Today was our first day in Vietnam, and it was amazing. We were welcomed by the UEF students with a ceremony and took a tour around the city. I found cultural differences through the welcome ceremony, as it was much different than what you would usually see in America. They had a martial arts and singing/dancing performance ready for us, along with games. I felt this differed from the U.S, because usually we have smaller welcoming ceremonies or none at all, at least from my experience. Along with this, I was shocked by the amount of motorbikes around during our tour today. I knew that it was common in Vietnam, but it took me by surprise just how many there were. Every street was filled with them, and they intertwined with cars everywhere. They also drove along the sidewalk, which I found interesting as you would not see that in the U.S. Signals of development/globalization became apparent to me throughout the city tour, as we saw how quickly it would transfer from smaller, locally owned Vietnamese businesses to large city centers with global brands all around. It took me by surprise how drastic and fast the change was. Sometimes it felt like we were in a small town, and the next a major city. At the welcome lunch/dinner, I was surprised by the family style meal, as in the U.S. we are used to individual meals for each person, whereas here everybody shares multiple items. There was nothing specific that differed from the Culture Smart book we read, but I noticed how the popular food and dishes, such as chicken and pork mentioned in Culture Smart, were served to us during lunch and dinner. Today was so fun and I’m excited for tomorrow!
