Study Abroad

Today we took a bus ride to Cu chi. A sight of American and Vietnam fighting. The special thing about Cu chi was it’s vast tunnel system that spans hundreds of kilometers with several layers and rooms. It was very interesting going and watching a movie about the cu chi people before the war. It was interesting because the video made it seem like life was amazing and these people were almost happy to go to war with the Americans. Even our guide was telling us that the cu chi people did not want to kill Americans but only do psychological damage to them. But it was hard to take his word for it when you are looking at a trap which was a hole filled with spiked bamboo sticks. Some of us went into the tunnel system and traveled through them.
Later in the day we went to a cao dai worship service. I thought that it was a beautiful temple building with great architecture. The service itself I did not understand nor try to because this religion seemed too complex for me. Cao dai is the native religion to Vietnam with over half a million followers world wide, but mostly in Vietnam.
Today was difficult seeing the areas that were filled with war and makes you think about the other wars going on. For example, will the war in Syria be turned into a tourist attraction at some point in time? And will we be taught that they wanted to go to war? These are questions that have come up on this trip for me.

A few of us celebrated the 4th of July by biking 20 minutes to a beach and spending an hour or two enjoying the beautiful Hoi An. For dinner we did the most American thing possible and stuffed our faces with burgers, fries, and pizza. Although it was true American celebration in the later part of our day, we spent the majority of our morning in My Son Valley, viewing the remains of a Hindu temple. Many of the structures were at least 800 years old, with heavy symbolism that depicted the different male and female roles within Hinduism. Much of the complex renovation was funded by India’s government, and our visit concluded with a performance by both musicians and dancers that gave us insight to the duel culture of Vietnamese traditional dance and Hinduism. One of the more difficult parts of the visit was walking down a beautiful path with lush greenery and being told by our guide, “Do not step outside the path, there may still be a landmine.” A few moments later we came across a huge crater left by a bomb, and the saddest part was that it was inches from one of the temples. We saw many remains of structures and various temples that were demolished by weapons of war. One thing that has really become evident during our time in Vietnam is the lack of education we have on the Vietnam War. As a history major, I’m really surprised how little I’ve learned about the war in comparison to the severity of the events that occurred. It made for somewhat of a melancholy Independence Day as an American, and raised some concerns as to what exactly it is we are fighting for.

My Lai is located in Southern Vietnam, two and half hours drive from Hoi An. Not many foreigners visit the site, which says a lot about the history of it.

March 16, 1968. Helicopters showed up to the town dropping off armed young men that were taking orders to kill everyone. 9 American helicopters landed three times around the two small villages (Lăng sub-hamlet and Go sub-hamlet). The GIs rushes into the village to kill everyone in their sight. For four hours these GIs were ordered to divide into three groups: to kill, to burn the houses, and to cut the trees and the animals. However, they did more than just that; they slaughtered the kids and raped the women before they killed them. The United States Army justified this act by telling the world they were looking for “targets” to destroy communism. The Charlie Company was told to search and destroy mission, meaning if it is Vietnamese and it moves it is a target.

No one reported this event until late 1969 there were rumors on what happened in My Lai, an reporter went there to investigate, and late November is when the story broke, and the American army was under scandal. Throughout the whole event, there were no American troops arrested. Up until 1969, the idea of winning a war depended on how many troops we used and how many we killed on the other side. The definition was not whether we win brings peace through war or not.

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In the end, only one person was found guilty of a war crime, and that man was not even punished. American history books and classes still do not include this part of the war, more specifically this massacre, we caused on the Vietnamese people. Although there are still people who argue the story is not being told from both sides, it is essential to recognize that war always affects civilians and we have learned from most of the wars our country has participated in.

After a long and emotional museum tour, the team headed to eat an authentic Vietnamese lunch by the beach. We also had a debrief on the ride back to Hoi An, which was very important to hear what everyone thought of the tour and their knowledge of the massacre as well.

An Overview of Hoi An

For those of you unfamiliar with Hoi An—as I was before arriving in this city—this is a city best know for its tailoring. Countless shops advertising “Custom Tailoring” fill the streets of Hoi An. From our hotel, we were a 20 minute walk from the Thu Bồn River and 20 minute drive from the An Bàng Beach. At night, the Thu Bồn River glimmers with the lights of paper lanterns. Wafts of cool air and savory scents drift out of stores and restaurants. I entered Hoi An with no knowledge of the place, and I left with an appreciation for a city I will never fully know. Here are some of the highlights of each full day we spent in Hoi An.
We were introduced to Hoi An through a walking tour in the rain. While on this tour, we stopped at Thắng lợi Fine Arts handicraft shop and were welcomed with a tour of the establishment. We saw how silk is made—from baby silk worm to silk pod to elegant fabric—and watched the employees at work. Many women were bent over lengths of silk with a needle in hand, painstakingly stitching art onto the fabric. There was a part of the store where we could order a customized article of clothing; many of us woke up the next day with deliveries of tailored clothing from Thắng lợi.
On our second day, we visited the Mỹ Lại massacre site. On March 16, 1968, a group of American soldiers entered the village of Mỹ Lại under the pretense that the village housed members of the Việt Cộng. Though the Charlie Company found a peaceful village, they acted on their orders to search and destroy; almost all villagers were slaughtered. We fell into a sober silence as we walked around the museum and saw photographs of mutilated Vietnamese people. The paths of the reconstructed village are covered with prints of bare feet and combat boots. We left Mỹ Lại feeling raw and heavy.
On our third day, we visited the ruins of Mỹ Sơn. Mỹ Sơn was the spiritual center of the Champa people for about 1,300 years. It is now a collection of ruined Hindu temples, worn Sanskrit carvings, and crumbling sculptures of Hindu gods. As we walked along the paths, our guide Tony warned us to stay off the grass because it is possible that there are still land mines in that area; the landscape is studded with crater mines.
Hoi An has helped me reassess the justification of war that was grilled into me during my youth. During our debrief after visiting Mỹ Lại, we struggled to comprehend how American soldiers—many of whom were close to our age—could commit such atrocities. It pains me to think that many of those men killed, maimed, and raped with their free will. I regret that I wasn’t able to see Mỹ Sơn in its former glory; rather, I must use my imagination to reconstruct the rubble. I say this not to demonize the American military, but to call attention to the need for a moral conscience during world conflict. I wonder if many more memorials and museums are going to be built before we favor peace over violence.

Goodbye Hanoi! Yesterday we began with a 2.5 hour drive to the Phat Diem Cathedral. I was expecting the traditional European-style cathedral that somehow happens to look exactly the same no matter where you are in the world. This was not the case. The most impressive features of this cathedral included a large man-made lake with a Jesus-island in the middle, a 2-ton bell which was in the third story of a tower (keep in mind no machines were used to do this), and the huge iron-wood support beams used in each building. The most interesting part of this specific cathedral was the incorporation of local culture with traditional catholic symbols. Specifically, there was a picture etched in the stone of a series of lotus flowers. It was a cycle of life, death, and rebirth which is used in Christianity with earthly life, death, and rebirth in Christ. They also had the gospel writers sitting in lotus positions on top of the roof. The priest who instructed the building of this cathedral was Father Six. When the church started there were 2000 Catholics in the area. By the time he died there were 10,000!     Later in the afternoon, we went to the river to see the on-land version of HaLong Bay. We hopped on these little boats and were rowed down the EXTREMELY hot and sunny river to some gorgeous views and fascinating caves. One cave was 1,000 meters long! We all had fun seeing skull island from Kong Skull Island and feeling like a part of pirates of the Caribbean.        Today (June 29) we woke up a little earlier than usual (as an attempt beat the heat) and went to the largest Buddhist complex in Vietnam. The most interesting thing about this complex was that the architecture was extremely similar to the catholic cathedral that we saw yesterday. They had the same iron wood pillars, square shaped pond, large bells, and the same color scheme as each other. Another interesting feature was the sheer number of Buddha statues there were. Definitely well over 1000 (I heard something about 10,000 but that may have been Tony exaggerating).      The rest of the day was pretty relaxed. We ate some more goat (a staple of every meal in this region), went to a shopping mall (mom & dad, if you are still expecting a good souvenir please transfer money into my account :)), and finally got on our flight to Hue. Northern Vietnam has been fun but we are all hoping for a little less humidity. By this time we are all counting down the days til the end of the trip (both with excitement and sorrow). Keep praying for our stomachs!!!

Hello this is Kelsey! This morning we headed off to Lan Ha (or Ha Long Bay) in basically one of the fanciest buses we have all ever been on! We got to take a nice ride in our limo bus while 4 others got a luxury van (this van had massage chairs). After about a 2 hour ride, we awaited the boat in the lobby. Then we headed off in the tender boat to our actual cruise ship which would take us to HaLong Bay. We were greeted by staff once we arrived on the ship, and took our belongings to our rooms. Our rooms were very fancy with a nice little balcony, shower, decorations, and robes (which some people strutted around in during the evening). We then had lunch in the dining room which consisted of a delicious 4-course meal--if lunch is like this, what must dinner be like!? Lunch was very relaxing and the view from the window was breathtaking. Later on, some of us took the tender boat and a bus to visit the Trung Trang caves. This was definitely the most jungle we have seen so far on this trip! The caves were full of 4,000 year old formations and was nice and cool outside--that's a big plus. We even got to see some bats inside the cave perched up on the cave ceiling. We then headed back to the ship, and in the evening some of us got to go swimming. I was planning on swimming, but it was in the open ocean and I thought we were going to go ashore to swim. I decided not to get in out of fear of sharks and jellyfish as some of us watch too much Shark Week! Then after swimming to cool off there was some nice smoothies and juice drinks that we can order on the sun deck. It was a nice relaxing time just hanging out on the ship! We had a buffet dinner which was very delicious with options like shrimp, chicken, potatoes, corn, and sushi! We then got to see some old pictures of the Friesen Family during their young days in Vietnam and watched some clips from the film Indochine --definitely some cute pics, and definitely a French film! We finished off the night by debriefing and hanging out on the sun deck. The next morning some people got up at 6 am for some Taichi but most of us just had a light breakfast at 6:30am. Then we headed out in kayaks at 7:15 am to explore some dark and bright caves. It was definitely very hot and hard to row, but it was worth the experience as everything looked like scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean!  The cave opened up to the other side of the mountain to a nice lagoon. We even got to hear some monkeys that were on the other side of the mountain, but we didn't get to see any unfortunately. Then we headed back to the ship for brunch and packing. After leaving the ship, we took the bus back to Hanoi. This has definitely been my favorite and most relaxing time during my time here at Vietnam. It was a good boost to enjoy some time in the outdoors and also reflect with my peers on our overall experience with the laid back lifestyle of Vietnam, and also relaxing the great opportunity we have in our education as many places we have seen don't have the same chance to receive stellar education. We are looking forward to exploring the rest of Vietnam and coming home in about 2 weeks!

“Paul! Paul! Let’s go, we’re gonna be late! Cmon!”
Paul checks the clock. “Loren it’s freakin 2 AM.”
“Oh..”
My middle of the night sleep talking that woke both of us up, fueled by the fear of oversleeping our 5:45 AM departure time from the hotel, didn’t constitute the ideal way to start the day.
But as it turned out no one overslept. On time, we all stepped on to the bus that weaved it’s way through Shanghai, giving us, or at least those who were awake, a final glance at China as we made our way to the airport.

Check in. Lines. Customs. Waiting. Security. Standing. Flight. Sleepy. Layover. Sitting. Flight.

We finally make it to Hanoi. The officer to approve our visas to get us through customs, though, seemed a bit rusty at doing the job efficiently. He may or may not have been waiting for some cash lubrication to help speed up the process. We didn’t oil him up, so in accordance with the rest of the day we waited AGAIN until he finished.

Our ever-smiling, energetic Vietnamese tour guide, Tony, greeted us at the airport. The bus, our final transportation of the day, took us from the outskirts of the city into the center. Slowly but surely, as we got closer to our hotel, the slowness and lull of our day came to an end as Hanoi’s inner city hectic, chaotic, every man-for-himself traffic engulfed us. We arrived at our hotel and we step off the bus. Beeping, honking, chatter. A blanket of humidity. Street food smells, motorcycles whizzing by. Welcome to Hanoi.

During our time in Nanjing, we visited multiple places including the Ming Tombs and the Nanjing Massacre Museum. The Ming Tombs we’re surrounded by a large park filled with trees, semi-cleaner air, and animal statues. These statues served as guards for the first Ming Emperor who was buried there. When we visited the Nanjing Massacre Museum on the second afternoon, I was both intrigued and saddened by the statues, photos, and panels of script that I passed. The museum itself was constructed beautifully, but the stories that I read and the images I saw were hard to process all at once. While the museum was constructed to memorialize the survivors and victims of the Nanjing Massacre, I was surprised to read about China’s hopes and proclamations for peace at the conclusion of the museum’s displays. I hope that this goal can be achieved for the Chinese citizens as they continue to remember this tragedy.

Our last day in Tibet was spent outdoors in the grasslands and valleys. We began the day with a morning hike through a valley that overlooked the monastery and the rest of the town. On the way up we were able to see a lot of the animals that the people use in their daily lives such as yaks and sheep. We concluded the hike, ate breakfast, and prepared for our trip to the grasslands and Buddhist temple. The bus ride there gave us some opportunities to hike a little bit through the grasslands as well as get some photo-ops with some of the animals. We continued on our  way and eventually reached our destination which was a massive mountain range with a river running through that created a pass. We ate lunch at the opening and then proceeded to hike and take in the sights. The last thing we had to do for the day was visit the Buddhist monastery in the town nearby. We arrived at the front gates of the monastery and were warned by our guide that a sheep who has been blessed by the High Llama lives in the monastery and is prone to attacking outsiders, especially men. We were told that we could tour the grounds on our own but to be careful because we would be on our own since most of the monks had the day off. After walking around for a little bit, I ended up meeting the sheep. After it began to get up and move toward me, I decided that it would be best to run down the hill toward my group and let them know where it was. After letting them know, some of my classmates decided to go look for it. Phrases such as “it’s not even that scary” were said but quickly ended when it started chasing the group. It especially went after two of the other guys in our group. To escape they hopped a rail and climbed onto the roof of a nearby building. In the end we made it safely back to the bus and left. Great day.
This was one of my favorite days because although I was excited for the hike, I was not excited for another monastery tour. I thought it would be just like our last one. I quickly realized not to assume anything will go according to plan and it ended up being one of the funniest parts of this trip thus far.

The beating heart of this Tibetan mountain town is Buddhist so, naturally, we started off our first whole day in Xiahe by walking around a large monastery. A monk showed us around and taught us more about Buddhism in Tibet and life in the monastery. It was very humbling to see the dedication that monks and many of the Tibetans on Xiahe have to their religion.
After a wonderful Tibetan lunch, we had some free time. Some of us student shopped for things like prayer beads and colorful scarves. It happened to be Fran Martens Friesen’s birthday, so we had a little birthday bash with pastries from a local bakery and presents.
Next, we walked to a small art school of about 15 student, ages 16-29 from underprivileged nomadic families. We got to see lots of beautiful art by the students, get a short art history lesson from the art teacher, Tenzin, and play games with the students. I was blown away by the paintings and drawings of the students and really loved everything Tenzin is doing. I was actually informed that the art school takes volunteers for a month sometimes, so I hope to return to Xiahe for a longer stay in the future.
We spent our evening in large tents in the foothills outside of Xiahe. After dinner, we got to watch the sun set behind the rolling hills and see a performance of Tibetan singing and dancing.