Team Tests, Pagodas, and Gummies

           Today was our last day of classes while in Vietnam. We started with the Vietnamese Culture class and learned about Vietnam’s version of Yin-Yang. It is very similar to the Chinese version dealing with balance. The only difference is the symbols used to describe them. The whole philosophy of Yin and Yang relates to the balance of life. When there are ups, there must be equal downs to balance the world. It was quite interesting how Vietnamese culture relates it to everyday life.

            After culture class, we had our last language class where we did a lot of speaking. We gathered into groups and had an oral exam. Surprisingly, when you put five American students together in a group to speak Vietnamese, it still takes three Vietnamese students to help them through it.

            We finished our last language class and headed over to the cantina to eat our last lunch there. It was mainly shrimp and I was happy about that. Sadly, I probably won’t ever eat there again. Here’s a picture of Snowball to cheer you up:

Zoom in on his tongue. I did.

            Once we ate our lunch, we then walked over to the Xa Loi Pagoda. This pagoda is important to our history because it was made famous by the Vietnam War. A monk from this pagoda set himself ablaze in protest of the South Vietnamese government’s treatment of the people. This was mainly because they were discriminating against the Buddhists in South Vietnam. We then walked over to the memorial statue of Thich Quang Duc (the monk). The memorial was beautiful, but I cannot imagine how the people felt about their procession to his self-immolation during wartime.

Buddha shrine inside the pagoda.

Thich Quang Duc memorial statue.

Carving of famous scene of Thich Quang Duc's self-immolation.

            After the memorial, we walked to the War Remnants Museum. This felt very weird going into as an American. The way that Americans were portrayed in the museum was quite insulting. I understand that war is not pretty, but the museum seemed to only show pieces that painted a terrible image for Americans. One of the rooms was dedicated to the effects of Agent Orange. I didn’t stay in that room long because the images were very graphic and disturbing. I didn’t really like the museum and left rather quickly.

            After we left the museum, some of us headed back to the hotel and went swimming. I later went to the co-op (a store) and got a bunch of gummies. I like gummies. I’m saving some for the plane ride home.