Week 7: A Heartbreaking Goodbye

Welcome back to another weekly blog post everyone!

After many attempts to stay in Vietnam, I inevitably had to get on the first plane out on Wednesday morning. As I sullenly walked into the airport, I could not help but smile because this trip was such a humbling experience and definitely one I will never forget. For the past two months, I have made countless of friends, seen the world through a different perspective, and got my first taste of adulthood. I am so grateful that I had this opportunity to visit my parent's hometown and my own heritage. I cannot even begin express how many wonderful interactions I had and meeting the energetic students who had a larger than life mindset made me remember why I loved going to school in the first place and why I am pursuing my ambitions of becoming a pharmacist - for the sake of helping others and being the small glimpse of light in our nonperfect world.

Today is my second day back into the United States and I already miss waking up to the sound of the motorbikes as people opened their shops and stores at 5am. I miss the convenience of having so many different food options within a 5 mile radius and the ability to roam around the city seeking a new adventure. As I am ushered back into the reality of same old Phoenix, I got to sit down a start my second book that will be used for literature to add more insight to my senior project.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan is a critique on the American way of eating and analyzing the simple question of "what should we eat?" With the presence of food preservation, organic foods, and the combination of multiple cultural influences, Pollan explores the dilemma of omnivores in America of what to consume when given a variety of food options.

One of the first arguments she emphasizes is how powerful diet books, scientific studies, and magazine articles are. With a mere claim of what is the new "superfood," this can catalyze a violent change in our culture's eating habits, leading to a national eating disorder. For example, instead of sticking to a diet that has been effective for so long, we as Americans are susceptible to food scientists who cease the opportunity to create food trends that can throw off the "dietary pendulum" with a mere article on new "nutritional wisdom."

In comparison to Vietnam, people stick to what they know best. For example, the recipe for pho has been passed on from generation to generation. This comfort food can be traced back to the French occupation and has persisted for centuries. Why? Because pho combines the rich essence of a beef broth with the complex layers of spices and herbs, in other words, it's healthy and tastes great! There's no need for food fads or mainstream obsessions for kale or quinoa.

Stay tuned as I continue to read Pollan's critique to compare the American way of eating with Vietnam's passion for eating only the most fresh and aromatic dishes to find the correlation of how both of the different society's youth preform in school. Eating habits are at the foundation of any child's development and a key factor to performance.

Thank you to those who have continuously kept up with my blog for the past two months! I have definitely felt the repercussions of traveling from east to west and have been under the weather this past week so I will be taking my "spring break" next week to rest up and get back into the swing of things. I will be back the following week to update everyone how many project is doing!

Best,
Crystal Vo

Views from Tan Son Nhat International Airport before my flight out to my first layover in Japan

Week 6: One Book Down

Welcome back to another weekly blog to all of my dedicated readers!

As I mentioned in my last weekly blog post, for the next few weeks I will focus on reading my literature works for my project. Originally, I planned to finish my readings earlier on, but visiting the various schools took a larger portion of my time than I expected. However, I feel that reading my literature after I have been here for a while might not be a bad idea because after experiencing life here in Vietnam for over a month, I now have my own personal insight and opinions to better understand the book.

I spent this week (finally) finishing up Eating Viet Nam: Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table by Graham Holliday. For all of those who have been here with me since week one can recall that I started this book before arriving to the beautiful city of Saigon. I can gladly say that I give the book a 10/10 and highly recommend to those who want to experience Vietnam from the comfort of his home. Even though Holliday's entertaining travel memoir was written in the late 90's, everything he depicts is still accurate and highly relatable until this day. From my experience on top of reading this book, I can confirm two things:

1.) Vietnamese people take food very seriously, especially breakfast.

Not to say other cuisines don't take food seriously, but specifically in Vietnam, people here are "always eating, cooking, and talking about eating and cooking." In America, we Americans find happiness in enjoying a bagel, a bowl of cereal, or a simple acai bowl when waking up in the morning. (Or if you're anything like me, you just grab whatever fruit you can scavenge off the the counter and try to beat the clock.) However, in Vietnam, restaurants and outside shops are open at 5am on the dot and ready to serve there loyal customers before they head out to work. And, if you want to follow the rule of the thumb for finding good Vietnamese food, Holliday suggests looking for the restaurants located outside in your typical narrow alleyway serving one dish. Why one dish? Because they serve only what they can make the best so no need for bulky menus and debating about what to eat. These stands will open for a couple of hours and sell out by 10am. However, these "breakfast items" are not any different from their lunch or dinner items. I will include a picture of a breakfast menu below for reference. Each item is fully packed with healthy nutrients and the freshness ensures quality food.

2.) It's more convenient to buy food than make food yourself.

Vietnamese dishes will usually take a long time to prepare. The broth for pho, a beef noodle soup, can take up to 8 hours to cook to allow the flavor of the beef bones to be fully tasted. The morning stands that sell these dishes can be found at every corner and costs less than a $1. Most of the students here can confirm they eat out before heading to school because it is quick, easy, and convenient, while ensuring a well-balanced breakfast for the student to tackle the day.

Come back next week as I start The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and his critique on the American way of eating.

Thank you all so much for reading and see you back next week!

Best,
Crystal Vo

A breakfast menu at a restaurant in Vietnam. (~20,000 Vietnamese dong is a $1USD)

Week 5: Calories?

Welcome back to my blog! As for those who are on spring break, hope you all got some well deserved rest and good luck on the final push before the end of the school year.

As I mentioned last week, I got to visit my first middle school (commonly referred to as "secondary school" in Vietnam) and got to sit in their classes and *drum roll* distributed and collected about 200 surveys. When I return to the states, I will finally compile all my completed surveys into an organized and coherent manner, but for now I have them all neatly kept. Since my arrival to Vietnam, the language barriers has definitely been a struggle for me trying to accurately convey my intentions without losing some of the meaning in translation. For the most part, I have been able to explain what I mean but was never able to receive true insight on nutrition as an underlying factor to academic performance.

However, one of the most exciting events happened this week! My advisor gave me a contact to a Vietnamese teachers that has taught English for over 17 years and I got a chance to sit down and talk to him. He was able to talk about his experience as a teacher and how nutrition played a role in his students' lives and overall performance inside and outside of class. He even gave me the opportunity to sit down with a group of his 9th graders to have an open discussion about healthy eating and whether or not they believed nutrition dictated their academic achievements. One of the topics we discussed in-depth is the idea of "calories." All of the students had previously heard of the term, but did not know any basic knowledge about it. In their daily lives they do not emphasize calorie intake nor do they know how many calories they were consuming in a day. I asked if they were able to differentiate the amount of calories present in an apple versus a cake and none were able to tell me anything. But, when talking about healthy eating choices, many were confident to share that they do make healthy nutritious choices, such as eating more fruits and staying away from street food . It was interesting to see that they were consciously aware of their body and the types of food they were consuming, but with no knowledge of calories or why some foods make them feel and perform better. (i.e. the presence of trans fat, high sodium, or artificial flavoring)

This will conclude my excursions to the different schools in Vietnam for my project. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be able to learn like a true native here and see for myself the cultural differences and the different types of learning styles. For the next 2-3 weeks, I will be focusing on my project literature and putting them into context with what I've learned so far from my stay here.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and please come back soon!

Best,
Crystal Vo

The middle school of Lac Hong and my on-site advisor (left)

Week 4: Reading About Food?

Welcome back to another weekly update!

Thank you for those who dedicate a portion of their day to read about my exciting journey here in Vietnam! It really means the world for me to have the opportunity to be here and share my experience with everyone.

I mentioned last week that I will be visiting a middle school this week. The middle school is the same one that my advisor teaches at so she was suppose to be my on-site mentor and guide as well. However, my advisor had some unexpected family issues and so we had to postpone my visit until next week. Even though it is unfortunate that I had to postpone my original plans, I thought I would take the time to update everyone how "Eating Vietnam: Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table" by Graham Holliday is going. The last couple of weeks for me have been chaotic, to say the least, and I have not had the chance to finish the book. I finally got to sit down and read about the authors experience as a food enthusiast and a foreigner moving to Vietnam and discovering the cuisine that exists here. His detailed and colorfully vivid narrative accurately describes living in Saigon, from the "blast of beef bones, fish sauce, fried tofu, and shrimp paste" to the "cables and wires resembling jungle vines choking the entire length" of the city. In the food hub of Vietnam, everyone here are passionate eaters and even better cooks. Holliday perfectly describes the lifestyle of Vietnam people everywhere in the city as simply "Eating. Cooking. Chopping. Frying. Boiling. Steaming. Serving. Shouting." Reading his narrative I can relate definitely relate to his feelings of confusion and awe stepping into a foreign country. I can understand how baffled one can be leaving a place he called home for all his life and rediscovering himself in a drastically different culture. Until this day, I still find it hard to believe I am in Vietnam and I am cherishing every moment of it. I will give my final thoughts and review on the book in following weeks!

Thank you all so much for everyone's continuous support these past weeks! I do miss home back in the states, but I genuinely enjoy traveling and exploring on my own. I have made countless of friends that have welcomed me into their country and stood by me on this journey. With only two weeks left, my stay in Vietnam is almost up and I know I will be heartbroken to leave. My stay here has been incredible and I cannot wait to see what else lies ahead!

Make sure to come back next week!

Best Wishes,
Crystal Vo