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Ing. Eliška Süssová, CTU Prague,

ročník 6

About the country

Location of the place

Thai Nguyen is 80 km north from Ha Noi.

City

Thai Nguyen - university city with population around 400 000 inhabitants, capital city of Province Thai Nguyen. The city is not touristic interesting, but you can find there everything what you need.

Surroundings (possible trips, ...)

Lots of possibilities for trips around during your internship. I visited Hanoi, SaPa, Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh, Cao Bang ....
There are lots of buses from Thai Nguyen or Hanoi. But we always needed help from Vietnamese IAESTE to arrange the transportation. Nobody (drivers) can speak English and websites are just in Vietnamese.

Employer

ISTNU: International School of Thai Nguyen University.

Work description

I was teaching Environmental managament at ISTNU. My task was mainly introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment process and help students to understand requirements of Vietnamese Environmental Law. I know requirements of EIA from my job and therefore it wasn't problem for me to teach it. For the law I got materials, I studied it first and then I prepared my lectures. Huge part of the job is also effort to improve students' English. My supervisor was great and students were really respectful and nice.

Salary (sufficient for local conditions?)

Without taxes it was at the end 3 400 000 VND for 8 weeks. I got my salary the last week of my internship. Sufficient for cheap way of living, not for travelling. Accommodation is for free.

Language requirements

English! Be prepare that pronunciation of Vietnamese people is different. It is not problem with English at the university but anywhere else almost nobody can speak English. Google translator is very usefull. Vietnamese language is quite difficult to learn.

Accommodation (price, who provided it)

University provided and paid my accomodation for me. I was very lucky in comparison with other interns. My dormitory was at the new building of ISTNU. I had clean room for my own with comfortable bed, AC and private bathroom. It was 4 floors to classrooms.

Social life

Meeting IAESTE members (pick-up at the airport, organized events...)

Pick-up at the airport was managed. IAESTE office was in the same building where I lived. Vietnamese IAESTE members did their best for me if I needed any help. They were very helpful and nice. We had quite often some events to welcome new interns or to say goodbye.

Meeting other foreign students

I met foreign students very often. With many of them we lived on the same floor, we made trips during weekends, we had lunch or dinner together very often.

Sport and culture

When I was in Vietnam, the weather was still quite hot. Therefore, I prefered just to practise yoga in my airconditioned room but I know that my friend went to the gym almost every morning. We also had ping pong table at our university.

About the culture. Be ready that as Europian person you are something special for them and they are not used for foreigners. Vietnamese people will stare at you, they will want to take a picture with you. You will be almost all the time the centre of attention even in situations you would prefer to be invisible.

Food, local specialties

Vietnamese food is delicious. Try as much as possible! Bun cha, pho bo/ga, com rang, nem ran...
At the beginning I was afraid to eat on the streets, but after some time I got used to it.

Other information

Possibilites to communicate with the Czech Republic

WhatsApp, Facebook .... anything. Internet in Vietnam is very cheap and most of the time you can connect to some wifi. Unfortunately, just the wifi at our dormitory didn't work most of the time.

Recommendations for students who will go to the same place

Do not take too much belongings. Do not take expensive clothes. You can really buy almost everything in TN. Some good waterproof jacket is also good idea.

Be patient about the Visa letter from your employer. Firstly, they made many mistakes in it and then it took for examples 6 weeks to correct it. I got my Visa one week before my departure to Vietnam.

What not to forget with you

Your medicaments, and do not forget to vaccinate yourself. But I have also good experience with local pharmacies. Copies of passport and visa approval letter are useful.

Benefits of the internship

Open-minding experience.
Improvement of communication and presentation skills.
Better understanding of Vietnamese culture.
Exploring of beautiful Vietnamese nature.

Cooperation with IAESTE in the foreign country

I had really good experience with IAESTE Vietnam. They helped me with many things.
Special thanks to the head of IAESTE Vietnam Mrs. Bui Thanh Huong who was always helpful and invited us for such a special events as her engagement ceremony and her wedding.

Overall experience with IAESTE

Great. Thank you for everything.

Student's website

Employer's webiste

http://en.istn.edu.vn/

Other comments

Vietnam is interesting and beautiful, but not for everyone. In general Vietnamese people are not so organized as we are. You can be very often surprised how different their habbits and behaivour are.