Day 13 "Cargo and Baggage" (Flash Forward)

                This morning was in a word, rough. Last night when we went out it was like an Apocalypse happening now, so waking up was not exactly what I wanted to be doing at 7 in the morning. After breakfast we headed to the largest shipping yard in Vietnam.

                It was really amazing seeing all of the different types of containers and learning how the mass aspect of trade and transport works in the country. We were able to walk up and see the control tower and see as different containers were directed to their specific holding areas. Then we went down to the actual shipping yard and saw different cargo holds being moved around. It was like being in an A-Team movie, all we needed were some fireworks.

                Took a nap. That was nice.

                When we got up we went to the War Remnants museum. This was a trip filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand it was very sad seeing all of the destruction and death that affected the Vietnamese during the war. But, looking at it from the Vietnamese perspective made me feel rather uncomfortable.

                There was a section talking about Senator Bob Kerry and what he had done while during the war. It was a horrific action, while reading it I couldn’t help but think that doing something like that must have been emotionally scarring for both him and the victims. And the fact that not only does he have to live with the fact that he did that every day, but that there are millions of tourists looking at it.

                Anyway, even though it was harrowing, I think it was the right decision to go and see it.

Day 6 "Double the Companies Double the Fun"

                Today we headed to VSIP to see one of their industrial parks. Before I had no real clue what an industrial park was, but it was actually very interesting. They had a wide variety of customers that used their warehouses and there were a lot of familiar names.

                While at VSIP we visited II-VI which works with developing different electronic/infrared/optic things. However, I am a business student so I really had no idea what was happening or why all the engineers were so giddy, but apparently it was even more impressive than my mind could comprehend. It was really cool seeing how things were produced though.

                After we had lunch with the head engineer of II-VI and stopped at a porceline mall. It was really beautiful and all of the pieces were so small and intricate. It was really fun going through and looking at all of the interesting/odd pieces, like the one that was supposed to represent France but had a Jayhawk and an american flag.

                Then we drove home.Everyone had a plan to meet for a French restaurant and go to karaoke with some of our Vietnamese friends. However, for some reason I fell into a coma and woke up 3 hours after everyone had left. So I rallied what troops could find and we wandered around until we found a place that served with an English menu. Luckily it was delicious so everything worked out for the best.     

Day 5

Time to Stop Ducking Around

By this point in time we have settled into a routine. Wake up, stumble around till you look presentable, run to the breakfast room to avoid the lack of air conditioner in the hallway and play a Vietnamese roulette to decide what you are having for breakfast.

That day we had an urban planning development seminar and learned that the people here are much better at driving than those in the states, maybe this means I should get a motorcycle (DAD). And then language lessons began again. This is probably the only time in my entire life that hello and good bye were the most difficult parts of the conversation.

Then we rode to our first company of the trip PHU MY HUNG. Even though I did my pre-departure project on them there was still a lot that I didn’t know about it. For example they are constructing a utopian society, no big deal. Also we saw the traveling duck that came to Pittsburgh, so that was fun.

Later that night we had dinner with some of the Vietnamese students, classic Pho-n.

Day 4

GOOD MORNING Việt Nam!!!!!!!!!!!

After only 5 hours of sleep the two days before I was able to get a whopping 3 hours back at the hotel. So essentially I was up at 5:30 am and did the only logical thing possible and watched How I Met Your Mother clips until my roommates almost ditched me for breakfast. I had my first taste of Vietnamese food and it was great, granted I didn't know what it was but it tasted good.

We piled on the bus and headed over to UEF to meet our Vietnamese counterparts for the first time. They had a great presentation for us in which they sang, but unfortunately no one know the words to either I'm Yours by Jason Mraz or Heal the World by Michael Jackson, so we just hummed and laughed at the overall awkwardness of the situation. 

Then we went to language class where I met the lovely and helpful Tran who helped Hailey and I struggle through our first language lesson. Mostly it was just a lot of us saying different versions of la or ba and the Vietnamese students laughing.

After getting back to the hotel Morgan, Hailey and I attempted to get money out of an ATM, and though we succeeded, we all had to cram into a tiny glass structure and look like a bunch fools. And we headed off to the US Consulate. We had a short history lesson then headed inside to meet some of the Foreign Service members.

Day 1 "Pre-Departure friends"

  So May 2nd we all arrived at Pitt so we could begin our journey to Vietnam. After a lively dinner at The Porch we headed back to our rooms so that we could get some rest before our long travel day, but really everyone was just trying to finish the papers that were supposed to be due that morning. 

   We walked around a little trying to make friends, but after a few failed attempts we realized that no one really wanted to be associated with us pre-departure. So we just hid in our rooms till 6 o'clock the next morning.

Day 2/3 "I will fly 500 miles and I will fly 500 more"

   Waking up at 6 am is not pleasant, especially when it is to a freezing room where your only cover is thinner than a sheet of paper. Somehow we all made it through and met up in Towers lobby, not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed but as close as you can on 2 hours of sleep with 28 travel hours ahead of you. We managed to take up the entire of the 28X with ourselves and our luggage, so every normal person that got on shared the communal dislike for those dame college kids. 

    We checked our bags and found that Dan and Jared were probably not going to get their stuff in Ho Chi Minh because the first thing that happened was the woman behind the counter deleted their tickets. Moving on we got to the first of our 3 flights, it was a propeller plane and this was the first time I had ever been on that kind of plane so I was excited. But really all I did was sleep.

  After landing in the Newark airport and some slight signage confusion we got on our second plane to Hong Kong. Summary of what happened on the plane: We all played inflight poker and Uma had never played before and won, 3 meals, 2 bathroom break, 2 movies, 5 attempts to read Game of Thrones when actually falling asleep, over 200 awkward faces made at Hailey, and 1 random asian that sat next to Dan and I which we still can't determine the gender of. 

   Hong Kong was pretty boring, but I stayed awake the whole flight to Ho Chi Minh so A for effort! Got a Bloody Mary (legally!) on the plane because in the words of my father "when in Vietnam do as the Romans do". We got off in Ho Chi Minh and surprisingly all of the luggage made it. When we went outside we experienced the weather and Tin for the first time. It was definitely an experience. 

   Took a bus back to the Victory Hotel and died.