Day Four

Today we had our first vietnamese culture class at UEF.  It was very interesting learning about how the Vietnamese use all of their senses to read people.  I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do when talking to the local people.  Also, we learned how our body language and facial expressions are interpreted by the Vietnamese people.  Their way of communicating with each other is very different than in the United States.  After our culture class we had another language class where we learned numbers and how to bargain with people in the market.  I am very excited to put our new language skills to the test.  We also had a very interesting trip to U.S. Department of Commerce today.  We learned how the Vietnamese people have become more comfortable being consumers and have a very positive outlook for the future.  They believe that each day is going to be better than the last and each year is going to be more positive than the previous.  I was surprised to learn how much the country has improved in areas such as its poverty rate and consumerism. 
After we got done at the Department of Commerce we went to a dance class with some of the UEF students.  It was on the roof of one of the University buildings overlooking part of the city.  Even though it was insanely hot and there were mosquitos everywhere, dancing was a lot of fun.  We learned the tango and some salsa and also showed the students some "American" dance moves.  Some of the students took us out to one of their favorite places to eat after dance class.  It was a shop type place with little tables set up on the sidewalk...the chairs were about the size of kindergarten chairs.  I'm glad they went out with us because I would have never known that the place we went to eat was an actual place to eat just by walking by.  Tomorrow we are planning on going to the market and then to karaoke with the Vietnamese students so I am very excited for that!