After two days of activities today we said goodbye to our friends from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH). During our welcome ceremony we had surprise visit from Professor Yi-Chen Lan who welcomed UEH and Western Sydney University (WSU) students to the program. The students from both universities then gave presentations about their respective countries and lives as students with some surprising similarities and differences.
The students then finalised mini research projects which would see the WSU students hosted by UEH students as they took them out into Ho Chi Minh City to see their industry in an international setting. Topics for this year included;
- What are the pathways and opportunities for football in Vietnam?
- What sporting facilities are used by university students?
- Compare and contrast sporting facilities between HCMC and Sydney
- Food and beverage options used by different groups of people.
After some lunch with the students it was out into Ho Chi Minh City to explore. Students were taken to a range of sporting and hospitality venues to see their industries in an international setting. The students then regathered as a group at a local cafe and worked on their presentations.
Day two saw the students return to UEH to report on their finds from the previous days projects with some interesting insights into both industry, culture and Vietnamese perspectives of sport and hospitality.
Finally WSU students treated our friends from UEH to the Australian delicacy, Vegemite. the faces of the UEH students said it all – it is an Australian acquired taste. But to make it up to them we also gave them Tim Tams.
I think the benefit of these tours was summed up by one of the WSU students this year who commented “where really not that different”
Customer experiences with dr timmy hall 