Chào bąn! Tôi tên là Thủy! That means “Hi! My name is Thủy!” Thủy is my Vietnamese name, it means water. We got our Vietnamese names in our language class this morning. We also learned the alphabet, pronouns, and some common greetings! It was really fun learning the tones and pronunciations of the letter. Some of them are similar to English but some are very different, so it took a minute to get used to reading the language. Before our language class, we had a lecture on rural planning and development of the Mekong delta, which was super cool since we’re going on a tour of the Delta on Saturday! It was really interesting to see the plans for transforming the delta from a labor intensive economy to a capital intensive economy.

After our classes, we went to lunch, and it was probably my favorite meal so far. Again, another version of a traditional Vietnamese dinner, but more beef and chicken instead of seafood, which I liked since seafood isn’t my favorite. Then, the main event of the day, was our company site visit with GreenViet, a sustainable construction consulting firm. It was a pretty good blend of business and engineering which I appreciated, especially for this group. We got to learn about GreenViet and how, after only a short time, they’ve made such an impact on the industry and now maintain about 50% of the market share for their service.

GreenViet is unique because the market and demand for their services are relatively new in Vietnam, so establishing themselves quickly was very important. However, more fully developed countries, like the U.S. and Japan, had been using this kind of thinking and technology for a few years before Vietnam began to have these ideas. I think that GreenViet took advantage of the rapid pace of countries with competing businesses and industries in order to dominate the market quickly and effectively. The constant competition for growth and profit is the cause for a lot of the demand changes, which fuel changes in industry and supply. Because of this, I think GreenViet is fairly reliant on international relations and business. Mr. Quang, co-founder of GreenViet, talked a lot about international trade, especially with the recent fluctuations in tariffs. Specifically, the business between Vietnam and the U.S., Vietnam and China, and the U.S. and China play huge roles in the demand for companies like GreenViet. This, especially in today’s world, is why having an understanding of the business and the engineering world is so crucial for GreenViet’s success. Mr. Quang has a degree in engineering and an MBA, which I found impressive and really interesting, and I think it’s been a huge contributing factor to GreenViet’s success.

After our lovely company visit, we had our free time for the evening, where us Pitt students and a few UEF students met up for dinner, shopping, and pickleball. I finally had authentic pho and it was so amazing!! It was really fun walking around the city with everyone. I got my first crack at haggling with Vietnamese shop owners, which was really scary. I’d never played pickleball before but I actually had a lot of fun and I’m not as bad as I thought I’d be. It was a really great way to end the evening, with some exercise and lots of laughs, and I’m happy we get to be back in the classroom learning more tomorrow!!