Friday--

Today was the best day by far as of now and it will take a lot to top it. After breakfast, we got on the bus with the Vietnamese students and headed off to Intel. It was located in an industrial park much like VSIP but this one dealt solely with high tech technologies. We went into Intel and it was very high security. We were each given badges and we had to scan them on our way into the plant. This was almost the same as the security that we received at the U.S. Consulate. The badges were really cool and I wanted to keep one but I couldn't unfortunately. We took a quick factory tour of the 500,000 sq. feet facility that Intel had just built. The factory is not complete yet but it gave us an idea of the high tech machines needed to create the microprocessors that Intel makes. Before the workers go into the factory they wash their hands in a row of outdoor sinks. It was kind of odd, but given the level of detail in Intel products, I can understand the need for cleanliness.

Next we took a tour through the corporate part of Intel. It was your typical office space with cubicals but it was cool because it had signs above the cubicals separating the different departments. Next our tour guide took us to a relaxation room. This is a room where the employees can go to relax, take a nap, or just take a break from their work. If that wasn't cool enough, she took us to the next room, which was a game room with pool tables and a Playstation. Across from that room was a kitchen and another lounge area. We then went into a briefing room where Rick Howarth, the general manager of Intel Vietnam briefed us on Intel.

Here are some of the things I learned about Intel Vietnam:

Intel Vietnam is a $1 billion investment and will become an assembly and test plant. Intel brings in about $40 billion per year and turns a profit of about $5-12 billion a year. 75% of Intel's Business is offshore and 1/3 of the business is in the Channel (to independent sellers). Intel in the future plans on expanding to an $80 billion corporation. They plan on developing consumer electronics, which will put a microprocessor and therefore the Internet in TVs and refrigerators. They also plan on developing mobile Internet devices that will have full computer functionality and will be about twice the size of a cell phone. They also plan on continue to develop low cost netbooks and finally to implement embedded applications in products such as BMWs. At capacity, Intel Vietnam will hold 4000 employees and will have between $5-30 billion annual revenue.

I asked a couple of questions on about the integrated graphics card and the new smartphone they are going to come out with. The answer to all this is the ability and engineering for Intel to be able to make their chip exponentially smaller therefore allowing more graphics and other components to fit on the same chip. This allows for reduced cost, improved performance, or a combination of them both. Rick Howarth was very informative and very helpful in answering all of questions with enough detail to satisfy those asking without boring the business students. This has been my favorite site visit so far and if we were not pressed for time, I would have asked a couple more questions.

Next we went to lunch at the Victory Hotel and I did not eat much. I just had some rice and some delicious clams. After lunch we walked in the sweltering heat to ACDI/VOCA which is a private, non-profit organization that supports economic growth in developing countries. We met with Nguyen Ngoc Anh who described to us the process of farming and cultivating cocao, which is the current project in Vietnam. They are teaching farmers proper techniques and giving them the necessary training they need to be successful in the Mekong Delta, Central Highlands, and the Southeast Region. They facilitate the training through the $12 million dollar project here in Vietnam. They have 1 model farm and 1 model fermentary and drier. Overall they have 22 model farms and 76 demonstration plots. Tomorrow we will go to a cocao farm as well as a fermentary to experience first hand what we learned today.

After ACDI/VOCA, Kyle and I took motorbikes to the market where we bought more presents. After this we walked a couple blocks to a row of jersey shops where we both brought a Vietnam jersey and I bought an Italy jersey and pair of shorts. I got both my jerseys and pair of shorts for about $8. We took a taxi back to the hotel and took a shower and hung out for a little while before going out to dinner.

Tonight our Vietnamese friends were taking us out to dinner. We rode on the back of their motorbikes to a small little restaurant where we had the third floor to ourselves. When I was getting off the motorbike, I burned the back of my calf on the tailpipe and it hurt a lot. Inside the restaurant the girl next to me was very sweet and asked the waitress for some ice in Vietnamese to put on it. We talked about everything at dinner and it was a great time. I had some rice and some crab soup. It was a really fun dinner and the Vietnamese are so much fun to joke around with.

After dinner, we went to this amazing coffee and ice cream shop that reminded me a lot like Coldstone. We ordered just about everything on the menu from smoothies to ice cream to coffee and it was very delicious. They had the ice cream with many topics mixed in on a waffle cone and overall the place was very westernized. I sat next to Lizzy (her American name) and talked to her most of the night about how I liked Vietnam and telling her about America. We sat in the coffee shop for well over an hour talking about everything with everyone. It was so much and by far the best time I've ever had a coffee shop and the best time I have had here so far.

After coffee they brought us back to the hotel on their motorbikes and I managed to get off of mine without burning my leg. We said goodbye and went upstairs to hang out for a while before going out. Tonight we went to the Bar Factory, which was a bar/club with a dance floor. They played American music to techno beats and they were kids break dancing and it was a lot of fun. I would definitely go back to this place.

Thursday--

Today, we went to UEF in the morning to hear a guest lecture on rural planning and development in the Mekong Delta by Dr. Le Quang Minh who is the Vice-President of Vietnam National University HCMC. This presentation was very informative and a little bit surprising to me, since I did not understand the full extent of the Mekong Delta. We learned about how the rice and shrimp farms relish and loathe floodwaters. We learned more about the culture of people in the rural developments as well as ways to improve the economic conditions. We learned many stats on the economics and future plans of the Mekong Delta.

After the lecture was over, we had our first culture class. Our teacher spoke very good English and was very enthusiastic about teaching us about Vietnamese culture. He started off explaining some stats of Vietnam, such as population and demographics. He split his presentation into three parts: cultural backgrounds, communicative culture, and he gave us some examples of basic Vietnamese sentences. After explaining some of the background, he described their culture is love based instead of law based which means they have closed community history. They are used to loving their family so they continue that into their communication instead of reasoning conversation. He explained what to say, what not to say, and how to act. It was very helpful, but I could have used the information a couple of days earlier. For example, I am used to using my hands to talk and here it is disrespectful. It was a very interesting class and I look forward to the next class on Monday.

We ate lunch again at the cafeteria at UEF and after lunch we headed over to the U.S. Consulate Annex. I did not eat at lunch so luckily we were a little early at the Consulate so we went to a French bakery in the lobby of the corporate building. There I got a delicious ham and cheese sandwich on a croissant, which only cost me about $1.50. It was nice to have a break from rice and bread, since that’s about all I eat here. We met with Jennifer Ludders who is an Economic Officer and Dave Averne who is a Commercial Officer. They briefed us on the workings of the Vietnamese economy both urban and a small amount rural. The presentation was very interactive and it went back and forth between Jennifer, Dave, and us students asking questions. Dave described the process of how they introduce and familiarize American companies with those in Vietnam. They really facilitate the process and allow companies to see the full advantages of operating in Vietnam. Jenifer descried some of the improvements that still need to be made such as a road connecting to the new massive ship port so it can be utilized to its full potential.

They also addressed the improvements and the ground that Ho Chi Minh City has gained over the past 20 years. From what they have told us in addition to all we have learned so far, I think that Vietnam is a perfect place for a company to develop into a strong corporation. Site visits such as today's gives me an understanding of the economics in Vietnam and in the world in general. This helps me to put engineering principles into a global business context and truly develops my understanding of how a company functions.

After the Consulate site visit we took the elevator down only to find out it was pouring outside. Dr. Berman said it would pass in a few minutes since it was not the rainy season. After about ten minutes of waiting I figured it would give me another sense of the culture to trek it out in the rain for the whole two blocks to the market. The two blocks to the market felt more like 10 and I never experienced rain like this in my life. It was coming down so hard and raining and all directions. By the time we got to the market, it looked like I just fell into a pool. Dripping wet, we split off into groups of 3 in order to tackle the market Vietnamese to get the best prices. I went with Julie and Elizabeth. I can't write what I bought since my Mom and Dad are probably reading this, but I got a lot of gifts. As like the last time I went, I bartered the prices down and ended up getting pretty good prices. We stayed there for about and hour and half where we all met up to leave. Julie and I decided we wanted to stay longer and we each bought a couple more things. I got a really nice silk tie and matching cuff links for $6 and Julie got the rest of her gifts.

We decided to take motorbikes back to the hotel, which is my first time ever on a motorbike. Our drivers were crazy; they rode on the wrong side of the road, on the sidewalk, and ran a few red lights. This all being said, it was the time of my life. It was unbelievable to experience the traffic, I have been seeing for the last week and I can't wait to ride a motorbike again. As soon as we got back to the hotel, a couple kids were walking to a restaurant a few blocks from our hotel for a surprise group dinner. They obviously invited us along. Julie and I went upstairs, changed, and headed out. We arrived at this very fancy restaurant. I was wearing a soccer jersey and like everyone else felt very underdressed. I ordered clams and spicy beef with peppers and onions. The clams were delicious and probably the best that I have ever had. The beef came next and it was delicious as well. The food was very westernized, the service, however, was not. Our waiter kept telling me how to eat, and he kept grabbing my chopsticks and showing me. For desert, I had a baked apple tart and that was delicious as well. When the check came, my part was only $12 even with all that I ate. All in all, the place was delicious and I hope we have time to go back there again.

After dinner we all showered and changed. We decided tonight to go to Lush nightclub. We took a taxi there and the place was very cool. It was high class and a couple of guys needed to go back to change into pants. They played a lot of techno music but it was more of a lounge than a club. It was kind of expensive but so much fun. I hope we go back there as well.

Wednesday--

Today, we went to Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), which is huge plot of land in which they rent out to major corporations. Companies can join VSIP in order to receive competitive advantages over other companies who are not part of an industrial park. Some of the products made were golf clubs, candies, pharmaceutical drugs, food, as well as a lot of products.

Once we finished our briefing at VSIP, it was time for refreshments. We were in rather large conference room with two tables; one had coffee and water and the other had trays of food covered up. Since it was a very large room, we assumed there was another presentation after us, so the food would be for them. We all took drinks then started to socialize, until John Nguyen, the director of II-VI told us the food was for us. They had Hawaiian pizza, tuna bruscheta, and flan among other stuff. There was an unbelievable amount of food, which was good because I didn't eat breakfast. After we chowed down for a while, it was time for the presentation of II-VI, by John Nguyen, which is a company that makes optical lenses for medical and other purposes as well as very small heaters that can be used in computers and car seats. John's computer would not load so he did not brief us through a powerpoint but just highlighted parts of what the company does.

More interestingly, John described his background. John left Vietnam in 75 and came to Pennsylvania. There he worked at a gas station while going to school to get his degree. After that he worked for AT&T for a few years. His old boss then contacted him to work for II-VI in Pennsylvania. He accepted and was asked to work in the Vietnam plant since he knew both Vietnamese and English. John moved to Vietnam but his family still lives in Allentown, PA and his daughter is in my grade at the University of Pittsburgh. After John told us his story we took a bus tour through much of the VSIP facility and ended at II-VI. We split up into two groups and took a tour of the facility. First we went to the electrical side of II-VI, where they make small heaters or coolers and they described the process in which they construct them. The start with a metal rod and shape it and coat it until it becomes the final product of the heater or cooler. The process was very complicated and required a lot of workers. After this, we took a tour of the optics where they cut glass and polish it for use in laser optics and surgery.

The workers at II-VI are unskilled workers that go through a six-month training process. At first they had trouble retaining their workers because of a two-week holiday at the beginning of January called Tet. Many of the workers would go home but would not come back and then just find another job when their month or two month long break was over. In order to remedy this problem II-VI structured their bonus system so the workers would receive a two month pay bonus when they cam back from Tet. Before this system, only 2/3 of the workers returned but last year every single worker came back. It was interesting to see how the culture of Vietnam weaved itself into the business and in order to be successful, II-VI had to adapt to the culture of its workers.

For lunch we went to E-Town at Monaco Buffet. I have stopped being "adventurous" in what I eat and just had a plate of rice and some watermelon. I like the food at the UEF much better. After that we walked across the street to Glass Egg Digital Media. Dr. Berman had asked us to prepare a lot for this site visit since we were meeting with the CEO and the CFO. Of course we did prepare and I was very interested and had a lot of questions. Unfortunately when we got there, Phil Tran (CEO) and Steve Reid (CFO) could not make it, so two young people gave us a very quick tour and presentation of the company. Charles Speyer, another person on the management team, fielded our questions. He answered very quickly and the site visit to Glass Egg did not last very long. Overall I was pretty with Glass Egg as everyone else was especially since I prepared so much.

After Glass Egg, we got on to the bus and went back to the hotel. I went to lie down and fell asleep until Matt and Kyle came to the door to see if I wanted to go to dinner. I was so tired, I yelled at them to go away and went back to sleep for a few more hours. I slept for most of the night getting up to play games on my computer and talk to my girlfriend. It was finally nice to get some real sleep and I'm excited for tomorrow that I will finally be rested.

May 11, 2010--

Today, after we ate breakfast, we hopped in the bus and headed off to the UEF again. We met up with our Vietnamese friends and we talked for a while. Our guest lecturer was late, so we had some free time to head to the food court and talk more to our Vietnamese friends. I went down to the food court and bought a energy drink and Mentos and it only cost me 75 cents. Once again the Vietnamese students move out of your way and respect us immensely and I am very grateful that they are so considerate.

Our lecture was on Urban Planning and Developement in Ho Chi Minh City presented by Du Phuoc Tan who is the Chair of the Department of Urban Management Studies at Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies. He was hard to understand but we had a handout of the slides in which we could take notes on. The powerpoint was very informative and offered many statistics and growing trends of Vietnam specifically Ho Chi Minh City. He talked about the shifts in personal finance and spending as well as shifts in the GDP, imports and exports.

After the presentation, we ate lunch at the University. They prepared, once again, a feast for us. This was definitely the best meal I've had so far in Vietnam. They had noodles and beef, rice, bread and amazing spicy soup with potatoes and beef in it. They gave us bottles of water to drink, which seems to be a trend in Vietnam. Everywhere we go, there are bottles of water on the table at school, at the cafeteria, at the hotel, and at site visits.

After lunch we drove out to the new development of South Saigon, to Phu My Hung Corporation where, Stone Shih the Manager International Marketing, gave us a presentation about the company. As soon as we got there we went out to the balcony of the twelfth floor, where Phu My Hung's office space is, where we could look over all of South Saigon and could see Ho Chi Minh City in the background. We took multiple pictures there and it was really cool to see where the new buildings of Phu My Hung Corporation are being built and where the previous infrastructure already is.

Phu My Hung is a development company responsible for many new projects in South Saigon. They were created in order to manage all the contractors and projects that are extending the city of Ho Chi Minh into South Saigon. They are creating many housing projects as well as commercial office space. They are creating an entire new community as an extension of Ho Chi Minh City. In my opinion, it seems that Phu My Hung is completely redefining Ho Chi Minh City and how people live and work.

After the presentation, we all checked out the model of South Saigon that they had on display in the front of the conference room. It was cool to see where the different projects were in relations to each other and served as a great pretext to our bus tour of South Saigon. Our bus tour took us around South Saigon showing us the different developments and the future developments. We ended the bus tour by visiting the future site of UEF which is right next to many Catfish but just like the rest of South Saigon will be built up as a future development.

That concluded our visit to Phu My Hung. I thought this visit was very applicable to engineering because with the future business developments and appealing housing options, many companies can now view Vietnam as a country on the rise, and an excellent place for businesses to migrate too. Along with these advantages, Vietnam offers cheap labor and a competitive business market. Corporations can now move to Vietnam to take advantage of the new business developments provided by Phu My Hung. In turn this would help raise Vietnam's GDP and international reputation.

After our visit, we headed back to the hotel to chill for the rest of the night. We ordered pizzas and I was surprised at how good it tasted. It was very thin but there was also a lot of basil, oregano, and rich tomato sauce on it. It was very good and was a nice break from the constant Vietnamese food, as good as it is. After we hung out for a while, the rest of the group went to Apocalypse Now, a club in District 1, but since I have barely slept since we have gotten here, I stayed in and went to sleep early since Glass Egg Digital Media site visit is tomorrow.

May 10, 2010--

First full day in Vietnam and so much to talk about. The day started with my roommate and I going to the hotel gym at 6 am. We saw a guy running on the treadmill with no shirt on and no shoes and given the temperature in the gym, I understood why. After sweating for about 45 minutes, we needed to cool off so we went in the pool. I felt like I was in a resort, because the pool is on the roof of our hotel and overlooks much of the city of Ho Chi Minh. With the open atmosphere and the warm temperature of the pool, it was amazing to sit there and look out over the city. After the pool, we went to breakfast which is very different than the breakfast that I am used to back in the States. I had fried eggs, a roll with very good raspberry jam, sticky rice, and noodles and beef. I was a little more on the conservative side when picking my breakfast but I was extremely satisfied with the food. I have to say it was the best meal that I have ever had in a hotel restaurant for breakfast.

We all met up for the bus at 8:15 in order to trek our way through the city to get to the University of Economics and Finance where we would meet our Vietnamese schoolmates for the next two weeks. The bus ride took us through the city and opened our eyes to Vietnamese culture. First thing I noticed, like I posted yesterday, was that drivers are crazy. They are everywhere and very careless, and I am very surprised that there are not more accidents. The typical "driver" in Vietnam is much different than the typical driver in the United States. They ride a motorbike all wearing helmets as that seems to be the one "traffic law" that everyone abides by. Many people also wear masks to shield themselves from the pollution.

On the side of the road, people sat in front of their shops, often without shirts on and stuff was sold everywhere. Everything you could possibly imagine was sold on the streets of Vietnam. Houses extended two or three stories above the stores and lined the streets on both sides. Many of the stores did not have signs just products lined up for sale. Motorbikes were parked on the side of the street, on the sidewalk or in the stores; basically wherever they could find space. That ride really opened up our eyes to the culture and lifestyles of the Vietnamese and showed me how different they live than citizens in United States cities live.

We then arrived at UEF and walked up seven flights to get to the classroom. When we walked into the classroom, we were greeted by the warmest reception by far I have ever received. They welcomed us like celebrities or football stars who just won a Super Bowl. They clapped and waved peace signs at us. Eventually we settled in and we all started talking to our Vietnamese counterparts. They spoke english very well and many understand everything I was saying. They gave us a presentation about the school, how and where they learn, and Ho Chi Minh in general. After the presentation, one girl did a traditional Vietnamese dance completed with dress and props of a drum and fans. It was very interesting and introduced us to another side of Vietnamese culture.

It was then time for our Vietnamese language class. Our teacher was very spirited and her enthusiasm carried over into my desire to learn some of this difficult language. I think the language is so difficult is because the meaning of the word depends on the tone of your voice as much as the word itself. Words spelled the same as others with different tone marks have completely different meanings. We learned how to say hi, my name is, how to ask people what their name is, as well as it is nice to meet you. It was very slow learning but it really made me feel integrated more into Vietnam learning to speak the language just a little bit.

At lunchtime, we walked downstairs to the cafeteria, where there was a table with a lot of food on it. That lunch consisted of bread, fried shrimp, rice, soup, green beans and beef, and chicken. They kept bringing more and more food out. It was very delicious but the quantity was overwhelming. There was enough food on the table to feed a group three times our size and we were all very grateful for their hospitality. We ate with just Tin and our group, as the other students all had class again. After lunch on our way out of the school everyone would smile and wave at us and step aside for us to walk. They are amazing hosts and seem to be very fond of Americans.

Next we took a bus tour of the city. We passed a castle, a couple parks, and ended up at the Ben Thanh Market. This is a huge place resembling a giant warehouse filled with stands that sell everything imaginable, even more so than the streets of Ho Chi Minh. They have DVDs, purses, wallets, clothing, pottery, sculptures, and just about everything else. Everything is very cheap and it is accepted and expected for buyers to barter the price the merchant says. I was bartering a price of a wallet and after the price went back and forth, the lady said 180,000 dong and I came back with 175,000 dong which is a difference of a quarter. Although what she wanted originally for it was only $1.25 more than what I paid, it is customary to barter the price down.

After the market, we continued the tour while driving to the U.S. Consulate. A Consulate is much like an Embassy expect it is not in a nation's capitol. We met with the Chief Consular Chuck Bennett who briefed us on the workings of a Consulate as well as the career path to get to the position he is in now. After the brief, we went outside to the where the U.S. embassy used to be located during the war when North and South Vietnam were split. Dr. Berman explained the memorial commemorating the five soldiers that died while protecting the embassy from the attack of the Viet Cong. Outside the wall of what is now the Consulate is a memorial commemorating the Viet Cong who died attacking the embassy, built by the Vietnamese government.

We then had a couple of hours to relax at the hotel before our welcome dinner. Our dinner was with our entire group plus Tin and Tu our two correspondents from UEF. This was an introduction for us to a traditional Vietnamese meal. The meal had too many courses to count. It just kept coming and coming. We had squid, corn, bread, soup, shrimp, and other shellfish. The meal was delicious and very filling since it was all so good you did not want to stop eating. Dinner took a very long time, about two hours, which was all filled with trying to eat as fast as they were bringing the food out. The waitresses were very friendly and I got to use what I learned earlier in the day of Vietnamese to thank them. Throughout the meal I learned even more Vietnamese sitting next to Tin who taught me many phrases and pronunciations. The restaurant and the meal was awesome. The restaurant was just as awesome as the food in it decorated with wood and trees everywhere, it gave the illusion that we were sitting in a rainforest. Between the quality and quantity of the food in addition to the beautiful scenery at the restaurant, I really enjoyed my first Vietnamese traditional meal.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and went swimming in the pool on the rooftop again. It was awesome once again to look over the city and very relaxing. I had a busy first day, meeting many new students, starting a new language, and learning a lot about the history and culture of Vietnam specifically Ho Chi Minh City as well as a site visit to the U.S. Consulate.

May 9, 2010--

Just got off a plane for the last time as we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City. We have been flying for the past two days. First I had a 7 hour plane ride from Newark to San Francisco. I met up with Justin, Ashley, and Elizabeth at the San Francisco Airport for some mexican food. We then met up with Sarah, Rayna, and Matt staring out the window at our double decker 747 then we would be on for close to the next day.

Our flight from California to Hong Kong took 14 hours and seem to go by very slowly. We passed time by congregating in a exit area, talking about our trip to various people and flight attendants on the plane. Eventually we all went back to our seats and most of us slept, read, or anything else to pass the rest of the time on the plane. Our next flight from Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City was also on the same 747 but this time the plane was empty. Everyone had a row to themselves and I was the only one that did not sleep. Our plane did not have many movies but they played many documentaries that I watched.

We then arrived in Ho Chi Minh City after close to two days of travel. We walked through customs and I was surprised how little they questioned us. I have never been on international flights before but even when I drove to Canada they questioned me much more. What happened next I was not expecting in the least. We walked outside and it felt like we walked into a sauna. I expected it to be hot, but I also expected it to be cooler at night. Everyone congregated outside of the airport waiting for relatives or whoever, much like a reception party.

We met Tin, our correspondence at UEF, who is an awesome guy and pretty fluent in english as well. On our bus ride back, Dr. Berman and Tin showed us various things around the city and I was bewildered by the traffic. People ride mostly motorbikes here, but there's no traffic laws, well not that I can see. People drive on the left on the right, don't obey traffic lights, and drive on the sidewalk when necessary. It was nice to get to the hotel after a long day (more like 2) of traveling late sunday night. Not many of us were tired so we stayed up and hung out for a while before finally going to sleep. I am extremely excited to be here and I can not wait to meet my soon to be friends at UEF tomorrow.