Day 2

We started our day by heading back over to UEF. First, we were given a lecture about some of the economic developments of Vietnam. He mentioned that they were looking to fix the traffic and flooding issues in the city. Also, they are hoping to regulate the amount of street vendors because they take up so much sidewalk space that pedestrians are not even able to walk on it. Although I had a difficult time understanding his broken English, I still learned a lot about the new developments and plans for future change in Vietnam.

Afterwards, we had our second language class. In one lesson, we learned how to count from 1 to a million which I think is pretty impressive. Also, since we’re going to Ben Thanh market later this week, we learned a few phrases to say when trying to bargain with sellers. We learned how to ask for prices and bargain to get a lower price. 

Next, we went to our first company visit at Phu My Hung. The south Saigon area is completely different from the rest of Ho Chi Minh City. It’s very upscale which contrasts with the lower middle class that consumes most of the city. After only a half an hour drive, it seemed like we were in a completely different city. At Phu My Hung, we were given a small presentation about the company’s background and their work over the years. They are behind all the new renovations that transformed the area into what it is today. In the early 1990’s, they started this huge project to renovate the area because of the expanding population. From the photos we saw, they transformed the area completely which used to be a marshland. However, even after all this time, they are far from being complete. We saw a model of the area (picture below) that showed all new renovations they made as well as the ones planned for the future. All the ones that are in white are complete and the ones in brown are still in the planning process.

Next, we drove around the area to see the different projects that Phu My Hung has completed such as the international school, the Crescent mall and a few residencies. I was really surprised that some of the houses were worth over $2 million US dollars which shows the contrast between the wealthy and the poor in this city. Something also surprising was that the drivers in that area actually followed some safety rules of the road which was something I thought I would never see in Vietnam.

Tonight was the first night we went out with the Vietnamese students. We went to another traditional Vietnamese restaurant. The food was new to me, but it was really good. We were given these large pancakes that were shaped like a taco and had different fillings inside. We then had to tear it apart and wrap it in lettuce. Of course, none of us knew how to eat it at first and like always, the Vietnamese students had to do it for us. I never thought that I would have to depend on someone else to cut up my food for me. It’s shameful. I’m so glad that they’re all really helpful and patient because I’m sure it’s very frustrating for them that we’re completely clueless about everything. Afterwards, we all went to get ice cream. Apparently the ice cream at the shop is imported straight from Switzerland. It was worth it because that was some good ice cream. After the meal and the ice cream, I only spent around $6 US dollars or 120,000 dong. If only food was this cheap back home.