Day 4

Today woke up a little off time for breakfast so grabbed some bread to go on our way to the University of Economics and Finance. At UEF we had Le Quang Minh, Vice-President of VNU-Ho Chi Minh City, present about Rural Planning and Development: The Mekong Delta. He had just returned from the United States and spoke very well. There I met Kien, another UEF student, who was going to the beach with us Sunday. He spoke very good English as well and he added side comments to the presentation helping me understand more thoroughly the different aspects of the Mekong Delta from the coco plants to the aquaculture. During this presentation the local news station came and recorded us. They interviewed two students from both University of Pittsburgh and University of Economics and Finance.

Following the presentation we had a photo shoot with the other Vietnamese students. They always love taking pictures with us. They always do peace signs, which apparently mean Victory, and thumbs up, which means number one. We also tried some Vietnamese Ice Cream. The cookies and cream I selected tasted like candy corn, very odd for being called cookies and cream. We then had our first Vietnamese Culture Class. This was presented by a Vietnamese Harvard Graduate who spoke very good English. He talked about the Vietnamese Culture being a love based and not realistic based like China or Korea. He discussed not thanking directing in Vietnam but instead complimenting. Also he told us there are no such things as too personal of questions. Most Vietnamese will ask anything about your age, your relationship, and just about anything you can think of. Ultimately as long as they don’t lose ‘face’, essentially respect, Vietnamese people will ask anything. Another interesting thing was in Vietnam the order of importance goes God then Wife where in the US it’s God, Children, Spouse, then Self.

After Culture Class we had lunch at the can tin again. There we were reluctant to consume this mystery meat that smelt and tasted like dog food. I can only put one and two together to figure it out. There have been though the most amazing fruit dishes so I feasted on that. We had to go back to the hotel to change into Business attire for our scheduled meeting. Our meeting was at another US Consulate building. Before our meeting we stopped by the French Bakery downstairs where I had a real chocolate croissant instead of the ones I get from Panera. It was phenomenal and excellent at filling my partially empty stomach. Also we got to test 3D-HDTV, it was basically a home IMAX and the possibly the coolest thing ever. I can only hope I get one.

For this meeting we were then placed in a room with a great view of Ho Chi Minh City. Professor Berman told us how none of the tall buildings we saw were there 10 years ago. It’s amazing how far Vietnam has come in just 10 years expanding and building. The presentation was by Jennifer Ludders, Economic Officer, and Dave Averne, Commercial Officer. Jennifer, as the Economic Officer, deals with a lot of issues including GDP production, the environment, ethics, etc. Dave, as the Commerical Officer, works with American Businesses and helps establish sale in Vietnam if a certain product has a significant market for. As for the Economics I can only imagine how interesting of a country Vietnam is to study. Expected to be the 17^th largest economy by 2025 it is remarkable their overall expansion. A few interesting facts were the average salary in Vietnam is around 1,200 USD, extremely low however Dave mentioned that within the city it is closer to 15,000 USD. Also Vietnamese don’t trust banks so that explains why a lot of stores here are specifically safe stores. A lot of wealthier Vietnamese invest in gold as it is the most stable form of currency. Lastly the most interesting thing is that material possessions are generally overlooked because the majority of people rather be able to support their family.

After this meeting the skies opened up and our initial plan to go back to the market Bhaun Ton Market seemed to be over. However, as adventurous as we are unaware of the rains in Vietnam, we headed out against better judgment. By the Time we arrived at the market, still pouring cats and dogs, we were soaked thoroughly into our undergarments. We did get to the market so no time was wasted complaining about being wet. There I finally replaced my suit case for 1/5 the original price of my old one; got 11 seasons a HBO and a Showtime series; and acquired some tasteful t-shirts.

The system in Vietnam is entirely bartering so you approach any vendor they will try to sell you anything they can with the little English they know, such as “You want”, “Good on you”, “Please sir”, and other guilt provoking tactics. Then if you do engage, they will proceed to give you a way over priced number. Now the fact that the overpriced number is equivalent to anywhere between 5 – 15 US dollars is regardless of the actual cost of the product. The name of the game is bargaining and it is surprising how low they will go from their initial offers. My generally rule of thumb has been to cut the number they offer in dong in half. For instance the movies initially they said “For you sir I cut you a deal 500,000 Dong”, sounds hilarious but their monetary system is 19,000 Dong = 1 USD. Afterwards they hand you their old school calculator and expect you to type in your price, so in this case 250,000. Next they complain sayings ranging from “You’re too cheap please sir”, “I need you to work with me”, “Please sir be reasonable”. Then they will drop to like 490,000 then 470,000 continually saying they’re cutting you a deal. And then every time I and handed the calculator I reenter the number, sometimes alluding to me possibly changing my mind. After about three times they refuse saying “Be reasonable”. I follow this by walking about towards another vendor and they have been 4 for 4 to call you back and take your offer.

After bargaining for all my gifts we headed back to the hotel and changed from our rain soaked clothing. We were going to Nam Phan a restaurant down the street from our Hotel for dinner. Unannounced to us, we wearing very informal attire, it was an upscale restaurant so we felt entirely out of place. Despite this the food was amazing and all very inexpensive. I ordered the chicken stir fry and they decorated the plates so beautiful I think we all took pictures like any tourists do.

A few of us left early to catch up on some shut eye, but it turns out when I awoke 4 hours later around 11 pm everyone was on the same boat. However we were dedicated on going out to try the local club “Lush” so we attempted to rally the troops Matt and I, Matt’s my roommate and definitely a bro. This turned out to be a delayed success, but a success none the less. The late start didn’t affect us as well had a great night. Looking forward to seeing Intel tomorrow.