One of the field trips we will take is going to STU-Troy. Last year we were very confused with the name of the university because we thought we were visiting a Vietnamese university. In fact, STU (Saigon Tech University) is a partner to Ho Chi Minh – Troy University. The university students who took us around were actually from Troy University’s Ho Chi Minh campus. Its main campus is in Alabama, US. For some reason they do not have their own campus; instead they share it with a local Vietnamese university. It may be due to laws in Vietnam about foreign universities not being able to obtain property or cost of renting a building. Whatever the case, it makes the structure of the university similar to that of MSU’s branch campus in Dalian
They offer two majors in Saigon: something akin to CIS and general business. The students who show us around are part of an organization called International Student Association (ISA). Last year we toured their building, had lunch, and they took us around Saigon. This year, it may be the same type of schedule, but a little birdie told me it is going to be even better this year than last year. Hope you guys are not afraid of riding a scooter, it definitely is more convenient to get around with one. Just make sure they have an extra helmet for you 🙂
Because the students are proficient in English, it is a great opportunity to get to know them and make local friends.