Week 3: High School in Vietnam

Welcome back everyone!

Thanks for taking the time to read about my project! Living in Vietnam for the past two weeks, you would think blending in as a local would be easy, but surprisingly everyone has been able to tell I am a foreigner right away. However, I have learned a few pointers foreigners should keep in mind when visiting Saigon:

1.) Face masks are a must. In the midst of a highly polluted city, air quality here in Saigon is not the best.
2.) Eat only local food. Most of the time, people contract food poisoning because local people cannot properly prepare dishes present in other countries. Do not eat an American-styled burger in Vietnam, make sure to try the authentic cuisine!

This week I got the opportunity to visit the high school of Sương Nguyệt Anh. The high school consists of over 1000 students from grades 10-12. I was lucky to be paired with the 12th grade teacher and class - even having the opportunity to sit in and learn like one of the students! I was also invited as a guest speaker to talk about my experience with American education and the differences that I was able to see. Unlike school back in the United States, students here are continuously learning or taking extra tutoring classes. A typical day for a Vietnamese student will start at 7am and can end as a late as 9pm. This is not to mention extra weekend studies to prepare for upcoming tests. The students here don't get the opportunity to join extracurricular activities or participate in school events -one of the many aspects American students sometimes take for granted.

Enough about the differences, back to the main focus of my project. Same routine as last week, I distributed and collected anonymous surveys to understand whether the academic performance of Vietnamese high school students was influenced by their eating habits and nutritional intake. I collected a total of about 150 surveys from one class from each grade to fully understand the awareness of nutritional impact of each age group. I have yet to compile the surveys into an excel document, but I did receive many mixed opinions on how much nutrition played a role in their lives. Many did not change their eating habits before an exam, while others ate protein rich diets for breakfast in efforts to preform better. I will have a more concrete conclusion after I read through all the surveys in the following weeks!

Next week, I will visit a middle school to determine how Vietnamese students from 5th to 9th grade emphasize nutrition.

Thank you for reading and I'll update you all again next week!

Best,
Crystal Vo

The 12th grade class at Suong Nguyet Anh that welcomed me into their class.

Week 2: Feeling Like a Kid Again!

Welcome back everyone!

This week marks my first week in Saigon, Vietnam! I am excited to share my experiences with you all. Life in the heart of city is very fast-paced and the distinct smell of gasoline emitted by motorbikes is intertwined with every breath. Shops, restaurants, and homes are all lined up and where there is an empty space, there will be some kind of stand. Whether you're looking for food, something to drink, or even shoes, you'll only have to drive a block at most.

Since my project mainly focuses on the impacts of nutrition, I made it my duty to explore the fresh and aromatic cuisine of Vietnam. Here, you will find that every entree is paired with greens and other vegetables. Poultry and produce are raised and freshly grown (most times right in the back of the shop) and sold at local stores so nothing is frozen or pre-packed. In the  past week, I have tried authentic pho (noodle soup), banh xeo (savory Vietnamese styled pancakes), bun bo hue (beef noodle soup), and oc bu (lemongrass snails). I will try to incorporate a separate page dedicated to my exploration of the different types of dishes in Saigon next week. But for now, I give two thumbs up for both taste and healthy nutritional value.

I started my project this week by visiting my first elementary school. I was welcomed with youthful smiles of children (who's Vietnamese were more advanced than mine) at the elementary school of Tô Hiến Thành. Tô Hiến Thành is made up of 300 students from 1st grade to 5th grade. I was also allowed to sit in the second grade class and one of first differences I saw was that in Vietnam, children are expected to cross their hands and bow when greeting a teacher and the language class is structured very differently, focusing primarily on vocabulary and dictation. To complete my project, I distributed and collected anonymous surveys about how much they thought nutrition impacted their daily life and how much they were aware of their eating habits. Since the students were still young, many were not familiar with the concept of "calories" and how their choices has affected them thus far in their education. However, it was interesting to interact with the students and have the opportunity to feel like an elementary student again! When doing a project with children it was truly a humbling experience and by no means was it easy to say goodbye at the end of the week.

Come back next week as I visit a high school and find out how students similar to my age in Saigon emphasize healthy eating!

Until next time.

Crystal Vo

A 3rd grade class at To Hien Thanh 

Safe Arrival

I'm here with a quick update that I have safety arrived to Saigon, Vietnam! I am sorry I could not update everyone sooner. Trying to scavage for a decent wifi connection and fighting jet lag has been difficult, but the experience so far has been truly incredible! I was warmly welcomed by the humid weather and the fast-paced city life. Traffic here, to say the least, has been one of the less enjoyable aspects, but I am slowly adapting to the lifestyle and culture. Come back soon for another weekly blog post!

Crystal

The infamous traffic of Vietnam

Week 1: Straight Outta Phoenix

Welcome back!

Thanks for taking the time to read another weekly post! As I am writing this blog post, I am stuck at a San Fransisco airport for my next flight out to Tokyo, Japan. Before I am flown out of the country on a 10+ hr flight, I wanted to update everyone on what I have been working on so far. I will apologize in advance that this blog post will not be as exciting and interesting as I would like, but I assure you that in the following weeks I will have more ground breaking content.

Even though I have not conducted any real research, I will discuss some challenges that I can foresee happening in the near future:

1.) Language Barrier

One of the main reasons why I chose Vietnam as my destination of study was to reconnect with my culture and a rich history that I was not able to experience or learn growing up in the states. As a result, my vocabulary is equivalent to that of a 3rd graders, so I hope I can still accurately convey what I want to say without losing my original meaning.

2.) Geographical Location

Being born in Portland, Oregon and growing in Phoenix, Arizona my entire life, I have not extensively explored a region that is outside of the United States. With that being said, Saigon, Vietnam is way out of my comfort zone and I will have to adapt to a whole new environment. Living with dry heat all my life, I hope the humidity of tropical weather does not prohibit me from exploring the beautiful city and traveling to my senior project locations.

3.) Everyone's Favorite: Jet Lag

I think everyone can relate to this one without having me to go into detail.

This past week, I have also started to read Eating Viet Nam: Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table by Graham Holliday. Holliday is a food enthusiast and photographer that moved to Saigon in 2001. Since then he has written for the Guardian, the New York Times Magazine, BBC, CNN, and many other renowned journalism platforms. His book thoroughly details Vietnamese food from a point of an enthusiast but also one of a stranger witnessing the exotic thrill of a cuisine that propelled him half way across the globe. His vivid narrative of his experience and tips for future travelers further advances my understanding of the lifestyle and nutritional choices that exists in Vietnam before experiencing it for myself. I will be sure to update you on how the rest of the book is, but so far I have enjoyed reading about Holliday's first encounter with street food and pig intestines. (yum, I know.)

I am excited for the journey that lies ahead and I am ready to tackle my senior project when I lan- I mean thinking about it, taking a couple days to get settled in won't hurt right? I get into Saigon, Vietnam at exactly midnight on February 12, so I will make sure to notify you all of my safe arrival!

Until next time!

Crystal Vo