Today was quite long but still very fun. We began the day learning more Vietnamese to get ready for our trip to the Ben Thanh Market later. We learned the alphabet and the tone indicators which is quite different from English but at the same time the alphabet is almost identical to the English alphabet which makes things quite confusing but also easy at the same time. I’m sure with more time I would find it to be easier than other Southeastern-Asian languages. I wonder if native Vietnamese speakers find English to be easier than other languages due to the similar alphabet. After that we got bamboo hats and got to paint them while we learned about Vietnamese history. We learned about symbols of Vietnam and were encouraged to paint them onto our hats. My hat was not very good as I am not a very good painter and I ran out of time. Alas I do not have any pictures of the hat so you will have to picture it in your head. Think of an ugly hat and then make it a bit uglier and you’ve got it.
After a very American lunch, we headed to the Ben Thanh Market to put our skills to the test. I ended up not using them that much as many of the merchants there spoke English quite well. I got a deal on a hat that I think was good. I told my friend from UEF, Teedie, that I got it for 90k and she said it was good but I’m worried she was trying to be nice. Haggling was a ton of fun but I could not do it for a long time, especially in the heat. The market was huge and maze-like so I got lost with another person from UEF. We walked around for at least 20 minutes and did not see another person we knew. We had been at another market back in the Mekong Delta but it was nowhere near the size of this one. The place was wall to wall with tiny shops all selling trinkets and faux luxury items and I’m certain if the shop owners could put things on the ceiling they would. It was astounding at the amount of “luxury” brands there. It seemed like every other store was full of purses or watches that were either Gucci or Rolex, obviously they weren’t actually those brands but the sellers would do anything to make you believe they were. I personally didn’t buy any fakes but I figure many people do because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be sold. This visit reenforced my thoughts on people wearing expensive brands to seem more wealthy than they actually are being a very silly thing. Those brands should be expensive because they are high quality, not because they just are the “expensive” brand. The theft of intellectual property was actually related to our next visit which was the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.
The US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City was very informative. We learned about what they do and how it’s different from the Embassy in Hanoi as well as the process for people who want to work abroad for the Department of State. It’s not a career path I knew even existed before this visit but it is something I will be considering now. We learned that the US is aware of the issues with IP theft in Vietnam and is able to place restrictions on Vietnam if they so choose to push the country towards a stronger policy on the protection of IP. I’m curious as to what the US will do about IP theft, especially considering the current administration and how unpredictable they are. We also learned some economic history of Vietnam which was very insightful and helped me gain a deeper understanding of why the country operates how it does as well as where they plan to go in the future.
Our final adventure was a waterbus trip around the city. It was very beautiful as we got to see the city at both sunset and at night. If it wasn’t at the end of an already very long day I would have enjoyed it more but that does not mean I did not love it. Seeing the city from the water is something I’ll never forget. I’m sad to say goodbye to this beautiful city and country but that is just how it is. I have made memories I never could have imagined making and befriended people I never thought I would get along with. I really hope I can see some of the UEF students in the future, either them coming to the US or me returning to Vietnam. I am so lucky to have had the chance to come here and I am so happy I took that chance. I actually submitted my application for the Plus3 program late so I was worried that I would not get in. I can still remember getting the email that I was accepted into the Vietnam program and how excited I was to go. I was worried that since none of my friends were going I would be alone or the trip wouldn’t be as good as it was in my head. I can say with confidence, neither of those things happened. I was welcomed with open arms and the trip exceeded my every one of my expectations. I cannot recommend Plus3 enough to anyone who is considering it, especially the Vietnam option.
