Sunday, May 19

It was a delightful change today escaping the city and having a chance to visit the beach. We took a hydrofoil down the Saigon River, until the river meets with the East China Sea in Vung Tau. When we arrived in Vung Tau, my stomach was finally satisfied as I had my first fast food meal since leaving the states; it was the best KFC popcorn chicken I had ever had. We visited a Buddhist pagoda; My Vietnamese friend Vun helped me followed the ritual pattern. The ritual began by lighting incense candles, and then placing the candles in separate sandpits where they where left to burn. After, I prayed on my knees in front of the Buddha, and shook a cup of sticks until one of the sticks fell out. The stick had a specific number, connected with a specific piece of advice.  I ended up with a note of advice that was surprisingly accurate to my lifestyle. The note informed me to live my life
carefully, so my recklessness does not catch up with me. Buddhism is a religion I am very interested in because there is a strong focus on the individual, unlike western religions it is believed you decide your own destiny. After the visit to the Pagoda, we hiked
1000 steps to a large statue of Jesus on the mountain. I have never been so tired and sweaty in my
life; once we reached the top I lied down in the shade until I had to walk down. In
the afternoon, we relaxed and enjoyed the warm waters of the East China Sea. It was awesome running through the sand on the beach where hundreds of small crabs would run around, with their little awkward sideways crawl. We arrived back at the hotel around 7. I was so exhausted I didn't even go out to dinner, and just fell right to sleep. 

Saturday, May 18

We visited the Cu Chi tunnels, a series of underground passages used by the Vietnamese during the Vietnam war. The tunnels were extremely small and created perfectly to act as a hidden transportation system for the Vietnamese during the war. We began by watching a video that depicted  the Vietnam War; The video had a lot of Vietnamese propaganda, it was certainly "their side of the story." We then got a chance to walk through the tunnels; they were only around 3 feet high so I had to crawl through on my hands and knees. It was extremely hot, I couldn't imagine being an American soldier having to wear a backpack, combat boots, and a heavy flak jacket. We arrived early back at the hotel, and finally had an opportunity to get some extra rest. I walked over to the park later, and played pickup basketball with some Vietnamese men. One guy who I met, Quan, worked with an American company who sold dishwashers in wholesale. I wasn't able to understand much more because he did not speak great English. We had an awesome time playing however; we worked the best pick and roll combo. As a huge fan of basketball, it was a great experience to play in a foreign place. It was interesting the difference in playing styles; the Vietnamese used much more teamwork and synchronization rather than playing American style isolation. It has been a common trend that basketball players outside the United States play with a lot less selfishness. The NBA has progressed to become a far different game of basketball than how it was been traditionally played, and it has reflected upon American youth basketball.

Friday, May 17

In the morning, we received a lecture on the history of Vietnam. We learned about the religions of the  country, and the historical movement of the peopling of Vietnam. The people of Vietnam originated mainly in the North, and spread into the south over time as the population increased. We played many games with the Vietnamese students from the cultural exchange club of UEF ( University of Finance and Economics). One of the games involved blowing up and attaching as many balloons on the head of one group member. I volunteered for my group, and ended up with 20 balloons attached to my head. It was very nice enjoying our afternoons playing games, as opposed to our usual company visits. At night, we went to Lush Night Club, the club owned by Glass Egg Digital Media. I had the time of my life, and also had a chance to speak with General Manager, James. It was very easy to relate to James as we are both members of Fraternities, and enjoy partying. He gave me some advice as I continue my time in business school, and told me how his ambition and optimism led him to a great opportunity. It was a very difficult decision committing to a full-time job abroad, however it has been a success and very worthwhile for him. I can learn from someone as ambitious as James, and I hope I can have a job I love as he does one day.

Thursday, May 16

Today, we received a lecture on the Mekong River Delta of Ho Chi Minh. The Mekong is one of the two largest delta regions in Vietnam; the other major delta is the Red River delta in the North, located in Hanoi. We also had an hourly language class. We learned some basic conversational phrases and practiced with the microphones with our partners. The Vietnamese language has been extremely difficult to learn because there are many forms of each word. In the afternoon, we visited Glass Egg Digital Media. The company first began as an insourcing for the firm, Morgan Interactive, however started as an independent firm when the company became bankrupt in 1998. They formally then established as Glass Egg Digital Media Incorporated in 1999. Glass Egg Media is located on two levels, in a building in downtown Vietnam. Glass Egg is an outsourcing firm that creates digital media to incorporate in many modern video games such as Forza. Their specialty is in designing cars for video game companies. Some of their most successful projects have been incorporated in games such as Need for Speed and Forza. Everything is modern and built with the newest technology. Working in an industry where technology is constantly changing, it is essential to the company's success that they "stay ahead of the game" and invest in all the industries new technologies. For dinner, we ate at a resteraunt adjacent to the BenTonh Market, Pho 2000. It was a very traditional Vietnamese meal, however then chicken was like eating rubber. We walked back to the hotel from the resteraunt, and crossed paths with 3 huge rats on our trip. I am from New York City, where it is not unusual to see rats in the streets of the city. However, I have never been in a city like Ho Chi Minh that is so filled with rats and cockroaches. Talking to one of the professors of our culture classes, he told us a funny story about rats while the French were colonizing in Vietnam. The French would pay the Vietnamese citizens for rat tails, proving they were helping to kill off the rats in the city. The Vietnamese began creating rat farms, however, so they would actually be creating more of a rat problem and they would make money still off the French for the rat tails of their rats in their farms.

Wednesday, May 15

We visited the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park today, a large development built as a home for many corporations in Vietnam. The project seems to be beneficial to the city as it provides an attractive space for large corporations which will provide a large number of labor opportunities for the citizens. We learned a large portion about the reformation of Vietnamese labor laws as well. Vietnamese employees received 5 days of absence per month, a high number compared to in the United States. We also received a presentation by one of the parks occupant corporations, the II VI Corporation. The II VI Corporation is based out of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania and produces many high technological products and sells those products to other II VI locations to be distributed. The section of II VI based in Vietnam, Marlow Industries, has a very effective business model because they do not have to deal directly with any consumers. Therefore, they have a constant and known demand for their products which makes their production easier and more efficient. I was very impressed with the company, however was disappointed in the dining service facilities. For dinner, we went to an incredible Vietnamese BBQ resteraunt. The food was served raw and spiced, and was cooked on the tables on a fire grill built into the table. I jumped out of my chair when I picked on a shrimp on a stick, to find the shrimp legs flailing in front of my eyes. 

Tuesday, May 14

We received a lecture on urban development, and learned a multitude of information about the past and future development of Vietnam. Infrastructure development is one of the largest problems faced by the Vietnamese Government; Because there is a poor infrastructure system, business is limited and Vietnamese companies face issues of transportation. In recent years, the Vietnamese Government has improved their efforts to improve transportation in the country with their taxes acquired from business'. With an increase in efficiency, Vietnam will continue to rise as a global power and become more attractive as a site for investment by foreign companies. As a business major, I am very interested in following the urban and economic progression of Vietnam and how they continue to develop and invest their resources. Population pressure is another major issue of Vietnam; Population pressure is beneficial to the large production corporations because it has contributed to lower wages. After the lecture, we visited the Phu My Hung Corporation. Phu My Hung is a high end urban development project in Ho Chi Minh City that focuses on the creation of a higher end, more elegant, peaceful side of Ho Chi Minh City. The overall project seems to aim towards a new image of Ho Chi Minh, however it seems the population will stay limited to the higher classes of Vietnam. 

Monday, May 13

It was a huge surprise when I first arrived in Vietnam, mostly due to the total chaos. As I drove to the hotel, I was amazed by how many motorcyclists there were crowded aside one another. The motorcyclists drove and swerved from lane to lane seemingly not following anything remotely similar to traditional American traffic laws. We arrived at the Victory Hotel, and I quickly found my way to bed after 25 long hours of travel. The next day, we enjoyed breakfast at the Victory hotel, mostly fried rice, dumplings, and pho. Eager to try new foods, I was delighted to enjoy a breakfast full of carbohydrates. We headed to the University of Economics and Finance after, meeting our friendly host students. I was very happy in the amount of interest the Vietnamese students had in us. They asked us many questions about our lives at home, and education at Pittsburgh. I also asked the Vietnamese students many questions about their lives; I was delighted to find that the Vietnamese students were interested in American sports. One studuent, Huang, was a huge fan of Kevin Durant and hoped to go into the banking industry so he would "have lots of money to buy every shoe in the Kevin Durant shoe line." It has only been a very short time since arriving here in Vietnam, and I have already seen so many new things and customs of Vietnamese. I look forward to learning more of the language, and become more knowledgable of Vietnamese culture.