As sad as I am, this is the last blog post of the trip. Today, we focused on products being moved around, both in transportation and through purchasing.

We started our day touring the Cat Lai Terminal. It was interesting to see the logistics of how they ensure everything is organized in a way that makes it easy for people to be able to import or export goods. They even made sure that the process wasn’t interrupted when people enter the terminal by having them check in their passports and be escorted by a truck to see inside the terminal. One thing I noticed was the lack of mention of sustainability within the environment. They didn’t talk about their carbon emission rates and if they were going to try to decrease the rate, or even how using barges can interrupt the water ecosystem. Their main focus seemed to be on the sustainability of time. They wanted to ensure that the process of shipping items out or making sure items being imported into Ho Chi Min City were moved in a timely manner. They even made it easier for customers to fill out forms for importing or exporting products by providing online forms. In a way, they did use sustainability, but in a way that I was not expecting.

We had lunch at a pizza place, and we tried a variety of different fusion pizzas. One of them was a teriyaki chicken and seaweed on a bread. It was so delicious. It started pouring rain while we were at the restaurant, so we started walking around the mall that the restaurant was connected to, until the weather cleared up. Afterwards, we went to a market, where there was a variety of venders. It was very overwhelming at first, because there were so many people there and I had to decide in dong (the currency of Vietnam) how much I wanted for items and convert to US dollars to see if I was getting a good price. If not, I could haggle with the venders and see if I could get a lower price. The first vender I almost bought something from grabbed my shoulder and wouldn’t let me leave when I decided I didn’t want to buy anything from them. Eventually I walked away. I received help from two UEF students, who helped me translate and also helped me get a lower price for some items. I was proud of myself for getting the price of a Prada (definitely fake) claw clip from over 11 USD to 5 USD and not letting up from paying $5. I also got two hand-embroidered art pieces for $28 with the help of the two UEF students. I learned during the market that the trick to wanting to get a lower price for an item is actually believing yourself and learning to not want the item if it’s too expensive, because if not, the venders will walk all over you.

Unfortunately, this is goodbye to everyone, including Vietnam itself. I still have one more day, in this beautiful city and will be wearing an Ao Dai (a traditional Vietnamese clothing) and presenting information about a company that my assigned group has been researching since before coming to Vietnam. I’d like to offer a thanks to my parents for allowing and funding my trip to Vietnam, my chaperones, Stephanie Spirk and Haimanti, and UEF students and staff for being so welcoming and kind to all of us clueless Americans. I also would like to give a shout out to Ms. Yvette Moore (or more like Dr. Yvette Moore), because she deserves it for helping me throughout the school year. Finally, I’d like to thank Vietnam itself, because this country has shown me nothing but kindness, despite me being an American (the U.S. committed so many atrocities against the Vietnamese during the war, which harmed so many future generations) who doesn’t speak Vietnamese.

Xin chào tạm biệt Vietnam!