It is so weird to wake up at 7am and realize that it is 8pm at night back in the US. I can say that I am already adjusted to this new sleep schedule but that can be accredited to the fact that we are doing a lot during the day and then get back very tired.
Our morning was filled with classes at UEF taught by their instructors and we were accompanied by our new UEF friends. The first session was named Smart and Sustainable Service: Reinventing Customer Experience in the Digital Age. This was an amazing opportunity to hear from Professor Minh about how companies can prepare and combat the uncertainty of change in an ever changing world. We had a fun Kahoot game where I unfortunately did not make the top 5 to win a bag of Lays. We then had a great team building experience with our tables which had 4 Pitt students and 2 UEF students (shoutout Roy and Mai). We were tasked with thinking of a service that is in America but does not have as much popularity in Vietnam and thinking of ways that it fits the culture, how to spend initial investment, a pricing strategy, etc. Our group came up with the idea of dog/pet daycare, and we all came together to strategize our pitch as we were competing against the other groups to see who comes has the best presentation. Our group crushed the pitch and was recognized as one of the winners from Professor Minh.
After this we were able to start learning some of the basics of the Vietnamese language. This was a great time interacting with all the students and learning some of the greetings and other phrases in Vietnamese. This was also just a great time to talk more with the UEF students, to ask questions, and to learn more about them. We were also served some treats and most had a very interesting texture. My favorite however was the honeycomb, which when dipped in the fresh coconut sauce was very delicious.
We had lunch at a great spot with mango trees before heading to our first site visit at Park Hyatt Saigon. The tour and information sessions gave insightful thoughts one how this hotel can be in the luxury section of the Hyatt brand. The biggest thing that puts Park Hyatt in the luxury space is the hospitality that the hotel provides to all their guests. This speaks to their sustainability of services because people remember the relationships they make, more than how much they spend or what they do while at the hotel. I am excited to learn more about how other companies in the city have sustainability goals, whether that is environmental or just long term customer satisfaction.
At night we go went with some of the UEF students where we tried some street food including balut which is an egg that was fermented for some time before being boiled and eaten. We also had our first taste of pho, and it was delicious. After this we went to a karaoke spot with the UEF students and had an amazing time with everyone.
