In A While…

By: Rosamond Greblo

Xin chào! 

And nice to meet you! My name is Rosamond (Rosa) Greblo and I’m a junior biology & education major at St. Olaf. After almost being denied entry into Vietnam due to a passport and visa middle name mismatch, I am very happy to be here in HCMC. As the customs worker tried to tell me through my tears when I thought I was going to have to fly home, “don’t worry, just be happy!” Just what I needed to hear. All jokes aside, I have been loving my time here in Vietnam and am excited to fill you all in on what the globies have been up to. 

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On Thursday and Friday we continued with our Vietnamese lessons, learning fruits, ordering at a restaurant, numbers, directions, and how to say “this is so yummy my armpits hurt” (from shoveling food into your mouth). Haha. Our Vietnamese teacher, Có Phát, has been so patient with us as we stumble through learning this new language. As the days go on, I think we’ll start to be more confident in our Vietnamese skills, and the locals we have met have been very patient and forgiving with our mispronunciations. 🙂 

We have also continued with our economics classes, studying the history of the Vietnam economy and the 1986 implementation of the Doi Moi economic reforms. This change switched the Vietnamese economy to a socialist-oriented market economy. Before the switch to the Doi Moi reformed system, Vietnamese citizens were suffering greatly under the state of the centrally planned economy. Investment in heavy industry and neglect towards agriculture were significant factors that led to poverty, famine, hyperinflation, and food scarcity. Long-term government corruption and a need to settle the qualms of the Vietnamese population to avoid an uprising against the single party system were additional incentives for the switch to the market economy. These changes allowed the Vietnamese government to address a portion of the citizen’s suffering and to stay in the field of vision of non-communist countries for trade purposes, but allowed them to maintain their power. 

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The afternoon through Friday was mostly filled with economics classes, covering macro and micro economic management, import and export trends, and a panel at the HCMC University of Economics where we heard from an entrepreneur and an environmental scientist within the same talk. Both speakers connected their thoughts to current economic trends in the Vietnamese economy, like the importance of rice exports and aquaculture products, and how whether we want to start a business or understand the impacts of climate change in this coastal region, both issues involve a community’s ability to thrive and make a living, which is economics! As a biology major in an economics class, I enjoyed seeing these connections. After the panel, we played telephone Pictionary with the Vietnamese student attendees and sang karaoke. I’m not quite sure how or why that happened, but I sure had fun.

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On Saturday, we took a field trip to the Can Gio Mangrove Forests, about 2 hours outside of HCMC. We had a few planned activities there that day – including tree planting, a boat tour of the bat sanctuary, bird watching, and feeding crocodiles!

The mangrove forest was designated by UNESCO and is thus a protected area. There are households scattered through the forest that receive government money to protect the forest; we learned that this type of biodiversity protection is actually pretty common in Southeast Asia. While there are police officers and army members patrolling the border, the protection of the inner forest is left to the community. The mangroves are all secondary forest, as Agent Orange was sprayed on the area during the Vietnam War to wipe out the vegetation and expose the North Vietnamese army.

I was impressed by the density of the mangrove forest today, and more surprised to learn that the tides have washed the Agent Orange residue away from the water and soil. While this isn’t true in all areas of Vietnam, this mangrove forest is clear. 

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Sunday was our free day, which on this trip, we use to pack in all the fun activities we don’t have time for during the school week. 🙂 This Sunday, a group started the day going to Ben Thanh Market, a colorful and crowded marketplace a short walk from our hotel. It was equally fun and overwhelming to walk the aisles of the market, looking at the tea, spices, clothes, knock-off designer products, ceramics, etc. We were advised to always bargain at this market, as vendors usually initially charge you 2x-3x the value of the product. And so I bargained for the first time! I was so proud of myself and ended up knocking down the price to ⅔ of the original. I won’t tell you what I got because my family is reading this and it’s for them. Hehe. 

The next exciting thing to happen this Sunday was that six of us decided to get our ears pierced! Piercings are significantly cheaper than in the States (roughly $100 versus $15), so we wanted to take this opportunity while we could. I got my first cartilage piercing, and while it’s hurting right now, I’m so happy with it and can’t wait to put fun earrings in (in about 3 months). 

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On Monday, the group made a site visit to BECAMEX, a company specializing in developing and supporting industrial parks. They also have a campus where students can study business in an international context, including intensive language instruction. We got to tour their campus, which is absolutely beautiful, and see some of their labs, which help implement their increasing eco-industry focus, such as through the teaching of the mechanics of renewable energy. Included are photos of the inspirational quotes peppered through the campus. Who doesn’t love a cheesy quote? Nobody.

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Thank you for catching up with me, and happy early Turkey Day to you all! The globies are loving Vietnam, but we will miss seeing you all this Thanksgiving. We are thinking of home extra this week. Tạm biệt!