Day 2

Today we started off with a guest lecture where we got to learn more about Ho Chi Minh City.  The teacher taught us about the various statistics, a little history, the different districts of the city, and the economics of the city.  She had difficulty pronouncing a lot of words in English but I actually enjoyed that because it helped me get used to the strong Vietnamese accent.  I feel terrible when I don't understand what someone is saying.

Language class was fun as usual.  Learning the language is really hard but the teacher is so great that you don't even realize how much you are learning. She is very interactive which is good because then no one can hide in a corner. It pretty much forces you to learn the language.  Today I was called on a lot to go to the front of the room and speak.  I always get a little nervous when I'm put on the spot because I want to get it right so badly, its just my accent is horrible! I will keep working on it though. Its really fun working with the UEF students in that class. Just talking to them is so helpful with learning the pronunciation of things. Huang, the girl helping me out today is relentless! But I love it. She makes me and Steve practice the conversations over and over again until we get it completely right.  She is a touch cookie but she is so nice too and is extremely extremely helpful.

Phu My Hung was way different than I expected. I thought it was just going to be boring construction stuff. Instead it was really cool! They are building a new city center, and the different areas with all the new absolutely beautiful residences and office buildings.  Everything is by the water and the flowers are gorgeous too.  It seemed to be the equivalent of the gated communities in the US. It was extremely nice and new and modern looking.

Phu My Hung Skyline

Tonight we have a dinner date with some UEF students who are taking us out to a Vietnamese restaurant down in Phu My Hung where we were earlier today and then to a yogurt place.  Everyone is so friendly here! I feel like that people aren't as friendly in the US. But I'm really looking forward to our own personal tour of the city by kids our age. I think its going to be a lot of fun!