The First Day

Vietnam is an absolutely amazing country. We all woke up at around 5 am because of the jet leg so we went down to breakfast early to kill time. The breakfast was amazing but interesting because their breakfast food is foods that we would eat for lunch or dinner in America. There were pasta dishes, Pho soup, green beans, vegetables, and tons of other delicious dishes in the buffet. We all met up at 8:15 again to get on the bus to go to the University of Economics and Finance. Our first bus ride through the city was sensory overload. There are mobs of motor bikes and the traffic is nuts, it really amazed me all of the near crashes we witnessed. Once we got to the University we were welcomed by the students and they were beyond nice to us. The students put on a show for us and sang us a few songs. Two boys sang “Everything” by Michael Buble to us, it was so sweet and they put on the cutest puppet show. Talking to the students was so much fun they are so excited to have us here, it’s the best feeling. Then we went to our first day of language class which was so much fun. The students worked with us and were so patient. Vietnamese is the most amazing language. It’s so interesting because there are five different tones and for instance, if you say “la” in the five different tones each has a different meaning. We learned how to say things like “My name is Kim” and “It was nice to meet you”. The teacher was the best, she didn’t speak a word of English but still managed to teach us all how to speak. After the language class, they served us lunch in the “Cantene” which is their cafeteria. It was delicious: lots of rice, chicken, veggies, and beef. After lunch, we went back to the hotel, changed into business casual clothes and met back up to do our afternoon activities. We went on a bus tour of the city to get our bearings. We saw the market which I am really excited to go shopping in because everything is so cheap! In our hotel room’s mini fridge the drinks are only twenty five cents! Our tour guide Tim is awesome, he is this little hilarious Vietnamese man who is so sweet and loves taking pictures. After the bus tour, we went to the US consulate which was so interesting hearing about these people’s jobs in foreign services. They have such interesting lives living and working in Vietnam. We all were pretty faded by the end of the US consulate meeting so we went back to the room to take a nap. Me and Maia called the receptionist for a wake up call at 5:30 pm because we were supposed to meet up for our welcome dinner at 6:45 but we got a call at 6:50 asking where we were… we were so knocked out that we slept three hours and through our first wake up call.. oops! So we were late to meet the group for dinner, but it was okay and we went to the restaurant which was amazing. It was outdoors and a 7-course meal. The food so far is really delicious. We just got back from dinner and since we all took such long naps are ready to go explore the town.