Saturday, June 22, 2013

Post Summaries- Summer Journal


Ethical Issues in My Profession:

I am in favor of outsourcing United States companies in Vietnam. The raw definition of outsourcing is to obtain (goods or a service) from an outside or foreign supplier, esp. in place of an internal source (New Oxford American Dictionary). With that being said, the best way to maximize costs is to find a way to manufacture the product at a cheap cost with some fixed costs including labor. I spoke with a man at 5 in the morning at the Ho Chi Minh City airport on the last leg of the trip. I briefly spoke about our trip and company visits and he told me how we are so lucky to experience this at such a young age. I proceeded to ask him what he was doing in Vietnam and he explained to me how he owns a business that makes equipment for hunting and that he is moving 100% of his manufacturing from China to Vietnam because of the price difference and laws that they have. He told me how most companies are leaving China for Vietnam and the Philippines; also, Asians see money and profit and will strike a deal the day that it is offered, unlike westerners who play around with deals for months or years. In Vietnam, labor is very cheap for Americans to gather many employees and make them work hard grueling hours to make a worthwhile product. There are many things that would not be allowed in the US because of our labor laws that provide employees benefits and laws to protect them. For instance, when we visited II-VI we learned a lot about the labor laws. The Vietnamese are allowed five days off a month without a request or a prior warning, they simply do not have to show up on some days. Companies of course need to maximize their time and profit so it is bad that the people sometimes do not show up. We learned that II-VI treats their employees well and tries their best to provide incentives to make sure the employees do come to work everyday. The wages are completely different than in America. The GDP per capita is roughly $1500 a year, which is close to 25 cents an hour and not to forget they work more hours than we do a day. The prices are of course more relative in the native country but still extremely low, like a meal does not cost the same here as it does there but relatively speaking it may for the workers. The United States is too far developed to lose the labor laws and would net make more money or do more business with the same kind of labor that the Vietnamese do. A really interesting difference that I will end this with is the land ownership. The communist government owns all of the land and therefore the companies lease their land which is not only more costly but can hurt if for some odd reason the government wants to take it back.

Educational Breadth as Professional Development:

There is certainly a need for a broader education in Vietnam especially with their rapidly growing economy and more global companies settling in Vietnam. After studying for two weeks in Vietnam, I have learned that there is a need for foreign interaction in the business world. As a business major, it is important to have some focus on foreign affairs and understand. Language barriers are always difficult and I am not saying I should study the main languages of the world but if I can gather a better sense of each continent and their business, I can further my quest to success. Also, if the education was stronger and the workforces were becoming more skilled and knowledgeable the entire country and companies can only grow and help stable the country. Like I mentioned before, with many global companies settling in Vietnam, the country should include more culture and language classes for the students because Vietnam is becoming a vital piece to the global economy and has major potential to succeed. When we visited EIU we saw in person how well these kids spoke English and studied. Many of their classes are hands on activities to prepare them for the best future. They are becoming more skilled than other students, which calls for competition, which then helps everyone, try to get better. I myself learned a lot about understanding culture and how important it is. Vietnam and the US have a major historical event that we each share and being an American, we have a different perspective on Vietnam then the rest of the world. Since we took classes there about the culture and language, the locals see that we are trying to use the language in our every day life and appreciate it more. I will never forget how many smiles I saw when I would ask how someone is or talk about prices in the market. They appreciate Americans coming to visit their country that was once in a brutal war with us and we are trying to learn their culture and language. Another vital part to educating everyone is when a business is entering a different country to for instance outsource; they need to be aware of the history, what kind of people, how business is handled in the country, and many laws such as how the government is operated. Obviously, the companies that become global are assumed to be intelligent but they need to obey the laws of the host country and make sure they cooperate with the people.

Lifelong Learning, Continuing Education as Professional Development:

The education of the current workers seems to be diverse like the United States workers. The difference is the job market is very open in Vietnam. Jobs are everywhere and unlike University students, the people are less concerned with how well it pays and how many hours a week, the Vietnamese work because they need to survive. There is less luxury in the country and more working to put meals on the plate. Of course, this happens in America but the people that are in my environment at home and school for the most part have more white-collar jobs. Many jobs are taught at work and the workers could have been farmers with a low education. Obviously, there are jobs that they need skilled workers and because of that, the schools teach them the necessary skills for the job. For many of the companies we visited, I saw a trend of the CEO and foreigners who bring in the unskilled workers for labor operate other authoritative positions. However, Vietnam is becoming more competitive and when competition arises people strive to get better and in turn will help increase the amount of skilled workers like engineers and business students. In the near future, workers will be more prepared and will boost the economy because the companies will not have to waste money on training and other needs to make sure the employees are producing the product correctly. As for technology, it is always rapidly improving but the workers are rapidly improving with it so there will be a time when everyone is caught up and the workers are supplying companies with a worthwhile skill unlike the workers now.

The Social Environment of Professional Life:

There are definitely connections to the social and professional life in Vietnam. First off, the culture is much more relaxed and less metropolitan. Patience is a virtue and is shown in the work place because most companies that we went to were more relaxed and easier to approach. I feel like if we were to do the same company visits in the US we would be much more intimidated with the environment and the people. The labor laws reflect the relaxed social life because of the amount of days off one gets and there is no such thing as a two-week notice. Also, many companies have good luck charms like a Buddha or certain number of steps, always odd, little things like that connect the social life and professional life. As for the locals staying on top of US news, they are pretty updated, mostly about sports. When I told several people I was from Philadelphia they knew all the teams I root for and the major players besides the American sports like baseball and hockey. They mostly knew about basketball and could recite to me several entire teams and how the playoffs were. Some students have been to the US particularly New York City and I was able to connect with them and discuss American topics with them. I will say it myself, I am not good at staying updated in even my own country so to say that I read newspapers and articles about Vietnam daily is certainly not true but since I have been back I have been reading and watching the history channel to further understand the war. I will say that because Vietnam’s businesses are from around the world, it is important to stay on top of the local news in different countries to understand the economy and politics in the country. As a communist country like Vietnam, our government is operated completely different so when there is business being done, it is sometimes difficult to come to an agreement because the government does and owns everything.

Functioning on Multi-Disciplinary Teams:

Communication is one of the core sources to success in the business world. One needs to be able to understand everyone’s input, the best solution that pleases everyone and also to finish each step of success, things always need to be spoken about. During the trip, I felt a lot more comfortable with the engineer students because I did not know a lot about engineering. I grew up with a dad who was an attorney and an older brother who went into accounting. Engineering was never spoken about in my house and because of that, I really did not have a sense of what an engineer does until the trip. I was excited to learn with these students and show them the business aspects of the companies while they share with me the technical understanding of a product. I was offered a new perspective of the business world through the engineer students because like the business school says, business majors think differently, its always maximizing success and the engineers think differently. They think about how one thing gets to another and a step-by-step process. It was neat to hear what they had to say about how business is very complicated with the relationships of the buyer and seller and different ways to distribute the product. Also, as a business student group projects occur all the time so working with kids from different backgrounds was a challenge but one that I endured and liked. A specific time during the trip when the engineers were most confused probably occurred when we visited the port because it was strictly business and trying to wrap their minds around supply, demand, costs, fixed costs, variable costs and other distribution techniques can be complicated and I was glad to help explain the different ways of doing business with ports. I thought we both helped each other very well and it was nice to have them for back up on confusing visits like II-VI.

When I returned home from the trip was when everything came together. It was almost like a revelation. I appreciated every second of the trip and knew that I was doing something that is once in a lifetime opportunity but when I landed in America and I spoke about the trip to my family was when I seriously loved this trip. The fact that I was able to interact with giant cooperation in Vietnam, study the language and culture, visit historical sights, and meet friends from school is unbelievable. I’ve been abroad a few times in my life in group settings but never had the time I had in Vietnam. It was the greatest experience and one that I will carry forever and I know will help me for my future. I would like to thank the people who organized the trip, the companies and university, and of course the individuals who were with me on the trip. 

One last post-last day

I forgot to include the last day of the trip simply because I was so tired from it that I needed it to wait and then I forgot I had to do it. We woke up in the morning and I attempted to enjoy my last amazing Vietnamese coffee and food. I say attempt because I was getting tired of the food but knew I had to stick it out for one more day. I had some pho and beef and a little rice and two cups of what will now be my favorite coffee that I have ever had. After a long breakfast with a bunch of the students reminiscing about the trip, we headed over to a soccer field for a friendly against the UEF club soccer team. I played soccer in high school and I was pretty good but wow did I lose my skill. I could not dribble, shoot, or really do anything. I was a little embarrassed but it was fine. The UEF club was really good and it was awesome to see them pass and shoot with such fluidity. I am not use to playing with foreigners and they play a lot faster. Not to mention, it was the hottest day that we have seen so running around was not that easy. We ended up tying the club but I think they sort of let us tie. It was really fun!  We then headed to the basketball court which has become my sport because I still play competitively at home and they were pretty good! It was really fun to see kids playing basketball, which is predominately American. I can tell they love the game and loved to play against us. Score was not really kept and I actually thought I was going to faint. Everyone got a chance to play and Jake was putting on a show because he is really good. We then had to say our goodbyes to the students. Many of them said such nice things to us and of course we returned the nice gestures. I certainly miss the students a lot and still keep in touch through Facebook. We got to relax and reminisce more about the trip. We ate lunch at the hotel and began to get last minute gifts, pack, and pay our bills. This was a bittersweet moment because I thought to myself I will probably never get back to Vietnam and I have to live up these next few hours. After doing all that, we got ready for the farewell dinner on a boat with our staff, UEF staff, and pitt students. The food was delicious, the ambiance was awesome with live music and dancers, and we were moving on a boat. A perfect way to end the trip and something I will remember forever. After the dinner, we stayed up all night and enjoyed each others company and then headed to the airport. I was honestly so tired so I do not remember much of the airport but what an amazing time I had in Vietnam. I think I learned more through the companies and listening and asking questions than I do in the classroom. A first had experience is always the best and it is when you learn the most. We covered all of Ho Chi Minh city and all the famous sites. We drove to the beach, we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, we did everything we could to get a feel of the country. I still teach my family some Vietnamese because I rememeber it, mainly because our teacher was wonderful. I teach the culture and tell everyone I can about the trip. I can not wait to advertise it to the incoming freshman because this trip changed my perspective on life and helped me grow as an individual. The lessons I learned will never be forgotten. Thank you Plus3 Vietnam for the best time ever! I will miss you and hope to reunite next semester.

Friday, June 21, 2013

final post


The days are getting shorter and more free as we wind down this trip. Dr. Berman planned today perfectly and his explanation was very clear. We started this trip at the US consultant which was explaining how the two countries, America and Vietnam have made peace and now partake in diplomatic operations after a long brutal aggression between the two sides. We still have a day left but today was our last touring day and it was ended with the war remnants museum which shows the Vietnamese opinion or view on the war. It was certainly an eye opening experience. Before I continue let me rewind and say we all passed our oral Vietnamese language test. Okay so the museum...Dr. Berman briefed and essentially gave us a warning that all the writings and different sections In the museum is from the government. Of course we needed to be respectful but also know that there are two sides to the story and this was one. I studied a little bit on the war but learned most about the war on this trip. The museum was filled with brutal images of Americans torturing and going on killing sprees against the Vietnamese. The museum never mentions why or how the war started, it really just bashes America which is so hard to go through. The first floor is all about the world protesting America's invasion into Vietnam. They have just about all the nations in the world. Dr. Berman added that the museum used to be more "in your face" and when you first entered, the graphic pictures and such were instantly in your face, as if you were entering the battle field. The second floor though, hits you hard. The first sign is America's constitution talking about the equal rights that every human should have and then you turn right and see people on fire and a bunch of readings that say the Americans did this and here is a little boy eating his last meal. It was extremely disturbing and I instantly thought about the time I went to the Washington Holocaust Museum. Being Jewish, the holocaust is a very hard subject to talk or study about. I remember when I went to it in 7th grade, it was so hard to walk through and read about it. I finished the museum is 10 minutes because it was too hard because I am a Jew. My people were tortured and put through hell. As an American and being portrayed like that and also seeing facts about what we did in the war, I felt similar. It is hard to put into words but first I was sad because my religion was prosecuted and now my nation, my home, were prosecuting other people and fighting a terrible war. The deformed babies and people that agent orange caused is terrible, I ask myself, was it really necessary to spray chemicals that would do that much damage to people. Obviously, I was not alive during the war which is difficult to relate to especially because the musuem that I was seeing pictures at and reading about were bias. Coming back to the coutnry where we fought a massive and intense war is amazing. The way history and politics play out to allow us back here and then do tons of business with each other is really cool. We were able to learn and interact from and with these people which helps show that as a human race, there is still plenty of good in the world. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Contrast of home

Today was pretty fast, culture lecture, language class, and a company visit. The culture lecture was about the food and transportation here, he spoke briefly about how they live like in huts and the architecture behind it. Language class was really fun, I sat with two girls who thought I was so funny because I have trouble pronouncing the words and when you pronounce the same word wrong, it had a different meaning. Apparently, I was saying the funniest stuff but they didn't want to tell me what it was because it was inappropriate. After class, we went to the same lunch. I didn't have my sidekick for yesterday and half of today. I'm talking about Liebersohn, he's been sick. However, Greg, Corey, and I had a blast in the back of the bus. We always make each other crack up, I'm so glad I've met these kids.
The company visit put many things in perspective. We visited a joint stock company bank called navi bank and it was difficult to understand the people, in fact we needed a translator. There weren't too many eventful parts to the day so I'm going to discuss the language barrier here and the struggle to be a tourist in a county like this one. The company visit was interesting. I found it difficult to stay engaged because there was not much English to hear. It made it hard to understand the company as well as asking questions. The business students obviously had interest in the bank and wanted to know more but the questions were not fully answered because of this barrier. Do not get me wrong, seeing and learning as much as possible about the bank was really cool and worthwhile. The barrier is so hard to break. When we go into a cab, we need to have the address at hand and cannot tell the guy if he is riding around to get more money. We can't say to him to stop short of change the place. We once had to go somewhere else and get out of the one cab to get another which is costly of our time. None of the maintence people speak English and at restauraunt, it may take 3 or 4 waiters until they understand what we want. Last night we went to a French place which was phenomenal but they used 5 different waitresses and each waitresses English got progressively better. Communicating is the source of knowledge and basically how anyone can interact and here, it is just so difficult to get thoughts across. We are all starting to feel homesick, not like crying about missing our mommy but we just miss talking to people and being comfortable walking around. It creates such a dilemma eveytme we want customer service and such. The cleanliness here is obviously different and I sometimes just wish I can be home. My expectations are definitely met on this trip. I do not want to steer you in to the wrong direction that my time is here is average, the trip, the country, it's all incredible. Just coming from across the world is a giant culture shock, one that I handled well but it is starting to get a bit old. I see plenty of people peeing on the street and lots of unclean things like cooking on the ground. It is a sight to see, one that I will never experience again but I just sometimes feel like I want to be back in America. I know the quality of my food, water, and service. We are all managing really well and helping each other it is just difficult. You should always do this everywhere  but keeping my hands in my pocket and thinking everyone is out to get me is a pain. We can't stick up for ourselves so if someone is staring for whatever reason, it is nearly impossible to tell them to stop. I am always always holding my wallet and iPhone and the anxiety is becoming annoying. This blog was basically contrasting how a tourist lives here then say going to Europe where most people can understand broken English. The wallet worry is in Europe but I just get more scared here because people need the money here more for the most part. I am honestly loving it I just wanted to vent about being a tourist here.

Fun fact of the day: I wrote this 3 days ago but forgot to post it

Miss home

Today we got to sleep in later than usual. We had to be ready at 9 30 when our usual ready time is between 8 15 and 8 45. I was not aware that breakfast ended at 9 and I got ready later than 9 so that was not good. Liebersohn kept me from getting ready because he is still sick and woke up with a rash that he was worried about. Carly was so generous and gave me two granola bars. Our last company visit was today. We first went to the Saigon Newport Corportion and learned about the porting industry and different pricing options when importing and exporting. The man who briefed us and showed us around was so personable and funny. He was very entertaining and it was easy to stay focused. That man is definitely going to be successful because of his personality and what kind of vibe he brings into a room. We then ate lunch at a restauraunt nearby the port. At every lunch, I barely eat anything except rice with sky sauce because the food is either pork or seafood, two dishes I can't have. The waiter caught on to the fact that I wasn't eating and he kept bringing me rice and peanuts. He also saw that eating with chopsticks is not my expertise and brought me a fork. I didn't ask for any of the things. After lunch we visited a real estate company and toured their newest project. It was an apartment building with all the basic amenities needed to live. There are four giant complexes with a courtyard in the middle with a giant luxurious pool. They called it the garden. Finally, we got back to the hotel and me and Liebersohn took a 5 hour nap, I needed it so badly. I've been so tired. I also was dehydrated today and did not sleep well last night. Jake and I went on a date tonight to a burger restaurant. It was a really delicious burger and the owner was American, the fact that we were able to speak English was gratifying to say the least.  Our cab ride there was 33,000 and back was 50,000, that's how they do it around here. If they see that you're American they drive around aimlessly to get the price higher, another struggle.
As the days wind down, I am definitely ready to leave. My stay has been amazing, I've met so many people, saw very unusual thing, and simply experienced a different way of life, one that I'm not used to. Seeing the opposite side of the world and learning about their culture and customs allows me to appreciate how I live in America. The food and variety here is better than home and I will miss it for sure. I don't know how my life will pan out but I think that seeing Asia will get harder and harder and so the fact that I got to see it makes me so happy and appreciative. Not many people get this chance and I think I took advantage of this. I cruised around and saw all my surroundings, I explored cuisines of the  world, and interacted with the locals as much as possible. Again, my stay was amazing but I am very excited to go home. Good night my readers. More stories tomorrow.

Fun fact: my laundry was over four loads and they did it in one day. Mom can you do that?

Miss home

Today we got to sleep in later than usual. We had to be ready at 9 30 when our usual ready time is between 8 15 and 8 45. I was not aware that breakfast ended at 9 and I got ready later than 9 so that was not good. Liebersohn kept me from getting ready because he is still sick and woke up with a rash that he was worried about. Carly was so generous and gave me two granola bars. Our last company visit was today. We first went to the Saigon Newport Corportion and learned about the porting industry and different pricing options when importing and exporting. The man who briefed us and showed us around was so personable and funny. He was very entertaining and it was easy to stay focused. That man is definitely going to be successful because of his personality and what kind of vibe he brings into a room. We then ate lunch at a restauraunt nearby the port. At every lunch, I barely eat anything except rice with sky sauce because the food is either pork or seafood, two dishes I can't have. The waiter caught on to the fact that I wasn't eating and he kept bringing me rice and peanuts. He also saw that eating with chopsticks is not my expertise and brought me a fork. I didn't ask for any of the things. After lunch we visited a real estate company and toured their newest project. It was an apartment building with all the basic amenities needed to live. There are four giant complexes with a courtyard in the middle with a giant luxurious pool. They called it the garden. Finally, we got back to the hotel and me and Liebersohn took a 5 hour nap, I needed it so badly. I've been so tired. I also was dehydrated today and did not sleep well last night. Jake and I went on a date tonight to a burger restaurant. It was a really delicious burger and the owner was American, the fact that we were able to speak English was gratifying to say the least.  Our cab ride there was 33,000 and back was 50,000, that's how they do it around here. If they see that you're American they drive around aimlessly to get the price higher, another struggle.
As the days wind down, I am definitely ready to leave. My stay has been amazing, I've met so many people, saw very unusual thing, and simply experienced a different way of life, one that I'm not used to. Seeing the opposite side of the world and learning about their culture and customs allows me to appreciate how I live in America. The food and variety here is better than home and I will miss it for sure. I don't know how my life will pan out but I think that seeing Asia will get harder and harder and so the fact that I got to see it makes me so happy and appreciative. Not many people get this chance and I think I took advantage of this. I cruised around and saw all my surroundings, I explored cuisines of the  world, and interacted with the locals as much as possible. Again, my stay was amazing but I am very excited to go home. Good night my readers. More stories tomorrow.

Fun fact: my laundry was over four loads and they did it in one day. Mom can you do that?

Monday, May 20, 2013

Market and no not market central

Last night we had authentic sushi at a Japanese restaurant, it was phenomenal. Today was more of a relaxed one with very little time constraints. The schedule was language class , a city tour, and then china town. To start off the day was I would say eye opening. We were exposed to some majors cultural differences and lifestyles. I will talk more extensively about it further down. Language class was good ol language class. It Wes held at a different UEF location. Less kids joined us in class. I was wondering if the way our teacher teaches is a cultural thing or just because it is supposed to be a fun class. She is so energetic, she gets everyone involved and I would say the classroom environment is not only pumped up but ,cub different than what we are used to. If the other classes are like hers, I can see why they're literacy proficiency is very high. She asks everyone individually to practice and has a PowerPoint up plus the notebook so we get take notes. She guides us through everything starting off slow and picking the pace up so we practice more and more which I think is more efficient. Like I said, I'm not sure if the other classes are always like it. Next we visited the reunified palace. I loved this stop in the tour because it really was like a palace, very majestic everywhere. The grounds were kept so clean with a tennis court and lots of landscape. They also built it to feel like your royal when inside. The ceilings are massive and most of the ground is marble and the pillars are too. There are huge rooms which we didn't get to know about but it always awesome to see. There were four levels and at the top you can see lots of HCMC, you feel like a king or president when overlooking the city on top of the palace. Some neat notable things in the palace included a private helicopter pad, a gorgeous fountain, huge amazing meeting rooms, a private gambling room, and a theatre. We saw the gate where the viet cong barged through with a tank and told south Vietnam that Vietnam is there's, some awesome historical views. We also walked around the post office and were going to go to the cathedral but it was closed. After the tour, we ate lunch and chilled at the hotel.
Okay so now to the most interesting part of the day, we drove to Chinatown and went to the market there, we were supposed to eat there but we finished faster so we didn't. Markets in Asia are extremely small areas filled with overstocked goods and an endless amount of people. There is almost no place to walk. I do not want to disrespect the markets because this is there culture but between the cleanliness and smell p, it was hard to be in there long. The perspective that one gets out of the market is great to have. As an American, it is hard to understand that people can live and work in such filth and with little resources. The area was relatively poor with lots of people not wearing shoes, others eating food from the ground, many old people asking for money, and lots of other things that made me appreciate where I am from and how I need to be thankful. I saw a man with no legs and he was using a cane to move around, I felt so bad and it made me so upset to see that the healthcare system here can not provide him a wheelchair like America would have. These people are staring at us Americans, but there could be many reasons for this. First, we are white, we are also wealthier, and we looked a bit uncomfortable as we were shuffling around sleeping bodies and inhaling  a lot of exhaust from the motorcycles. I was tired there and uncomfortable but I was glad that I was able to experience how am Asian market is and how some of these people live on a day to day basis. I hope one day I can help them. So when I say today was difficult, it was emotionally and physically, there was a good amount of walking and tons of heat.

Fun fact of the day: Corey has beautiful chest hair