Finally, it is the day before the trip to Hanoi!

In a few hours, I will be onboard a plane to Vietnam!

Since this is my very first trip overseas for the purpose of doing a research project, I am slightly nervous – not knowing what to expect, and excited to garner interesting, new experiences from this trip. As a science student majoring in engineering, conducting social scientific research and gathering data through observing and interviewing people is new to me. I think that this TOPS trip is well designed to encourage me as a USP scholar in pursuing knowledge in another field which I am less familiar with and encourages me to take notice of news, history and culture that I would not have paid attention to. For example, I completely knew nothing about what transpired in the Vietnam war, when it happened, and how the current government of Vietnam came into power. If not for my curiosity piqued by preliminary research about Vietnam from this USP module, I would not have read up on these topics and would have been none the wiser about the history of Vietnam.

In an increasingly interconnected world, it is excellent that USP recognizes the importance of encouraging proactive global citizenship where we place our identity beyond mere geographical and political borders. The greater inter-connectivity nowadays means that whatever happens in another country will have spillover effects into other countries. Citizens of different countries progress and decline together. As such, placing humanity, care and concern for citizens of other countries and not only our own are important virtues to be cultivated in such a globalized world and hence, it is imperative to understand the cultures and issues that other countries face. This fieldwork and documentation project helps us realize the diversity of cultures and gives us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in Northern Vietnam’s culture and study issues pertinent to Northern Vietnam. I expect this trip to be an interesting learning experience that will broaden my perspectives and expand my knowledge pool on the issues faced by people of Northern Vietnam in Sapa and Hanoi.

At a personal level, I hope to have a fun and enjoyable time working with my group members on this project. Try as I might, intellectual curiosity and desire for good appraisals can never be sufficient enough to make a research process a pleasant memory without some fun and interesting experiences! Thus far, my experience working with my group members has been enjoyable and I hope it remains so throughout the process of this research project. Also, since this is my first time going to Vietnam, I am looking forward to try their local foods and cafe hopping as eating and trying out new foods is one of my favourite things to do. I am also excited to immerse myself in another country’s culture and relax a little after a tough and tiring semester in university.

Cheers and I hope this upcoming week will be a great one!