Day 9

Dear Blog,

Today we went to school again for the first time since Friday. We had Vietnamese culture class and Vietnamese language class. The culture class was difficult to pay attention to because the teacher was very hard to understand. We learned about the modern history of Vietnam during that class. After the culture class we had the language class. I thought Vietnamese was getting easier to speak, but it was difficult today. The different tones to say words are very confusing because they all sound the same to me. I have a very difficult time hearing the different tones of voice. I have been getting good at hearing simple questions and responding to them.

The site visit today was to a real estate firm. The lady we talked to was named Patti and she was in the marketing section. She talked about how the Vietnamese never put their money into banks and pay with all cash. The carry large sums of money around when they make big purchases. She also described the way companies are helping the Vietnamese pay for the expensive condo's being built. After the talk, she than discussed restaurants to eat at.

After that, Sean realized he left his phone at the firm. We decided for cultural experiences to ride a motorbike back to the company to get. My driver got lost and drop me off on a street nearby. I used my knowledge of 3 Vietnamese words to ask how to get to the company and arrived there shortly after the rest had already arrived. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed. I really want to get one now. After arriving back at the company building, Patti came down with Sean's phone and told us of a place to eat called Blackcat. It was an American food place. I had a burger and it felt good to have American food again.

At 8 we went to the top of the Rex Hotel with Krysta and Dr. Burman. We enjoyed the view and the live music. The fries there were really good. They tasted like American fries. After the Rex, Krysta and Dr. Burman went back to the hotel and we went to the Apocalypse Now club. It was an interesting night. It was extremely fun and I had a good time.

bye blog