I would like to thank Thomas Angelo Honors Scholarships for providing me with a scholarship to assist my participation on the Plus 3 Vietnam program. Your generous donation allowed me to have the opportunity to learn and experience so many new things. I was able to travel with my peers in the College of Business…
Tag: Joshua Sorkin
Missing Ho Chi Minh City
After two weeks in Vietnam I’m happy to be home and readjusted to life in the US; however, I’m also sad that the trip had to come to an end. The crazy streets and food in Ho Chi Minh City, along with all of the UEF and Pitt students that I met, are just a…
Big Day on the Delta
After another long bus ride this morning we arrived at the Mekong Delta, one of the most important locations in all of Vietnam as it produces a lot of the agricultural products that are exported from the country. In the delta we got to go to a few different islands. On the first one…
RePORTing to Cat Lai
Today we visited Cat Lai Terminal and learned about the shipping industry and ports in Vietnam. We were told that Cat Lai is one of the biggest ports in Vietnam which I can definitely believe after seeing the seemingly endless rows of crates stacked on top of one another. Cat Lai is a feeder…
Bargaining and Buddha
After taking a long walk in the hot sun this morning over to the currency exchange, we went to UEF for a lesson on Buddhism. I found it interesting that Buddhism originally started as a philosophy and as it continued to take on more religious aspects eventually became a philosophical religion. The Four Noble…
VIPs at VSIP
We had another early start today as we took off for our two site visits at 7:30 after breakfast in the hotel. The first site visit was to VSIP, a township developer that is a partnership between the Vietnamese Government and Singapore. The whole idea behind the company is essentially to lease land within…
Cu Chi Everything
This morning we left the hotel at 8 AM and took off on a long bus ride to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Similar to yesterday, we drove past a lot of small houses and restaurants with tin roofs on tight and bumpy roads. Eventually, we made it to the tunnels and had the chance…
Stairway to Heaven
Rather than the usual 7:15 AM wake up call, we hopped out of bed at 5:30 in order to get a jumpstart on our trip to the beach. We left so early that we missed the hotel’s breakfast, but luckily, they provided us each with a Styrofoam container that included three pieces of bread, some…
Making a Splash at the Puppet Show
Rather than going to UEF in the morning, we took a visit to the US consulate. The consulate functions similar to an embassy, it’s just under a different name because it is not located in the country’s capital. One job of the consulate is to make sure the people in Vietnam have a favorable…
Trying the whole chicken
We went over to UEF around the same time this morning and started off our day learning about the long history of Vietnam, and the numerous foreign countries that have had an impact on its current culture. Following our history lesson, we had another language class where I learned how to count to ten…
McDay 3
After finishing another breakfast at the hotel buffet, we bussed over to the UEF building for today’s lecture focused on Urban development, and the changes that have occurred in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh city. Whereas much of yesterday’s lecture was focused on the changes that have occurred near the Mekoing Delta due to climate…
Day 2: Fun at Phu My Hung
After learning about the effects of climate change and development on the rural areas of Vietnam in the morning, we had the chance to visit Phu My Hung Development Corporation. Phu My Hung is an infrastructure and development company working towards building five city centers throughout southern Vietnam. Currently only site A has been completed,…
Heating up in Ho Chi Minh City
While overwhelming, our first day in Ho Chi Minh City was a great opportunity to meet the Vietnamese students and begin learning about the country. While touring the city, one of the things that stood out to me was the organized chaos that takes place on the streets. Motorcycles, mopeds, and cars fill the streets…
Signing on in Saigon
Hi everyone! My name is Josh Sorkin and I am a freshman in the College of Business Administration planning to major in finance and accounting with a certificate in international business. I was born in New Jersey, but I’ve lived in Alpharetta, Ga since I was five. Coming to Pittsburgh from Georgia was a big…