Pre-Departure (Week 2)

SBCC Study Abroad 2008 China-Vietnam

- almost everyone

Pre-Departure Orientation is finished…the next time everyone will see each other is in Shanghai! We had another good week filled with outside experts. Dr. Yongjin Park (above) continued teaching us some basic Mandarin.
Dr. Lou Spaventa picked up where Ingrid Bowman left off with our TEFL training. Our cross-cultural expert Michael Landers (above) was also with us one last time on Monday (remember to check out his website for guides to culture, customs, social, business, & study abroad etiquette: http://www.culturecrossing.net/).

We had a special guest on Tuesday afternoon, our Vietnam coordinator Le Hong Hanh. She gave us an excellent overview of what to expect when we arrive in Hanoi. We had equally enlightening guests on Friday, as three SBCC International Students spent an hour with us answering questions and calming our anxieties about China.

Those of you who couldn’t be with us for the banquet at Saigon In and Out Thursday night missed a great preview of what we’ll be enjoying in Vietnam.

Map of Shandong U. East (New) Campus

Pre-Departure (Week 1)

We have just finished our first week of China-Vietnam Pre-Departure orientation at the SBCC Wake Center Campus. The week went very well and I think we’re off to a solid start. On Monday Study Abroad Director Carola Smith introduced the program and answered logistical questions, Ingrid Bowman (above) began her TEFL training workshop for those students taking the conversational English internship scheduled for Shandong University (as of Wednesday almost every student had decided to sign up for the internship), and SBCC Professor Peter Haslund – founder of the China-Vietnam Study Abroad program (back in 1984!) – shared some of his experiences in Asia with us. We finished with a brief presentation from Monica Jones of the international peace and travel organization Servas (http://www.servas.org/). On Tuesday and Wednesday Ingrid Bowman returned (she was with us through Thursday), cross-cultural trainer Michael Landers (http://www.culturecrossing.net/) arrived to help prepare us for China, and Dr. Mooney and Dr. Yonemura began to introduce their classes. Finally, on Thursday we began working with Dr. Yongjin Park of UCSB on the basics of Mandarin Chinese. We’ve got one more week of Pre-Departure and then a week off before we all meet up at LAX on the 6th of September for an early morning departure on the 7th for Shanghai via Seoul.

Website for our cross-cultural trainer, Michael Landers:

Guide to culture, customs, social, business, & study abroad etiquette for every country in the world.

www.culturecrossing.net

Options for getting from SB to LAX

Airbus:
http://www.santabarbaraairbus.com/lax/index.php

Road Runner:
http://www.rrshuttle.com/Home/default.aspx

From the Amtrak station in downtown LA:
http://www.lawa.org/flyaway/

Eating in China

Basic dishes in survival-level Mandarin (Pinyin pronunciation);
Provided by Dr. Peter Haslund

Some things you should know before going to Vietnam

Short message from a former student of mine regarding “Some things you should know before going to Vietnam.” She immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam about three years ago:



“Dear Dr. Mooney!

How are you? How is your summer going? Are you looking forward the trip to China and Vietnam? I would like to tell you a little about Vietnamese’s culture to help you avoid surprising when you have similar situations.

Do you know how to use chop sticks? Vietnamese use chop sticks to eat all foods.

Before entering a house, you should take off your shoes.

In the past Vietnamese sleep and eat on the floor. Now, we eat on the table and sleep on the bed, but that became our culture.

Vietnamese are very close when we are talking and they touch sometimes. Don’t feel uncomfortable if somebody touches you when he or she is talking to you. That’s just the way showing friendliness.

If you invite someone hang out to eat or drink, you should pay the check. Don’t buy the food that is sold on the street because that is dirty and you might get into trouble when you eat it. Vietnamese food is very diversity and delicious. You should try it, but ask somebody for clean and good places to go.

The things that you should bring to Vietnam include medicines like allergy, Tylenol, Advil, stomach ache [medicine], sunscreen, cap, and sunglasses.

The weather in Vietnam is hot and humid, so you should have summer clothes. It is cool down in fall and winter, but it is still hotter than California.

There is smoke and pollution in the city, especially, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh; however it is very nice in the country side. All the places that you mentioned when we were talking last time are very beautiful. I want to add 2 more places that you should visit: Nha Trang, which is the most beautiful beach in Vietnam, and Dalat, where there are many waterfalls and the weather is very cool. If you want to see Ho Chi Minh’s mummy, you can go to Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi.

I hope these things above can be helpful when you are in Vietnam. Don’t work too hard. Take your time to enjoy the trip.”

Pre-Departure Orientation

SBCC‎ Wake Center Campus
Room # T-26
300 N Turnpike Rd
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(805) 964-6853


August 18-21 (Monday through Thursday)
and
August 25-28 (Monday through Thursday)

Each day will run from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM with a one hour break for lunch between Noon and 1 PM.


Link to Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=300+N+Turnpike+Rd,+Santa+Barbara&sll=47.15984,-95.625&sspn=63.011893,157.5&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=34.445813,-119.789193&spn=0.009343,0.019226&z=16&iwloc=addr&cbll=34.444674,-119.78921&panoid=H-8GOvWISh9uI32uUKF8Hw