May 19's activites started with a trip to Cu Chi. We got there and watched a video about the of the Cu Chi Tunnels and the American Killer Heros. I worked at spending my leftover money here and bought some snacks, scarves, and a hat. We squat walked though an enlarged tunnel. I felt the burn in my legs. There were a lot of interesting buildings aroud replicating life from the perspective of the Viet Cong. There were kitchens with chimmneys that had plant debris filters. We saw some workshops where life size plastic Viet Cong moved mechanically building booby traps and mines. The helicopter mines were ineffective because the Americans sprayed down landing zones with machine gun fire before landing. We saw all kinds of spikey booby traps that would have been smeared with feces with the intent of wounding American soldiers. We saw a tank destroyed by mines. There was a shooting range there where people could fire automatic weapons. I did not feel like I got the experience I wanted. It was a little touristy. There are rubber plantations surrounding Cu Chi. I was told that it is dangerous to travel on the roads going through these plantations at night because of robbers. I also heard that there is still a lot of unexploaded ordinace around Cu Chi and that people die every year trying to get it.
In the afternoon we went to the War Remnants Museum. It was a disturbing experience. I wish I could have seen more but, it closed at five and I decied it would be prudent to leave when the alarms started going off.
The last day of the Plus Three Vietnam trip started with the final Vietnamese culture class. We leaned about fertility worship, polytheism, and musical styles by region of Vietnam. They really seem to like worshiping in and around genital symbols. The musical styles of Southern Vietnam sounded better to me than the Northern musical styles. In the North the music is a lot more correographed and patriotic. In the South some music sounds almost Western. There was also a lot of more ethnic variety in Southern music.
In the final Vietnamese Language Class we had a quiz where we had to introduce ourselves. I passed. As much as I liked to stare at my watch, waiting for the pain of learning a language to stop, I will say that in the end I enjoyed taking the language class. I learned a lot about Vietnamese culture by having to learn how to greet different types of people, order food, and trade in the market.
We said farewell to the UEF students after something like an asain game show. There was a balloon hopping game, a blindfolded fruit tasteing game, and a blindfolded pudding eating contest. I learned that most of my UEF counterparts have never had a job other than learning. I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. They start class at 7:00am end late in the afternoon 6 days a week. We played a soccor game against the UEF students. They took it easy on us and still beat us 6-4. The match was 5 vs. 5 on a small field in a part of town where corrugated steel was a primary building material. It was alright though.
My final meal in Vietnam was wonderful. The sauce on the beef was great, everything except the chicken heads were. Although, maybe I should not judge because I did not try them. For the first time, sticky white rice was not served.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Wednesday May 18
Today's activites started with the third installment of our Vietnamese cultural education. We learned about dualism, yin-yang philosophy, and traditional community organization. Dualism involves a way of thinking in terms of extremes. Traditional Vietnamese will identify a person as either tall or short or, fat or thin. There is not much of a middle ground and modifiers such as thinner or fatter are not used. I am not sure how this way of thinking came into existance but it seems possible that it is a facet of the non-rational mode of existance that we learned of in previous lectures. Afterall, it seems rational to try to modify adjectives to to better describe nouns. Yin-yang philosophy seems to share similar roots in non-rational thinking. I am usure about a lot relating to yin-yang philosophy so I will save my judgments on it for my more detailed journal.
We continued to learn about traditional farming villages. Historically, the Vietnamese lived iin closed villaages with independent governments. The village centers were a couple of acres large and were surrounded by walls of densely planted bamboo. Sometimes women would live their entire lives and never leave the village walls. Eventually the villages realized the benefits of cooperating with each other to assit each other during natural disasters and invasions. This realization led to the formation of a central government to oversee the villages.
In the language class we learned how to say where we were from and what we are studying at the University of Pittsburgh. We now have the skills to do a decent introduction of ourselves in Vietnamese.
In the afternoon we went to a coffee shop to listen to a lady from Wisconsin talk about her experiences and percepions of Vietnam. She is a straight talker. She informed us of the high cost of living in HCM City. As I recall she was paying over 10,000 USD a year for her six year old's schooling. She also spoke of the her children's friends and their talents. The students generally have at least one Western parent and have western names. They can speak 3 or 4 languages fluently. She was frightening me a bit.
We continued to learn about traditional farming villages. Historically, the Vietnamese lived iin closed villaages with independent governments. The village centers were a couple of acres large and were surrounded by walls of densely planted bamboo. Sometimes women would live their entire lives and never leave the village walls. Eventually the villages realized the benefits of cooperating with each other to assit each other during natural disasters and invasions. This realization led to the formation of a central government to oversee the villages.
In the language class we learned how to say where we were from and what we are studying at the University of Pittsburgh. We now have the skills to do a decent introduction of ourselves in Vietnamese.
In the afternoon we went to a coffee shop to listen to a lady from Wisconsin talk about her experiences and percepions of Vietnam. She is a straight talker. She informed us of the high cost of living in HCM City. As I recall she was paying over 10,000 USD a year for her six year old's schooling. She also spoke of the her children's friends and their talents. The students generally have at least one Western parent and have western names. They can speak 3 or 4 languages fluently. She was frightening me a bit.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday May 17
Today's activities started with a Vietnamese cultural history class. South East Asains came into existance as a distinct race through a mixing of the Mongoloids who entered S.E.A. from the North and the Australoids who entered S.E.A. from the South. The tall, bright-skinned Mongoloids and the short, dark-skinned Australoids mixed to create a race of medium sized, brown-skinned people. We learned about the historical enemies of Vietnam. The lecturer listed about 8 different nations that the Vietnamese have had to fend off several times each. The Vietnamese relationship with China has historically been one of a big bully neighbor to a small neighbor. This interestingly resulted in a concentration of ethnic Chinese in the South of Vietnam because of discrimination in the North. We were also told a story that was reminisent of the story of Excalibur. Instead of a nymph in a lake it was a turtle in a lake that gave the hero the magical sword that was used to establish a kingdom. It is kind of interesting how similar cultural lore arises independently in different cultures.
The language class was a pretty big downer for me today. I completly dropped the ball in the verbal quiz. The teacher criticized my incompetence, but in a subtle, very Vietnamese, kind of way. We also learned key phrases to use in restaurants.
In the afternoon we vistied Glass Egg Digital Media. The senior executives we met with were very Westernized. This affected the general tone of the meeting in some interesting ways. They were a lot more open about thier alternate motives for inviting us there. I kind of liked that they were more open about their using of us. They were truly good business men who taught us a lesson by using their money making skills on us. They made a pitch for their club, Lush. Learning about how videogames are made was cool too. I learned a lot about how graphics and 3-D art are incorporated into the business models of game developers.
The language class was a pretty big downer for me today. I completly dropped the ball in the verbal quiz. The teacher criticized my incompetence, but in a subtle, very Vietnamese, kind of way. We also learned key phrases to use in restaurants.
In the afternoon we vistied Glass Egg Digital Media. The senior executives we met with were very Westernized. This affected the general tone of the meeting in some interesting ways. They were a lot more open about thier alternate motives for inviting us there. I kind of liked that they were more open about their using of us. They were truly good business men who taught us a lesson by using their money making skills on us. They made a pitch for their club, Lush. Learning about how videogames are made was cool too. I learned a lot about how graphics and 3-D art are incorporated into the business models of game developers.
Monday May 16
Today began with a presentation by one of the founders of Highlands Coffee in the HCM City Hard Rock Cafe. The presenter has a very interesting life story. He left Vietnam as a small child at the end of the war, spent some time in Fiji, and finally made it to the United States. He described how the discrimination his family faced as an immigants broke his fathers will and how he returned to Vietnam with only a few hundred dollars to start Highland's Coffee.
He has established himself as a brand builder for foreign companies seeking to do business in Vietnam. He assits in managing the operations of such companies as Hard Rock Cafe, ALDO, and Nike, as well as several others. He provided a lot of useful advice on doing business in developing countries though his personal experiences in Vietnam. He cautioned us of the many dangers that small obstacles present in undeveloped countries and informed us of the interesting opportunities available that make the dangers worthwhile.
We met the general manager of the Hard Rock Cafe. He said that the Vietnamese really like to rock out to Western cover bands because they recognize the songs and like to sing along.
Later in the evening we went to sing karaoke. Baker and I recieved the high score of the evening for a very sloppy rendition of "Ghost Busters." We were competing against Vietnamese who were far more experienced karaokeers than any of us. I think it might be the national pastime or something. Regardless of whether or not Baker and I deserved the high score, we all got to laugh and have a good time.
He has established himself as a brand builder for foreign companies seeking to do business in Vietnam. He assits in managing the operations of such companies as Hard Rock Cafe, ALDO, and Nike, as well as several others. He provided a lot of useful advice on doing business in developing countries though his personal experiences in Vietnam. He cautioned us of the many dangers that small obstacles present in undeveloped countries and informed us of the interesting opportunities available that make the dangers worthwhile.
We met the general manager of the Hard Rock Cafe. He said that the Vietnamese really like to rock out to Western cover bands because they recognize the songs and like to sing along.
Later in the evening we went to sing karaoke. Baker and I recieved the high score of the evening for a very sloppy rendition of "Ghost Busters." We were competing against Vietnamese who were far more experienced karaokeers than any of us. I think it might be the national pastime or something. Regardless of whether or not Baker and I deserved the high score, we all got to laugh and have a good time.
Sunday May 15
Today was a free day for us to relax in the sun. The day started with a ride on a hydrofoil on the Saigon River. We went through the Mangrove Forest which is an area of dense forest known as the lung of Saigon. The Mangrove trees, with their spindley trunks, sit atop a mass of entangled roots that seem to have strangled the life out of most other plant life. They are so dense that the forest looks as dark as night under the canopy of the forest. The Mangrove trees are clearly the masters of parts of the brakish swamps that surround parts of the Saigon River.
We arrived in Vung Tau and visited religious shrines in the area. We went to a Buddhist temple where we had to take our shoes, hats, and sunglasses off before entering. I rubbed Buddah's belly and ran my fingers over my head for good luck. We climbed to what the Vietnamese claim is the highest statue of Jesus in the world. I am unsure of the truth of the claim but it was a nice hike up the the hill with the unevenly carved stone staircase. There were religious scenes etched into the stone walls and marble statues of Christian figures along the path to the top.
We finished the day on the beach in Vung Tau. The water was warm and shallow extending far out into the South China Sea. The waves were gentle as we threw a frisbee and splashed about. After a while Mr. Tin called us over to play a game where we held small banannas between our legs, hopped around, and then passed the banannas to our teammates using only our legs and ingenuity. Mr. Tin told us that it was easier if we held the banannas between in our crotches as we played, a kind of perverted concept by American standards. Whatever, I held them between my knees. He cautioned us not to damage the banannas during the game. I am not sure why he said that. Maybe he expected us to eat them at the end. In the natural American way the banannas that were left over at the end were destroyed in a fit of mob-like madness.
We arrived in Vung Tau and visited religious shrines in the area. We went to a Buddhist temple where we had to take our shoes, hats, and sunglasses off before entering. I rubbed Buddah's belly and ran my fingers over my head for good luck. We climbed to what the Vietnamese claim is the highest statue of Jesus in the world. I am unsure of the truth of the claim but it was a nice hike up the the hill with the unevenly carved stone staircase. There were religious scenes etched into the stone walls and marble statues of Christian figures along the path to the top.
We finished the day on the beach in Vung Tau. The water was warm and shallow extending far out into the South China Sea. The waves were gentle as we threw a frisbee and splashed about. After a while Mr. Tin called us over to play a game where we held small banannas between our legs, hopped around, and then passed the banannas to our teammates using only our legs and ingenuity. Mr. Tin told us that it was easier if we held the banannas between in our crotches as we played, a kind of perverted concept by American standards. Whatever, I held them between my knees. He cautioned us not to damage the banannas during the game. I am not sure why he said that. Maybe he expected us to eat them at the end. In the natural American way the banannas that were left over at the end were destroyed in a fit of mob-like madness.
Saturday May 14
We had to wake up extra early this morning for a bus ride to the Mekong Delta. On the way there I could see nearly endless rice paddies and other agricultural production factors. I specifically recall how proud a lone bovine looked as it stood on a hill, head raised to the morning sun. There were people working in the fields cluttered with the white stone alters of their ancestors' graves. It is very beautiful country.
We arrived at a cocoa and coconut farm and toured the operation. The villager had the equipment to ferment and dry the beans, basically just some wooden boxes and plastic tarps. We took pictures. It was raining. We sat down to interview the villager and he offered us tea in small glasses stained with use. His wife spectated the exchange. It seem probable that she had dressed up for the arrival of the Americans because she was wearing blue eye makeup and a pearl necklace. I love these people because they welcomed us a warmly as anyone can a stranger.
We went to another, much wealthier, villager's farm and took a more thourgh tour of the plants growing on the farm by walking though some of his fields. There were all kinds of fruits growing: papaya, pineapple, banannas, and cocoa, to name a few. He too was producing primarily chocolate products. Unlike the first villager's operation, this operation involved the use of mechanical devices. He offered us some of his chocolate products and we enjoyed to fruits of his labor.
We took a boat ride in the Mekong Delta. I am pretty sure the Delta is bigger than I can see across. We visited a couple of islands and browsed the wares of the local merchants of the islands and took pictures of the parks that were built there.
May 14 is my birthday so I was taken out for a birthday feast at a place called Kiche Kiche. It is a build your own hot pot place where you get ingredients off a conveyer belt and put them in your pot of boiling broth. I thought that I might get sick because I did not know what I was doing with the raw ingredients. I had an amazing cake with fruit baked into it and one of the UEF students gave me a groovy gift that I will be able to enjoy for years to come. It is a model of a bicycle powered taxi that I see driving around sometimes.
We arrived at a cocoa and coconut farm and toured the operation. The villager had the equipment to ferment and dry the beans, basically just some wooden boxes and plastic tarps. We took pictures. It was raining. We sat down to interview the villager and he offered us tea in small glasses stained with use. His wife spectated the exchange. It seem probable that she had dressed up for the arrival of the Americans because she was wearing blue eye makeup and a pearl necklace. I love these people because they welcomed us a warmly as anyone can a stranger.
We went to another, much wealthier, villager's farm and took a more thourgh tour of the plants growing on the farm by walking though some of his fields. There were all kinds of fruits growing: papaya, pineapple, banannas, and cocoa, to name a few. He too was producing primarily chocolate products. Unlike the first villager's operation, this operation involved the use of mechanical devices. He offered us some of his chocolate products and we enjoyed to fruits of his labor.
We took a boat ride in the Mekong Delta. I am pretty sure the Delta is bigger than I can see across. We visited a couple of islands and browsed the wares of the local merchants of the islands and took pictures of the parks that were built there.
May 14 is my birthday so I was taken out for a birthday feast at a place called Kiche Kiche. It is a build your own hot pot place where you get ingredients off a conveyer belt and put them in your pot of boiling broth. I thought that I might get sick because I did not know what I was doing with the raw ingredients. I had an amazing cake with fruit baked into it and one of the UEF students gave me a groovy gift that I will be able to enjoy for years to come. It is a model of a bicycle powered taxi that I see driving around sometimes.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday May 13
Today's planned activities started with a lecture on rural planning and development in the Mekong Delta. The Mekong Delta is a of significant economic importance to Vietnam. It is responsible for over half of Vietnam's rice, fruit, and seafood production. Its products account for 18% of Vietnam's total GDP. Continuing to develop factors of production and value adding industries to complement the agricultural wealth of the Delta is a goal of the Vietnamese government. The sustainability of the economic value of the Mekong Delta is threatened by global warming. A one meter rise in ocean sea levels would put much of the Delta underwater for part of the year, destroying investments and reducing productivity.
The language class today focused on review. The teacher said our pronunciation of the tonal inflections is getting better. She said some people are even intelligible some of the time. I am fairly sure that I am still pretty idiotic sounding. I found out why the Vietnamese students laugh when we use the phrase "too expensive." It also means I am having an emergency with my bowels and need to get the the restroom. We also learned how to say the months and days of the week. They are easy in comparison to English. All you have to do is learn the words for "weekday" and "month" and then modify them with a number.
In the afternoon we went to an ACDI/VOCA, SUCCESS Alliance office. It is an organization that helps farmers in developing countries increase their income by educating them on how to cultivate cocoa in a sustainable manner. The organization is a non-profit, non-government organization that receives funding from the U.S. government. I like this organization because I like to think that it functions to improve the international reputation of the U.S.. It is a form of foreign aid that does not entail merely giving money away but indirectly helps the American business Cargill, who buys most of the cocoa beans. Additionally, it helps to reduce the price of chocolate on the global market by increasing long term supply of a key raw material. With an annual budget of only 8 million U.S. dollars, I think that whatever small amount in additional taxes we pay as Americans is money well spent.
The language class today focused on review. The teacher said our pronunciation of the tonal inflections is getting better. She said some people are even intelligible some of the time. I am fairly sure that I am still pretty idiotic sounding. I found out why the Vietnamese students laugh when we use the phrase "too expensive." It also means I am having an emergency with my bowels and need to get the the restroom. We also learned how to say the months and days of the week. They are easy in comparison to English. All you have to do is learn the words for "weekday" and "month" and then modify them with a number.
In the afternoon we went to an ACDI/VOCA, SUCCESS Alliance office. It is an organization that helps farmers in developing countries increase their income by educating them on how to cultivate cocoa in a sustainable manner. The organization is a non-profit, non-government organization that receives funding from the U.S. government. I like this organization because I like to think that it functions to improve the international reputation of the U.S.. It is a form of foreign aid that does not entail merely giving money away but indirectly helps the American business Cargill, who buys most of the cocoa beans. Additionally, it helps to reduce the price of chocolate on the global market by increasing long term supply of a key raw material. With an annual budget of only 8 million U.S. dollars, I think that whatever small amount in additional taxes we pay as Americans is money well spent.
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