The day began with a gathering of the usual suspects at breakfast. Our conglomeration of bleary-eyed students had occupied an entire corner of the restaurant, much to the disdain of a singular guest who had the misfortune of sitting in between two tables full of chatty and loud American students. Today’s lecture at UEF on the history and culture of Vietnam seemed conveyed some information that we as students in America never got to learn. Their history obviously stretches much further back than the relatively young history of America. They have spent much of their cultural history occupied by a foreign power, the oldest being China whose rule lasted around one thousand years, from 111 BC until the 10th century, and would later find itself under the occupation of the colonizing French in 1863 which lasted until the Japanese took Vietnam during World War 2. The French would later try to reinsert its rule in 1945, but failed to do so, and later the turmoil of the cold war would contribute to Vietnam’s split into North and South. The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 would mark the official independence of a unified Vietnam, and is a national holiday throughout the country now. The country’s 54 ethnic groups strongly believe in their cultural unity, even through war, subscribing to the ancient belief of a common descent which brings them together as a nation.
The end of the lecture sent us back to a new restaurant, a large cafeteria-style sort of restaurant. With endless exotic options of food to select from, it provided a good opportunity to explore new dishes. The waiters ran back and for from table to table, as the clerks and cooks at four different stations, each serving unique foods and drinks, yelled and rang bells to call the waiters back to grab whatever new dish needed to be served. I opted to eat a hot pot of various meats, a fried egg, and rice, and almost immediately regretted my choice which was far too safe in my opinion, no matter how delicious it was. So, I requested a plate of chicken feet to which the register returned with a small smirk. There are little words that could describe the immense disappointment of the dish. It invoked a sense of “-whelmed,” neither too strong to be over- nor too bad to be “under-,“ the small talons of the chicken contained little to no meat, making it seem as if eating one was eating the world’s least satisfying chicken wing as what substance was there was tough and a little chewy. Although the skin was satisfyingly crispy and covered in a very nice chili sauce literally nothing lay underneath, overall leaving me feel happy to have tried it, but also satisfied knowing that I would never feel any reason to try it ever again.
As our lunch ended we walked to a tall office building where visited the company, Vinacapital, the largest asset management company in Vietnam. As we marveled at the view of the glorious skyline we were herded into a room where our presenter, encouragingly an Stanford graduate of engineering, proceeded to discuss economics and factors that would affect Vietnam’s growth. As an engineering student, I felt very far out of my element within the confines of the corporate office building, seeing as I had no idea what it meant to manage assets, but the ensuing lecture contained enough information about trends and demographics that I truly felt like I had learned at least something as the presenter made it very clear about his grasp on the subject. He demonstrated his seniority and experience in his field, as he thoroughly explained correlations between aspects and growth factors that I would never had been able to make connections of. Information about productivity and age, using other Asian countries as markers for signs of growth which in turn helped with signals as to what types of things to invest in, and sharing his opinion on what the government could prioritize fixing to not only improve the nation, but also soften the blow of what he proved to be inevitable recessions. As his presentation ended, leaving me simultaneously more and less confused on how asset management worked as a whole, another presentation started about the Vinacapital Foundation, an NGO started by a lead officer of Vinacapital which itself contributed to 40% of the money that the Foundation provided for charity work. Utilising Vinacapital’s strong name in business, the Foundation helps organize donations of other companies, celebrities, and other sources to help fund initiatives relating to child healthcare and education. We left the building still in awe of the offices glorious marble styling and pristine aesthetic before heading back to the hotel.