Hi, everyone! I might be posting this a little more than halfway through the trip, but I can still explain how everything was when I was halfway through my stay in Vietnam.
Vietnam is honestly not that different when comparing it to my community at the University of Pittsburgh, because they value the importance of caring for one another here. During this program, we have extensively collaborated with the University of Economics and Finance, where the students and staff have been nothing short of welcoming. They have always ensured that we felt included and embraced in Vietnam. They made it seem as if they were the ones who should be honored to have us in their beautiful country, instead of us feeling like we should be grateful to have this amazing opportunity to stay in Vietnam. It’s slightly different, because of the extent to how welcoming they have been. For example, the students have been buying the American students small gifts, such as claw clips, snacks, and water. I greatly appreciate it, but I cannot imagine anyone in the United States ever going out of their way to make someone else feel so special.
In Vietnam, my day is completely different compared to my day in the United States. Because we’re only in Vietnam for a short period of time, our days have consisted of filled schedules, with a company visit during half of the day and language and cultural classes in the other. Afterwards, we are given time to explore the city or go out to eat. For the typical Vietnamese person, however, their days are much slower. They get up early, eat at home or sit at a restaurant and eat, and then go to work. According to some of the UEF students, Vietnamese people typically go to bed around 10pm, so they wake up semi-early. It’s a different culture compared to the United States, because the U.S. is very much more active and the people tend to not take the time to sit down and eat, slowly.
The streets are filled with the sound of cars and motorbikes speaking to each other through the sound of their horns. Occasionally, in my hotel room, I can hear the sound of choirs singing while they’re practicing. The streets smell of trash and food, because there is a plethora of both that can be seen while walking down the street. Despite that, Ho Chi Min City is a beautiful place filled with a variety of things that everything should see or taste at least once in their life, such as the delectable flavors of Vietnamese Cuisine or seeing the beautiful architecture that was inspired by Chinese and French colonization.
