensed milk) capped off the evening and we headed back to the hotel. Today has been a rollercoaster of events, but it has definitely been one of the top days in Vietnam. I'm heading to bed early tonight for a good night's sleep before we visit the Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow. So goodnight from HCMC!

Past, present, and future

After falling asleep around 4:30 last night, I woke up pretty early around 2:30. I was awake off and on until 6:30 and finally decided to be up for the day. While Pete was in the shower, I learned a very valuable lesson: never trust flatulence while you're sick... I'll leave it at that. Anyway, I had a small breakfast, just some rice, toast with some awesome pineapple spread, and some medicine that worked great for the rest of the day. We took the bus to the Jade Emperor Pagoda, an old Chinese Taoist temple in HCMC. It was amazing to see this beautiful place tucked into the city, almost preserved in time. We each lit incense and placed them in ash to burn. UEF was next for our first Vietnamese cultural lesson from Dr. Phan Anh Tu, Faculty of Cultural Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. He gave a very in depth talk about Vietnamese people and their history, mainly focusing on before French Colonization. 90% of the people of are Viet, but the remaining 10% consists of over 50 different ethnicities and backgrounds, including the Hmong in the Mekong River delta and the E De (who actually follow the matriarch) in the highlands. No language class today (which is really sad), but we went to lunch and I started gaining my appetite back. We changed back at the hotel and then headed to Glass Egg Digital Media. This is a design company that works in video game artwork, their biggest clients: Microsoft and Sony. Their start was specifically cars; they've done cars for Forza, Need for Speed, Dirt, and many other top level racing games. They've also broken into environments, objects, and some character work. The company functions in a very Googlesque setting: relaxed environment with low lighting, napping is pretty common for artists, and they have a specific person just to organize parties for the employees (I know, pretty sweet). The Vietnamese staff is organized by seven expats including CEO Phil Tran, CFO Steve Reid, and COO Guillaume Monier who gave a tour and talked with us afterward. Phil Tran has an interesting background; his father was a member of the South Vietnamese Navy (presumably high ranking) during the war. Just before the fall/liberation/reunification (I'll discuss that in a later blog) of Saigon, his father realized and end was near. He frantically wrote a letter to friend in the US, LCDR Harry Schelier, USN, ret., asking him to take his family, including 12 year old Phil, as refugees. Luckily, their family was flown out of the city one week prior to April 30, and they went to Guam along with the thousands of other refugees from Saigon. From there, they flew to Camp Pendleton, and then were taken in by LCDR Schelier (Side note... His first meal in America: KFC and pizza. His first question of the meal: where's the rice?). This was a story of a very lucky man; there were many others in his family's position that could not leave and were forced into "reeducation camps" and they're legacy suffers to this day. On to something lighter. Steve Reid explained to us that HCMC is a very good place for entrepreneurs; the group of expats also own a very successful nightclub: Lush, which I've heard is excellent. After our visit, we went back to the hotel to relax for a bit and then had our measurement for suits taken ($165 max, hand tailored, done before we leave, can't be beat). Everyone took a pretty solid nap and rolled out quickly for dinner, Korean BBQ, which was so good. This also gave us some time to talk with a few students at UEF who were very cool. Afterwards, we had an awesome time Lush. A huge thanks to our friends at Glass Egg; everyone had a great time. It now late again and I should really get some sleep. I'm feeling better and ready for another great day in HCMC. Good night!

Dropping like flies: why I'm posting a day late

( So, I woke up Wednesday morning not feeling the greatest, and I learned the real meaning of "dash in a real rush hurriedly evading accident" ... yeah. Anyway, so I still went out with the group for the day, but I fell asleep as soon as we got back; I didn't wake up until this morning. Oh well, here's what you missed. )

I had a small breakfast, just some rice and orange juice, and then we (minus three due to being sick) headed out for the day. Our morning at UEF consisted of a lecture on rural planning and the Mekong River delta, just south of HCMC. The speaker, who was very funny I might add, was Le Quang Minh, Assoc. Prof., Dr. at the Vietnam International University in HCMC and is a native of the Mekong River delta. The region is agriculturally based, primarily rice and catfish. Interesting story: the catfish of the Mekong River are extremely cheap and have almost wiped out the industry in Alabama, USA, and Vietnamese catfish actually aren't allowed to be called catfish in the USA. Instead, they are called basa fish or bocourti. Anyway... he talked about that, the people of the delta, culture, economics, and agriculture. The Mekong River has always been a very large rice producer in Vietnam, but after 1975, there was a huge push for food production and thus more land in the delta was used. Some of the land is highly acidic and unsuitable for farming, but the government still forced the production anyway. He also mentioned difficulties with the river having origins in Cambodia and the effects of their usage on delta in Vietnam. He was clearly a passionate speaker with a lot of opinions, but he was apprehensive to share everything. We (minus three more who went back to the hotel) continued on to our language class to learn different adjectives. It's really helpful having the UEF students helping us with pronunciation, and Dong A has been a great guy. We had lunch and then went to the U.S. Commercial Service to hear from Patrick Wall, the Principal Commercial Officer in Vietnam. This entity of the U.S. Foreign Service acts as a consultant for American businesses trying to expand into Vietnam. Many businesses are breaking into Vietnam to outsource manufacturing; Nike now makes more shoes in Vietnam than it does in China. Also, many franchises have done remarkably well in country, most notably seen by Popeye's and KFC. Mr. Wall's career has allowed him to work around the world, including offices in Dubai, Philippines, and Uruguay. He gave the American perspective on Vietnam and how life is for an American in the country, getting his McDonald's fix once a month. He also went in depth as to the differences between the northern and southern parts of the county in the modern day. Some people in HCMC, who lived there prior to 1975, still have animosity towards the north and Mr. Wall has seen this anger play out through his own experiences. After the lecture, we went back to the hotel and made a quick pit-stop at the co-op to find some coconut candy, recommended by Dr. Berman. This is basically where may day ends. We walked backed to the hotel and I considered going to the pool, but my bed was too enticing. I fell asleep around 4:30 and woke up around 2:30 at night. Apparently a group went to dinner, minus several people who were sick or just needed sleep; I was clearly in the group at the hotel. I had some medicine today (Thursday) and seem to be doing better. I caught up on this blog and I'll continue today's tonight. Signing off!

Urban Adventure

Day Two keep things rolling in HCMC. Another easy morning today; woke up and ate some more delicious breakfast at the Victory Hotel. We took our bus to UEF and had our first guest lecture of the trip. Du Phouc Tan (PhD), a Chair from the Department of Urban Management at the HCMC Institute for Development Studies, spoke to us about Urban Planning and Development in HCMC and how it is advancing into the future. It was a very insightful lecture and provided us with ample information on the current state of HCMC and the plans for the next 10 years. The city is rapidly expanding and more residential areas are needed to accommodate this influx. There are also plans to develop a public transportation system as one does not currently exist; this will consist of busses, a monorail, and a metro. Most people in the city ride motorbikes so it will be interesting to see the outcome of the projects in the near future. After the lecture, we had a short brake and were able to walk down the street to try some local restaurants, I had some "Atom" ice cream, which was basically vanilla custard with a chocolate shell, so good. We went back into UEF for language class: MORE FUN! Today was more greeting phrases and more practice with the tones, tough, but getting used to it. We left with tired jaws (from odd pronunciations) and headed to lunch (again, another great meal). We cleaned up back at the hotel and put on our business casual attire for our first company visit, Phu My Hung. This company develops residential and business complexes around HCMC. The projects are absolutely amazing, building small cities from just the old marshes of Saigon. After a talk about the company and the progress it has made in the city, we took a bus tour through some of the new residential developments and saw several of the international schools. Only half of the residents in these developments are Vietnamese, many spots are filled by people from Korea, Singapore, and Australia. These are foreign investors who have stake in Vietnam; Phu My Hung provides a draw for them to conduct business in HCMC. The bus the made its way through thick traffic and finally made it back to the hotel. We relaxed for a bit and enjoyed some refreshing bubble tea from Kate (Ngoc), a student at UEF and president of the English Club. She, along with a group of other UEF students took us down town to take in the HCMC night life. Transportation may or may not have included motorbikes which may or may not have been amazing. There also may or may not have been a situation in which I initially didn't have a helmet and my incredibly nice driver had to stop and pick one up. (I'm really sorry mom and Dr. Berman). Anyway... we went to restaurant towards downtown and finally ate "phở". This is a very popular Vietnamese dish consisting of rice noodles in broth and some kind of meat (I personally went with Nam, well-done beef). THIS WAS SO GOOD!! A nice man sitting at another table gestured us to different items on the table to add to our bowls of phở and we followed his instructions with pleasure. We continued downtown after this to the cathedral and ate some more food, this time street food. Again, everything was delicious, though I had some difficulty with the tofu, but the corn and crab mix made that go away. We walked to what was essentially the HCMC equivalent of Time Square to take in the full effect of the lights of HCMC. Side note: it is significantly cooler at night and a breeze swept across the street to make it feel pretty great. We bought some kind of light toys on the street that launch high into the air and come whirling back down with little wings, more great fun. We wrapped up our day with a walk back to the hotel to relax and recover. I'm so glad we're staying busy and getting to experience Vietnam to the fullest, but it's late again so I'll have to say Xin chào! Hẹn gặp lại! (Good bye! See you later!)

Xin Chào!

First full day in Vietnam, what an eventful day! After a great sleep, it was pretty easy to get going today, not to mention all the excitement. We got up and had an AMAZING breakfast at the Victory Hotel: rice, sausage, fresh fruit, dumpling, pastries, and bacon. I also tried my first Vietnamese coffee; most liked it, but I'm not sure yet, (maybe I need more condensed milk? ) stay tuned for an update on that. We then got our new shirts from the University of Economics and Finance (UEF), which are somewhere between a soccer jersey, a school uniform, and the red dress from Annie (yes, that Annie). We hopped on our little bus and drove to UEF. STREETS ARE CRAZY! There are scooters everywhere with very little organization  to it. Although, its not aggressive, just an odd, semi-chaotic, slow flow through the streets. Anyway, we made it to UEF and were greeted by our very enthusiastic Vietnamese counterparts who gave each of us really nice flower garlands. We went up to the top of the building for our welcome ceremony, quite a treat. The students performed traditional Vietnamese dances and there were several speeches. Our Dr. Berman gave his speech in Vietnamese; I have no idea what he said, but apparently he was hilarious. A representative from the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) also gave a speech in Vietnamese (this one with a student translating). The students gave us gifts, as of common custom in Vietnam, nice red ties for the guys and clothing fabric for the girls (they were later fitted for áo dài, traditional Vietnamese dresses). We took a huge barrage of pictures with the students and headed down a few floors to a classroom. Here, we had our first Vietnamese language class....... wow. For those who don't know, the language includes 29 letters with 12 different vowels, each with a different sound. There are also six different "tones" for the vowels which is kind of like the pitch to pronounce them. The word "ma" has six different meanings, depending on the tone: ghost, which, horse, grave, mother, and rice seedling. Needless to say, this was quite amusing to watch everyone give a crack at it. The Vietnamese students did a great job helping us with the pronunciations, but talking with them in English was cool too. We also started into pronouns and a few phrases. Xin chào! (Hello, good bye, good morning/afternoon/evening). He said "xin chào" to the students and went to the University of Kent for lunch. The food was yet again amazing and interestingly served family style with just each person using a small bowl and chopsticks (I think I've got the hang of them); we also happen to have a beautiful look out over Ho Chi Minh City. We relaxed there for a while and then went to the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH), the big sister school of UEF, for a short talk about the school from an engineering professor. The man ended up diving into his philosophies on travel, education, and living life to the fullest and it was awesome! We got back on our bus and headed back to hotel around 4:00. A group of us went to the co-op just around the block to use an ATM and get water and snacks for the hotel. Have you ever taken 2 million (dong) out of an ATM? I have and it feels awesome! Everything in the co-op was also dirt cheap, only costing me $10 (US) for supplies for our stay. We walked back to the hotel, changed, and took a nice dip in the pool. I should mention it has been mid 90s F, with upwards of 80% humidity, in others: really hot. The pool was definitely a good reprieve, even though I lost AND FOUND my glasses in the pool. Afterwards, we changed into nicer clothes for dinner. We walked towards downtown to Nhà Hàng Ngon, a restaurant that takes street food cooks into sanitary kitchens and serves them for a formal restaurant. Everything was absolutely delicious, even the prawn eye (no, that isn't an actual custom, it was just a "why not moment" at our table). We took our time enjoying every bite and then walked back to the hotel to wrap up our day. This has been incredibly busy, but I'm having an absolute blast! I'm ready for Day for Day Two, but for now, xin chào!

Made it!

What a way to start a trip!

We started early Saturday morning at the University of Pittsburgh. With backpacks and suitcases in hand, we loaded the bus at 6:00 am and headed to the Pittsburgh Airport for our first flight. We checked in and said goodbye to our bigger luggage, hoping to see it on the other side. We made it through security and found our gate. First meal of the trip.......... Auntie Anne's! Not a bad kickoff breakfast. We hopped on our first flight to Chicago; this was also the shortest leg at only an hour and a half. Pretty uneventful flight, though our arrival started us thinking about the time change and that trying to keep track would be pointless. Our short layover in O'Hare consisted of our last meal in a America, deep dish pizza, and charging electronics for the long flight ahead.

SIXTEEN. HOUR. FLIGHT.
You may wonder what one does on a plane for 16 hours, and the answer is basically the equivalent of any college student procrastination: watching movies, sleeping, and eating. I was lucky enough to catch some sleep early on in the flight thanks to some cold medicine. Our first meal was a flight classic: chicken or pasta. Around this time, I hopped on the screen on the back of the seat in front of me and watched Whiplash (fantastic movie) and Interstellar (not as good as the hype, though it may be due to the little screen). I also watched the map of our flight path, which happened to go through Canada, over Alaska, down through Russia, and finally across China. I made sure to get up several times (mom), drank plenty of water (mom), and went to the bathroom (mom). The flight later included a small sandwich snack and a final meal before landing: eggs or a different kind of chicken. The flight really wasn't as bad as most thought it would be, but I was definitely ready to get off the "big metal tube" when we landed in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Airport was a very nice reprieve from the flight, and I was thankful for the longer layover. At 6:00 pm in Hong Kong, 12 hours ahead of Pittsburgh, we found "real Chinese food" (for an airport) for dinner. The first international meal: Singapore noodles and shrimp, another good sign of what's to come. We also discovered Pocari Sweat, which looks like water, but turns out to be a sweet Japanese sports drink, still pretty good.  We boarded one more flight for the last leg of our journey: Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). This relatively short flight, compared to previous trek, was a push to stay awake to line up with our destination time zone. One more flight meal, chicken or pork, and listening to some what I'll assume to be Vietnamese music, we finally reached HCMC! We breezed through customs, grabbed everyone's bags, and found Dr. Berman waiting for us in the balmy 84 degrees F, 80% humidity, weather. We got on a very nice bus and at long last made it to the Victory Hotel in Saigon (side note: Saigon is the older name for HCMC and is more commonly used by locals). I got to my room with my roommate for the next two weeks, Pete, cranked up the AC, and took a much needed shower. It's now 2:30 am and I have to wake up in a few hours for our first day in country. I'm excited and ready for one amazing trip!

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!

First international food of the trip

Chicago to Hong Kong: 16 hour flight

Pittsburgh to Chicago

Leaving Pitt