Thursday, May 10, 2012

We spent the entire day at UEF today. First, we had a Vietnamese History class with Professor Nguyen Ngoc Tho. He also explained a little bit about the people and culture of Vietnam. The Vietnamese are descended from the Mongoloids and Australoids (Aborigines). This is why Vietnamese people are darker and shorter than Chinese or Japanese people. The Nam Viet are actually only one ethnic group in Vietnam that live in the South. According to an ancient myth, Lac Long Quan, a mother and a father had 100 children, which represent the 100 tribes of Vietnam. When the mother and the father were divorced, 50 of the children went into the mountains with their mother, and 50 children went into the deltas with their father. The water buffalo is an important symbol in Vietnam because it was an integral component in the lowlanders’ being able to cultivate their land. When the Chinese occupied Vietnam from 43 AD until 938 AD, the Vietnamese took some things from Chinese culture, such as Confucianism, but remained largely the same. This could be because the Vietnamese already had such a strong culture so they were not easily influenced or because the Chinese were unused to the climate and way of life in Vietnam. The first university in Vietnam, the Confucius University was founded in 1075. Vietnam began to become westernized with French colonization in 1858. Today, the existence of bread and coffee in Vietnam can be attributed to French influence. Most importantly, perhaps, is the contribution of Alexandre de Rhodes, who Latinized the Vietnamese writing system. Today it is much easier for Vietnamese to learn Western languages and Westerners to learn the Vietnamese language because of this contribution. After history class, we went to language class, where we learned the proper way to say hello to a child, old man, old woman, young man, young woman, male teacher and female teacher. Each way is different. We also learned how to order soup or coffee in a restaurant and how to ask for the check.

We had lunch at the UEF Canteen. I had rice, pork, bread, a banana, and fried potatoes, which were basically French fries. In the afternoon, we participated in cultural activities with the Vietnamese students. We played a variety of different games. First, each team was given a list of both Vietnamese and American customs regarding affection, food and cooking, clothing, etc. We had to figure out the similarities and differences between each custom. Next, two boys performed a short dance routine and we were asked to mimic the routine as best as we could. After that, we played this really funny game where two people from each group had to go up to the front. One person had to lift the other person up perpendicular to himself, and the two of them had to see how many times they could rotate the carried person around the body of the stationary person. This was really funny to watch, especially considering that some of the pairs had only met a few hours ago before participating in this activity. The next activity was a game of charades that everyone participated in. Afterwards, we were surprised to learn that our next activity was chasing a piglet around a closed in area. I still have a hard time believing that actually happened. I think Hailee, Elliott, and Tim each caught him once. Next, we played a game that involved throwing tennis balls wrapped in cloth through two different sized hoops. Lastly, we played a game that sort of reminded me of twister. We played on a checkered floor mat that had numbers 1-25 scrambled on it in each box. Each team held hands and tried to walk from boxes 1 to 25 in order with only one person’s foot in a box at a time and without breaking the chain. To end the afternoon, we exchanged gifts with some of the students. I received a beautiful cup with blossoms painted along it as well as a UEF magnet. Then, we all got together in a big circle and sang “As Long As You Love Me” by the Backstreet Boys. We then danced the Macarena and the chicken dance, which I was surprised the Vietnamese knew. After everything was over, the tailor met us at UEF to measure us again with mock-ups of our jackets. Mine needs a few adjustments, but I think it will be really nice when it’s done.

Tonight for dinner we all went to a restaurant for authentic phơ soup. It was basically a beef stew with noodles in it. I liked it pretty well. The surprise in the soup that luckily I heard about before I tried it was chunks of cow skin. Those that tried it said that it tasted alright but had an unsettling texture. I decided not to be adventurous for that one. After dinner, the UEF students took some of us on a motorbike tour through Ho Chi Minh City. We drove all around the city. My favorite parts were driving through District 1 (the “downtown” of HCMC) and driving across the Saigon River. There was a beautiful view of the city from the bridge we crossed. At first riding on the back of a motorbike was a little scary, but I was riding with San who is a very careful driver. It is going to take a while to get used to the disregard for traffic laws and weaving between cars though.