Today started off the same as every other day, waking up early and having breakfast in the hotel. Had our first history class today, found it pretty interesting. Learned about the origins of the Vietnamese and the regions they live in. Finding out they held off Genghis Khan's army is really impressive. Had another language class right after. I feel like all of our language skills are really coming together. All of our pronunciations of the tones are improving and everyone is saying we are way better than last years class.
The rest of the day was all a big surprise. They kept us waiting at the school after lunch for some time of ceremony but wouldn't tell us what was going on. We ended up splitting up into groups with the UEF students and competed with the others for prizes. The activities included games, dancing and even catching a pig. I found some to be kind of awkward but I had a really good time and I got to meet a bunch of new students.
The students took us out to dinner yet again (They are some of the nicest people I ever met). The took us to try Pho for the first time. I liked at and it filled me up fast. After we ate they took us on a tour of Ho Chi Minh on there motorbikes. They took us around the city for around an hour and we all had a really good time!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Day 3
We started off the day by visiting VSIP, Vietnamese Singapore Industrial Park. We took pictures of the models of the different park sites. During our meeting we learned about the history of each site and their purpose and some plans for the future.We then toured the site to see some of the businesses inside VSIP.
After the tour, our meeting with VSIP was done but we stayed inside the park to visit II-VI. The chief engineering gave us a very informative tour around the building. He gave us the ins and outs of the optical technology that they were working on. Even though it reminded all of us of physics (which we all hated by the way) it was still pretty cool. Don't ever want to hear about newton rings ever again though.
Came back to the hotel for a quick lunch. We ate fast and headed to the co op to pick up some snacks. IT's unreal how cheap everything is. You can get a 5L bottle of water that's worth around 50 cents! We went to UEF for our last meeting of the day with a commercial adviser. He talked to us around taking advantage of opportunities for living/working abroad.
We had the rest of the day to ourselves after for the first time on the trip. Me and a few others headed up to the pool to chill for a little before we headed out to dinner with some of the UEF students. They picked us up and took us to BBQ Garden. The food was really good. After dinner we decided to walk back to the hotel which gave us some more experience crossing streets in Ho Chi Minh.
After the tour, our meeting with VSIP was done but we stayed inside the park to visit II-VI. The chief engineering gave us a very informative tour around the building. He gave us the ins and outs of the optical technology that they were working on. Even though it reminded all of us of physics (which we all hated by the way) it was still pretty cool. Don't ever want to hear about newton rings ever again though.
Came back to the hotel for a quick lunch. We ate fast and headed to the co op to pick up some snacks. IT's unreal how cheap everything is. You can get a 5L bottle of water that's worth around 50 cents! We went to UEF for our last meeting of the day with a commercial adviser. He talked to us around taking advantage of opportunities for living/working abroad.
We had the rest of the day to ourselves after for the first time on the trip. Me and a few others headed up to the pool to chill for a little before we headed out to dinner with some of the UEF students. They picked us up and took us to BBQ Garden. The food was really good. After dinner we decided to walk back to the hotel which gave us some more experience crossing streets in Ho Chi Minh.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Day 2
Today we started off the day with a presentation on urban development planning for Ho Chi Minh city. It covered the process of economic reform, background of their development, and development targets for the future. It was very informing and interesting. After a short break we continued with our language class. Today we got into numbers. Never thought it would be so tricky to count to 10.I do feel like we're all starting to get the hang of it and will be able to attempt to bargain in the market soon. At lunch we got to try even more new food. I had prawn for the first time and it wasn't bad at all. I'm also starting to get better with chopsticks. I still got a long way to go.
After lunch we met with our first company, Phu My Hung. We learned a lot about their company and some of their current projects including development of South Saigon. After our meeting we were given a tour of their development which was awesome. The buildings all looked really nice.
We have the rest of the night off so we plan on going out with the students for dinner. Should be really fun.
After lunch we met with our first company, Phu My Hung. We learned a lot about their company and some of their current projects including development of South Saigon. After our meeting we were given a tour of their development which was awesome. The buildings all looked really nice.
We have the rest of the night off so we plan on going out with the students for dinner. Should be really fun.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Day 1
After nearly 30 long hours of travel we finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh. We arrived at our hotel to get very little but much needed sleep before we begin our day. We started off the day with breakfast. It was kind of unusual seeing a bunch of food that we would normally see for dinner such as rice and beef. And I'd have to say that they really have some amazing juice. After breakfast we went to visit the University of Finance and Education. There they had a few presentations which included a puppet show and singing which was really good. After that we headed upstairs for our first class of Vietnamese. It's fun but tricky to get the tonal pronunciations right. For lunch we got to try some more Vietnamese food. I have a feeling I'm going to be eating pretty healthy these next 2 weeks and finally learn how to use chopsticks.
Headed back to the hotel for a little then visited the US Consulate. They gave us a little background history of Vietnam and our country's relationship with them as well as some history of the site which used to be the US Embassy. Some interesting stuff we learned there.
Getting ready to head out one last time for the day as I'm typing this. Hopefully by the time we get back from dinner I'll be able to sleep. It's not even 6:30 pm and I'm already yawning and can't wait to go to bed.
Headed back to the hotel for a little then visited the US Consulate. They gave us a little background history of Vietnam and our country's relationship with them as well as some history of the site which used to be the US Embassy. Some interesting stuff we learned there.
Getting ready to head out one last time for the day as I'm typing this. Hopefully by the time we get back from dinner I'll be able to sleep. It's not even 6:30 pm and I'm already yawning and can't wait to go to bed.
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