Day 8 and Day 9

Monday started off with class in the morning with first a history and culture class and then the language class. Both teachers were very good and kept us awake and paying attention. After class we had a site visit with CB Richard Ellis. We met with Patti Joslin Ndzana Etoga. She was so funny and very informative. We had a very friendly meeting and she told us many places that we should try out, including both bars and restaurants. She seemed to know so much about the city. She happens to be the Marketing & Design Associate Director for them here in HCMC. The Real Estate market, as she described, is very interesting here. The Market got hit hard  by the world economy, but not to the extent of that in the US. She believes that once the economy starts getting better in the US, the economy will take off in Vietnam. That night we treated our teachers to a drink at the top of the Rex hotel. It was a really fun time. Then tuesday, we had a site visit with the US department of commerce here in Ho Chi Minh City. They are the people who advocate for US companies to the Vietnamese government. Then after that we went to dinner at a place called the Hollywood cafe. It was owned by a Chinese American named France Au. He was really cool, and gave us an idea on what it is like to be an entrepreneur here in Vietnam. He made it clear that it is not very easy, and you need to be prepared for corruption at all levels. The idea of his restaurant was we had couches laid out that people eat on, and then a big screen tv which is showing a movie to watch while you eat.