Tuesday - week 2

Woke up and got dressed for another site visit this morning and then went down to breakfast . I decided to try the pho - I wanted to make sure to try it while I'm here - I like the noodles, there is just a spice in it that is a little too strong for me. After breakfast we got on the bus and drove a really short distance to Viet Capital Securities Company. We arrived and walked into a room crowded with people busy on cell phones and watching stock market screens. Even though i'm a business major, the whole thing was so confusing. I really had no idea what was going on. We did learn however, that it was not a good morning for the stocks so that is why people were so crazed. A woman gave us a brief overview of what happens in the building but it was hard to hear much of what the translator said because of all the buzz around us. Soon after arriving we left, way ahead of schedule. As a result, we decided to go shopping at the Tax Center, the building where Tin took Julie to go shopping last night. The first few floors were like a regular department store but the top floor was similar to the Ben Thanh Market. Kyle and I went shopping for our moms - he found large wooden cranes for his mom and I got my mom a small mahjong set. It worked out well because the women put everything in the same bag so Kyle ended up carrying my heavy mahjong set. I also bought coasters for my dad and a magnet for the house. After wandering around for a while and seeing that all of the different people were selling pretty much the same exact stuff we left. Five minutes after leaving the Tax center we realized we were missing David and some of the UEF kids so we turned around to find him. The only good part about this was that we got to go back to the air conditioning. It was so hot outside today. It gets hard to compare the heat of the days to one another but today was definitely one of the hotter days. An overview of the next hour: the whole group walked to the really expensive embroidary store that Julie wanted to go to and then everyone but Kyle, Julie and Sarah decided to go on to the jersey store. I don't think I have ever sweated so much in my life. All we did was walk. and walk some more. and guess what? we never found it. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we were all soaking wet with sweat. Unfortunately, I couldn't get back into my room because Julie had the key so I sat in Ashley and Elizabeth's room and tried to cool off and let my dress dry before we had to meet for lunch in the hotel lobby. I stuck with rice and 3 fried shrimp and 2 bananas. Not very exciting but oh well. We then boarded the bus and drove to Ascenx Technologies.

What was really nice about our presentation at Ascenx is that the presentation on the actual company was relatively short because we also got to hear the CEOs' stories. Both of the CEOs left the country as little boys (one 5 and the other 10; one in 1968, the other 1975). Their stories were really interesting because they had struggle, and hardship and disappointment yet we were able to see where they were today. Both recieved American educations and became naturalized citizens and were even able to pay back the loan that got them out of Vietnam. Now, they are back in the country they once had to flee in the middle of the night on a fish boat running their own successful company. Just as an interesting fact i learned: most Vietnamese can write in english better than they can speak it because they have no one to really practice speaking english to but people can correct their writing. I thought that was interesting. After the presentation the CEOs invited us to have coffee with them downstairs which was really nice. Overall the whole thing was very casual and laid back and therefore one of our best site visits even if it wasnt a subject i am interested in.

When we got back to the hotel everyone was ready to go out for dinner at Black Cat but I could not keep my eyes open any longer so Andrew and I decided to meet for dinner in about an hour giving me time to sleep. When he came to wake me up, I was still exhausted but also knew i should eat. We took off in the direction of a restaurant on pasteur street but after a minute or two of not seeing pasteur street (Andrew has always had problems finding it) decided to just turn around and go to Nam Phan. We had a very relaxing, filling dinner there with good conversation. I had the beef with noodles again and clams. The dinner wasn't cheap but it was worth it. When it came time to pay the people working there were definitely confused because I'm sure they thought it was a date and Andrew just kept making me give him more cash since my dinner was way more expensive. Everyone came back from Black Cat talking about how delicious the burgers were - even better than O'Brians - and we all got ready to go out to Lush for free drinks at Lady's Night. The only problem was that we decided to take two cabs and when we got there we found out there was a 100 dong cover for guys and we didnt know what the rest of the group would want to do and their taxi didnt come for at least 20 minutes. We talked to some people from the Netherlands as we waited and eventually everyone got there. We all decided to go in and had a really fun night.

Monday of week 2

Woke up this morning feeling about the same as yesterday, took one of the pills that the Dr. gave me for pain and ate a light breakfast. We then bussed over to UEF. The drive still baffles me. How does the driver or anyone for that matter, have any idea where they are going?! The roads are so disorganized. It seems like we approach the school from a different direction every day. I just don't get it. I'm also still confused by all of the shops. So many of them are all selling the same thing and no one is walking around buying - everyone is just relaxing in their own shop, laying out on the floor or in a chair without a care in the world. Who is keeping these stores in business?! I just don't get it.

Anyway, we got to the school and had another culture class, not as interesting as the last one but still good. The beginning was really confusing though because it was about the history of the Vietnamese people and where they all originated from. In all my years in school no one ever taught in depth Asian history to me up until today and it was all so unfamiliar. After the history section we learned some more about Yin and Yang. We also got blue books that we are supposed to read before our next class on Wednesday. That class was followed up with a language class - turns out I'm actually starting to remember some of the sentences so that's exciting! Too bad we aren't learning to ask where the bathroom is though. Right now, we're trying to learn numbers. I don't remember any of them though. Lunch was uneventful at the canteen and we then drove to the University of Agriculture and Forestry. Personally, I thought the University looked more like a zoo than a college with not many students in sight and a lot of grassy areas. We were given 3 presentations on what they do at the university, Vietnam and catfish and the University's involvement. All of the presentations overlapped to some extent and probably could have been combined into one presentation to avoid the repetition. It was nice of the University to put together so much information for us though. They are doing a lot of interesting work with experiments and have grown significantly since starting the program in the late 1990s.
After the presentations we saw a quick tour of a building which did not add much to the day but maybe that's just because I did not understand the terminology.

A long and hot car ride later, we made our way back to the hotel for a break and eventually decided to go to dinner while the boys played a basketball game with some of the UEF kids. Mike and Andrew went to look for a suit and Julie stayed in. So, Elizabeth, Ashley and I went to Pizza Hut for dinner. As in China, it was a really nice sit down restaurant. I didn't think pizza would be good for my summer so I got pasta with garlic shrimp...so spicy! I ha two bottles of water. And an appetizer of garlic and cheese bread (2 pieces of each). So much food. I regretted it later, of course. The place pizza hut was in was really cool (Diamond Plaza) with a nice bowling alley. When we got back to the hotel the boys were just getting back from basketball and decided to go out to O'Brians for dinner. They returned a lot later giddy from eating cheeseburgers and too full to go out. So, Elizabeth and Andrew hung out with the kids from Uruguay on the roof and Ashley and I hung out with Matt and Kyle for a little. Eventually, Andrew made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I went to bed.

Day 7 - Sunday, the beach

Today, we went to the beach - Vung Tau! It was another really long, exhausting day but worth it. We woke up early, had breakfast and packed our bags before getting into taxi's that took us to the hydrofoil station. There, we met up with some UEF students, got our tickets, and boarded the boat. It looked just like the one that everyone got sick on last year when we went from Hong Kong to Macau. My seat was next to Andrew and while people around me were getting sick and running outside, I sat there reading my book, The Thing They Carried, feeling perfectly fine. It was bizarre. I guess my stomach problems just have nothing to do with motion. Also, just as a side note, Phoung had a really cute frog fan that i really like, I'm going to look out for those. Anyway, we got to the dock after a two hour ride or so and cooled off at this restaurant with drinks. I stuck with water to stay hydrated. We then reboarded the bus and drove a short ways to this mountain that had a huge Jesus statue on top. I took one look and knew I couldn't handle it - plus, using up all of my energy to see a Jesus statue that would not have any real personal value to me didn't seem worth it, so i stayed in the poorly air conditioned van and tried not to concentrate on the fact that I already had to go to the bathroom again because of all of the water I was drinking. After what felt like forever, the group came back soaking wet with sweat and we took the bus to lunch - the restaurant we'd just had drinks at. Lunch was delicious. Even though my stomach is still really upset, I was starving from only eating toast for breakfast so I had tons of the soft shelled crab - it was amazing. By far, the best thing i've had on the trip so far. Tin and Elizabeth were both amazed at how much I could eat but I was famished.
After lunch we drove to the beach (and btw, there are still a lot of motor bikes here although the area is really beautiful with a lot of spas and resorts). Some of the group went to see a temple and while I wasn't sure if i could handle the sun, I did not want to end up sitting on the bus and having to go to the bathroom again. I definitely made the right decision. The beach was not too hot, with a nice breeze and the water felt great! The only scary thing was all of the trash floating around in it that kept touching our legs and freaking Elizabeth and me out. After a while of playing in the water with Andrew, Elizabeth and I went to the bathroom with Sarah where we were forced to clean our feet numerous times and saw a beautiful pool that looked so cool and inviting. The guard, however, did not. I then laid out for a little and got hit with a lot of sand from the boys' soccer game. We also played in the water with Phoung and the other girl from UEF who did not know how to swim which was kind of scary when we went out into deeper waters and she pulled Phoung under when a large wave came. Also, it was interesting to see how everyone was dressed. Men were in normal shorts but very few woman were in bathing suits and absolutely no bikinis. I just can't imagine going swimming in a sweater and jean shorts. It seems so heavy. Way too soon though, it was time to leave so we went and showered and put back on our sticky clothes. I felt so dirty from the water and the sand that coated my body immediately after I stepped back outside. Also, Phoung had worn my shoes so my feet ended up completely coated in sand for hours - no matter how dry my feet were, the sand just wouldnt fall of. Anyway, we eventually got back 0n the hydryfoil and were stuck there for the next 3 hours or so because branches kept getting stuck in our motor. I, of course, was sitting in the poorly air conditioned room so I spent the entire ride dripping in sweat but eventually just accepted it and talked with Andrew, Elizabeth, Mike and Matt. We were all starving - it had been hours since we'd last eaten. I stuck with my ritz and gave Matt my last granola bar. Hours upon hours later, we arrived at the dock and Mike, Sarah and I took a taxi to the international medical clinic. Everyone else got to go back and shower before heading off the to the Barbecue Garden for dinner.

We were all amazed at the medical clinic - it was so clean, and air conditioned, and new. Then, they kept us waiting for over an hour and we weren't so impressed. We were all starving. I think this is the longest I've ever gone without eating. Overall though, my blood test came back okay, I was hydrated, the only problem was the intense shooting pains that kept running through my stomach every now and then. A long time after Mike's leg was bandaged for his burn that he got from running into a motorbike's exhaust pipe, I was given some medicine and we we're allowed to leave...after waiting forever to pay. My bill was 160, 85 of which was for after hours fees. By the time we left, Mike and I had taken our friendship to a new level - first with bonding on the boat and then hearing about each other's medical problems.

Dinner - spicy and really hot but good. I would definitely recommend it to someone going to Ho Chi Minh. Grills are built into the table and you order raw meat of all different types and then cook it for yourself. My only two comments - 1) don't go there if you are starving; having your food so close, but yet not ready to be eaten sucks and 2) be prepared to be hot; a lot of smoky wind blows in your direction no matter where you are sitting. I had garlic shrimp that were really spicy but really good! and came pre cooked! My chicken was more difficult because I didn't know when it was done. Also, they charge for the napkins which they don't tell you until you pay the bill. After dinner we took a taxi back to the hotel (some people walked but I was too tired) and went to sleep. Even though the bed is really hard, it still felt amazing to lay down after such a long day.

Day 6 - the weekend

Woke up very early for the Mekong Delta this morning - and by early I mean all the girls were ready an hour earlier than we needed to be; we were convinced we had to be ready at 7 and not 8. The boys were right. After getting down to breakfast at 6 40 and being told we were early, we ate (the normal breakfast) and went back up to our rooms where I just sat and rested for a while. Eventually, it was time to go so we loaded up onto the bus for the 2 hour drive. I sat in the back with Mike and Matt and tried to get comfortable. All of the boys blogged but I just wanted to sleep. That proved to be impossible as the roads were extremely bumpy and we kept flying out of our seats. We made one short stop to go to the bathroom at this pretty garden place where they sold a lot of coconut products. I tried some of the milk (its warm and weird) and this weird plastic looking piece of coconut (it kind of looks like a beige fruit roll up with a plastic-ish taste). Even Andew's purple ice cream tasted like coconut. I, however, bought a can of delicious pringles. Eventually, we made it to the cacau plantation. It was, to say the least, hot. Very, very, hot.
Chocolate starts off in a completely unrecognizable form - really colorful shells of reds, oranges, yellows and greens and when you open it, a weird, slimy worm looking things comes out. It looks about as bad as it tastes. Then, the seeds are dried for a few days on the ground of this dusty, dirty warehouse in the middle of nowhere and then fermented in an outside room that smells terrible with flies everywhere. Finally, it is laid outside for the final step. It's amazing to think, however, that chocolate comes from this little warehouse in the south of Vietnam - the only one there. Nothing about it seems very clean but I guess all of that happens at the factory when the beans are shipped off. By the end of the drying step the beans did have a very faint taste of bitter dark chocolate. After all of this we saw a presentation inside a little hut that incredibly, had electricity even though it was made out of branches and looked like it could have been pulled out of the woods. It was actually very nice inside though. We then said bye to our hosts who had given an informative presentation and got back on the bus to go to lunch.
Lunch was at a beautiful little resort type place with tons of paths and water and trees. We ate outside overlooking the water and a pretty rock garden. By this time though, I was already feeling pretty exhausted and missed out on the tour given by Professor Berman. As we were served lunch, i forced myself to eat even though all i wanted was to sleep. I could barely keep my eyes open or head up but I thought caffeine from the Pepsi would be good. (Turns out, i probably should have stuck with water to stay hydrated). Luckily, we were allowed to nap on hammocks after lunch and i fell right to sleep even though i felt a little nautious. I woke up feeling worse however, and very unsteady on my feet. Elizabeth and I went to the bathroom instead of on another tour where Elizabeth ended up throwing up instead of me! Even though I felt so sick, neither of us could stop laughing - I'm not really sure why, the situation was just so ridiculous. We both made it back to the bus where I was given Andrew's pillow and the front row to lay down in. I went right to sleep and slept through the next two site visits. There was just one problem...I had drank so much water after feeling so sick that I really had to go to the bathroom, and everyone else was gone except for the bus driver who conveniently, did not speak English.
So, here I am, in the middle of nowhere (everyone else was on a tour through the jungle with fire ants) and somehow, my ipod has wifi! I quickly downloaded a free translator application and it had Vietnamese! I wrote, do you know where the bathroom is? He looked at it for a few minutes before shaking his head. I then wrote, gas station? He got out of the bus and began walking towards the tiny village next to where we were parked. He then motioned for me to follow. I was led down a long dirt path, through the middle of this little village and pointed to a stone structure built over the water. I approached it and saw that a stone plank led up to a flat stone with a whole in the middle leading into the water. Four plastic walls surrounded the stone and a roof lay a foot or two above it so that once on it, I could look out. As i pulled down my shorts while attempting to squat at the same time, I heard a loud noise behind me. I turned around to see a giant pig or hog in a pen on the other side of the thin river, watching me. Luckily, I think he was the only one around. The whole experience was incredible, real, and bizarre. As I went to the bathroom, I was able to look into the river and see fish swimming below me. I wondered whether this was the village's only bathroom, or just the public one? Amazingly, pink toilet paper was supplied. Walking back, I made sure to take in my surroundings because when else will I ever see such a real village with baby chickens wandering around, stray dogs, hammocks, huts - it was amazing to see how another culture lives - one that I hope to never forget.
I made my way back to the bus where the driver and i attempted to have a conversation but it was difficult. He said new york though and i said yes, just to make things simpler. I also tried to explain to him what my ipod was and did because he seemed curious. I wish we had been able to talk more though, I felt bad not being able to understand what he was so intent on saying to me. Also, i got on facebook for the first time since being here! After all that excitement though, I was worn out and went back to sleep until everyone got back from the tour.
Eventually I was back at the hotel and while everyone else went out to get KFC, i passed out in my bed. I knew I was sick because I'd been cold all day even though I knew I should have been just as hot as everyone else was. I bundled up in sweat pants and my zip up and fell fast asleep until Julie came in with my food. I ate a few pieces of popcorn chicken before going back to sleep, too tired to eat or sit up. Later on, Andrew woke me up, made me drink revive (which has electrolytes because they don;t have Gatorade here) and finish my chicken. I also took fever and pain reducing pills because my body, which hurt to move, was also burning up. After a while my fever broke and I eventually had the energy to shower. All of the girls decided to stay in while the boys went out with Tony and his friends to a rock show. We were all asleep by 8 15. It had been a really long day and tomorrow, we had to wake up early for the beach. I got 10 hours of sleep though!

Day 5 - friday

After a normal start to the day (two eggs sunny side up on white toast and a banana or two) we got on a bus with a few UEF students and drove to Intel - their brand new location in Vietnam after shutting down factories around China and consolidating. We started off with a quick tour of the factory where I was a little confused to see barely any workers. Then, we went back to the office building (passing 2 rows of sinks on the way so that employees can wash their hands before coming from the factory) and went upstairs. We entered a room with 400 cubicles - 9/10 of which were empty. Across the hallway was the same set up - a huge room without any workers. We found out though that because Intel has just opened up here they only have around 350 employees while their location has been constructed to employ around 4000 people. So, one day, all of the empty cubicles will be filled. Tracy, our tour guide, then showed us the "chill" room and "play" room which were really cool. Both had bean bags and comfortable couches while the chill room was equipped with a TV and the play room had games like darts, a pool table, etc. All of the rooms and hallways were painted bright cheery colors and the whole environment seemed like a really positive one in which to work. If someone feels they need to take a break, they just walk over to the chill room for a little without any hassle. The whole thing seemed to raidate a, "we treat our employees well" message (good CSR).
We then went back downstairs for a presentation on Intel and their move to Vietnam. It was very impressive. Intel makes 40billion dollars in revenue each year with profits of around 12 billion. This number has been pretty steady for a while now though meaning that Intel is hitting the mature phase of their life cycle while they would prefer to still be in the growth phase and making 80 billion a year in revenue. As a result, they have a few products they are working on now and hope to become first movers in the industry for them. Throughout the presentation various terms from my MCE notes were used which Andrew and I thought was really cool - even more cool, I knew what the terms meant! Eventually we were done with questions and went outside to take a group picture. I think pretty much everyone's eyes are closed because as usual, we ended up facing the sun.

We then drove back to the hotel for lunch - it wasn't very good but i did have a lot of clams so that was a major plus. I guess the white rice was good too. We then had some time to just hang out and rest. I spent the time blogging. Julie and I found a lizard in our room by the air conditioning. Turns out it makes really weird noises so that was the noise i heard when i asked julie if there was a monkey in the room. Too soon it was time to walk to the Success Alliance and ACDI/VOCA presentation. Once there, we learned about the cocoa farms and cocoa beans. It was difficult to pay attention because the room was so hot and I was so tired but I'm pretty sure we'll be learning more about this tomorrow and this was just so we are somewhat prepared.


Back at the hotel the girls got ready to go to dinner and shopping and a rock show with Ms. Too and Phoung. Andrew and David decided to come too. We all took turns going on their motor bikes but i started off in the taxi to the shopping place. The place we went was like a cleaner version of ben thanh with a lot of clothing places selling fake things. I didnt want any fake clothes and didnt think anything would fit anyway but then i found a really fun head band store that sold crazy and ridiculous head bands. I bought one with a flower - nothing too crazy. We ignored the "no pictures" sign and did a mini photo shoot. Even David tried on one crazy hat one. On the second floor i found a really cool store that sold art made out of tiny, tightly rolled paper scrolls. I bought a card and a snail key chain for my grandma and a picture. I loved this big one of two peacocks that was blues and purple shades but Andrew told me it would be too difficult to get home. After arguing with him and walking away upset because I really liked it, Julie convinced me to go back and buy it. I'm really happy I did. Its something that I'll have for myself that will remind me of Vietnam. Once everyone was done shopping we took a taxi and the motor bikes to dinner.

At dinner, I ordered from a picture menu until someone showed me they had an english menu. All but 2 dishes had pork in them so Julie and i got those. We shared 2 fried eggs and braised shrimp. I liked the egg a lot. The shrimp was weird but i ate it anyway just because I was really hungry. (While shopping i'd eaten my cheez-its and a nutri-grain bar). My pepsi was refreshing though. Dinner got awkward when the rock-show came up because we all wanted to have a night out with everyone and the boys were already back at the hotel. Ms. Too seemed really excited about us seeing the rock show at the coffee shop though and looked so disappointed when we said we couldn't go because the boys were waiting for us. In the end, we realized we could go out whenever but the rock show was a one time opportunity. Now i'm really happy i went. Getting there was difficult though. Our taxi driver didnt really know where we were going so we ended up driving up and down the street. None of us had a phone or ms. Too's number. We were just about to go back to the hotel when we saw andrew and ms. too outside the coffee shop getting off of her bike. It was perfect timing. We paid the taxi driver and followed them inside where Ms. Too's friend was waiting for us. She teaches English and you could definitely tell. We all ordered drinks and enjoyed the show - an older man singing old American songs. After the show we got a picture with him. The place was really cool and the band was taking requests. Unfortunately we got there pretty late and only got to hear about 5 songs. Then, it was time to go back to the hotel and I finally got my chance to ride on the back of Ms. Too's motor bike. It was so much fun! But i definitely see why people where sunglasses and masks...there is a lot of exhaust on the roads, even at night when they're relatively empty. I was surprised that we were able to talk while she was driving and making her way through the streets.

Back at the hotel we quickly changed and got ready to go out. We decided on The Bar Factory, a place that Tony had told Kyle about. The place was pretty cool, all of the people working there were wearing orange jump suits and the whole place was very mechanical looking so it was an interesting theme for a bar. Not long later, we made our way back to the hotel and I hung out with Ashley and Elizabeth in the hallway for a while eating goldfish and ritz. Then I went to bed because tomorrow, we go to the Mekong.

Day 4

Today was a pretty relaxing, easy day. The morning began with a guest lecture at UEF on Rural Planning and Development: the Mekong Delta as well as some general information on Vietnam that was interesting. The presenter had just gotten back from some time in America and had very well spoken and easy to understand English. I sat next to a really nice girl, Tam, who gave me some additional information on the slides - what foods were good, the traditional clothing, the floating market, etc. After the presentation we had some time to hang out and take a lot of pictures with teh UEF students.
After taking many pictures, we had our first Vietnamese culture class that I liked a lot more than either of our language classes. We learned all about communication in the Vietnamese culture and even though I was, as usual, hungry, the whole thing went fast. Some interesting facts were:
Vietnamese communication is based on love and feelings, not logic or laws like in China or Korea

circles are very good - if you are friends with someone you will tell them how round something is, even if the object is not circular are good. If you are mad or do not like someone, you will comment on how deformed and not round an object is

Do not say thank you, instead compliment - your soup is very delicious. That shirt fits you well, etc.

The Vietnamese like to ask very personal questions - to them, nothing is too personal: age, relationship status, etc.

Women are most respected in the family

After the class we had lunch in which I could not really find anything to eat (we thought something was dog but turns out it was only pork that smelled really weird) so I ate my protein meal bar and some really good bananas. Then, we had to come back to the hotel to change into something more business casual. The building that the presentation was in had a delicious French bakery where I got two different types of chocolate croissants. It also had Limited Brands' La Senza but I did not get to go in. We were then placed in a room with a great view of Ho Chi Minh - Professor Berman explained to us how none of the tall buildings we see today were here 10 years ago. Its amazing how many reminders there are of how far Vietnam has come in just 10 years. The presentation was by Jennifer from the US Consulate who works in the economics department. She deals with a lot of issues including GDP production, the environment, ethics, etc. It seemed like a really interesting subject to be involved with, especially in a country such as Vietnam that is growing so rapidly. Only 10 months ago she was working in the immigrant office and deciding who to give visa's to but now she gets to travel around the country and research. They also mentioned an interesting internship program for the foreign service. Oh, and we found out why there are so many safe stores everywhere - people here don't really believe in or trust the bank especially when the dong is so unstable so they keep their money in their house, or invest in gold, thus, they need the safes! And, when asked what material possesions demonstrate wealth here, we were told that although some do want to keep up appearances and have the latest things, the majority of Vietnamese just want to be able to support their family and be happy - so much more modent than Americans. (speaking of latest things though - we saw a new HD 3D tv, it was amazing). Just as we were leaving the building it starts monsooning outside. The only other time I've seen rain like this was when we were stuck at the zoo in China in the rain. We tried to wait it out but after a while people decided to walk ( we were going to the market) so off we went. Only one side of my got soaked because the other half was under Andrew's umbrella. Shopping while wet was not ideal but I still bought a few things.

Finally, we went to dinner - still wet. and the restaurant was very fancy. Elizabeth and I cleaned ourselves up as much as possible but it was pretty hopeless, and cold since we were wet throughout the whole dinner. We decided to share though and ordered fried noodles with beef and grilled prawns in butter. A long time later a mini lobster showed up in front of us. That was a surprise. Looking back, i guess the menu said grilled prawn (not plural); not what we expected at all. after laughing for a while we started with our noodles and beef which was amazinggg. It tasted like something I would get in America but better. Everything from the beef to the broccoli to the noodles were delicious. Elizabeth and i fought over the final few bites. As for the prawn? we each got 2 bites of the tail, that's it. I cracked it with my hands which wasn't easy considering the whole thing was soaked in a delicious but sticky butter sauce. It was a huge disappointment but at least entertaining since neither of us were expecting a lobster to show up in front of us. The restaurant was called Nam Phan and is in walking distance from our hotel so I really hope to go back at least once more!

Once again we got back to the hotel pretty early and had a lot of time to shower and warm up from the rain. I tried to catch up on my blogging but failed because we all ended up hanging out and getting ready to go out. We decided on Lush, a group favorite from last year's trip. We had the address this time so we got there fine but then, of course, there was a problem: the boys could not get in because they were wearing shorts. The girls and Mike decided to go in and wait while the boys went back to change. We had a lot of fun, the place itself was really nice and cool looking. My only complaint is that they didnt play many songs, just beats, but overall it was really fun. We got back to the hotel eventually and I went right to sleep. I had really weird dreams and heard all types of sounds coming from the room. I found out later that I asked Julie in the middle of the night if there was a monkey in our room? I don't remember asking but i'm not surprised; i was hearing so many sounds. If the weird dreams continue I might give up on the malaria pills again.

Day 3

Today was our first day not going to the school; only site visits. We started off our morning with a presentation on Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park and then moved on to a presentation on II-VI Vietnam - a company based in Pittsburgh which made it more interesting. Even more coincidental is the fact that the speaker's daughter just finished her freshman year at Pitt. In between, we had a really good snack of seafood spring rolls and hawaiin pizza, fresh fruits and different deserts. We then moved on to a site tour of one of II-VI's factories where they make lenses. All of the engineering references meant nothing to me but I found it interesting to see how a factory works and where things we use in America come from. I found in somewhat depressing even though the man giving the tour said all of the workers were "happy". But while they were working with glass, no one was wearing safety protection and the whole facility was so bland, white walls, white floors, etc. I just can't imagine sitting there for hours on end every day doing the same task over and over and over again. It does not seem like a good way to live to me but i guess that they are okay about it because they are supporting their families. One other interesting note is that after their first year of operations, they allowed people to go home for the really big holiday and once it was over, 30% of their workers did not come back. Apparently, these workers come in from far away and leave their families for months at a time. Then, when they finally get their one week break, they decide to extend it for a month or two until coming back to the city to look for another job for the next 10 months or so. The cycle then repeats itself. II-IV however, has found incentives for their workers to come back and only a few years later had every single worker show up after the holiday.
For lunch we went to a buffet that had really good chicken on a skewer with green peppers and onions. We also found out the meaning of 35 and 75. We then went to Glass Egg Digital Media for a very short presentation. The whole thing was pretty disappointing because it could have been really interesting but the presenters clearly did not think we were worth their time. They ran through the slide show and then gave us the shortest answers for all of our questions. It was unfortunate because if the two other CEO's were there, Professor Berman said they would have been much more involved and the whole thing would have been a lot more relaxed and conversational.
By the time we got back to the hotel we all were exhausted but wanted to go shopping so we planned on taking an hour nap because it was only 4. The next thing I know, our doorbell is being rung by Matt and Kyle and its 8. I was still so tired. By 9 or so, we managed to get all the girls together and awake enough to take a cab ride to the Hard Rock Cafe. Once again, the whole ride was less than a dollar. The 4 of us had a really fun and relaxing lady's night complete with delicious cheese burgers and fries and a live band from LA. It was impossible to talk at the beginning because the band was so loud but by the time our food got to us she had stopped singing and we were able to talk and enjoy our dinner. We left around 11:30, got back and went to sleep.

Day 2

We woke up earlier today and had more eggs for breakfast. They havent; gotten old yet though! We drove to UEF where we hung out for a little and then heard a presentation on Urban Planning and Development in Ho Chi Minh. Some of the facts were really surprising and interesting to learn. For example, the infrastructure development in HCM in the last 13 year. The number of air conditioning units have not really grown even though HCM is so incredibly hot and only has 2 seasons - no winter. Yet, tv's and motorbikes and phones have become pretty standard household items which isn't that surprising when you look around the streets of Vietnam (92% of households have motorbikes!) . Overall I thought it was an interesting but wordy presentation that covered a lot of information on just how far Vietnam has come in the last 10 years or so. Its incredible that once city has managed to develop so much in such a little amount of time. The other thing his presentation highlighted in my mind was the growing disparity between the upper and lower classes. This idea was brought to life on our long and disheartening drive to our next site visit of Phu My Hung. As we drove and drove, the housing and general atmosphere and condition of the land got worse and worse until eventually, we were driving by what I guess you could call shanty's on the side of the road along the water. In America, housing on the water would be high valued property but here, shacks that looked as though a strong gust of wind could blow them over were leaning on each other for support. Not to mention the fact that the water has turned into a stream of floating trash and dirt. The more we drove, I just had to wonder, what do you do with a land like this? How do you repair this? The slight evidence of hope and modernization were the homes stacked on top of the store fronts, each one a different shade of green, blue, pink, yellow and orange. They added a sense of beauty and culture to the land, different from any homes I've ever seen in America - tall and skinny with flowers and spiral staircases. And then we drove into Phu My Hung's new residential and commercial area..

We drove into a world that looked nothing like the rest of Vietnam complete with tall buildings, expensive shopping and a BMW and Porsche store. We watched a really impressive presentation on the development of the new city center - from a swamp only a few years ago to super expensive and modernized housing for thousands of foreigners and Vietnamese. What's ironic is that Phu My Hung started building new housing to reduce the population in Districts 1-5 but now their housing is so expensive and deluxe that more and more foreigners are just moving in to their apartments and villas. Their next project is "the Crescent" a really pretty housing and shopping plan along the water. It was just amazing to see that something that was all swamps just a few years ago now looks like something straight out of a very high class area of Florida.

Upon getting back to the hotel we ordered pizza which was really weird but still more familiar than what we've been eating for lunch at the school. Then the whole group got ready to go out to Apocalypse Now, a nightclub but as soon as we started driving in the taxi we realized that no one had the address. So, we gave the driver a dollar for the ride and walked back to the hotel. The boys picked up a broom on the walk. We got the address and started out once again in a taxi and we made it! Good thing we had to turn around because even with the whole diversion we were still the first people there. As the night went on though, more people showed up (we made friends with 3 German boys who were traveling the country) and they played good music. Overall, it was a fun day. I was exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel and went to sleep.

First day in Vietnam

After many hours of flying and sitting in airports, we arrived in Ho Chi Minh city airport where we stepped outside into the hot, humid air. Our van picked up the whole group and we made our way back to the hotel where the group hung out for a little before going to sleep for the night.
At 7 am, Julie and I woke up from our alarm (even though the sounds from the street had already been waking us up for a few hours) and got ready for the day. We started off the morning with breakfast in the hotel lobby and then loaded up in the van and headed to the University of Economics and Finance. This was our first real look at what driving in Ho Chi Minh is like, with motorbikes everywhere that don't stop for anything. It was crazy to see how many people are on the road and how many children and adults people manage to pile onto the bikes. We even saw one woman who had just gotten knocked off her bike in the middle of a busy intersection. Overall though, the drive to UEF showed how different Ho Chi Minh is to any city I have ever been in. There were store fronts everywhere selling everything from safes to stuffed animals to furniture to souvenirs. Men and women lounged outside of the stores with no sign of customers.

Once we made it to UEF, we were greeted by an excited group of students all of whom seemed enthused to be getting to spend the next two weeks getting to know us. After a few welcome speeches and a presentation introducing us to the UEF we all sang a Michael Jackson song together - Heel the World. Then, it was time for our first Vietnamese language class with the students. Today's lesson focused on learning the alphabet, which has 29 letters, the 5 different tones and how to say a few basic sentences like "my name is" and "i am American" and "it is very nice to meet you". The pronunciations are not easy so I definitely think it will take some more practice. Hopefully i will have some grasp on all of it by the end of next week.

Our first lunch was served at the UEF and then we made our way back to the Victory Hotel where we changed into business casual clothes for our trip to the U.S. Consulate. We also went on a short city tour where we stopped for a few pictures and a little bit of exploring. Overall it was really hot and humid throughout the day and I think all of us were ready for the air conditioned consulate.

Within the Consulate's walls we were introduced to Chuck and Dave who gave us a short presentation on their work as Foreign Servers, the history of the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Vietnam (specifically Saigon during the war), and their own personal backgrounds as well as career fields. The whole tour of the facility was really interesting, especially the memorial on the lawn for the 5 American men who died defending the Embassy when it was attacked in 1968. After leaving Vietnam in 1975 the American land was taken over by the Vietnamese and a memorial was set up on the wall of the Embassy for the 17 Viet Cong who died attacking the Embassy. Today, after making the Vietnamese take down the sign when the land was returned to America in 1995, a large memorial has been built by the Vietnamese government right outside of the Consulate's walls so that no one will ever forget the brave act of these 17 Viet Cong men. Other than that, I found it interesting to learn about the work of a foreign server and how many different places it can take you as each tour lasts only 2 to 4 years. The job takes a lot of work because you have to spend considerable months or years learning a language yet in the end, it seems worth it. Dave was on his first tour and now has the power to choose who to give a Visa or greencard to and must solve little mysteries every day to make sure that people are not trying to go around the law. It sounds like it would be an interesting job to have if you could commit yourself to moving every few years.

Back at the hotel the group hung out before heading off to a traditional Vietnamese dinner complete with plenty of seafood, some meat dishes and various types of egg rolls. I enjoyed most of the food, especially the shrimp, a lot of it was just very spicy. The dinner was a nice way to wrap up a busy first day.