It Can't Get Better Than This

When I woke up feeling refreshed and much better than the day before, I knew it would be a good day, I just didn't know how good.  After a substantial breakfast, we headed to the Jade Emperor Temple which was incredible in detail and atmosphere.  On entry, I was in awe by the Chinese architecture that embodied this small hidden area of land.  Inside it was warm and smoky from the burning incense, and I watched as people entered to make their offering in prayer.  The experience in this small pagoda was indescribable, but I didn't know the day could get any more interesting.

We headed to UEF for our class in Vietnamese History and Culture.  Though lectures are always difficult to sit through, this one did have many interesting facts involving the different cultures in the different regions of Vietnam and how each developed. During our mid-lecture break, we were taste different Vietnamese fruits including the rambutan. I found this extremely delicious, which anyone could tell by watching me eat my fair share of them in less than five minutes.  Once the lecture finished up to resume another day, we headed to have a quick lunch and then head back to the hotel for our next discovery.

I didn't realize how much Glass Egg Digital Media would blow me away, until I walked into their work room. The walls had autographed covers on many video games they had designed cars, environments, and much more for. As we walked around where the artists were working, I stared at the immense amount of talent before me. They were mostly working on cars, but the detail they put into each step of the process fascinated me. At one station we even got to see them working on their own project that they were developing themselves. I had never seen such talent in a single room before and I swear I could've continued to walk around there for hours. When the tour was finished, we walked to the conference room for our Q&A session where questions about details of the company's operations were answered throughly. Then the stories began.

Phil Tran, the CEO of the company had an interesting past where he and he family fled the country when he was only 12 years old. His father was on the American side of the war and was most likely to be killed (as well as his wife and four children) if they had stayed. Phil described his journey to the states that happened only a week before April 30, 1975, Reunification Day.  It was incredible to hear his thoughts and near escape from death, and then Loan chimed in with her story. Loan has been our UEF connection along this journey and this is the first I've heard her speak of her past. She told us how her family left North Vietnam just before the war started to find haven in the south.  Unfortunately her father was killed in the war fighting for the Americans, and she, unlike Phil, was unable to flee the country. This meant that she had to live with being treated as beneath we those on the communist side. It amazed me that through all the struggles both of these individuals went through, they still managed to be a success and work in an industry making a difference in some way.