Today started by going to UEF building to study the Buddhist religion. We conversed and learned for about an hour about the principles and the standards of Buddhism. We learned about how it was founded, who it was founded by, and what the purpose was. We had to debate about whether we thought Buddhism was a philosophy or a religion. Personally, I think it is 100% a religion. There is a set philosophy and standards that are instilled in a community. That’s just what I think though, everything is subjective to the person and how they view it. We then went to the Buddhist temple to see all of the statues. I thought it was very interesting and beautiful to see all the statues and what they represent and how just intricate they were.

After the Buddhist temple, we went to the Reunification Palace to walk around and look at everything there. We learned the history behind every room and how important they were and what they were used for. The palace was beautiful, and there were so many rooms. It was interesting to explore and learn about what everything did and when they were used. We were taught about how one of the doors led to the basement, in the underground safe house and also directly to the roof where a helicopter was. It was very cool.

Finally, we went to the War Remnants Museum. This was the place I wanted to go to all day, for I am very interested in this kind of stuff. They had all kinds of things there, such as planes, guns, reenactment cells, and even small objects such as frag grenades and gas masks from the war. it was very interesting to read about the Vietnamese side of the Vietnam War for in school we only learn about the US version. There was so much more pointless and innocent bloodshed then there needed to be. It was weird to be on the other side of the war and just look at their priorities/actions and what they did. Almost doing a deep dive on what the enemy thinks.

Overall, it was a very educational experience and was very insightful into the minds of the other side of the war. It was just very interesting and eye opening to what was happening.