Motorbike fun

So, no American food for us. But we did get something even better! The UEF students picked us up at the hotel and took us to get Vietnamese barbecue. We got there by riding the motorbikes (Shh! Don't tell Brice). It was so cool to travel through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City on a motorbike just like all the locals do. It was kind of scary at first, but really fun and a huge adrenalin rush. We got to the restaurant and, as usual, the food was not anything like American food (surprise!). You ordered what ever type of barbecued meat you wanted, but instead of bringing you the food cooked, they bring it to you completely raw and seasoned. Then they light a small grill in front of you and you cook the food yourself. I have never seen anything like it! One really cool thing I got to try for the first time was goat. Sound kind of gross, I know, but it was actually really good. The UEF students also brought us street vendor food, which was surprisingly good as well! To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what I ate, but one important thing I've learned about eating in Vietnam is to not ask any questions about what you are eating and just go for it. During our meal, a girl named Dang was there to show us how to cook and eat the food. I am really bad at pronouncing her name, so I promised her I would work on saying her name for the next time I saw her. Now that I'm here, I feel so guilty for not being able to speak Vietnamese because they all speak English so well!

Emmy, Dang and I eating Vietnamese barbecue

Afterwards we walked around the city for a while and the students showed us some of the cool buildings in Ho Chi Minh. We saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is a beautiful church located in Vietnam. We are apparently going back there this Saturday, but seeing the Cathedral at night with the lights shining on it was amazing. During this time we did something even more dangerous than riding a motorbike: we crossed the streets. Basically, there are absolutely not pedestrian laws in Ho Chi Minh, so you just kind of slowly inch your way out into traffic and pray that the motorbikes go around you and stop. Thankfully, the students at UEF are experts at this, so the lead the way and made sure that none of us got killed.

Today we had a long, but exciting day at UEF. We started off with culture class in the morning where we talked about Vietnam's history. One really cool story that we learned during the class was a story about a giant turtle that lives in a lake near the city of Hanoi. People are very protective of this animal because it is said to be over 1,000 years old and it is said to be the descendent of the golden turtle- an animal that allowed the Vietnamese king to save Vietnam from Chinese occupation. It was a really unique story and spoke a lot about the Vietnamese culture. After culture class, we had language class, where we learned about Vietnamese vowels and tones and practiced the words we already knew. In English, we have 5 vowels, but in Vietnamese they have ten! Also unlike English, Vietnamese is a tonal language with 6 different tones. We practiced saying the vowels each with all of the tones. I'm sure we sounded really funny to anyone that was listening to us from outside the room. Even though the language is really difficult to learn, I love that we get to learn it every day and want to get better at it. 

After lunch, we got together with the students in the UEF English club and had a cultural exchange. We were split up into teams ( ba muoi lam! #golo) and competed against each other in a lot of really fun games. The first activity we did was a game where we were given a sheet with 2 columns: one with a cultural norm in the United States written in English, and the other with a cultural norm in Vietnam written in Vietnamese. You had to explain what the paper said in your column and then compare the differences between Vietnam and the USA. It was really beneficial to learn about the differences and similarities in both of our countries. It made me realize that even though we do have different customs, we really aren't so different after all. Next, we had a dance competition where we had to mimic the dance that one of the UEF students had made for us. He was an AMAZING dancer, and unlike him I looked like a complete idiot trying to do his dance. After that, we played a game of charades which was  also a really good time. Our team won the round and we were having so much fun (especially when we had to act out the word "bra"). Then we played a game where we competed in teams of two. The goal of each team was to have one person spin another person around their body for as many times as they could without dropping them. Elliot was the spinner for our team and he did a really good job! After that we did something I never thought I would be doing: we played a game that involved running around and catching a baby pig. When my turn came up, I channeled my inner Wisconsin country girl and actually caught the piggy before anyone else! But instead of putting it down like everyone else before me, I picked it up and cuddled with it for a while and shouted "It's so cute!", which caused a lot of the UEF students to laugh. I was really tempted to steal the pig and take him back home with me! Then we played a few more games that involved shooting balls through hula hoops and a game that was kind of like twister only slightly more painful because you had to walk under and over people. All of the games that we did were really fun and I had so much fun with my team!

After that we had an awards ceremony to announce what team had one. Our team had come in second place and we were all given gifts to open later. Then we did a gift exchange with the UEF students and I exchanged gifts with one of my teammates, Thanh. I gave her a Pitt t-shirt and she gave me a basket of really cool gifts from UEF and a really cool keychain. I promised to friend her on facebook and email her when I get back to the United States, and can't wait to do that because she is so nice! Afterwards of the UEF and Pitt students got and a circle and sang Backstreet Boys together (gotta love those 90's boy bands!) and then had a dance party for a while. Then we opened the presents we had gotten from the awards ceremony, and they were filled with really cool types of fruit, including dragonfruit! Hanging out with the UEF students is always so much fun. They are the coolest people ever and we all love spending time with them. This afternoon was so much fun and I am so happy to be here in Vietnam.

We went back to the hotel for a while to relax and then met up with the UEF students to go get pho, which we had all been talking about for the entire trip. Pho is a Vietnamese noodle dish that is really famous, so we had been wanting to try it. Once again, we rode the motorbikes to the restaurant. The pho was really good, and I'm so glad we got to try it. After dinner, the students took some of us on a motorbike ride throughout Ho Chi Minh. Dang was nice enough to let me ride with her on her bike. It was such a cool experience seeing Ho Chi Minh City from the back of a motorbike, but it was also a kind of terrifying experience. There were a few times during our trip that I saw my life flash before my eyes and may have almost died several times. It's kind of unavoidable because of all the people and total disregard for any traffic laws. But Dang was a really good driver and we made it through the city in one piece. During our trip, we passed over a bridge where you could see the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. Seeing the city all lit up at night from the bridge was absolutely breathtaking. Seeing the city made me realize how lucky I am to be able to experience something like this, both as a student and an engineer. Not everyone gets the opportunity to study abroad in such an amazing city, and I'm so happy to be here. 

Vietnamese Pho

Well, it is 12:30 AM currently in Ho Chi Minh. We have to get up bright and early tomorrow, which means I should probably be sleeping. Goodnight from Vietnam!

-Hailee