After having so much fun
sightseeing at Ha Long bay and Ha Noi and of course the opening ceremony,
Tuesday began the classroom experience of the trip. Classes were from at 8:00
am each day with Drs. Witanachchi and Biafora. There we all were, Vietnamese
and American students sitting side-by-side learning together and exploring
topics ranging from energy consumption to economic and cultural transformations
taking place in a modernizing Vietnam.
In Dr. Witanachchi's course we discussed renewable energy and how
Vietnam can in the future utilize renewable energy sources for sustainability.
We were also fortunate to have Dr. Khoi, a Professor of Physics at Vinh
University serving as a translator for challenging concepts.
In Dr. Biafora's course we
had engaging (and sometimes lively) dialogues about what it means to be
"American" v. "Vietnamese." At one point we shared our unique
perspectives on what each of us believed to be "The American Dream"
in contrast to the "The Vietnamese Dream." Traditionally the
Vietnamese students placed a lot more emphasis on community but it is clear
that they they are beginning to value and integrate concepts of individualism
more like us Americans. Although when we were discussing our personal dreams
for the future, the Vietnamese were a lot more concerned with giving back and
alleviating poverty in their country compared to the American students who were more
narrowly focused. On Tuesday night we went to the Vinh mall as a group with our
Vietnamese students and experienced one of the most westernized locations of
the trip, complete with trip to a KFC.
To explore patriotic knowledge
Dr. Biafora had each student take a pop quiz on our respective National
Anthems:
a) What is the name of your National
Anthem?
b) Who
wrote it?
c) What
year?
d) What was the historical
circumstance under which it was written?
e) What are the words to
your National Anthem?
Dr. Biafora was not
surprised to find the American students had limited knowledge of their the Star
Spangled Banner. But as he described, he was quite surprised to find that our
Vietnamese collegiate peers barely knew theirs either. This was Dr. Biafora's 5th study abroad trip,
and as he noted, the first time Vietnamese students had not out-performed
American students on this pop quiz. This
resulted in a very interesting conversation among the group on what role
modernization is having on student knowledge and/or interest in tradition. As
penance, Professor Biafora made each group stand and deliver our best
version of our respective anthems, which was a humbling and moving experience at the same time.
Wednesday we were honored to
have Fred McCoy give a powerful presentation of his personal experiences of the
Vietnam War, or as it is called here, "the American War." Many of us in the class were moved to tears by his
story and his courage to look back on and share his memories of a very
difficult time in our nation's history.
It is spooky but important to remember that the same places we are
visiting today had a completely different meaning to so many veterans decades
ago. Thanks to Mr.McCoy we were able to share perspectives with the students
and faculty about the American/Vietnam War and come closer together to move
past a tragic part of history.
Fred McCoy explaining an exhibit
at the Hanoi Hilton prison
On Thursday we took a bus
ride to the house of poet Nguyen Du, the author of Tale of Kieu, recognized by East Asian scholars as one of the most important Vietnamese authors and pieces
of literature. The Tale of Kieu is a poetic journey of a beautiful Vietnamese 15 year old who sacrifices
herself into the life of prostitution to save her father from the emperor's
wrath, and in so doing is separated from the young love of her life. Read by
all Vietnamese and likened to Romeo and Juliette, the life of Kieu means a lot
to the Vietnamese people and in many ways symbolizes their struggles against
oppression and the fierce loyalty toward their cultural way of life. To show
respect to Nguyen Du we all made a ceremonial incense offering at his tomb. At
the museum we listened to Dr. Huong, a Vietnamese woman professor passionately
talk about the Tale of Kiew and also read some of Du's poetry to us in the
native tongue.
Dr. Huong leading a lecture on the Tale of Kieu at the Nguyen Du compound
Friday we learned about the
Nghe An province (pronounced like Neon) from Associate Professor of History,
Dr. Hong. Nghe An is a part of Vietnam
including Vinh that prides itself for its innovation, education and also oddly
for its fiercly proud, hard-working peasant class, due to the influence of
Confucian philosophy which promotes these values. After learning about the Nghe
An province we left on a long and bumpy bus ride to Hue. The week of classes
with the Vietnamese students was a completely unique educational experience
that I will never forget.
Dr. Hong lecturing about the Nghe An province along with
Dr. Khoi. Ho Chi Minh would be rollling in his grave if he saw the Coke bottle
next to him.
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