Hey all, so I think I'll be posting every other day. Might try to do daily, but we'll see how my schedule holds up.
Well, I had basically been jet lag free on Sunday but on Monday it hit me. Woke up after nine hours of sleep and still felt like I had been hit by a bus. Luckily Vietnamese coffee is both very good and very strong, so I rode the waves of caffeine through the day. I also met Trevor and Anna, so the only ETA I have not met is Tyler, who should be heading over tomorrow.
The first day of training began with a general welcome, followed by waves of briefing from different U.S. Embassy Officials. We got an overview of the Fulbright program, a safety briefing, a political briefing and a medical briefing.
I don't want to bore you with the details, but I think I can give you some general highlights:
--The Fulbright Program in Vietnam was started in 1992. The main components of the Fulbright Program are the U.S. Student Program, the U.S. Scholar Program, the Vietnamese Student Program and the Vietnamese Scholar Program. Since 1992 the program has expanded from 18 Fulbright Fellowships to 77.
--The English Teaching Assistantship is the newest aspect of the Fulbright Program in Vietnam, founded in 2007.
--Politically, Vietnam is one of only four countries that remain communist, along with North Korea, China and Cuba. This has important ramifications for both international relations and daily interactions in Vietnam. The Communist Party of Vietnam is the most important policy-making body in the country.
--Vietnam and the U.S. have forged strong diplomatic and economic ties over the past fifteen years. With the Vietnam War only ending in 1975, many have asked me about why there are already relatively warm relations between both nations. The answer is complicated, but there are two main factors:
1. A ridiculous portion (~60%) of Vietnam is under 30, so they do not have first-hand experience of the war and thus there is less residual bitterness
2. China. Both Vietnam and U.S. have a very strong incentive to balance China's aggressive growth.
--Listening to travel health warnings is like reading WebMD and convincing yourself that you have several different diseases, except about 10,000 times worse. I am now convinced that I have dengue-malaria-AIDS.
--Not one, but two separate warnings about the dangers of traffic. Apparently every driver in the country is a threat to our safety. But I already told you how much fun the traffic is.
Well, I had basically been jet lag free on Sunday but on Monday it hit me. Woke up after nine hours of sleep and still felt like I had been hit by a bus. Luckily Vietnamese coffee is both very good and very strong, so I rode the waves of caffeine through the day. I also met Trevor and Anna, so the only ETA I have not met is Tyler, who should be heading over tomorrow.
The first day of training began with a general welcome, followed by waves of briefing from different U.S. Embassy Officials. We got an overview of the Fulbright program, a safety briefing, a political briefing and a medical briefing.
I don't want to bore you with the details, but I think I can give you some general highlights:
--The Fulbright Program in Vietnam was started in 1992. The main components of the Fulbright Program are the U.S. Student Program, the U.S. Scholar Program, the Vietnamese Student Program and the Vietnamese Scholar Program. Since 1992 the program has expanded from 18 Fulbright Fellowships to 77.
--The English Teaching Assistantship is the newest aspect of the Fulbright Program in Vietnam, founded in 2007.
--Politically, Vietnam is one of only four countries that remain communist, along with North Korea, China and Cuba. This has important ramifications for both international relations and daily interactions in Vietnam. The Communist Party of Vietnam is the most important policy-making body in the country.
--Vietnam and the U.S. have forged strong diplomatic and economic ties over the past fifteen years. With the Vietnam War only ending in 1975, many have asked me about why there are already relatively warm relations between both nations. The answer is complicated, but there are two main factors:
1. A ridiculous portion (~60%) of Vietnam is under 30, so they do not have first-hand experience of the war and thus there is less residual bitterness
2. China. Both Vietnam and U.S. have a very strong incentive to balance China's aggressive growth.
--Listening to travel health warnings is like reading WebMD and convincing yourself that you have several different diseases, except about 10,000 times worse. I am now convinced that I have dengue-malaria-AIDS.
--Not one, but two separate warnings about the dangers of traffic. Apparently every driver in the country is a threat to our safety. But I already told you how much fun the traffic is.
This is the room where we do all our training
I get a placard!
After training finished we headed out for a night on the town.
We all went to dinner
And then we went to Le Pub, a bar Trevor recommended
From left: Trevor, Amelia, Justin
And then we went to Dragonfly, a hookah bar
Everyone, this is Anna
And Kate
And Amanda
And Trevor!
Anyways, have to go to bed now, thanks for reading!
Peace,
Jefferson
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