Ultimate Chillin'

We met Tuan and his friends at 6:30 in the lobby last night. I rode with Ngan to dinner at a restaurant. It was so fun to ride on the bikes, and I felt like I was experiencing true Vietnamese culture. Our Vietnamese friends make riding and “chilling” on the bikes seem so cool. At dinner, we tried Vietnamese pancakes, which were batter with meat and other ingredients (I’m not sure exactly what) inside the middle. The pancake part was supposed to be wrapped in lettuce leaves and dipped in an oily sauce. They were actually pretty good. After, we drove to the ice cream place after dinner, where I got ice cream imported directly from Switzerland. Dinner and ice cream, overall, cost me only $6 USD. So much food for such a little cost! After we got home, I crashed and fell asleep at 11:30.

Jackie made us get up at 6:00 AM this morning to work out. It was actually pretty fun, though I was sweating hardcore after only two minutes of running. In the workout room, there is a machine that shakes your entire body, kind of like a shake weight. There was a European woman in a thong at the pool, which made me think how interesting it is to see how cultures interact here (much more than I have ever experienced at home in Pittsburgh).

After breakfast at the hotel, we visited VSIP. The presenter, who was Vietnamese, had studied in West Virginia, so it was funny to ask her about her experiences in the States. Every time I go on company visits, I feel so professional. They always have a huge meeting room with water on the table ready for us.

I felt much more comfortable at VSIP than I did at Phu My Hung yesterday, and I feel that I learned a lot more because of this. It was probably me being a bit more used to the company environment. Plus VSIP seems less controlling than Phu My Hung was.

I found it especially interesting to learn today about the role of outsourcing in a global economy, both at VSIP and later at a presentation at the school. Clark Shoes, an American company, outsources to Taiwan, who then outsources to Vietnam. According to our lecture from a commercial officer later this afternoon, though, this seems to be the norm.

II-VI was the most interesting part of the day. I am glad that this was my company to research, as David Baker was really friendly and offered a lot of insightful information. I found it interesting to learn how II-VI treats its employees so well, and he finally answered my question regarding why most of the employees are women: men are culturally expected to operate the heavy machinery while women are to do the less labor intensive work that is often associated with optics. Also, he mentioned a lot of things that I learned in Physics this past semester, making all the work I put in seem more worthwhile.

Today was the first day, it seems, that everyone is starting to really, really miss American food. Everyone, including myself, complained both at breakfast and lunch about missing food at home. We went so far, later this afternoon, as to try to order Dominos pizza. When we found that they delivered, we seriously considered taking a taxi to pick one up!

Tuan is picking us up again tonight at 7 to go to dinner. Let’s see what Ho Chi Minh has to offer!