Vietnamese American Experience

I have been to Vietnam before when I was a little girl, but going into this program I have experience the ecology and conservation part of Vietnam. I felt connected with my culture and I felt proud of having some knowledge about it. I was kind of a translator in my group when the Vietnamese leader was not around, and it was cool to speak 2 languages going back and forth. I would say that this experience in Vietnam has change the way I think about life and that is you should take care of your environment and also take care of yourself. As a Vietnamese American I am proud that I have a culture to be a part of. What I realize is that I need to work on my skills in the Vietnamese Language and expand on more knowledge about Vietnam. Some of the favorite places that I have visited was Da Lat because I love how the agriculture is so engraved into the local community, also Con Dao island because it is beautiful and I had the chance to go canoe for the first time, which is funny because I live in Minnesota :) Another part of the program that I enjoyed was being able to visit the indigenous people of Vietnam and having a short wild party with them. SOME TIPS - please bring a hoodie just in case, MOSQUITO REPELLENT!!, try new things, bring at least 2-3 pairs of longer pants because you gotta watch out for leaches.. they suck literally, at first you would feel crappy from the flight/culture shock but that's part of the experience and that is to challenge yourself to this cool adventure. FAVORITE kinda memory of mine was when 2 of my friends was walking in Cat Tien park and we walked far and it started to drizzle rain so we went back and it was a waterfall. I could not see anything and it was scary, my friend was screaming and complaining and I was scared but also laughing about how she was complaining. Another memory was when the group is going back home. My friend had lost her passport for about 30 minutes I think and I suddenly had her passport and then It was my turn to look for mine. At that time it was time for boarding and I was freaking out. I did eventually find it after like 15-20 minutes and I started to cry because it was the scariest thing I have ever experience. TIP - please keep your valuables safe. Okay this is long so.. Lastly I would like to say that if you are interested in learning about the environment or learning about Vietnam's culture, you should join and learn more in this program. Good Luck.