Today, May 7th 2018 was our first full day being in the country of Vietnam. After an early wake up, our group went to the welcome event that was put together by the University of Economics and Finance (UEF) staff. They were a very welcoming group of people who really made me feel at home right away. Most of them were also very well spoken in the English language, which was very helpful considering that I did not know a single word in the Vietnamese language. After the eventful welcoming activities and our first Vietnamese language class, we headed out to lunch and then went on a city tour, looking at different parts of Ho Chi Minh City. While touring this beautiful big city, there were a lot of signals that displayed development and globalization. For example, I saw and learned that the city was in the process of building a subway station as another method of transportation for the people. Seeing this kind of development seems likely to reduce the heavy traffic that was apparent downtown. I also noticed some examples of globalization, which includes the fact that Ho Chi Minh City has some international fast food chains like Popeyes and McDonalds. I also noticed some billboard signs that pictured David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, which advertised the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup. The last thing that stood out to me regarding globalization was the clothes that many of the Vietnamese people were wearing. Many of them wore clothes from world wide companies such as Nike and Puma. After the tour of the city, we went to eat dinner on a boat, which consisted of many different courses with very unique kinds of fish and vegetables. One thing I noticed about the dinner that I did not read about in the Vietnam Culture Smart book was that dinner consisted of multiple courses, each served by a different waiter or waitress. I was also surprised by how some of the courses were prepared, including a dish cooked in front of us over an open flame. Overall, the first full day of being in Vietnam was an amazing experience, and I am very excited to see what new experiences tomorrow will bring.