Architecture Summer Internship in HCMC

I took a 12-week internship this summer with a commercial/residential architecture office. It took me about a month to acclimate to the rhythm of the office. Throughout, I was kept busy working on concept stages of a real project. Was wonderful to actually have concrete evidence of my contribution by the end.

Highly recommend doing internships through Abroader. The team is supportive and responsive, regularly checking in and always willing to help if something's not going well. One of my favorite things was their local buddy program, in which they introduce interns to local university students to help us acclimate. I was able to reach out to them for anything from impromptu tours around the city to long chats in coffee shops. Along with several other interns that lived with me, they became my first friends here. Organized trips and get-togethers were especially great to keep up with other Abroader interns and students that I didn't regularly see. While I was here, I got to participate in an egg coffee + bowling day, the Mekong Delta excursion, a cooking day, and a cultural exchange day at a local university.

Vietnam itself is a safe place to travel, even solo, as long as you're informed and prepared when you hit remote areas. Saigon is very livable. Not so walkable, but Grab is available almost every minute. I was placed in District 8, which is not so central, but nonetheless a busy local residence. Sea snail restaurants lined my alley, vendors set up shop on the wet market alleys a block away every day, and tech stores and bakeries were a five minute walk away on the main street. I lived about a ten-minute ride from districts 1 and 5 and didn't lack for anything.