Xin Chao from Villajuan from Vietnam
June 13, 2013 | General, Academic Services
June 13, 2013
Xin chao! That means "hello" in Vietnamese. Things are going extremely well in Vietnam! All coaches are preparing for the final week of camp. The second session of CFC has arrived, and it's crazy to think that each one of us was just as worried as they are about two weeks ago.
Aside from our five day weeks working with the kids, we also get a little vacation time on the weekends. Both weekends we stayed in the same area, the heart of Da Nang City which is located right on the beach. The first weekend, we traveled three hours away to Hue City for the day. The first thing we did was go on a 20 mile round trip bike ride to go see the Minh Mang Tomb. The buildings were beautiful considering that they were still standing since 1843. It was really neat to see a different type of architecture than what we normally see across the United States.
Although the tomb was interesting, the best part was the bike ride aside from it being long and an extremely humid ride. For the whole 20 miles, we were riding our bikes on the street with all the cars and motorbikes. It was an unforgettable and truly a Vietnamese experience! The streets of Vietnam are not like the streets in the U.S. Driving cars is not very common here - majority of the people here drive motorbikes somewhat chaotically. It seems really dangerous to Americans like me, but it is the norm for the Vietnamese.
The longer I stay here, the more I start to notice the cultural differences. A good example is the type of food that is served. Every meal consists of rice and/or noodles. With that, the Vietnamese eat vegetables, chicken, pork and hot soup. The meals start to become repetitive, especially if you are not used to eating these types of meals. Another difference we have is the bathroom. In a typical American home, the bathroom is big enough to fit a toilet, sink and shower. However, in Vietnam, only the rich families own a shower. A typical bathroom here consists of a sink, toilet and shower head in between the sink and the toilet. In other words, you must learn how to shower without a bathtub or shower curtain.
Despite the many cultural differences, all of us student-athletes are enjoying each daily experience. This trip is truly pushing us out of our comfort zone, and teaching us a different lifestyle as well as respect for cultures not our own.
As the final days are approaching, we are all starting to realize how truly blessed we are to have been given the many opportunities our universities have to offer as student-athletes.
Coach for College is a service learning program that brings together US student-athletes and Vietnamese university students to teach academics, sports and life skills at summer camps to children in rural Vietnam. Each participant co-teaches life skills classes throughout the camp to her team of kids as well as one sport and one academic subject to the teams. Each site offer sports-learning camps during the summer that help improve psychological well-being, educational attainment and job-related productivity for disadvantaged youth in developing countries, currently Vietnam. The program uses sports to bridge divides between countries, cultures and athletic rivals.
