No, I am not home yet, but my title does represent that I am on the home stretch and will return to my Canadian home in one week. It also stands for the home of one of the Vietnamese students I was a guest in for three days this past week. As well, tonight is my last night in Tra Vinh which has been my home for the last month.
Last week all of us students split up into five groups to spend three nights in different homes. Some students had to bike for a couple hours as their home was in a neighboring province. I was staying nearby the city but still down a shaky, narrow dirt path lined with ponds and rice paddies that I was sure I was going to fall into everytime we biked down it, especially at night after a rain. The. houses here are simple and functional. There wad a lot of livestock at the house including a very pregnant pig that gave birth to 14 little piglets. The animals were usually outside but sometimes inside as I learned when I looked up one night early enough for a duck to not poop on my head, but too late to make it miss my pants. Each morning we went to the market to buy ingredients for the Canadian salad we made everyday. Through this I perfected my recognition of Vietnamese numbers up to ten and found our favorite stalls including our tomato lady who kept throwing things in for free. Our evenings were spent at coffee shops and eating twelve cent ice cream that will make it hard to readjust to lake prices. On the last night we joined in a family dinner and the thoughtful mother made us her own delicious salad as she had seen us eat one everyday. Ahe also let us watch and help make Vietnamese pancakes which are like savory crepes. CThere was beer and we tried our hand at learning Khmer (the ethnic minority here with their own language) and taught some English too.
As today was our last day in Tra Vinh we tried to hit up all of our favorite places. For lunch there is a woman with awesome spring rolls. She saw us coming and although she was out of them, she got on the phone to her daughter and had some motorbiked over and fried them fresh, giving us a plate of extra for free. Her and her husband loved us even though our only communication was through gestures and smiles. We also have our pho place where they know our orders, and overwhelmed the lady who paints crazy designs on our nails for $1.50. After one last peruse through the market and a final night of karaoke, I feel I am ready to move on.
The research paper is done and we have out first of three presentations tomorrow fir Tra Vinh University, then on to Can Tho for one night so we can wake up early and go to the floating markets before heading back to our final destination for the ladt five nights- Ho Chi Minh City!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Vacation from my vacation
I returned yesterday from our rest and relaxation weekend. It may seem kind if silly that we needed a vacation but we have been working hard with four interviews a day requiring anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes of biking to each one. We spent three nights on Phu Quoc which is a small island in the Gulf of Thailand off the southwest tip of Vietnam. The trip there involved six hours in a little bus meant for people with Asian-lengthen legs, a car ferry, and 2.5 hours on a speed ferry named the Superdong 3, which all of us very mature Canadians thought was oh so funny.
The vacation was just what we needed - some personal free time, a change of scenery and Western food! I went scuba diving with a few others and as I am still not certified it was fairly shallow and definitely left me itching to get certified even more than I had been before. We were staying right on a beach with wonderful sand and huge waves. The Vietnamese girls all went swimming for the first time and they tackled the waves with a lot of courage, even though my roomate preferred to hold my hand, and I happily obliged. I also rented and drove a motorbike for the first time which was also awesome, and terrifying as the roads are in various stages of development. For the amount of tourism that is here (Vietnamese and foreign vacationers) I was surprized by how horrendously bumpy and rustic most of the roads are. A couple were paved, but most tourists fly in, rather than sit through the ferry and rocky drive from the port to the main town. The island us known for it's pearl farms so the girls enjoyed the markets and all of the Canadians enjoyed the pizza and burgers.
We are back in Tra Vinh and the next two weeks will be a bit of a whirlwind as we have to write our report as well as fit in some say trips, presentations, and a three night homestay.
The vacation was just what we needed - some personal free time, a change of scenery and Western food! I went scuba diving with a few others and as I am still not certified it was fairly shallow and definitely left me itching to get certified even more than I had been before. We were staying right on a beach with wonderful sand and huge waves. The Vietnamese girls all went swimming for the first time and they tackled the waves with a lot of courage, even though my roomate preferred to hold my hand, and I happily obliged. I also rented and drove a motorbike for the first time which was also awesome, and terrifying as the roads are in various stages of development. For the amount of tourism that is here (Vietnamese and foreign vacationers) I was surprized by how horrendously bumpy and rustic most of the roads are. A couple were paved, but most tourists fly in, rather than sit through the ferry and rocky drive from the port to the main town. The island us known for it's pearl farms so the girls enjoyed the markets and all of the Canadians enjoyed the pizza and burgers.
We are back in Tra Vinh and the next two weeks will be a bit of a whirlwind as we have to write our report as well as fit in some say trips, presentations, and a three night homestay.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
All that glitters is not gold...
A couple days ago we toured a couple local businesses. One of them was the MyLan company, which makes printing plates and some sort of chemical products. The place was gorgeous with sprawling, well landscaped grounds, a soccer field, and tennis courts. The insides of the buildings were equally impressive with fountains and probably the cleanest bathrooms in all of Vietnam. The company is one of the mOst successful in the province and is owned by a Canadian-Vietnamese man who really prides himself on the workplace environment he created. We had lunch with one of the employees who really enjoyed her job. However on the tour we ran into some very typical Vietnamese situations that frustrate the Canadian students.
As an introduction to the electrical engineering department we were told, with a giggle, that only handsome men worked here. When asked if women could work there we were told, again with laughter, that it was a job my h better suited to men. I wish that I had gone into engineering instead of medicine just so I could shock them. Many people we interview here say that there is not a lot of gender discrimination here but the Canadians are still struggling with this. In Canada this type of blatant gender streaming and career expectations would be the definition of discrimination. We have been told, for example, that now women can go into engineering and IT...because there are more indoor office jobs available. Also, women are expected fo stay closer to home after graduation more so than their male counterparts. So while this is angering, we keep trying to look at it through the lens if cultural relativism. Is it like this because women are being forced into these roles or, based on the cultural environment they are brought up in, is this just a reflection of the collective choices of all Vietnamese women? It is very difficult to tease these two ideas apart, but is interesting to think about and discuss for sure.
On Friday we head to the beach island of Phu Quoc for a chance to see more if Vietnam and to get a bit of a break from our research before coming back and finishing up our report. Last week we took a day trip to a nearby island on the delta known for its fruit trees. I swam in the Mekong, biked around, and picked some rambutans ( chum chums in Vietnamese). These extra excursions help ke appreciate the fact that I am in Vietnam, far from home as Tra Vinh is getting very familiar. I have my favorite pho place where the owner knows our order.
As an introduction to the electrical engineering department we were told, with a giggle, that only handsome men worked here. When asked if women could work there we were told, again with laughter, that it was a job my h better suited to men. I wish that I had gone into engineering instead of medicine just so I could shock them. Many people we interview here say that there is not a lot of gender discrimination here but the Canadians are still struggling with this. In Canada this type of blatant gender streaming and career expectations would be the definition of discrimination. We have been told, for example, that now women can go into engineering and IT...because there are more indoor office jobs available. Also, women are expected fo stay closer to home after graduation more so than their male counterparts. So while this is angering, we keep trying to look at it through the lens if cultural relativism. Is it like this because women are being forced into these roles or, based on the cultural environment they are brought up in, is this just a reflection of the collective choices of all Vietnamese women? It is very difficult to tease these two ideas apart, but is interesting to think about and discuss for sure.
On Friday we head to the beach island of Phu Quoc for a chance to see more if Vietnam and to get a bit of a break from our research before coming back and finishing up our report. Last week we took a day trip to a nearby island on the delta known for its fruit trees. I swam in the Mekong, biked around, and picked some rambutans ( chum chums in Vietnamese). These extra excursions help ke appreciate the fact that I am in Vietnam, far from home as Tra Vinh is getting very familiar. I have my favorite pho place where the owner knows our order.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
A few tidbits
An interesting fact I forgot to mention on the Canada Day post - last year 9200 people ran in the Terry Fox Run in Ho Chi Minh city.
So a couple Vietnamese myths to dispel. The majority of the students here have either never tried or do not enjoy eating dog so it is very uncommon. Dogs are actually kept as pets here as back home and I have seen several different breeds.
The designer surgical type masks people wear around here, especially by women, have nothing to do with pollution or sickness. It is so they will not tan as lighter skin is desired here. They also wear socks, sweatshirts and sometimes gloves while biking for the same reason.
So a couple Vietnamese myths to dispel. The majority of the students here have either never tried or do not enjoy eating dog so it is very uncommon. Dogs are actually kept as pets here as back home and I have seen several different breeds.
The designer surgical type masks people wear around here, especially by women, have nothing to do with pollution or sickness. It is so they will not tan as lighter skin is desired here. They also wear socks, sweatshirts and sometimes gloves while biking for the same reason.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Mot, hai, ba, JO!
While the spelling is almost certainly incorrect the title is how to do cheers in Vietnamese and there was a lot of that happening in celebration of Canada Day yesterday. The university here has a large Canada Day celebration each year because of the connections it has with various Canadian schools and organizations. So in the afternoon there was a ceremony filled with speeches, gifts, trivia, and performances. Students, faculty, local dignitaries and the consular general were all in attendence and of course we were expected to do a performance as well. We tried to sing Hello Vietnam and failed miserably, but did better with a rousing rendition of the I Am Canadian anthem from the Molson commercial. Following the ceremony there was a delicious dinner with the presidents of the university and local government members. It was here that we were introduced to this Vietnamese cheer business. It is customary to chug your entire drink, alcoholic or not, with every cheers. Let's just say that there was a lot if cheer going around that night and the Vietnamese can put the Canadians to shame when chugging beer if they want do. They won't take no for an answer either as we were egged on by them shouting "100%!". And of course karaoke followed. Canada was well-honoured in Tra Vinh this year.
We are two-thirds through our interviews and the recurring themes with the parents are how important it is to have connections and know the right people in order to get a good job, especially with the government. Sometimes parents say it is more important than your skills. Also, the university here gets mixed reviews with several parents saying the teaching and student support must improve, and sone local businesses look down on a degree from there. I have to give my Vietnamese partners credit for being good researchers and collecting this data without getting upset as they are students at this university and we have heard some harsh comments.
We are two-thirds through our interviews and the recurring themes with the parents are how important it is to have connections and know the right people in order to get a good job, especially with the government. Sometimes parents say it is more important than your skills. Also, the university here gets mixed reviews with several parents saying the teaching and student support must improve, and sone local businesses look down on a degree from there. I have to give my Vietnamese partners credit for being good researchers and collecting this data without getting upset as they are students at this university and we have heard some harsh comments.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Joining the fray
We have our bicycles now so have joined the crazy traffic. It is less crazy here than in the city but left turns are still pretty nervewracking. The rules of the road are generally followed, as in most people drive on the correct side if the road and travel in the correct direction. There are a couple traffic lights which are obeyed. The bikes are pretty old school with no gears and a handy basket in the front but they do the job. The land is so flat here so biking is pretty leisurely and a bit cooler than walking as you get a breeze.
As we continue further with our interviews we are definitely seeing the cultural differences in work patterns come out. Vietnamese people generally break for a siesta in the afternoon and schools and businesses generally accomodate this. As Canadians we have a bit more of the go go go attitude, so it has been a learning process working out agreeable schedules with everyone. My group has now done three interviews with parents and they have been really interesting. They are conducted in Vietnamese but one if our partners writes down the answers in English for us to follow along. I have started to notice a few recurring themes in our responses and am interested to see if the patterns continue. Parents have a lot of influence on their children in Vietnamese cultures do I understand how their perceptions of the labour market affect their children's educational path and where they work.
One of the issues I have heard from community members as well as in some if the literature is the large number of students that enrol in business and social sciences even when the demand for these jobs is not high. Vocational training and technical sciences are in higher demand but these programs are more expensive to develop and don't seem to be promoted as much. Gender issues are interesting too as they are not as blatant here as other countries I have been. Several of the students we work with say there are no problems, but they are there if you dig. Women are expected to get married and run a household making it harder to obtain advanced degrees which seem pretty necessary for management jobs here. They are also less likely to move up as they are (and are expected to be) shyer and less assertive. As a result they are often limited to administrative roles. Upon graduation most students, but especially women, are expected to stay close to home even though job opportunities are more numerous in other areas.
Besides working on the project I have had lots of time to eat, explore, and shop. Yesterday a few of us girls had dresses ordered from the tailor and ordering food without vietnamese students us always a risky adventure. I know the word for both chicken and beef so at the very least I know what animal I am eating...although not always which part. The cow stomach on my plate at one meal was not eaten, but instead became an anatomy lecture for the other students there. Fifty cent beers do make everything better and most of the food is pretty delicious.
As we continue further with our interviews we are definitely seeing the cultural differences in work patterns come out. Vietnamese people generally break for a siesta in the afternoon and schools and businesses generally accomodate this. As Canadians we have a bit more of the go go go attitude, so it has been a learning process working out agreeable schedules with everyone. My group has now done three interviews with parents and they have been really interesting. They are conducted in Vietnamese but one if our partners writes down the answers in English for us to follow along. I have started to notice a few recurring themes in our responses and am interested to see if the patterns continue. Parents have a lot of influence on their children in Vietnamese cultures do I understand how their perceptions of the labour market affect their children's educational path and where they work.
One of the issues I have heard from community members as well as in some if the literature is the large number of students that enrol in business and social sciences even when the demand for these jobs is not high. Vocational training and technical sciences are in higher demand but these programs are more expensive to develop and don't seem to be promoted as much. Gender issues are interesting too as they are not as blatant here as other countries I have been. Several of the students we work with say there are no problems, but they are there if you dig. Women are expected to get married and run a household making it harder to obtain advanced degrees which seem pretty necessary for management jobs here. They are also less likely to move up as they are (and are expected to be) shyer and less assertive. As a result they are often limited to administrative roles. Upon graduation most students, but especially women, are expected to stay close to home even though job opportunities are more numerous in other areas.
Besides working on the project I have had lots of time to eat, explore, and shop. Yesterday a few of us girls had dresses ordered from the tailor and ordering food without vietnamese students us always a risky adventure. I know the word for both chicken and beef so at the very least I know what animal I am eating...although not always which part. The cow stomach on my plate at one meal was not eaten, but instead became an anatomy lecture for the other students there. Fifty cent beers do make everything better and most of the food is pretty delicious.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Another day, another town
Today we left Ho Chi Minh city for Tra Vinh which is a smaller town farther south on the Mekong delta. It was several hours of driving and we took a ferry across the Mekong River. I will be based out of here along with half of our original group of 40 for the next five weeks or so although we will be visiting an island for a bit of a relaxation trip and I will be spending several days at the home of one of the Vietnamese students. Our Vietnamese friends have been able to find bicycles we can borrow for transportation here and I can't wait to start exploring. According to wikipedia there are over 100 000 people living here but it feels like a bustling country town. It is refreshing to be out of the city and everything is so much cheaper here. It is the hometown of the students we are working with so we have 10 guides to show us the great places to eat and hangout.
The last couple days in HCMC were a lot of fun. After our last day of training at the university the students there held a celebration night for us. We were told to prepare a cultural presentation as per usual but other than that we did not know what to expect. Turns out that it was hosted by a guy who could have been running a game show who started us and about 150 students off with the chicken dance and a game of simon says. It was a bit odd but fun. Then we split into teams to do a relay race of sorts. Finally we did the Canadian line up of bilingual O Canada, the moose campfire song, and degeneration - a Québécois song followed by tons if dancing. We were all sweaty, tired, bug happy at the end.
Yesterday we went sightseeing. First we watched a documentary about the girl in the famous picture after a napalm bomb attack in Vietnam. She is the young girl running down the street after her clothes had been burned off along with much of her skin. Over half her body suffered third degree burns and after over a dozen surgeries she was left with painful scars. She be became a spokesperson for Vietnam and was even forced to quit school (she wanted to be a doctor) in order to serve the government as a public speaker. She now lives in Canada and amazingly she personally forgave one of the Ken responsible for the bombing. She sounds like a remarkable woman.
Next we visited a Cao Dai temple which is a unique Vietnamese religion that combines Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucionism. The temple was brightly colored withstatues carved into all of the columns and the ceiling was Harry Potteresque with stars and clouds on a blue background. We also watched a ceremony. Everyone was in white cloaks and positioned in some sort of age hierarchy and went through what looked like a series of prayers with chanting and bowing. It was really interesting and I had never heard of this religion before.
The last thing we visited were the Cu Chi tunnels which is a series of tunnels over 250km long. There are three levels and the first level is 3m below the surface. There were used by the communist Vietnamese first against the French and then again against the Americans. People lived in the tunnels and attached annexes, coming out for surprise attacks. Ventilation holes and entrances were well hidden and American troops did not discover most of them and as a result this area was heavily bombed as they tried to destroy the hidden bunkers. We went through about 100m of tunnel and the are tiny (and had even been widened fir tourists)! I had to crouch and eventually crawls to get through with not much space beside my shoulders. They were hot and stuffy too so it was not hard to believe that mist people living down there for over a year died.
Sorry for the long post and thanks if you made it through!
The last couple days in HCMC were a lot of fun. After our last day of training at the university the students there held a celebration night for us. We were told to prepare a cultural presentation as per usual but other than that we did not know what to expect. Turns out that it was hosted by a guy who could have been running a game show who started us and about 150 students off with the chicken dance and a game of simon says. It was a bit odd but fun. Then we split into teams to do a relay race of sorts. Finally we did the Canadian line up of bilingual O Canada, the moose campfire song, and degeneration - a Québécois song followed by tons if dancing. We were all sweaty, tired, bug happy at the end.
Yesterday we went sightseeing. First we watched a documentary about the girl in the famous picture after a napalm bomb attack in Vietnam. She is the young girl running down the street after her clothes had been burned off along with much of her skin. Over half her body suffered third degree burns and after over a dozen surgeries she was left with painful scars. She be became a spokesperson for Vietnam and was even forced to quit school (she wanted to be a doctor) in order to serve the government as a public speaker. She now lives in Canada and amazingly she personally forgave one of the Ken responsible for the bombing. She sounds like a remarkable woman.
Next we visited a Cao Dai temple which is a unique Vietnamese religion that combines Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucionism. The temple was brightly colored withstatues carved into all of the columns and the ceiling was Harry Potteresque with stars and clouds on a blue background. We also watched a ceremony. Everyone was in white cloaks and positioned in some sort of age hierarchy and went through what looked like a series of prayers with chanting and bowing. It was really interesting and I had never heard of this religion before.
The last thing we visited were the Cu Chi tunnels which is a series of tunnels over 250km long. There are three levels and the first level is 3m below the surface. There were used by the communist Vietnamese first against the French and then again against the Americans. People lived in the tunnels and attached annexes, coming out for surprise attacks. Ventilation holes and entrances were well hidden and American troops did not discover most of them and as a result this area was heavily bombed as they tried to destroy the hidden bunkers. We went through about 100m of tunnel and the are tiny (and had even been widened fir tourists)! I had to crouch and eventually crawls to get through with not much space beside my shoulders. They were hot and stuffy too so it was not hard to believe that mist people living down there for over a year died.
Sorry for the long post and thanks if you made it through!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
From street food to the symphony
Last week we started to work on the research portion of this trip including a couple days of research methodology classes to help us prepare our research question and surveys. As we only have about 4 weeks to survey about 30 parents, it will be pretty basic but I am still looking forward to the information we will get. So far it seems like the major shortcoming of universities here is the complete lack of any sort of practical experience so learning things like communication and interview skills has to be done bythe student, often from the Internet. This morning we had a practice interview with a recent graduate that went well.
Last night some of us went out with some Vietnamese students for dinner and they took us to a street vendor. It was one of the most delicious meals I have had thus far - rice with sweet and sour beef for a buck. The food here is generally good and I have eaten a lot of pho which is a soup with rice noodles and some sort of beef. I am trying to work on my Vietnamese pronunciation so I can order for myself but it is a tonal language meaning the same word means five different things depending on the pitch of the vowels.
Today I did lots if shopping. Things are do cheap here and my haggling skills are improving but still poor. I am probably still paying twice ad much as I should be for things but I can't be too upset as it usually means paying $4 instead of $2. I will get it down by the end of the trip. Tonight I went to a symphony and ballet performance at the nearby opera hall. The symphony and accompanying choir was really good but I don't think Ho Chi Minh City will be known for its ballet any time soon.
Last night some of us went out with some Vietnamese students for dinner and they took us to a street vendor. It was one of the most delicious meals I have had thus far - rice with sweet and sour beef for a buck. The food here is generally good and I have eaten a lot of pho which is a soup with rice noodles and some sort of beef. I am trying to work on my Vietnamese pronunciation so I can order for myself but it is a tonal language meaning the same word means five different things depending on the pitch of the vowels.
Today I did lots if shopping. Things are do cheap here and my haggling skills are improving but still poor. I am probably still paying twice ad much as I should be for things but I can't be too upset as it usually means paying $4 instead of $2. I will get it down by the end of the trip. Tonight I went to a symphony and ballet performance at the nearby opera hall. The symphony and accompanying choir was really good but I don't think Ho Chi Minh City will be known for its ballet any time soon.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
This being my third trip to Asia, there are certain things I have become desensitized to. I am fairly confident crossing the hectic intersections (and they still can't compare to Dhaka), the heat is somewhat more tolerable and I no longer gasp at the sight of an entire family on one motorcycle carrying a ridiculous load of goods. There are some things that I just can't get a handle on any better than I could that first day in Bangladesh. Working through language barriers is one of those things. It is still incredibly difficult, exhausting, and sometimes frustrating to try to work with and get to know someone through broken English. The Vietnamese students we are working with have no doubt been equally frustrated, but hopefully after 6 weeks together we will have found some common ground and formed friendships through both the language and cultural barriers we face.
Ho Chi Minh City is a fairly metropolitan city with all of the organized chaos and charm of you typical Asian city. Traffic laws are actually somewhat followed and there are many western brands mixed among local shops. We are staying here for about a week for training before heading to Tra Vinh which is a smaller agriculture based city of about 100 000 people. Today we learned some background info about the educational system in Vietnam. It is competitive to get into post-secondary institutes but the univesity programs are very structured and there is not a lot of flexibility within the programs in terms of electives, etc. The relationship between teachers and students is based on confucionism and teachers are the rule with no room for discussion or collaboration. Many students choose majors based on the Bility to get a good paying job, hopefully with a foreign organization. So business and technology related majors along with English are most popular despite the shortage of engineers and nurses. The problem with these jobs is often there is additional training needed out of country which delays the time to a paying job and it is difficult to convince people to return to Vietnam (especially rural) to work for the government. I am excited to continue to learn more and I am developing questions I would like to ask as I am in a group surveying parents of current and past students about job training and entering the labour market.
The communist government here has blocked Facebook and we have been trying to hack in. Today I had some success with a site that scrambles your IP address so it is like you are not in Vietnam but by the evening they were on to me and it was not working anymore. Our local techie is working on it.
Ho Chi Minh City is a fairly metropolitan city with all of the organized chaos and charm of you typical Asian city. Traffic laws are actually somewhat followed and there are many western brands mixed among local shops. We are staying here for about a week for training before heading to Tra Vinh which is a smaller agriculture based city of about 100 000 people. Today we learned some background info about the educational system in Vietnam. It is competitive to get into post-secondary institutes but the univesity programs are very structured and there is not a lot of flexibility within the programs in terms of electives, etc. The relationship between teachers and students is based on confucionism and teachers are the rule with no room for discussion or collaboration. Many students choose majors based on the Bility to get a good paying job, hopefully with a foreign organization. So business and technology related majors along with English are most popular despite the shortage of engineers and nurses. The problem with these jobs is often there is additional training needed out of country which delays the time to a paying job and it is difficult to convince people to return to Vietnam (especially rural) to work for the government. I am excited to continue to learn more and I am developing questions I would like to ask as I am in a group surveying parents of current and past students about job training and entering the labour market.
The communist government here has blocked Facebook and we have been trying to hack in. Today I had some success with a site that scrambles your IP address so it is like you are not in Vietnam but by the evening they were on to me and it was not working anymore. Our local techie is working on it.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Some more information...
I realize that I didn't provide much information on what I am doing in Vietnam, and what my training has been about. This is partly because I don't really know what I am doing yet and partly because I suck at introductions and explaining myself - my apologies.
So I have been in Ottawa since Thursday doing training which involved logistics such as safety while in Vietnam, as well as a number of discussions and activities to help explore international development and multicultural interactions. We are a very diverse group of students from different provinces, backgrounds, and faculties so it made for some interesting perspectives and conversation. Everyone also gets along well so it should make for great learning experiences and good times overseas, especially once we double in size with the addition of 20 Vietnamese students. I love Ottawa and had a chance to walk around downtown and visit the Museum of Civilization which was awesome! I highly recommend checking it out if you are here, and it's free on Thursdays! I also took in game 5 (thanks goodness Vancouver pulled it together) where I made friends with some Ottawanians (?) in the busy bar. We also have already celebrated a birthday with one of the seminarists and have 3 more occurring over the next 6 weeks! It's been fun, but we are all antsy to take off tomorrow morning.
Once I am in Vietnam I will share more about what I am doing, as we will learn more about our research projects once we arrive. We will be in two different provinces (one focusses on tourism and the other on agriculture) doing interviews in the regions with businesses, colleges, youth, etc. in an attempt to guide programming and job training in order to help young adults be more competitive and better equipped to enter the workforce.
So I have been in Ottawa since Thursday doing training which involved logistics such as safety while in Vietnam, as well as a number of discussions and activities to help explore international development and multicultural interactions. We are a very diverse group of students from different provinces, backgrounds, and faculties so it made for some interesting perspectives and conversation. Everyone also gets along well so it should make for great learning experiences and good times overseas, especially once we double in size with the addition of 20 Vietnamese students. I love Ottawa and had a chance to walk around downtown and visit the Museum of Civilization which was awesome! I highly recommend checking it out if you are here, and it's free on Thursdays! I also took in game 5 (thanks goodness Vancouver pulled it together) where I made friends with some Ottawanians (?) in the busy bar. We also have already celebrated a birthday with one of the seminarists and have 3 more occurring over the next 6 weeks! It's been fun, but we are all antsy to take off tomorrow morning.
Once I am in Vietnam I will share more about what I am doing, as we will learn more about our research projects once we arrive. We will be in two different provinces (one focusses on tourism and the other on agriculture) doing interviews in the regions with businesses, colleges, youth, etc. in an attempt to guide programming and job training in order to help young adults be more competitive and better equipped to enter the workforce.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Ottawa!
I am currently in Ottawa with 19 other fantastic and energetic university students for our pre-departure training with WUSC and Uniterra for the International Seminar in Vietnam! On Monday we leave on our 24 hour journey to Ho Chi Minh City and then on to Tra Vinh - the province I will be working in. Finicky internet allowing, I am hoping to update this blog once a week and I look forward to any comments or questions from anyone reading. Also, feel free to share my blog with anyone who may find it interesting.
If you are wondering more about Uniterra or WUSC, here are the links to their sites. They do great work and have excellent opportunities for students to get involved internationally.
http://wusc.ca/
http://www.uniterra.ca/
Go Canucks Go!
(and go jets go!)
If you are wondering more about Uniterra or WUSC, here are the links to their sites. They do great work and have excellent opportunities for students to get involved internationally.
http://wusc.ca/
http://www.uniterra.ca/
Go Canucks Go!
(and go jets go!)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
What the heck I am doing this summer?
Hello loyal followers. If you are still reading my travel blogs, I appreciate the support. If you are a new follower, welcome and I hope I can provide both insight into Vietnam, as well as entertainment.
This June and July I am taking part in an International Seminar in Vietnam through Uniterra and WUSC. It involves 20 Canadian students and 20 Vietnamese students spending 6 weeks in Vietnam exploring the issues around this year's theme which is "Socieconomic Development in Vietnam and Youth in the Workforce." Hopefully somewhere between studying to make it through Med 2 I can do some research and update this blog from time to time as I prepare to leave, and I will definitely keep it up once June rolls around.
This trip is funded by some donors, mostly CIDA I believe, but I still have to pay $3000 to go. Unfortunately this will mostly be coming from the ol' line o' credit as med school does not leave me much time to fundraise, but if you so desire, you can donate to help cover my fees for the seminar at this site. And if you don't want to donate, but would like to learn more about what this International Seminar business is all about, in more eloquent terms, you can also follow this link and check out the "my message" box. Your support, monetary or otherwise, is always greatly appreciated!
This June and July I am taking part in an International Seminar in Vietnam through Uniterra and WUSC. It involves 20 Canadian students and 20 Vietnamese students spending 6 weeks in Vietnam exploring the issues around this year's theme which is "Socieconomic Development in Vietnam and Youth in the Workforce." Hopefully somewhere between studying to make it through Med 2 I can do some research and update this blog from time to time as I prepare to leave, and I will definitely keep it up once June rolls around.
This trip is funded by some donors, mostly CIDA I believe, but I still have to pay $3000 to go. Unfortunately this will mostly be coming from the ol' line o' credit as med school does not leave me much time to fundraise, but if you so desire, you can donate to help cover my fees for the seminar at this site. And if you don't want to donate, but would like to learn more about what this International Seminar business is all about, in more eloquent terms, you can also follow this link and check out the "my message" box. Your support, monetary or otherwise, is always greatly appreciated!
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