We started off an early morning trying to sleep in and realizing we couldn't. After getting up and getting ready, we headed downstairs and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. Here, at the Victory Hotel, they do continental breakfast a little differently (pictures to follow later). They serve a traditional Vietnamese breakfast with a bit of American twist; however, I tried to be as Vietnamese as possible. Eating things like fried rice, dumplings, various pork and noodle dishes and some pho (which we learned is pronounced ph-a-a). My biggest mistake was looking at the peppers and thinking they wouldn't be that spicy. Tears may have been shed...
After breakfast we met up in the lobby with our Vietnamese guide, Tin. Tin is this adorable, little Vietnamese man who has been going with us on most of our adventures and answering all our questions. We went to the Vietnamese University of Economics and Finance or UEF. That is kinda our home base for these next two weeks. There, we were greeted by such an enthusiastic group of students. They prepared one hip hop dance number and one traditional Vietnamese song and dance, after which I was presented with a Vietnamese rice farmer hat. After, we all stood up and introduced ourselves. That in itself was quite the experience. The students were then able to ask us questions after, many of which had to be repeated a few times. Though the students speak great English, the accents still make it difficult at times to understand. They seem to have such a passion and interest in the English language. One student even skipped her class so she could meet us and spend time with us. After the welcome ceremony ended, many students came up and asked to have pictures taken with us and were so excited when we said yes. It was so strange and out of body to have these students want so many pictures, it was almost like we were celebrities.
Next we attended Vietnamese language class, and oh boy was that an experience. After a tiny intro into Chinese, I thought maybe I'd pick up things a bit easier, but oh was I wrong. First, there's the vowels which are insanely hard to pronounce without the accent, and then you have to learn them with 5 different accents. Then there's the consonants and the consonant groups. You expect them to be pronounced like they are in English, but nope. By the end of the lesson we learned two Vietnamese phrases, "Hello. My name is ...." and "Goodbye. See you later." Much like Aloha, xin chao means hello and goodbye and thats about all I really know how to say and properly pronounce. Vietnamese is a difficult language because you use a part of your vocal range that really isn't used in traditional Latin based languages. It's almost like singing in many ways.
After we went to lunch where we were served rice with a variety of vegetables with shrimp, pork and beef. The food was delicious and followed up by probably the sweetest banana I've ever had.
Our day was then concluded at the University and we headed back to the hotel for a little break. In that time me and my roommate, Amy and a few of our friends from the trip wandered down to the Co-op and did a bit of exploring. The co-op was huge. It had everything from clothes to food to any over the counter product you can imagine. The ladies checking us out laughed as we attempted to pay and thank them.
Finally, We went to the United States Consulate. There is so much history to that plot of land. It was once a French military base, a French consulate and the US Embassy which was attacked during the war. It's strange to realize how recent that war really was and see how quickly relations were rebuilt. Almost everyone we meet is so welcoming, laughing and smiling at us constantly. It's just strange to think that we just recently got out of a war with them. The two men who talked with us at the consulate were fascinating. After learning about their lives, it gives me so much respect for our diplomats who go into these foreign countries and take on these jobs. If it weren't for the lack of control over reassignment and the extensive language courses it would definitely be a career path I would be interested in.
Now is just rest time before we go grab dinner and explore the town with some of the students.
Until next time
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