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?

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

Lets go to beach beach lets go get away

I got so much sleep last night so waking up early was a breeze this morning. Last night we had a French meal at a place called bin appetite which was very average. The food in Vietnam was getting a little old so we had to switch it up. Breakfast and lunch is always Vietnamese so dinner is a perfect opportunity to explore other food cuisines. For an appetizer I ordered chicken In a basket but had no idea what to expect. While waiting, we all thought about what it could be because no one spoke English there and almost every got the same appetizer. Ohh rewind....we kept messing up our orders, everyone went from French fries to chicken in a basket and the waiter was overly confused. Lierbersohn was so frustrated from the language barriers that he stood up mid order and tried to rip the waiters paper, telling him to start over, we were all cracking up I actually started to tear from laughter. The waiter was so startled that he got some one else to take our order who spoke SOME English. Earlier, I said the place was average because my dinner was not comparable to my appetizer. The chicken in a basket were these homemade chicken strips that were actually the best chicken strips I have ever had. It was juicy succulent chicken and a tempura style fried crunchy outside. Okay, so for dinner I ordered deep fried seabass which was not cooked at all and it was horrible I didn't eat it. I shuffled the food up to make it look like I ate it. I ordered another chicken in a basket which was just unbelievable.
Who doesn't love the beach? We went to the beach today which was not only relaxing but fun. It was an hour long boat ride on an "Amtrak" boat thing. I know it's not specific but everyone had their own seat, air conditioned, obviously less quality then Amtrak. When we got to the town we went to a church and pagoda which was really nice. Both places were gorgeous and was always overlooking the blue shiny sea. Palm trees were everywhere and every sight was beautiful. Some people observed the Buddhist customs and participated in some prayer, I didnt want to but lots of people were really enjoying it. Liebersohn had some cool fortunes that were true, I was kind of creeped out in cool way. We went on a hike to a giant Jesus statue which had 1000 steps and it was soooooo hot. I was sweating so much but the sights as we got higher were getting cooler and cooler and the Jesus was so big, I enjoyed the hike a lot. I stayed hydrated. I think I'm really good with hydration from traveling to other very hot climates.
The beach was fantastic, the water was actually like a bathtub and we played little games and messed around with each other. Corey, Liebersohn, and I were going to rent a jetski for 30 minutes but it was over priced. Mom, I used a lot of sunscreen and barely got burnt, I was proud of myself. Overall today was really nice to relax after a long week with many involved activities like company visits and sight seeing. It was nice to get away from HCMC for a day. Tomorrow should be awesome with a city tour. I also had authentic sushi with most of the students. It was amazing and dinner was really fun. We mesh so well together and love each others company. As cliche as this sounds, I couldn't ask for a better group of people to spend this once in a lifetime experience.

Cu chi tunnels

We woke up 15 minutes earlier than usual to drive an hour and a half to the cu chi tunnels. I didn't know what to expect so I just relaxed and took everything with a clean slate. The car ride was pretty boring because we were all very tired and it was starting to get hot. We saw a lot more of the farming areas because we left HCMC. There were so many buffalo and they were all skinny (America's mess up our animals). I saw the cutest little baby chick following her mama and finding food. When we arrived to the cu chi tunnels, my emotions were fluctuating and it was really hard to stay calm. We were in the actual jungle where the war took place and....wow. The heat was unbearable, the hottest I've ever been here besides on the sweat box bus. I just kept thinking about how warfare could take place there, you can't see anything and are exposed from all directions. There are snakes and other animals that are creepy. And the tunnels. The most ingenious way of guerrilla warfare. The time, effort, and engineering to build these 250 kilometer tunnel routes is really hard to fathom. Them tunnels were constructed with a few different levels and rooms for all different necessities to live. Also as you probably know, the entry ways were camouflaged in the jungle ground making it almost impossible for the Americans to find where they were. They used different spices to disguise the areas because of the k9s that the Americans had. The entry ways were so tiny. It is really awesome to see it in person and after climbing through them, the amount of patience and heart that these soldiers had was crazy. They would be down there for weeks. They also set up there operations in them so an invasion was so hard for the Americans and especially to get intelligence. I learned that they made the tunnels in U shapes like a sink pipes are so gas and stuff could not get in the tunnels which made it almost impossible for the Americans to invade. I actually only went through one tunnel out of like 5 because I saw a bat in one and I went crazy, I screamed like a little girl and started sweating so much!! A couple people got dehydrated  today but nothing serious. We ate on a river which was scenic and beautiful. Today we got to see scenery like postcards and such, something I looked forward to since Vietnam is beautiful. I fell asleep on the ride back home and felt miserable when I woke up, it was a mixture between overheating, dehydration, and drowsiness. It was temporary because once I showered and layed down, I felt much better. This trip is just so amazing but very involved and today it all hit us and we crashed a little. Tomorrow we are doing a little hiking and beaching, hopefully I can get a little bronze to start off the summer. Please take that as a joke, please. I am making sure I am drinking a ton of water. 

A fun fact of the day is there are squirrels in the zoo here.

 Until next time, stay classy Vietnam 

Suit and tie

Today was one of the easier ones because we got to dress up in normal clothes and weren't as hot plus no company visits. I would call today UEF day, it was a culture lecture and language class in the morning and then super fun games with the students in the after noon. The culture class was really informative about the way of life and history of the beautiful country of Vietnam. We spoke briefly about the war and got a taste of what happened and where. 

In language class we learned more numbers and ways to communicate when shopping. We learned phrases like how much is it and if the item is too expensive. As noted in a different post, pronunciation in Vietnamese is the most important. I found it really fun that if the shopper thinks the product is too expensive we say the same two words as if the person needs to go to the bathroom but its the more informal way of saying it. If you don't say the second word in a higher tone like screeching it is wrong. 

The culture exchange (game day) was really fun! We played many different games like a dance off and twister. It got very competitive and I think I was laughing and smiling the whole time. The kids are really friendly and know how to have a good time. We practice our Vietnamese with them while they practice their English with us. It is a nice experience having the ability to bond with kids from a different country and learn each others culture. They are starting to understand sarcasm more and more. The two mc's were so funny and kept everyone engaged in a positive way.

The bus ride home was awesome, we taught some of the students that we brought back how to play our now famous bus game dirty dirty and they were really quick learners. On our ride home, while on the highway, we saw these two people driving on the complete wrong side of the road. Let me say it again, on the highway! The way people drive around here is mind boggling. In just twenty minutes, I will be getting measured by a tailor to get a tailor fitted suit, mom and dad I'm very excited. 

What an interesting night

From my last post, I left you with us going out shopping and this is how it went...

5 of us entered the cab anticipating for an exciting day of shopping. Right when the cab driver started his meter, the rain started to pour down on his windshield. Oh how lucky we were, planning on going shopping and walking around, the rain made things interesting. The first stop on our list was the giant market to possibly get souvenirs and what not. The rain was coming down really hard when we got to the market and we ran inside. We were bombarded with different vendors from every direction and it was really overwhelming. There are lots of watch stands with a variety of different designers, I asked the man to see a watch and this is how the conversation went....

Me: can I see that Calvin Klein watch?

Vendor: yes, I'll give it to you for 2,000,000 (100 dollars)

Me: I'll pay 700,000 (35 dollars-----but didn't have much intention to buy it)

Vendor: 1.8 mil, minimum

Me: I'll pay 700,000 and no more

Vendor: this is a stainless steel watch, leather band, and automatic

Me: yes it looks nice but I only want to pay 700,000

Vendor: no sorry I can't do that

As I'm walkin away....

Vendor: 1.5 mil (screaming)

Me: no sorry 700,000

Vendor: 1 million

Me: I told you my offer, I know this is fake and I know how much it is worth

Vendor: fine ill give it to you for 700,000

But I didn't have that money but it was nice knowing how much I was able to bargain.

We moved on to different areas of the market but it was hot and people were running around from the rain and all of us were hungry so we went to try and find a cab. On our search, we sort of got lost and had a hard time exiting the market because many exits were closed. When we got out we were getting soaked from the rain and it took us a while to get into a cab. We managed to find one but this guy literally stalled out about 5 times and the cab ride was to drive us around the corner to a famous pho restaurant. The food was good but by then we wanted nothing to do with the area because of the rain, heat, and filth that we were in.

Our trip was supposed to be a nice, fun, and relaxing day but quickly turned into a ridiculous sequence of events that we all thought wouldn't end. But hey, ya never know what will happen in Vietnam

Oh how lucky

I was sitting in the glass egg office listening to the COO present the company to us and behind me was a giant view of Ho Chi Minh city with some amazing buildings, I thought about how lucky I am. Yes, I blog everyday and reflect on my experiences but I never thought about how lucky I am. This trip and experience is more than just a once in a lifetime experience if that's possible to say. I am a business student at Pitt and am in Vietnam getting a full brief from these profitable and companies. It's really neat how we are living in Vietnam and learning the business world here. This program is so unique and balanced that I really can not find one flaw. Basically, I am just having the best time ever and really starting to appreciate this experience. Soooooooo....

We had a really fun dinner last night, it was 11 of us out of 14. We found the place on our own and had a really fun dinner. We spoke about our favorite time at Pitt so far and laughed the whole time. I had a delicious beef and broccoli dish. The waiters were calling me selvester Stallone which I thought was so funny. I then told them I was from Philly and they were convinced I was his son. The only problem was was that they do not understand sarcasm really well so it was hard to tell them I am not Italian and just a normal student from Pittsburgh. 

The highlight of the day was glass egg because of how much I can relate to the company. They are video game designers who do not make the actual game but really just cars and tracks and I play all the games that they help produce. We saw all these artists making the cars for the games that I love which was again so cool. I feel like I keep saying cool and funny, i should really stop doing that. Today was really hot and my entire shirt was drenched, this heat is unbearable sometimes especially because a lot of our water is more like bus temperature so getting refreshed is difficult. Mom I am not sure what I am doing form dinner, sorry. I want to get more tan here, I haven't been in the sun too much. We are going shopping and walking around for the first time soon, if I am lucky I'll find a tailor that I can get a suit from. 

Dad, Is this blog better?

Obviously, today was amazing. I woke up to my roommate slamming doors and screaming on the phone at 6 am, such a pleasing "alarm". Breakfast was not my favorite today because most of it was pork and shrimp which I do not eat, so i settled for a good old American egg sandwich and donuts. Today we did not go to language class and instead started straight for VSIP for two company visits, VSIP and II-VI. II-VIis incorporated in VSIP so we did not have to travel/had two presentations in the same room.  VSIP is an industrial park that is constantly expanding. I was not too familiar with what a park was but I learned a lot from the briefing, however, II-VI was more interesting. David Baker, the chief engineer, presented the corporation to us. I have spoken a lot about the companies and less about my experience so I am going to try and switch the style. Basically, the company makes optics technologies and are experts in not only expanding to different countries but also their products. As an American, the tour of the company was an eye-opening experience. II-VIis mostly a labor intensive with MANY unskilled workers that get trained for each segment of production. It was a lot different than the US because of how cheap the labor is and how easy it is to hire the people. It was difficult to see some of the work environment that these people work in. Most of the workers come straight off the farm and are fed once a day during their shift and it is definitely nice but personally I would have a difficult time knowing the people that work for me barely eat and basically do assembly line work with minimum wage pay. As I write this, they are still very nice to their workers by giving them nice bonuses, letting them visit their families/paying for their transportation. It really is just a completely different working environment which was different and hard to wrap my mind around. Daivd Baker was super nice and knowledgeable as well. It was a really awesome experience and cool to see how a corporation is run there. 

After VSIP, we had a really nice chinese lunch. It started to rain really hard right after we got to the restuarant. The service is unbelievable here. We had to walk maybe two steps after we ate to get the bus and the workers from the restaurant walked us two steps with umbrellas, it was really nice. We then went to the Eastern International University which was in VSIP II and it was a gorgeous campus with very energetic kids that were really fun. For all these places, we left HCMC and it was a really interesting place. There were lots of little shops. To imagine the town, we saw water buffalo getting walked on the side of the road, it was neat! Today was not nearly as hot as yesterday. Yesterday I sweat in places that I did not know I could have. I finished a 5 liter water bottle in one day, it was insane. The bottle was 80 cents and I swear I have seen it at Costco for probably 8 dollars. 

To conclude our group is meshing together so much more. I did not know what to expect going with 13 other kids who I do no know. The bus rides today were so fun,  we played so many games and were just enjoying each others presence. I love this group, there are all different personalities which balances out the entire group. I am excited for more games tomorrow and enjoy this amazing country with some amazing people. Over and out and of course I miss you mom, dad, and elan. 

2nd day

Day 2 was an exciting one because it was our first company visit. We of course started the day off with some amazing breakfast food, some noodles, beef, and fried rice. Today was much hotter than yesterday especially because we were on the bus for long periods of time and the air conditioning is not the best. UEF and language class was really fun. Our teacher is so energetic and keeps us very engaged. The language is certainly hard but the students are not only patient but very nice and helpful. We learned greetings today like how to say how are you and what is your name. Pronunciation and situation is very important in the Vietnamese language. 

Our first company visit Phu My Hung which was absolutely amazing. First off it was really fun and interesting to be in such a professional and business setting. It sounds ridiculous but being exposed to this kind of setting allowed me to appreciate why I am a business major, that is the kind of stuff I want to do in the future.  The students came with us which was nice. We were briefed about the most ingenious company. The company essentially created a high class lifestyle in Vietnam filled with malls, restaurants, residence buildings, recreation centers, hospitals, car dealerships; they thought of everything for needs and luxury. The company gets major investments from countries and companies and then they take back the buildings and make a lot of money by giving leases. Essentially, when the building or project starts to make profit, they tell them it is theirs and take all the money. It was so fun and I cannot wait until tomorrow. This trip is a perfect balance between free time and business, I'm very happy here. I do miss my family, love you mom, dad, and elan. 

Today was our first day in Vietnam. I was quickly reminded my reasoning of choosing Vietnam over the other countries for Plus3. I wanted to explore a country that was going to be significantly different than America and a place where I can explore and enjoy, that started at breakfast. I entered the dinning room smelling and seeing foods that reminded me of a dinner. There were dishes that had meat, dumplings, fried rice, and a delicious Vietnamese dish called pho. It was a great feeling that I can see how our breakfasts are different. I was proud of myself because I am not very adventurous when it comes to trying new food and I tried everything at the buffet. 

After breakfast, we drove to UEF where we met the Vietnamese students. Again, my reason for traveling here was apparent when we drove around the city. I have been to a couple different countries  none compared to what I saw today. The amount of people that drive on the streets at one time is amazing and how traffic is so insane. People were swerving in and out of lanes and cutting others off. It was absolutely amazing. Many people started to not trust the bus driver because how crazy he was driving but I knew he was safe because he always smiled at us and wanted us to be happy. The different street vendors were also really cool. When we finally got to UEF we were greeted by happy and welcoming students. We learned a taste of language which was an experience of its own, a very cool classroom environment. The teacher was so energetic with a smile from one ear to the other. As a college student espeically a freshman my classrooms have been enormous with 500 students so a connection with a teacher has been distant, it was nice to have the opportunity to experience that again. Next we went to the US consulate which was awesome. We had the opportunity to speak to the representatives about the relationship with the US and Vietnam. I had such an amazing time learning about foreign affairs. I'm very excited for tomorrow.