My life in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Som tiden går..

Anden uge af vores Vietnamesisk kulturprogram er allerede veloverstået.

Vi startede mandagen ud med en ”launching ceremony”, hvor HUTECH officielt bød os velkommen til Vietnam, til Ho Chi Minh City og til HUTECH.

Her skulle vi stille op med en dansk sang som vi skulle præsenterer, samt en af os skulle holde en tale. Polakkerne sang en polsk sang og de to fra Ungarn sang en ungarsk sang.

Vi valgte i sidste øjeblik, dagen før at, synge vores nationalsang. Det gik nu okay, men det er alligevel en smule nervepirrende og stå overfor en del fremmede og skal synge. Det er man jo slet ikke vant til.

Linn blev den heldige vinder af at holde tale. Hun gjorde det super godt! Peter Balle var også til stede og holdte ligeledes en tale på vegne af TEKO / VIA University College. Der var repræsentanter til stede fra den danske ambassade, nogle af HUTECH’s elever, samt rektor, Mrs. Yen, Tommy, repræsentant for uddannelsesministeriet.

Tirsdag var vi igen på skoleudflugt. Denne gang gik turen først til Cu Chi Tunnels, derefter til Reunion Palace + Vietnamese War Museum, hvor vi fik indblik i Vietnamkrigen og dens følger for vietnameserne.

Ved besøget ved Cu Chi Tunnellerne var vi rundt og se hvilke fælder de dengang anvendte mod amerikanerne samt hvordan de genanvendte amerikanernes bomber. Herudover var der mulighed for at gå i deres små tunneller. På en måde en smule skræmmende, men en oplevelse at gå igennem tunnellerne.

Weekend get-away

Efter nyheden om at Mrs. Yen og skolen valgte at rykke vores lørdag charity til en weekend efter praktik, så vi kunne nå at finde ud af helt præcis hvor vi godt kunne tænke os at komme hen, valgte vi danske tøser at tage en weekend get-away til Vung Táu. Sol, strand og afslapning var lige hvad vi havde brug for!

Det var en vildt fantastisk tur der bare stod på ren afslapning på stranden, både lørdag og søndag.

Det tager halvanden time ca. i båd fra HCMC til Vung Táu, og koster i alt 450.000 Dong pr. mand (120 dkkr.) Herudover havde vi givet 44 dkkr. pr. mand for et hotelværelse. Vi snakkede godt nok om at det kunne godt være vi havde købt det lidt for billigt, for et lille rum med en halvandenmandsseng til to personer, plus et lille badeværelse hvor du nærmest skulle bade over toilettet. Men igen, vi var der jo kun når vi skulle sove, så det gik jo helt fint.

Det var skønt med en gang ren afslapning på stranden, men der var dog hele tiden nogle lørdag, der syntes det var rigtig sjovt at gå og tage billeder af os hele tiden.

Vi har fået af vide at man skal spørge først inden man tager billeder af folk hernede, men det er ligesom om de ikke selv lever efter den regel. Eller også så spørger de og når man så svarer; ”Nej, det må du ikke”, så gør de det alligevel. Eller også siger de ”Sorry” og står og tager billeder alligevel. Det er dog rimelig belastende, men vi lod det ikke ødelægge vores dag. Heldigvis var der ingen paparazzier søndag.

Lørdag aften fandt vi en fantastisk restaurant Yummy Yummy hedder den, hvor man kun få kød. Godt kød. Kød importeret fra Australien. Black Angus filet til 325.000 Dong (86 dkkr.), ja tak. Vi var dog lidt bekymret for om de ville fucke sådan et godt stykke kød op, men det smagte fantastisk!

Efter aftensmad fik vi anbefalet et sted hvor vi kunne få cocktails – Black Pearl hed det. Det skulle være det hotteste sted i Vung Táu.

Der var en mega fed stemning. Live band der sang det sidste nye musik, små ”danse”shows, og billig alkohol. Hehe..

Næste weekend er planen at den igen skal stå på afslapning, og turen derfor igen går til Vung Táu. Vi skal jo nyde den sidste weekend inden vi starter i praktik.

//Translation

As time flies..

The second week of our Vietnamese culture program is already completed.

We started the week with a launching ceremony Monday morning, where HUTECH officially welcomed us to Vietnam, to Ho Chi Minh City and to HUTECH.

We were asked to sing a Danish song and for one of us to give a speech. The polish students sang a polish song and the two Hungarian students sang a Hungarian song.

In the last minute, the day before, we choose to sing our national anthem. It went okay, but still a bit nerve-wracking to sing in front of a bunch of strangers. It isn’t something that we are used to doing.

Linn was the lucky winner of the speech. She did a super job! Peter Balle was also present at the ceremony and also had to give a speech on the behalf of TEKO / VIA University College.

Present at the ceremony were also representatives from the Danish Embassy in Vietnam, some of HUTECH’s students, the principal, Mrs. Yen, Tommy and a director from the Ministry of Education.

Tuesday we went on another school trip. This time our destinations were the Cu Chi Tunnels, the Reunion Palace and the Vietnamese War Museum. We got an insight into the Vietnam War and its consequences for the Vietnamese.

During the visit at the Cu Chi Tunnels we got to see the traps the Vietnamese used against the Americans and got to know how they reused the Americans bombs. It was also possible to try to walk in the tunnels. On one hand a bit scary, but it was also an experience to try.

Weekend get-away

After getting the news that Mrs. Yen and the school have chosen to move our weekend charity to a weekend after our internship, so that we have more time to plan where to go, we (the six Danish girls) chose to take a weekend get-away to Vung Táu. Sun, beach and relaxation were just what we needed!

We had a great trip which was all about relaxation on the beach, both Saturday and Sunday.

It takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes with boat to get from HCMC to Vung Táu, and costs 450.000 Dong (120 dkkr.).

In addition, we paid 44 dkkr. per person for the hotel room. But we have talked about that we might have bought it too cheap, a little room with a small queen-size bed for two persons, and a tiny bathroom where you had to shower on top of the toilet. But then again, we were only there to sleep, so it when okay.

It was nice with a pure relaxation on the beach, but there were some Vietnamese who though it was funny to take our picture the whole Saturday.

We have been told that over here you ask before taking someone’s picture, but it seems like they don’t follow the rule themselves. Or else they ask you and when you say “No, you can’t” they'll do it anyway, or say “Sorry” and continuing taking our pictures. Though it was really annoying, we didn’t let it get to us. Luckily there weren’t any paparazzi Sunday.

Saturday night we found a great restaurant Yummi Yummi where it was possible to get meat. Good meat, meat imported from Australia. Black Angus fillet to a price of 325.000 Dong (86 dkkr.), yes please. But I must admit that we had on concerns about if they were going to fuck the beef up, but it tasted amazing!

After dinner we got recommended a place to get cocktail – Black Pearl. It was suppose to be the hottest place in Vung Táu.

The atmosphere was incredible. There was a live band which played all the new song, little “dance”shows and cheap alcohol.. hehe..

We are planning to go back next weekend to enjoy another weekend with relaxation. We got to enjoy the last weekend before we start our internship.