Wow! I never though two weeks could go by so fast. I’m so thankful I was able to experience such an eye-opening, rewarding trip. As I reflect on my time in Vietnam, I realize that I’ve gained a new perspective, many new friends, and several transferable skills. Since this was my first time traveling to…

Today was my favorite day so far! It started out with a long bus ride to get to the Mekong Delta. I was nervous to be spending a whole day out in the sun on the water, but it was way better than I expected! Luckily today was one of the coolest days since we’ve…

Today was an interesting day; all the food I’ve been eating caught up with me so I didn’t really participate in much. In the morning, we had our final site visit to the Cat Lai Terminal. Cat Lai is one of the largest ports in Vietnam. Here, they store containers and load them onto and…

Today started out with a class on Buddhism. I already knew most of what we talked about, but I think Buddhism is really cool anyways and I was interested to see how it was taught in Vietnam. Beforehand, I was unsure about how the government handled religion and if there were any sensitive topics. Our…

Today, we visited two companies instead of having class at UEF. We first visited the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park, located an hour outside of the city. The industrial park leases land and buildings for companies, along with providing many other benefits. Renting property from VSIP has many pros, but it comes with its own set…

Two things to know about me: I don’t like small spaces, and I hate bugs. Today, I walked through a jungle filled with large centipedes, spiders, and beetles, and voluntarily lowered myself into holes I barely fit into so that I could explore some of the vast 200 km tunnel system known as the Cu…

Today we had an early start, boarding the bus at 6 am for a trip to Vung Tau. In Vung Tau, we hiked up to an outlook and relaxed at a resort. After five days of classes and site visits, I was excited to have a whole day dedicated to sight seeing and relaxing. The…

Day Five started with a visit to the United States Consulate. We spoke to two Foreign Service Officers (FSOs), one of whom was involved in public affairs and one in economics. It was an interesting experience to hear from Americans living in Vietnam. We asked questions about their jobs at the consulate as well as…

Today, we started off with a lecture about the Mekong Delta and another language class. Learning the tones and the alphabet yesterday helped a lot in class today, but trying to learn to speak full sentences of Vietnamese without really understanding any of it was still a challenge. In the afternoon, we spoke to the…

Today we attended a class on the urban development and planning of Ho Chi Minh City. The class was interesting, especially since our teacher, although born after the war, gave us more insight into how the Vietnamese view the Vietnam War. After lunch, the Vietnamese students took us over to a coffee shop next door…