Wed, May 8th
By Cathy Bauer and Hannah Bates
The day started with our first look at Vietnamese cuisine
with hotel breakfast, fresh juice, and coffee. Several of us made a few rounds
around the block of our hotel to see Hanoi in the daylight. Vendors were
selling flowers and fresh fruits while traffic bustled through the busy
streets. At 9 A.M. we gathered in the lobby for departure to the U.S. Embassy
and saw lots of French architecture throughout the city during our drive.
At the Embassy we had a chance to listen to Foreign Ag
Service (FAS) and APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) people about
their hiring processes, their jobs, international relations, and increasing
markets for US ag products. These employees work within the agriculture sector
internationally to ensure the cooperations of trade between the U.S. and
Vietnam. The funny thing is that the APHIS person got her Master’s degree at
NDSU, but we still really enjoyed her. We
were also fortunate to have someone speak to us about Fullbright English
Teaching Assistant and Graduate Research programs in Vietnam that we could
apply for if we wanted to work in Vietnam after graduation.
Embassy
Lunch was held at the 5 Spice Restaurant where we enjoyed an
array of food and drink. Several of us ordered fresh juice, milkshakes, and
even lassi. Our meal consisted of noodle soup, spring rolls, papaya and mango
salad, fish, pork, rice, and a dessert of bananas with orange sauce and coconut
over vanilla ice cream. It was certainly a delicious meal that has everyone
excited for all the flavors Vietnam has to offer.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZjj4yTiZbxLNuKEX93MmUEw_5qVyM7z4gcOoRp61HOEhO5cCCT8vbCPH6TCrYJPqYM0gWdkK8F0SzdAXLN0s2iyeTjck_z_KU11S-lm0KwHGLE1r2olzOhwrS_PHsm57UL4NghbgQfZV280sVNv5Lt4fwQR1woxU6lFdOLkDZCe1liX44l0xG3exvjWI)
Menu
Toast With New Friends
Next, we drove through the city to get to the Vietnam National
University of Agriculture (VNUA) where both staff and students met us in a
large room for a sort of conference. We all sat in a mixed formation so that
both SDSU and VNUA students could talk and interact with each other. We learned
about their university and they learned about ours. We also did a little
Vietnamese culture quiz and played a few games all together in order to form
relationships with other students.
Getting To Know Each Other
We had the privilege of seeing the VNUA campus and a few
labs that they have in veterinary science, animal science, and biology. It was
interesting to see how their equipment and processes differ from ours at SDSU.
The VNUA students showed us around their campus and walked us through a nearby
market before we headed to a big banquet that was served family style with even
more new and delicious food, and dessert was fresh and very good watermelon. It
was a great first-day experience in Vietnam, and many of us made new friends
that we will carry with us for a lifetime.
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