International Trade between Vietnam and the US

The program coordinator and local buddies were the best and they contributed greatly to the amazing experience of studying abroad. I loved how caring the program coordinator was, whenever I have slight health problems, she was always available to make everything okay. The local buddies were always readily available and eager to interact with us. The activities within the program were planned and well-coordinated. Activities were fun and informative and they were great opportunities getting to know the city, Vietnamese culture. They all contributed in a positive and supportive fashion to my overall study experience.

The study tour was a fantastic program full of cultural and fun experiences in both Vietnam and Singapore. Before the trip both of these places had been on my travel list, so when the opportunity for this trip came up I couldn't say no and I'm so glad that I did it. The buddies, the people I travelled with and the organisers made the trip even better. Industries in both countries were super helpful and our visits to these factories was one of the highlights. Networking with these companies, the food, cultural exposure, the people and the organisers made it a beautiful way to study our university course!! The most unfamiliar food that I tried was definitely chicken feet! Sugar cane drinks were also unusual but they tasted awesome! Thank you!!!!

The host school was very welcoming and friendly, provided me with plenty of opportunities to interact with different year levels and observe classes, very keen on showing me Vietnam and making me comfortable. The teachers that we got to work with were very supportive – very kind and supportive! They welcomed us into their community and provided us with numerous opportunities to be in the classroom and teach. We get to receive feedbacks from teachers after the classes and it really helps a lot for us to make progress and improvement. I am also very grateful for the local buddies that support us throughout the program, they are all very kind and helpful.

I had a blast with the remote internship with ABROADER. The cultural sessions were exciting and informative of the way of life in Vietnam. What made this unique for me was the staffs engagement with me and the other students. I liked getting to talk about the differences in cultures and similarities. The staff was always excited to see me and liked talking about my interests as well. I really liked the food cultural sessions and the opportunity to make Vietnamese food in my own home. I think any future participant would like this program if they wanted something outside their comfort zone. It was an entirely different world from the US to Vietnam and I enjoyed every second of it. What was your funniest moment? The funniest moment was when I was caught laughing at a video during a cultural meeting. The video was a music video and had hilarious content and I got called out because the host of the meeting saw me laughing. I thought this was not just funny because the video but also because the hosts were glad I was enjoying the cultural session.

An Internship that Brought a lot of Happiness During a Tough Time My internship through ABROADER was truly a worthwhile experience. Not only did I genuinely enjoy the work I did for my host organization, but having ABROADER's support and community really enhanced my remote internship. Having weekly culture sessions and buddy chats, and getting to talk regularly to the ABROADER staff and local buddies, made me feel like I was actually in Vietnam. I think this aspect of their program is really unique, because it makes doing an internship in a brand new place much less intimidating; everyone is so friendly and welcoming, I never felt alone when navigating this new adventure. I genuinely feel that I was able to connect with people and make new friends despite being thousands of miles away. What was your funniest moment? With the culture sessions and buddy chats, there were a lot of fun, happy moments. I think I laughed the hardest when making a video with a fellow intern and two local buddies for ABROADER's farewell group session. We tried creating a parody to Grease's Summer Nights, but being that none of us are musically talented, and we had to deal with the lag from Zoom when singing all together, our finished product was quite chaotic. Regardless, it was a lot of fun to work on all together, and seeing our video at the session gave me a really great laugh.

I feel pretty satisfied with my internship journey as it increased my self confidence and my ability to cope with unfamiliar situations. It also further developed my interpersonal communication skills when working with co-colleagues. I did my internship in Chemizol/Culligan Water Vietnam under the supervision and guidance of Chris, who is a very nice person and always cares about me. Besides that, my internship in Vietnam has expanded my curiosity of the world and at the same time gained a greater understanding of my home cultural identity. I wish I could have more time to go to different factories so that I could contact customers and analyze samples. Overall, my 6-week internship is so great!