Day 12

Today was our last day in Vietnam =( Two weeks definitely went by too quickly.

We started our day with a lecture at UEF. Co Giang, a representative for the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce, came to speak with us. She represents the business in Pennsylvania and sends information about them to Vietnam. She talked a little about what she does, and the possibilities of an internship for us students.

Next, we had our last Vietnamese language class. We all were tested on conversational speech. We were paired up and asked to have a conversation on a certain topic then, we had to give a short introduction about ourselves. I was paired up with Elliot, and we had to ask how the other was, where did they go last night and what we did. For the introduction, we had to state our name, our school, where we live and what we’ve done in Vietnam. I got a 10 mark on the test which is a perfect. I already knew most of it, so if I got anything less, my mom would be a little disappointed. Though we learned pretty basic Vietnamese, it definitely helped me improve pronunciation and aided me in remembering other Vietnamese that I thought I lost. After elementary school, I had lost most of my Vietnamese because I would only speak English in school. Hopefully, after this trip, it will inspire me to become fluent in Vietnamese again.

After lunch, we prepared for our soccer match with UEF. We all thought that we would be playing against the students in the English Club that we’ve been hanging out with, but to our surprise, they were making us play against their soccer team. Putting a bunch a people who don’t know how to play soccer against a team of soccer players isn’t the best combination. They clearly wanted to embarrass us. It was a scorcher today. Just standing outside made me sweat profusely. I thought there was no chance we would win this. I sat out for the first two plays because I was scared to embarrass myself, and I was having difficulties wrapping up my leg. When I finally got in to play, I wasn’t doing too much. I really tried, but soccer just isn’t my sport. But by some miracle, I managed to get an assist. All I remember is blinding running into one of the other players with the ball, and Tim came up and scored a goal. Pure skill. Team Yolo ended up winning the game which is the first time Pitt has beaten UEF. I’m very surprised and proud of our group (even though Elliot and Tim carried the entire team).

There were a few activities planned after the match. One was a potato sack race. I was partnered up with Son, one of the UEF students. It was a relay set up so once he reached me, I had to take over and go to the finish line. He was doing really good and got to me pretty quickly. We transitioned really quickly and I was the first to start going. I was ahead of everyone, but of course, I completely embarrassed myself by falling. Nothing really hurt expect my butt and my self-esteem. It didn’t help that they were taping it to put on the news.

After the soccer game and the activities, we packed into the bus all drenched in sweat. We started packing our stuff before our farewell dinner tonight with a few of the heads of UEF. Before we left, we all found out that our flights got completely screwed up. The flight from Hong Kong to Chicago had changed times, so they changed all our flights. Some of us are going to Newark while others are stopping in San Francisco. It’s a mess, but we can’t do anything about it. I’m going to be back an hour earlier than originally planned, so I can’t complain.

Instead of spending an hour trying to figure out our flights, we just headed over to dinner. We were having dinner on a boat which was so awesome. I actually didn’t know these things existed. The food was really good and the entertainment was also great. I had a lot of fun being able to talk to the heads of UEF, but it was sad when we all had to say goodbye. I will especially miss our language teacher. She’s the best.

After our dinner, we met up with the Vietnamese students for one last time. They came to chill with us in the hotel. We played blackjack, read palms, and had massages. It was nice to be able to spend our last hours in Vietnam with them. They met up with us again at the Saigon airport to say goodbye. We went around and gave everyone hugs and said our goodbyes. At the beginning of this trip, I never thought we’d become so close with them. It was really hard to say goodbye because we may never see them again. I never thought that I would cry when I had to leave, but almost everyone was in tears when we were heading inside the airport. The hardest part was saying goodbye to Tran. She’s been so amazing this entire trip. I couldn’t have asked for a better guide. I really hope she can visit us in Pittsburgh one day. I hope they all can. I’m sitting on the airplane from Hong Kong to Newark right now, and all I want to do is turn right back around to Ho Chi Minh City. It's really been the best two weeks. 

This has been such a great experience. I’ve met some of the greatest people, both UEF students and Pitt students. This is definitely a hard way to leave. Goodbye Vietnam. You’ll be missed.

Day 11

Today was our trip to Cu Chi! It’s about an hour or an hour and a half away, so we all had to wake up earlier than usual to catch the bus there. Our tour guide greeted us this morning. He was a very chipper man and kept referring to us as his family. I took a nice nap on the ride there. Cu Chi is a poorer town than Ho Chi Minh City. It was mostly farmland and many of the houses were old and falling apart. It seemed like a nice and quiet place to live except that it was unclean. The site where we were visiting was completely in the woods. We walked around and along the way, there were small stations where we would stop. First, we watched a short video about the history of the tunnels. During the war, both civilians and fighters would use the tunnels to travel as well as a safe place to stay. It was very unpleasant because it was almost always hot and smelly. I also noticed that this area is more communist than in the city. We went in this underground hut to watch it. I’m surprised they managed to get electricity in there. The video was very biased and called Americans a bunch of crazies when they mentioned the US used bombs on women, children and livestock. Other than that, it was very informational. They had mentioned beforehand that there may be snakes and a lot of bugs there. There were many centipede-looking things crawling around.

After the video, we started walking around. We saw some of their traps the Viet Cong would use. One was a bamboo trap door on the ground. When an American fighter would step on it, they would fall into the ground which has bamboo spikes that are usually covered in poison or feces. There were so many different traps and tools they used that weren’t very technical, but they were lethal. They were mostly just made of wood and bamboo spikes. They also showed us the tunnels that ran for miles underground. We were able to walk through a small path underground that wasn’t too deep or far. I didn’t expect it to be so cramped. They expanded these to accommodate all the husky tourists, but it was still difficult to move around. It was complete darkness. We had a leader with a flashlight and at times, I still couldn’t see. Apparently, there were bugs and centipedes along the wall which I’m glad I didn’t notice while walking through otherwise, I would’ve sprinted out of there. Everyone else liked crawling through that cramped and bug infested tunnel, so they turned around and went through again. I took a pass. I went for the experience and once was enough. Afterwards, we just walked around some more. It was like a day hiking in the woods.  

One of the traps at Cu Chi

Once we were done at Cu Chi, we took another hour drive to Tay Ninh and visited a Cao Dai temple. Cao Dai is a type of religion that is a combination of many religions. It includes Buddhism, Christianity and a few more. We were able to walk into the temple and view a service. There was music going one while the women and men in white traditional outfits filed out into the main room. They sat cross-legged as the music continues and they bow at the sound of gongs. I didn’t understand much about what was going on, but it was very interesting to see. The people in charge were very strict. We had to walk a certain path to get in and to go out. Also, we weren’t allowed to walk across the front of the temple during the service.

The temple in Cao Dai

Next, we went to lunch at a street vendor. I ordered fried rice and practically inhaled it. I was so hungry. I don’t know if we could trust any of that food since we were outside of the city in a poor town. Their water source may not be so clean, but even so, I didn’t care because I was starving. That was our last stop, so once everyone was done, we took another 2 hour drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. I took a nice long nap on the way back, but the bus isn’t too comfy.

We didn’t have much time to rest before we went to Ben Thanh market again with the UEF kids. I actually bought a lot of items this time. I got a few souvenirs for friends and family and a rice hat for myself. I bought almost everything in sight because I didn’t want to leave without buying something.

Lunch was at this small restaurant. I forget the name, but it served American food. Most people got the steak. Some were brave enough to try the ostrich. I ordered spaghetti, but I got noodles with garlic sauce. I guess they call that spaghetti here. But it was still very good. I also had crème brule which I didn’t know was a pastry made of egg and a sugar coating. It was good the first few bites, then I couldn’t handle it anymore. We all chipped in to pay for the UEF students today since they’ve done so much for us these past 2 weeks. It was the least we could do.

Tonight is our last night to enjoy Ho Chi Minh City. Tomorrow night we need we’re leaving around 2 pm, so there won’t be much time to go out. Hopefully we figure out what we want to do. I guess that’s all for today. (Blogs have started to become a real pain). 

Day 10

Today wasn’t the greatest day. Probably one of the most boring days I’ve had in Vietnam. It was completely business visits. Some visits have been very interesting, but today was a struggle.

Our first stop was at Saigon Newport. They are the largest shipping company in Vietnam. Their main service is to ship anything overseas. We were given a small presentation about the company’s services and their background. Afterwards, we were given a tour of the control tower which was interesting. I didn’t know really understand much of what was going on since there were so many different color coded charts with random numbers. It was very confusing to try to decode. Next, we drove around to the shipping areas where we got to see some of the loaded ships and the huge collection of products that are waiting to be shipped. It must be very difficult to keep track of all the shipments, when they need to be shipped, where the destination is, how much to ship on one load, etc. There’s a lot going on to maintain stability.

Once we were done at Saigon Newport, we went to UEF for lunch and some iced coffee. I’m usually not a big coffee person, but Vietnam’s coffee is amazing. It’s very strong and sweet and tastes more like a frappacino. I’m hoping I can find some Vietnamese iced coffee back in America. After lunch, we still had about another hour left so I took a nice nap before the next visit.

Our next stop was at Quang Trung Software Company. I know absolutely nothing about computers, so I knew I wouldn’t be too interested. The two representatives that showed us around weren’t prepared and seemed like they didn’t know what they were doing. Their slide show was very vague, and they didn’t answer the questions very well. It seemed like we were blindly walking around. They could’ve done a better job with preparing.

TMA Solutions was our next visit. They were a bit more organized. We took a tour and were able to go into a few of their office rooms. Their office setup is different than those in the US. There are long tables that are lined with workers. They don’t have their own cubicle. Instead of everyone having their own cubicle or desk, there are long tables that are lined with computers. It promotes more socialization, but I feel like it would be hard to get things done sometimes. Next, there was a slideshow about the company’s services and background. It was longer than I had expected, and I struggled to pay attention through most of it. It was all talk about computers, so it went through one ear and out the other. I’m sure it was great for the computer engineers to learn about the company but for an accounting major, it wasn’t interesting at all.

Since everyone really enjoyed the street vendor food yesterday, we decided to try another one. We went to this small vendor that served ice cream. Why not have dessert before the actual dinner? It was vanilla ice cream with nuts and fruit. It was so good and only 50 cents. Never again will I be able to find food so cheap. Next, we went to the Kichi-Kichi hotpot for dinner. It was so awesome. We each have our own broth that we order and have it heat up on the stove in front of us. There’s a conveyor belt that runs across the table with different things you can put in your pot. It’s sort of like a buffet set up because you can take as much as you want. I’ve never seen anything like it in the US, so it was pretty cool to see.

Now we’re back in our hotel chillin and trying to get our blogging done like usual. Tomorrow, we’re going to the Cu Chi tunnels. I’m excited but crawling around with my leg injury and now my swollen ankle shouldn’t be easy. It should be interesting though. 

Day 9

Today was like most days usually. We went to culture class in the morning. I remembered seeing some odd photos of decorations or architecture that represented fertility (meaning there were many phallic symbols involved). He went through some random facts such as the Vietnamese value female dominance which is why after marriage, the man moves in with his wife’s family. There were a bunch of interesting topics he brought up, but I honestly can’t remember most of it. Nine in the morning is too early for my brain to function correctly.

Next, we had language class. Today’s lesson was how to state your nationality and where you live. “Toi la nguoi my” means I am American and “toi song o my” means I am living in America. We had to all pair up and go to the front to have a short conversation in Vietnamese. I always know what I’m doing when I’m sitting down, but when I’m in the front of the class, my mind blanks. It’s like high school all over again.

Afterwards, we went to visit Glass Egg. Phil Tran, the CEO of the company, was going to be our tour guide, so I was very excited to meet him. He showed us around some of the offices where programming and design occurs. I was surprised to see how small and personal the offices were. For a company that designs for large corporations such as EA and Microsoft, I was expecting it to be a larger and fancier office. But they seem to be able to get their job done either way. Afterwards, we had a small presentation about the company’s background and their clients. The person that was giving us the presentation had a very heavy French accent, but he was clearly Asian. Not what I was expecting, but he made my entire trip. At the end of the visit, Phil and his partner invited us to Lush which was the night club we were at on Saturday. It’s ladies night, so it should be very interesting. The students last year got a VIP booth, so hopefully they make that happen again.

We were able to see the UEF students today for dinner. Our “appetizer” was at a small street vendor. Everyone got sticky rice with chicken while I got these beans that were covered in sugar beads and onions. It was a very interesting combination. It wasn’t too bad surprisingly. For the main course, we went to a coffee shop that also serves food. Being the culturally diverse individual that I am, I got potato wedges with ketchup. It was very delicious though. Once we were done with dinner, the UEF students invited us to go walk to the mall nearby. It’s the biggest shopping mall in Vietnam. There were so many luxury brands like Chanel and Gucci. Even in Vietnam I can’t afford these things. There were a lot of brand names that I never heard of like Naf Naf. I wish we had a mall like that back in Lancaster. I can’t afford anything, but it’d be nice to look at.

We went back to the hotel around 9 to get ready for Lush. It was so much more crowded than Saturday night. We got a VIP couch which we barely even used. Everyone was pushing and shoving on the dance floor. It was so crowded and crazy. I got trampled on so much that I have a huge bruise on the side of my leg. Even though it was completely insane, it was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can come back again before we leave.

Day 8

It’s Monday which means more educational stuff to do. Fantastic…

Our plan for today was to go talk to the people from Highland’s Coffee and Viet Thai (VTI). My group had originally researched about Highland’s so we were leading the group today which mean a lot of questions had to come from us. Two representatives from Viet Thai talked to us about both VTI and Highland’s. We all got free drinks which was amazing. I got the mango mania which was the best smoothie I’ve ever had in my life. They know how to make their drinks. Someone needs to make Highland’s happen in Pittsburgh. Okay, I’m getting a little off track. Back to the presentation, afterwards, we had another lecture talk about the business and economy of Vietnam. I thought we would get to meet David and Dan Thai who were the founders and CEO’s of the company but unfortunately, we didn’t. Next, we went to a Hard Rock Café to visit which was a little out of the blue. Viet Thai is also partnered with Hard Rock in Saigon, so one of the representatives invited us over there. We ended up getting to have lunch there which was so good. Some people got ribs which looked delicious. There was a tray of appetizers, salad, nachos and dessert. I didn’t eat too much, but it was so good. Or how the Vietnamese would say “ngon qua”. Just practicing 

We went back to the hotel for little then headed over to the War Remnants Museum. Dr. Berman had mentioned before we walked in that the representations in the museum are much different than what we hear in the US. It was actually very difficult to even look at some of the pictures. There were many disturbing photos of Agent Orange victims and victims of war. They portrayed the war as if it was Vietnam versus America instead of a civil war. They showed Americans from a very bad perspective. It’s completely different from the American side of the story. I still found the museum to be interesting. The photos were pretty graphic for the most part, but there were some very interesting photographs in display. I hear a lot about the war from my family but to see it all in front of me was overwhelming.

We walked back to the hotel after the museum and were given some time to rest until dinner. Tonight we went to a Japanese restaurant. Pretty much everything had seafood in it. I had some udon noodles which weren’t awful, but it wasn’t very good either. I guess I’m not a big fan of Japanese food. Then we went back to the ice cream shop we were at before and all had some ice cream. Now we’re all back in the hotel, and I can’t wait to finally sleep at a decent hour. I’ve been more sleep deprived than when I was in school.

YUM ICE CREAM

Day 7

Today was beach day at Vung Tau. I was really excited to be able to see a beach in Vietnam, and after all this extreme tropical weather, everyone was looking forward to this trip. We woke up at the ungodly hour of 6:30 to catch a boat up to Vung Tau. The boat was rocking like crazy. To get from the dock to the boat was a piece of wood that was falling apart. I really thought I was going to plummet into the water. Fortunately, I safely got on the boat, but the rocking made me want to puke. But after last night, I was so tired and passed out right when I sat down.

When I woke up, we were already at Vung Tau. We climbed on the bus, and it took us over to the beach. I think we were all ready to jump in the water, but there were a few games planned for us. There were some very interesting choices for games. In one of the game, each team had to sit on the ground, put their legs around the other person and this made a long line of us all attached. I’ve watched Human Centipede one too many times so I knew this wouldn’t be good. We were suppose to move together using only our hands to move along. The first to reach the end would win. I couldn’t stop laughing. It was the weirdest game I’ve ever been a part of. Sand was getting in all the wrong places, and having someone’s feet around me was just not pleasant. The other team gave up after literally 5 seconds, but somehow they forced us to finish. Afterwards, we finally got to go in the water. I’m used to going to the beaches off the coast of Maryland and Jersey which can have some huge waves. This beach was pretty chill without any waves. I felt like I was in the water for 15 minutes when Brice came along with his bullhorn and herded us back to shore. He knows how to make a scene. Apparently it was time to reapply sunscreen. Thanks mom.

After the beach, we went to lunch at one of the nearby restaurants. There was so much seafood that I couldn’t eat anything except the rice, some veggies and eggs. It kept me full though. We noticed that the Vietnamese really love their seafood. When we went to Dominos, they even had a seafood pizza. That’s pushing it.

Next, we hiked up to Jesus. There was a large mountain that had a large Jesus statue at the very top. Not as big as the one in Rio de Janeiro, but it was pretty huge. That was quite the workout. While the rest of the group went ahead, the group I was walking with took quite a few stops along the way. Of course, it was because we had to take pictures. Not because we’re out of shape. Anyways, a century later, we finally got to Jesus. People can actually climb to the top and stand on Jesus’s shoulder but long pants were required. Why would they expect someone to hike up this gargantuan mountain in long pants? I’m sure Jesus would’ve been fine with shorts and a t-shirt. We stayed up there for a bit to take pictures and buy souvenirs, then we took the long trek back down. (It must suck to be the workers who are stationed at the top of the mountain. Must suck to climb that every day).

Oh, hey look it's Jesus

We went back to Ho Chi Minh City on that awful boat once again. It was freezing this time because they had the air conditioning on to the max and a fan. It wasn’t pleasant. I tried to sleep most of the time so I wouldn’t feel myself slowing freezing into a popsicle.

For dinner, we went to the Black Cat for dinner which apparently is one of the top 10 eating experiences in the world according to CNN. That’s pretty neat. Everyone was excited that they served American food so everyone got a fat and calorie packed burger. I didn’t enjoy my veggie burger too much but the fries were pretty good. Afterwards, we all went to Go2 which was a small restaurant where we chilled for a little bit before we headed back.

Tomorrow we’re back to company visits. Well, the weekend was fun while it lasted.

Day 6

Since it’s Saturday, we finally got a break from the classes and the company visits. Instead, we all went a tour of some of the prominent buildings in the city. Of course, the one day we’ll be spending a lot of time outside is when it’s the most hot and humid. Our first stop was at the Reunification Palace which was built as a palace for Ngo Dinh Diem, but was captured and destroyed by the north during the war. (I’m not sure how accurate that description was). It was then rebuilt and open to the public in the 1990’s. It was a beautiful building, but unfortunately, there was no air conditioning so we were all completely drenched in the sweat the entire time. We saw the different rooms such as the dining hall, casino, movie room, etc. as well as the basement which was also a bomb shelter.  There were different staircases and hallways that we walked through under there. It was really interesting to learn more about its history, but it would’ve been more enjoyable if it wasn’t a sauna in there.

Reunification Palace

Our lovely tour guide with Ho Chi Minh

Next we headed over to the post office. We didn’t see much of it though since everyone headed directly to the gift shop. I got a few souvenirs for my friends then it was already time to leave.

Our last stop was at a Buddhist temple. My family is Buddhist so I’ve been to a few temples, but this one surpassed all the ones I’ve seen. There were so many beautiful statues and decorations.  One thing we found odd was the swastika on the Buddha statues. There were also a lot of beggers that were roaming the place. This one woman followed us around until we left and this man came up to me to ask for money for food. We’ve seen many beggers during this trip but none that were as forward and pushy as these. It was pretty uncomfortable.

Afterwards, since we all wanted to get more souvenirs, we asked the UEF students to come with us to Ben Thanh market. It’s like an indoor flea market so we needed their help to bargain. This market is mostly tourists so the vendors usually target foreigners to give them a higher price. I went with Tam, Alex and Kathy since we all had to split up into groups. There were so many different vendors and buyers there. It wasn’t as busy as it usually is, but it was still very hard to get around or even breathe. You would have to ask how much it is and bargain to a good price. I didn’t get too much since I was bargaining too low and no one would sell it to me at those prices. I really need to brush up on my haggling skills.

We then went for dinner at a karaoke bar with the UEF students. We got our own private room which I didn’t expect. Not too many people went up to sing. It was mostly Ricky and Eric up there but it was pretty entertaining. My favorite part was when they played Sweet Caroline, and we did what we do after the 3^rd quarter of a pitt football game. It was a lot of fun. I’m sure the UEF kids were very confused, but they seemed to enjoy it.

Once we got back, we all decided we wanted to go out so we all headed over to Lush which is a nightclub. The lights were a little crazy. I thought I was going to have a seizure, but luckily, after a while, you get used to it. The dance floor was completely packed when we were down there. Overall, it was a really fun night.