Vietnamese History and Foods with Chris!!

We began the day on January 9th, 2019 in normal fashion by convening in the campus canteen for breakfast, where students enjoyed cafe da sua (Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk) and Bánh bao (a steamed circular bun containing pork and quail egg). Afterwards, we headed over to TDTU Building E and embarked on a two hour lecture given by Professor Richard Fincher detailing the role of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in Vietnamese labor relations. During our lunch break, students tried Vietnamese Bánh mì and Phở at a different canteen on campus and later cooled off from a particularly hot day with Boba Milk tea.

In the afternoon, Professor Richard Fincher gave an interesting and poignant lecture on the history of the Second Indochina War, an event that in the United States we commonly refer to as the "Vietnam War." In this lecture, students were able to better understand a more comprehensive view of the War from the Vietnamese perspective, as well as reflect in a nuanced manner on how the War forever changed American citizens' view of their own government.

The daily argumentation and debate session with TDTU students followed in the evening, which was perhaps the highlight of the day. Both Cornell and TDTU students were able to channel the debate skills and experience that they had begun to acquire earlier in the week, and argued in teams over the topic, "Should teenagers be eligible to serve in important government roles?" This debate was particularly interesting in that students from both universities were able to compare and contrast the nature of education and government in their home countries, providing an ulterior benefit of cultural exchange. Afterwards, Cornell and TDTU students dined at a Thai restaurant in a nearby mall where some Cornell students were able to try Hot Pot for the first time. The day, filled with the exchange of food and ideas about government and history, represented another example of the array of cultural learning that a single Wednesday could achieve while in Ho Chi Minh City. --Chris