by Hunter Ludlam

I was an amateur. 4 hours of sleep over 48 hours and I felt like I had been hit over the head by a brick. But the chaotic city of Vietnam doesn’t wait for sleep, so I was up and out.

CRCC Asia picked all of the interns up from the Hotel and we headed to their headquarters for our induction. For breakfast, they gave us a Binh Minh, which is a baguette with veggies and tofu with a delectable sauce. Only 2 dollars, and a very common breakfast or lunch food in Vietnam. I can see why, it tastes incredible!

CRCC Asia did a presentation about what to expect as well as handy tips. Made me feel 100% times more comfortable about the trip. They even had a Kahoot! Now that iconic theme song will wake anyone up – even me. 

They then took us out to lunch at this beautiful restaurant…

After lunch, we visited the markets on our walk back. They had been to put up the decorations for the Vietnamese New Year called Tết. They were absolutely stunning. The yellow flowers are used down in the South, with pink/red used in the North.

For dinner, CRCC Asia took us out for a Banquet. I was unsure if a banquet meant the same thing in New Zealand as it did in Vietnamese, but I can assure you it does. Incredible amounts of different food were laid all over the table. And everything tasted amazing. 

YUM…

If you kept busy then jet lag would fall to the back of your mind. I think that is the key to getting over it. As soon as you slow down and give yourself the time to realise how exhausted you are it is tough to bring your energy levels up again.

Although I was tempted to nap during the day in-between events, I kept busy to try my best to adjust to the timezone as quickly as possible. What an amazing start to this trip.