That Time I Got Lei-ed in Vietnam

Turns out I’m a millionaire. Who knew? I’ll start from the beginning though:

     We had breakfast in the hotel. It was not American food that’s for sure. I’ll be honest though, I don’t know what I ate, but it was good. After breakfast, we gathered in the lobby and were given shirts that the students at the University of Economics & Finance (UEF) wear. We changed into the shirts and headed over to UEF for the opening ceremony. As we got off the bus, the students at UEF greeted us with leis. (That’s why the title says “lei-ed.” Get it?) At the ceremony, the students performed some traditional dances and there were speeches by those in charge of the Plus 3 Program in Vietnam. Dr. Berman also went Vietnamese on us when he made his speech to the Vietnamese students. It was a great speech…probably.

Traditional dance by Vietnamese students

           

     Once the opening ceremony was complete, we were presented with gifts and then took pictures with all of the students. After the photo-shoot we went to our first Vietnamese language class. We weren’t in Kansas anymore. The amount of Vietnamese that I learned made it possible that I may have been able to converse with a toddler. Hopefully said toddler was patient.

            After the language class, we went over to get lunch at Kent University, which is right by UEF. I could identify that there was rice present at the meal. Don’t ask me what the rest of it was. After lunch, the girls went to get measured for their gowns that were part of their gift from the UEF students. The guys stayed in the lounge and played with straws…. It was more fun than it sounds. Pro tip:  Don’t inhale salt through a 4 foot long straw while you sit across the table. It doesn’t feel, taste, or even sound like a great idea.

This was our lunch table...LUNCH!  

If you look closely, you can see 

Dr. Berman's look of disapproval.

            From the Kent University cantina area, we headed over to Hutech, a sister university to UEF. There we got to talk with an electrical engineer named Dr. Viet who teaches at Hutech. He had an interesting outlook on life and education and was very intriguing to converse with.

            Once we left Hutech, we headed back to the hotel and a few of us went over to get money from the ATM. I took out 200million dong (about $100). Obvious jokes were made about the plethora of dong in our hands and pockets. We’re children, deal with it. With our excessive amount of dong, we headed over to the Co-op Market, which was basically a Vietnamese Wal-Mart. It is incredible how cheap things are here!

            For dinner, we walked over from the hotel to this really large, French building that housed a restaurant. You would not believe the amount of food that was on our table. Each dish was served in a different cup, bowl, plate, coconut, or other container. I would hate to be a busboy there. The food there was interesting. Some of it was good, others were questionable, and still others were just plain weird. I never knew there were that many types of gelatinous foods. I also did not partake in the eating of the prawn eyes that some of the kids did. Not my wheelhouse. Overall today was a good day. I took some pictures and had some new experiences. That’s about all I can ask for really.