Ha Tay College

Highlight of the trip so far. We visited Ha Tay community college. We were picked up at the hotel at 7 am in a real sedan. The drive to the college was 1 hour (40 km) and the traffic is unbelievable. Thousands of motorbikes and bicycles fighting with hundreds of cars for space on the road. Beautiful campus on 70 hectares. They have 3000 students. We were greeted with 2 enormous floral arrangements. Met with 6 senior officers. At the meeting they served us coffee so strong that one sip almost killed us. Then we toured the campus. We visited an English class. Everything is high tech. Classes all have computers and overhead projectors.
After touring the campus in 95 degree heat and 100% humidity, we were driven to a neighboring town for lunch. It was a real cultural experience.
The setting was a gazebo in the pretty back garden. Included in the lunch was sticky rice cooked and served inside a bamboo shaft. You peel the bamboo to get at the rice. Also fried small birds including head and feet. Also bamboo, morning glory, some kind of meat (sometimes it’s better not to ask), sticky rice inside a fried shell (looked like an egg roll), peanuts, boiled chicken (rubber tough), a dish of mixed green herbs that were supposed to have medicinal properties (one tasted like fish), and a green vegetable that looked like honey dew wedges but had no taste but interesting texture. They offered me “local wine”. I originally passed but they said it is traditional to get the guest drunk. It was local moonshine (from plastic bottles) but not bad. It was served in shot glasses and I kept up with them (about 8 shots). Dessert was papaya and strong tea which was undrinkable. All things considered, it was a nice lunch (the Heineken was good).
After lunch they took us back to the school, put us in a room and told us to take a nap. We didn’t. At 2 pm, Bo made a presentation to the students and teachers about Global Education Through Technology. They may become a partner next semester.
The drive back to the hotel was just as harrowing as the other direction. The number of near collisions is amazing.